CAMERON, David John (1883-1959), a gifted architect who brought his scholarly knowledge of English revival styles to Canada and to western Ontario. He was active in Windsor, Ont. under his own name in 1919-21 and 1929-55, and in partnership with William Ralston from 1921 to 1929. Born in Carmyllie, Scotland in 1883, he was educated at Morgan Academy in Dundee, and trained under Leslie Ower, FRIBA, a prominent local architect in Dundee. He then studied briefly at the Univ. of Dundee before emigrating to Canada in 1907 and taking a position with the renowned firm of Darling & Pearson. He worked there from 1907 to 1912, and while working in that office, he met another young Scotsman, William Ralston, with whom he was to later form a partnership.
In 1912 Cameron moved to New York City to take courses in architecture with the Beaux-Arts Society of Architects, and while living in New York, he worked briefly for leading architects Donn Barber, and for Kenneth M. Murchison (in 1913-14). He moved back to Scotland at the outbreak of WWI and served with the Royal Engineers, then returned to Canada and went to Windsor, Ont., and took jobs across the border in the Detroit offices of C. Howard Crane, and for Malcolmson & Higginbotham in 1919-20. With a firm grounding in contemporary design from leading firms in New York and Detroit, he opened his own office in Windsor in 1921 and within weeks he had won First Prize of $750. in the competition for the Windsor & Walkverville Technical School (Detroit Free Press, 29 July 1921, 7). This ambitious design is considered a masterpiece of the English Tudor Revival style in Canada.
The following year, in 1922, Cameron formed a partnership with William Ralston. Their business flourished, and they obtained commissions for institutional, educational and ecclesiastical works throughout western and central Ontario. Their design for the John Richardson Library in nearby Sandwich, Ont. (1928) is a finely proportioned and exquisitely detailed essay in the English Palladian style, and is almost certainly from the hand of Cameron, not Ralston. The stock market crash of October 1929 may have hastened the dissolution of their partnership, and Ralston moved back to Toronto, while Cameron continued to work under his own name in Windsor. He won the competition for the Essex County Court House in the town of Sandwich, Ont. in 1931, and continued to work until after 1950. Cameron died in Windsor, Ont. on 13 July 1959 (obit. and port. Windsor Star, 14 July 1959, 3; biog. Prominent Men of Canada, 1931-32, 446). A photographic portrait of Cameron was published in the Daily Commercial News [Toronto], 20 Oct. 1936, 1.
D.J. CAMERON (works in Windsor unless noted)
LEAMINGTON, ONT., factory for Imperial Tobacco Co. of Canada, 1918 (C.R., xxxii, 12 June 1918, 43)
WINDSOR-WALKERVILLE TECHNICAL SCHOOL, Giles Boulevard at Parent Avenue, a commission won in a competition, 1921-22; major addition, 1930 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 10 Aug. 1921, 3; Detroit Free Press, 29 July 1921, 7; C.R., xxxv, 23 Nov. 1921, 53, t.c.; xxxvi, 26 July 1922, 746-7, illus. & descrip.; xliv, 16 April 1930, 68; Const., xvi, Dec. 1923, 418-27, illus. & descrip.; Andrew Foot, Windsor Then & Now, 2021, 36-7, illus.)
WALKERVILLE, ONT., Bell Telephone Exchange, Lincoln Road at Huron Street, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 5 April 1922, 64)
CAMERON & RALSTON (works in Windsor unless noted)
SANDWICH, ONT., sanatorium for the Essex County Council, Prince Road, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 26 July 1922, 743, illus. & descrip.)
GALT, ONT., major addition and alterations to Galt Collegiate Institute, Water Street North, 1922-24 (C.R., xxxvi, 6 Sept. 1922, 52, t.c.)
KITCHENER, ONT., mausoleum at the public cemetery, 1923 (C.R., xxxvii, 14 Feb. 1923, 53)
WALKERVILLE, ONT., residence for Dr. Peter A. Dewer, Kildare Road, 1923 (C.R., xxxvii, 28 Feb. 1923, 50; Const., xix, April 1926, 128-9, illus. & descrip.)
BRANTFORD, ONT., mausoleum at the public cemetery, 1923 (C.R., xxxvii, 14 March 1923, 52)
BARTLET BUILDING, London Street West at Pelissier Street, 1924 (C.R., xxxviii, 11 June 1924, 61; dwgs. at Windsor Municipal Archives)
NIAGARA STREET, at Devonshire Road, residence for John Duck, c. 1925 (dwgs. at Windsor Municipal Archives)
PUCE, ONT., St. Andrew's Church, 1925 (Const., xix, June 1926, 198-99, illus. & descrip.)
FONTHILL, ONT., mausoleum, 1926 (C.R., xl, 12 May 1926, 58)
WOODSTOCK, ONT., mausoleum for Canada Mausoleums Ltd., 1926 (C.R., xl, 12 May 1926, 58)
AYLMER, ONT., mausoleum at the public cemetery, 1927 (C.R., xli, 9 March 1927, 64)
INGERSOLL, ONT., mausoleum at the public cemetery, Harris Street, 1927 (C.R., xli, 6 July 1927, 60, t.c.)
HAMILTON, ONT., mausoleum adjoining Woodland Cemetery, 1927-28 (C.R., xli, 6 July 1927, 60, t.c.; Const., xxi, Nov. 1928, 362-73, illus. & descrip.)
MAYFAIR PUBLIC SCHOOL, Chandler Road at Ypres Avenue, 1927 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 1 Oct. 1927, 7, illus.)
OWEN SOUND, ONT., mausoleum at Greenwood Cemetery, 1927-28 (C.R., xli, 5 Oct. 1927, 53; Owen Sound Daily Sun-Times, 30 April 1928, 5, illus. & descrip.; and 1 June 1923, 1 & 11, detailed architectural descrip.)
WALKERVILLE, ONT., 'Gray Gables', a residence for Frederick M. Allworth, Niagara Street at Kildare Road, 1927 (C.H.G., v, Feb. 1928, 33-5, illus.; April 1928, 44, illus.)
KITCHENER, ONT., mausoleum and Roman Catholic chapel at Woodland Cemetery, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 4 Jan. 1928, 50)
SANDWICH, ONT., John Richardson Branch Library, Wyandotte Street West, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 1 Feb. 1928, 46, t.c.; R.A.I.C. Journal, ix, Dec. 1932, 268-9, illus.)
WINDSOR TRUCK & STORAGE CO., Shepherd Street East at Windsor Avenue, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 29 Feb. 1928, 51)
ROSELAND GOLF CLUB, Dougall Avenue, clubhouse, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 4 April 1928, 53)
GRAHAM PAIGE MOTOR CAR CO., Wyandotte Street East, auto showroom, offices and garage, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 25 April 1928, 57; Detroit Free Press, 2 Sept. 1928, Section Five, 4, descrip.)
FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH, Victoria Avenue near Giles Boulevard, 1928 (dwgs. at Winsdor Municipal Archives, RG4, item 211)
GUELPH, ONT., mausoleum and chapel at Union Cemetery, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 16 May 1928, 62)
WALKERVILLE, ONT., residence for Mrs. E.N. Bartlett, Willistead Crescent, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 30 May 1928, 173)
WILLIAM C. KENNEDY COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE, Tecumseh Road East at McDougall Street, 1928-29 (C.R., xlii, 12 Sept. 1928, 52, t.c.; Windsor Daily Star, 6 July 1929, Section One, 5, illus.; Section Two, 8, illus.)
OTTAWA, ONT., mausoleum at Beechwood Cemetery, 1929-30 (C.R., xliii, 28 Aug. 1929, 58)
GREEN LAWN MEMORIAL CEMETERY, Talbot Road, mausoleum, 1929-30 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 2 Feb. 1929, Section One, 2, illus. in advert.; C.R., xliii, 11 Dec. 1929, 53, t.c.)
D.J. CAMERON (works in Windsor unless noted)
EAST WINDSOR, ONT., a nine room public school, Labadie Street, 1930, a commission won by Cameron in a competition with 9 other designs submitted (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 7 May 1930, 2, descrip.; Detroit Free Press, 12 May 1930, 19)
SANDWICH, ONT., Essex County Court House, Sandwich Street West, major addition, 1931 (R.A.I.C. Journal, viii, Feb. 1931, 56-7, illus. & descrip.)
WINDSOR PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION, two hydro electric sub-stations, 1941 (C.R., liv, 9 July 1941, 34, t.c.)
FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH, Tecumseh Road East, 1942 (dwgs. at Windsor Municipal Archives; RG4, item 212)
WINDSOR PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION, store house and garage, Howard Avenue at Tecumseh Road, 1946 (C.R., lix, Oct. 1946, 95)
BELL TELEPHONE EXCHANGE, Francis Road, 1949 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxvii, May 1950, 48, illus. in advert.)
COMPETITIONS
WINDSOR, ONT., John A. Campbell Public School, Hall Avenue at Tecumseh Road East, 1925. Cameron & Ralston were one of seven local architects who submitted designs for this large 24 room school (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 2 Sept. 1925, Section Two, p. 8, detailed analysis of competition). They were not among the five finalists. The winners were Nichols, Sheppard & Masson
WINDSOR, ONT., new Collegiate, Tecumseh Road East, between Mercer Street and Highland Avenue, 1925. Shortly after the competition noted above, the Board of Education staged another competition for public Collegiate School (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 21 Nov. 1925, 5). The winners were Cameron & Ralston, but the site was later occupied by H. Guppy Public School.
WALKERVILLE, ONT., Metropolitan General Hospital, Lens Avenue at Byng Road, 1926. The office of Cameron & Ralston was one of 8 local architects who competed for this job (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 27 Jan. 1926, 5). Their submission was passed over in favour of Pennington & Boyde.