Gillis, Ronald | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

GILLIS, Ronald (1861-1943), active in Cape Breton, N.S. for nearly forty years as an architect and owner of a busy planing mill operation there. Born at Island Point, Boulardarie, Victoria Co. on 8 February 1861 he likely trained in the building trades and first appeared as an architect in Sydney, N.S. in McAlpines Maritime Provinces Business Directory, 1880-81. In addition to his activity as an architect in Sydney and the Cape Breton area, he served as manager of the Cape Breton Sash & Door factory in Sydney, and took out a patent for school furniture in December 1895 (B.R. Robertson, Sawpower: Making Lumber in the Sawmills of Nova Scotia, 1986, 127). This must have been a lucrative business for Gillis which served as a complement to his professional work. His obituary refers to him as 'devout and consistent member of the Roman Catholic communion', and his strong ties to the church undoubtedly played a role in his selection by the Roman Catholic Diocese in Antigonish to design more than twenty Catholic churches in the Cape Breton region, most in a plain Gothic style. Gillis was the author of Stray Leaves from Highland History, 1918, a series of essays on the Nova Scotia Highlands, with a full page photographic portrait of the architect opposite p. 26. Gillis died in Sydney, N.S. on 21 December 1943 (obit. Sydney Post Record, 22 Dec. 1943; biog. M. Rosinski, Architects of Nova Scotia: A Biographical Dictionary, 1994, 200; inf. Garry Shutlak, PANS; inf. Ian MacIntosh, Cape Breton Regional Library)

LOW POINT, Cape Breton, N.S., Roman Catholic Church, 1889; burned 1916 (Catholic Record [Toronto], 9 Nov. 1889, 7)
GLACE BAY, N.S., a church, 1893 (The Casket [Antigonish], 26 Oct. 1893, 6)
ST. PETER'S, N.S., St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, 1895 (The Casket [Antigonish], 26 Sept. 1895, 8, t.c.)
EAST BAY, N.S., a church '...at North Side East Bay', 1896 (The Casket [Antigonish], 14 May 1896, 8)
BIG POND, N.S., a church, 1897 (The Casket [Antigonish], 15 July 1897, 4)
VICTORIA MINES, SYDNEY, N.S., Roman Catholic Church, 1898 (Advocate [Cape Breton], 13 Dec. 1898, 3)
SYDNEY, N.S., industrial building for Shaw & Mason Foundry, George Street, 1900; major addition, 1907 (Sydney Record, 21 Dec. 1900, 10, illus.; C.R., xviii, 1 May 1907, 4)
GLACE BAY, N.S., addition to the Roman Catholic Church, with new spire, 1900 (Sydney Record, 13 Aug. 1900, 6)
SYDNEY, N.S., residence for Duncan Gillis, 1901 (inf. Garry Shutlak, PANS)
WHITNEY PIER, N.S., Holy Redeemer Roman Catholic Church, 1901 (Sydney Record, 14 March 1901, 4)
RESERVE MINES, N.S., Roman Catholic Church, 1902 (Sydney Record, 8 Feb. 1902, 1)
SYDNEY, N.S., enlargement and major additions to Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, 1902 (Sydney Record, 13 Aug. 1902, 2)
LISMORE, N.S., a church, 1906 (Sydney Record, 8 May 1906, 8)
GLACE BAY, N.S., High School, 1906 (Sydney Record, 6 July 1906, 5; 10 Nov. 1906, 5)
NORTH SYDNEY, N.S., St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, 1907 (Const., i, Oct. 1907, 65)
SYDNEY, N.S., County Jail, Grand Lake Road, 1907; demol. c. 1969 (C.R., xviii, 12 June 1907, 2)
WHYCOCOMAGH, N.S., Indian Chapel, 1912 (Canada, Dept. of Indian Affairs, R.G. 10, Vol. 6608, File 4050 FRC)
NEW ABERDEEN, N.S., public school with assembly hall, 1919 (Morning Herald [Halifax], 1 March 1919, 9, t.c.)
SYDNEY MINES, N.S., Roman Catholic Church, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 19 May 1920, 58, t.c.)