CHESTERTON, Walter (1845-1931), a talented and highly underrated architect who lived and worked in Ottawa, and later became one of the first professional architects to practise in Manitoba. Born in Kensington, London, England on 11 June 1845, he was the son of Arthur Chesterton of Bickerton House, Kensington, and he was educated at St. Paul's School, and at King's College in London. In 1862, at the age of 17 years, he began an apprenticeship with the firm called Waller & Son, who are mistakenly referred to as “architects” in several published sources on Chesterson and his career in Canada. However, a detailed biography and list of works by Chesterton published in the Winnipeg Daily Tribune on 1 August 1891, page 13, states that he was “...articled to Messrs. Waller & Son, Lyall Street, Belgrave Square, London”. New research has revealed that this was not a firm of architects, but actually a company of Interior Decorators & Furniture Designers who catered to many wealthy clients in Belgravia and west London, and produced furniture designs in the fashionable Anglo-Japanese style. The Victoria & Albert Museum in London holds a copy of a large colour catalogue of their furniture production published in c. 1890, and it may be presumed that many of these designs were prepared by Chesterton and his colleagues during his tenure with the firm from 1862 to 1869.
Chesterton emigrated to Canada in 1869 and landed in Montreal where he obtained a position in the busy and successful office of Hopkins & Wily, Architects. It was John W. Hopkins who provided Chesterton with his first in-depth training and experience in architecture, and it was Hopkins who dispatched Chesterton to Ottawa to oversee the construction of their new design for the Bank of Montreal Building (1871-72). Chesterton found the social and cultural setting in Ottawa to his liking, and he decided to remain there and he opened his own office in Ottawa in May 1871. Over the next decade, he obtained more than a dozen commissions for residential, commercial, ecclesiastical and government buildings, but his major achievement was the refined Second Empire style design for the Post Office & Customs House in Ottawa (1872-75), an exceptional work which confirmed the status of Chesterton as a gifted architect and designer. The culmination of his Ottawa career came in 1880 when the Governor General, the Marquess of Lorne, put forward his name as a member of the newly founded Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, and Chesterton participated in their annual exhibitions at the Academy until 1887.
It is unclear why Chesterton decided to abandon his career in Ottawa in 1881 and move to Winnipeg, Manitoba, but the rapid growth of that city may have lured him to open an office there. He was briefly in partnership with Robert McNicol in 1881-83, as Chesterton & McNicol, but practised under his own name from 1883 onward. During the next twenty years, he obtained more than sixty commissions for institutional, ecclesiastical, commercial and residential works in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, many for prominent clients including Lord Brassey of England, the 1st Earl of Brassey, for the Anglican Bishop of Rupert's Land (Manitoba), and for the Anglican Bishop of Qu'Appelle (Saskatchewan). In addition, he was hired by wealthy Winnipeg businessmen including Henry N. Ruttan, Hugh M. Sutherland, and Walter J. Tupper to design large private residences in that city.
Chesterton closed his Winnipeg office in 1903 and returned to Ottawa; his last major architectural project was an elaborate competition entry for the new Palace of Peace in The Hague, Netherlands, 1905. He was one of over 200 architects from around the world who submitted proposals; his competitors included luminaries such as Otto Wagner (Vienna), Eliel Saarinen (Helsinki), and Carrere & Hastings (New York). The submission by Chesterton was among 44 semi-finalists, but was passed over by the jury in favour of the winning design by Louis M. Cordonnier of France. Fortunately, the original presentation drawings by Chesterton have survived, and are now held in the Picture Collection of the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa (NAC, Picture Collection, C 104976 to C 104991). Chesterton died in Ottawa on 13 November 1931 (obituary & port. Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 14 Nov. 1931, 1 & 10; obit. Ottawa Journal, 14 Nov. 1931, 1; biog. and list of works Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 1 August 1891, 13; biog. & port. C.A.B., x, Jan. 1897, 4; biog. and port. Ottawa Daily Citizen, 16 April 1927, Section Two, 33; E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts – Exhibitions and Members 1880-1979, pub. 1981, 71). Walter Chesterton was the uncle of Gilbert K. Chesterton (1874-1936) of London, the renowned writer, critic and philosopher.
WALTER CHESTERTON (works in Ottawa unless noted)
BISHOP'S CHAPEL, for the Anglican Bishop, Sussex Street, 1871, major additions and alterations to a former school erected 1860-61; burned 1912 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 17 May 1871, 2, t.c.; Free Press [Ottawa], 15 Nov. 1871, 3, descrip.)
F. McDOUGAL & CO., Elgin Street, block, 1871 (Free Press [Ottawa], 14 June 1871, 3, t.c.)
ST. GEORGE'S SOCIETY HALL, 1871 (Free Press [Ottawa], 21 July 1871, 3, descrip.)
POSTAL STATION & CUSTOMS HOUSE, Sparks Street at Wellington Street, 1872-75; demol. 1938 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 27 July 1872, 1, descrip.; Free Press [Ottawa], 13 April 1876, 4, descrip.; Canadian Illustrated News, viii, 19 July 1873, 37, 39, descrip. & illus.; xiv, 30 Sept. 1876, 183-4, illus. & descrip.; dwgs. at NAC, RG11M 80103/34)
(with William T. Thomas) OTTAWA COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE, Lisgar Street, 1874-75 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 20 Aug. 1875, 2, descrip.; 8 Dec. 1875, 2, descrip.)
STEWART STREET, residence for Frederick White, 1875 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 8 Dec. 1875, 2)
NEPEAN STREET, residence for Thomas Beament, 1875 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 8 Dec. 1875, 2)
WELLINGTON STREET, commercial block for H.K. Egan, 1875 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 8 Dec. 1875, 2)
METROPOLITAN METHODIST CHURCH, Metcalfe Street at Gloucester Street, 1879-81 (Free Press [Ottawa], 12 Aug. 1879, 4, descrip.; 4 Aug. 1880, 4, descrip.; 7 May 1881, 4, descrip.)
RIDEAU STREET, store for George Forde, 1879 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 20 Dec. 1879, 4)
CHRIST CHURCH ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL, Sparks Street, new pulpit, 1880 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 22 Dec. 1880, 4)
CHESTERTON & McNICHOL (works in Winnipeg unless noted)
WINNIPEG, MAN., row of houses on Kennedy Street for Drummond Bros. & Lewis, 1881 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 26 July 1881, 1, t.c.)
OGILVIE'S MILL, Higgins Avenue, 1881-82; addition, 1901 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 20 Sept. 1881, 1, descrip.; C.R., xiii, 6 Aug. 1902, 2)
WELLINGTON CRECENT, residence for H.N. Ruttan, 1881 (Winnipeg Daily Times, 4 Nov. 1881, 1, descrip.)
ROSLYN ROAD, residence for A.W. Ross, 1882; extensively altered by Chesterton in 1902 for Hugh Sutherland (Winnipeg Daily Times, 4 Nov. 1881, 1, descrip.; C.R., xiii, 17 Sept. 1902, 6)
RIVER AVENUE, residence for H.M. Drummond, 1882 (Winnipeg Daily Times, 4 Nov. 1881, 1, descrip.)
EASTERN JUDICIAL JAIL, York Avenue, 1881-82 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 13 Dec. 1881, 2, t.c.)
KENNEDY STREET, terrace of seven houses for Drummond Brothers & Lewis, 1882 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 30 Jan. 1882, 1, t.c.)
ST. ANDREW'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Stanley Street at Logan Avenue, 1882 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 31 Jan. 1882, 4, t.c.)
MAIN STREET, near Portage Avenue, block for Alexander McArthur, to be used by the Manitoba Investment Assoc. and the Scottish, Manitoba & North West Real Estate Assoc., 1882 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 7 Feb. 1882, 8, t.c.)
WINNIPEG OPERA HOUSE, Notre Dame Avenue at Adelaide Street, 1882; altered 1897; burned 1926 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 4 Feb. 1882, 8, t.c.; 28 Feb. 1882, 2, descrip.)
ST. BONIFACE WEST, residence for A.C. Killam, 1882 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 13 March 1882, 4, t.c.)
BRANDON, MAN., Westminster Hotel, Rosser Avenue at 18th Street, 1882 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 20 March 1882, 2)
DONALD STREET, at St. Mary Avenue, residence for John B. McKilligan, 1882 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 30 March 1882, 4, t.c.)
KILDONAN, MAN., residence for E.P. Leacock, Scotia Street, 1882 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 1 June 1882, 5, t.c.)
GARRY STREET, five houses for Boyle, Campbell & Co., 1882 (Winnipeg Daily Times, 9 Sept. 1882, 2, t.c.)
STONEWALL, MAN., Knox Presbyterian Church, 1883 (Neil Bingham, A Study of the Church Buildings in Manitoba, 1987, 217, illus.)
PIONEER AVENUE, block for McArthur, Boyle & Campbell, 1883 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 4 May 1883, 5, t.c.)
GRAHAM AVENUE, near Edmonton Street, terrace of three houses for McArthur, Boyle & Campbell, 1883 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 10 May 1883, 5, t.c.)
WALTER CHESTERTON (works in Winnipeg)
EDMONTON STREET, residence for Francis B. Robinson, 1885 (Evening News [Winnipeg], 16 Oct. 1885)
ASSINIBOINE AVENUE, at Edmonton Street, residence for J. Stewart Tupper, 1885; additions, 1901 (list of works in Winnipeg Tribune, 1 Aug. 1891, 13; C.R., xi, 23 May 1900, 4)
FORT OSBORNE BARRACKS, new Officer's Quarters, and large stables building, 1887 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 10 Sept. 1887, 4, descrip.)
DONALD STREET, near Graham Avenue, residence for William Hatton, 1887 (Manitoba Sun [Winnipeg], 12 Oct. 1888)
F.E. WELDON & CO., Portage Avenue at Donald Street, warehouse, 1889 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 20 Aug. 1889, 4, t.c.)
FORT ROUGE SCHOOL, River Avenue at Main Street, 1891; addition, 1897; demol. 1954 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 14 Oct. 1891, 8; C.R., viii, 22 April 1897, 2)
ASSINIBOINE AVENUE, residence for Ernest Stewart, 1891 (list of works in Winnipeg Tribune, 1 Aug. 1891, 13)
MANITOBA MEDICAL COLLEGE, McDermot Avenue, addition of North Wing and mansard roof for entire building, 1892; additions and alterations, 1894 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 27 May 1892, 5, descrip.; Winnipeg Tribune, 22 Aug. 1894, 5, descrip.; C.R., v, 26 April 1894, 2)
KENNEDY STREET, residence for Miss M.E. Rowan, 1892 (C.R., iii, 27 Aug. 1892, 2)
BROADWAY, at Edmonton Street, residence for W.W. McLeod, 1892 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 8 Oct. 1892, 6)
BROADWAY, at Carlton Street, residence for Fred W. Thompson, 1892 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 8 Oct. 1892, 3 and 6, illus)
LA BANQUE NATIONALE, Main Street at Portage Avenue, extensive interior alterations to existing building for a new bank branch, 1893 (Winnipeg Tribune, 30 March 1893, 4, descrip.)
EDMONTON STREET, residence for William A. Black, 1893 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 27 May 1893, 8, descrip.)
DONALD STREET, near Broadway, residence for George V. Hastings, 1893; demol. c. 1965 (C.R., iv, 29 June 1893, 2)
ASSINIBOINE AVENUE, near Edmonton Street, residence for Lauchlan A. Hamilton, 1894 (Winnipeg Tribune, 22 Aug. 1894, 5, descrip.; Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 3 Nov. 1894, 1, illus. & descrip.)
WINNIPEG HOTEL, Main Street near St. Mary's Avenue, new facade and major alterations, 1895 (C.R., vi, 29 Aug. 1895, 2; Winnipeg Tribune, 13 Feb. 1896, 5, descrip.; Winnipeg, 1990-The Year Past, 49-50, illus.)
ARMSTRONG'S POINT, residence for James R. Waghorn, Assiniboine Avenue, 1895 (Manitoba Morning Free Press [Winnipeg], 8 June 1895, 8, t.c.)
ST. JOHN'S ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL, St. John's Private Road, front tower and new roof, 1896 (C.R., vi, 28 May 1896, 2)
J.H. ASHDOWN LTD., Bannatyne Avenue, from Main Street to Albert Street, major alterations to hardware warehouse, 1896 (Winnipeg Tribune, 27 June 1896, 2, descrip.)
EAST GATE, Armstrong's Point, residence for William J. Tupper, 1896 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 18 July 1896, 8)
THE AUDITORIUM SKATING ARENA, Garry Street at York Street, 1897; burned March 1926 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 15 March 1926, 13, historical retrospective & descrip.)
OGILVIE MILLING CO., King Street at Alexander Street, new facade and major alterations to the Office Building, 1898 (Winnipeg Tribune, 23 April 1898, 1, descrip.)
OGILVIE MILLING CO., major improvements at the Mills, with new Mill office, new Boiler house, and a Machinery building, 1898 (Winnipeg Tribune, 23 April 1898, 1, descrip.)
BULMAN BROS., Bannatyne Avenue at Albert Street, warehouse, 1899 (Winnipeg Tribune, 10 April 1899, 8; 2 June 1899, 6, descrip.)
FORT ROUGE, residence for H.W. Husband, Roslyn Place, 1899 (Winnipeg Tribune, 31 May 1899, 8)
DONALD STREET, residence for George L. Lindsay, 1899 (C.R., x, 30 Aug. 1899, 3)
ASSINIBOINE AVENUE, residence for Rockley Kaye, 1901; demol. 1989 (C.R., xii, 1 May 1901, 5; Winnipeg, 1989-The Year Past, 61-2, illus.)
ROSLYN ROAD, residence for John F. Bain, 1901 (Winnipeg, 1981-The Year Past, 1982, 59-60, illus.)
CARLTON STREET, addition to residence for Hector Howell, 1902 (C.R., xiii, 2 April 1902, 2)
HAVERGAL LADIES COLLEGE, Carlton Street, major addition, 1902 (C.R., xiii, 2 April 1902, 3)
ROSLYN PLACE, residence for Douglas A. Clark, 1903 (C.R., xiii, 4 Feb. 1903, 3, t.c.)
WALTER CHESTERTON (works elsewhere in Manitoba)
BRANDON, MAN., Provincial Reformatory for Boys, 1889 (Brandon Mail, 4 July 1889, 1, descrip.; Brandon Sun, 11 July 1889, 5, illus. & descrip.; 26 June 1890, 1, descrip.; Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 21 June 1890, 5, illus. & descrip.)
BRANDON, MAN., Imperial Bank, 1890 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 19 April 1890, 5)
(with W.H. Shillinglaw) BRANDON, MAN., Fleming Block, Rosser Avenue, 1890 (Weekly Sun [Brandon], 24 April 1890, 5, t.c.; Brandon Mail, 5 May 1892, 4; Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 19 Dec. 1890, 14, descrip.)
STONEWALL, MAN., Public School, 1891 (list of works in Winnipeg Tribune, 1 Aug. 1891, 13; M. Farmer, Stonewall: Turning A Century, 1978, 8, illus.)
VIRDEN, MAN., St. Mary's Anglican Church, 9th Avenue South at Queen Street West, 1891; still standing in 2023 (list of works in Winnipeg Tribune, 1 Aug. 1891, 13; Brandon Mail, 19 Nov. 1891, 2, t.c.)
VIRDEN, MAN., Public School, 1892; demol. 1956 (Winnipeg Tribune, 29 March 1892, 4)
GLENBORO, MAN., Public School, 1892 (Winnipeg Tribune, 5 April 1892, 4, t.c.)
MIDDLE CHURCH, MAN., Anglican parsonage for Rev. James Page, 1893 (C.R., iv, 16 Feb. 1893, 1)
VIRDEN, MAN., two stores for John Caine, 1893 (Winnipeg Tribune, 3 April 1893, 8; Virden Chronicle, 11 Jan. 1894, 1, descrip.)
SELKIRK, MAN., Asylum for the Insane, chapel and recreation hall, 1899 (C.R., x, 5 July 1899, 3, t.c.)
MANITOU, MAN., Anglican Church, Hamilton Street near Park Avenue, 1903; still standing in 2023 (C.R., xiv, 11 March 1903, 3, t.c.)
MANITOU, MAN., Normal School, 1903 (Western Canadian [Manitou], 11 March 1903, 1)
WALTER CHESTERTON (works in Saskatchewan)
REGINA, SASK., Union School, 1889-90; demol. 1910 (Regina Leader, 18 Feb. 1890, 1, illus. & descrip.)
REGINA, SASK., Indian Industrial School, 1890-91 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 19 April 1890, 5)
FORT QU'APPELLE, SASK., master plan for a village for Lord Brassey's colony, 1892 (Winnipeg Tribune, 1 Oct. 1892, 8)
INDIAN HEAD, SASK., St. John's Anglican Church, 1894-95; demol. 1912 and replaced by a new Anglican church (C.R., v, 5 July 1894, 1; Canadian Churchman [Toronto], 15 Aug. 1895, 491, descrip.; Qu'Appelle Vidette [Fort Qu'Appelle], 21 Nov. 1895, 4)
INDIAN HEAD, SASK., residence for the Anglican Bishop of Qu'Appelle, 1895 (Nor' Wester [Winnipeg], 8 May 1895, 5; Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 8 May 1895, 8, descrip.; Winnipeg Tribune, 5 Aug. 1895, 8)
INDIAN HEAD, SASK., additions to 'The Home', for the Lord Brassey, 1895 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 8 May 1895, 8; Qu'Appelle Vidette [Fort Qu'Appelle], 16 May 1895, 4; C.R., vi, 16 May 1895, 2)
INDIAN HEAD, SASK., hospital, rectory, school, and servant's home, 1895 (Manitoba Morning Free Press [Winnipeg], 8 June 1895, 8; C.R., vi, 5 Sept. 1895, 2)
WHITEWOOD, SASK., St. Mary's Anglican Church, Lalonde Street near 4th Avenue, 1897; still standing in 2023 (Winnipeg Tribune, 28 June 1897, 5; M. Hrynink & F. Korvemaker, Legacy of Stone, 2008, 184-87, illus. & descrip.)
SINTALUTA, SASK., St. John The Baptist Anglican Church, Herbert Avenue at Marion Street, 1899; still standing in 2023 (Anglican Diocese of Qu'Appelle, Occasional Paper No. 59, Feb. 1900, 11-12; M. Hrynink & F. Korvemaker, Legacy of Worship: Sacred Places in Rural Saskatchewan, 2014, 239, illus., but lacking attribution to the architect)
REGINA, SASK., J.I. Case Threshing Co., Broad Street North, warehouse, 1903 (C.R., xiv, 11 March 1903, 3)
COMPETITIONS
OTTAWA, ONT., City Hall, 1874. Chesterton had entered the initial competition for this major institutional project in 1872 and Silas James had been awarded First Premium. This winning scheme was later rejected as too costly, and Chesterton entered the 1874 competition with a design 'in the early French Gothic style' (The Times [Ottawa], 16 April 1874, 2, descrip.). Again his proposal was set aside, this time in favour of the plans submitted by Horsey & Sheard.
FREDERICTON, N.B., Legislative Building, 1879. Chesterton was among the fourteen competitors but his scheme was not premiated and J.C. Dumaresq was awarded First Prize. The following year Chesterton exhibited his design at the inaugural exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy (Ottawa Free Press, 8 March 1880, 2).
WINNIPEG, MAN., Civic Court House and Jail. Chesterton received First Premium for his plan of the City Jail, but his proposal for the new Court House was given Second Prize as the jury favoured another design by C.O. Wickenden (Manitoba Free Press, 28 July 1881, 1)
WINNIPEG, MAN., Holy Trinity Church, 1882. This scheme, submitted by Chesterton & McNichol, was one of nearly twenty proposals offered for this commission. Their plan was 'based on the cathedral type, adapted as far as possible to the necessities of the climate', and was awarded a Second Prize (description in the Winnipeg Daily Sun, 31 March 1883, 1). The design submitted by Charles Wheeler was eventually built.
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MAN., Home For Incurables, 1889. Chesterton was one of three Winnipeg architects who prepared plans for this complex. The juror Hugh McCowan noted that in Chesterton's scheme 'the general planning of this design is good...but it has some objectionable features', and the commission was awarded to Charles Wheeler (MAA, RG18, A2, Box 7, Jury Report).
BRANDON, MAN., General Hospital, 1891. Chesterton was one of eight architects from Brandon, Medicine Hat, Winnipeg and Ontario who submitted a design in this competition (Brandon Mail, 8 Jan. 1891, 5). He was awarded Second Prize, but the winner was W.R. Marshall of Brandon.
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS, Palace of Peace, 1905-06. This important international competition, sponsored by Andrew Carnegie, attracted 216 entries from leading architects around the world. Chesterton submitted an uninspired and rambling Beaux-Arts design which was not premiated, and the commission was awarded to Louis M. Cordonnier of France (Montreal Daily Star, 1 Oct. 1910, 8, detailed descrip. of winning design; H. Haagsma, Architects in Competition, 1988, Vol. 1, 105-14, illus.). The full set of watercolour drawings submitted by Chesterton survives in the Picture Collection of the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa (NAC, Picture Coll., C 104976 to C 104991).