BOND, Charles Herbert Acton (1869-1924), a talented yet underrated architect active in Toronto from 1898 to 1914. Bond was born in Chelsea, London, England on 20 June 1869, he studied in the Dept. of Art & Science at the South Kensington School. In early 1886 he worked as an office assistant to William Hunt (1854-1943), an architect in London, and then emigrated to Canada with his father and mother. He arrived in Toronto in August 1886 and in the following month he signed a Indenture Agreement with the firm of Langley & Burke for a three-year term as an apprentice in their busy Toronto office. On completing his training, he continued to work in their office until 1891, then joined the firm of Darling, Curry, Sproatt & Pearson, an early iteration of the practise which later became Darling & Pearson, one of the leading architectural firms in Toronto.
In November 1891 he was compelled to resign his position as Secretary of the Toronto Architectural Sketch Club when he decided to move to Hamilton, Ont. and joined the office of James Balfour (C.A.B., iv, Nov. 1891, page x). By early 1893 he was working as draftsman in St. John’s, Newfoundland, helping John Pearson (of Darling, Sproatt & Pearson) with the rebuilding of the city after the Great Fire there in July 1892 (see item on Bond in C.A.B., vi, April 1893, 47). Not satisfied with his training in Toronto, Hamilton and in Newfoundland, Bond moved to New York City in 1893 to enroll in courses in architecture at Columbia University. During the next five years, he studied there and worked for Arnold W. Brunner, a prominent architect in New York who is still remembered today for the Brunner Prize in Architecture, awarded annually by the American Academy of Arts & Letters. He also assisted in the office of Francis H. Kimball, the designer of the first steel and iron-framed skyscraper in that city (Manhattan Life Building, 1893).
Armed with a firm grounding in design from architects in Toronto, Hamilton and New York City, Bond returned to Toronto in 1897 and opened an office in a new partnership with S. Fleming Smith (C.A.B., x, June 1897, 108). During the next 15 years, the firm of Bond & Smith was both successful and remarkably prolific, designing major institutional, ecclesiastical, commercial, industrial and residential projects in southern Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and in Nova Scotia.
Bond was adept at using a variety of eclectic styles for his major works in Toronto, including the Romanesque Revival for the Consumer’s Gas Co. warehouse on Parliament Street (1898; still standing 2016), and a refined Beaux-Arts style which he employed with skill in white terra-cotta façade for the Union Bank, Danforth Avenue at Pape Avenue (1913, still standing 2023, and now a branch of The Royal Bank of Canada). He also made use of the fashionable Edwardian style for his residential designs of large private houses in the Rosedale, Forest Hill and Annex neighbourhoods of the city. Their firm also holds the distinction of being the only Canadian architectural office to design the complete interiors of not just one, but four different passenger steam ships which sailed throughout the Great Lakes. Commissioned by the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Co., this included the design of complete public rooms, furniture, and interiors of the vessels called “The Cayuga“, “The Kingston“, “The Toronto“, and “The Montreal“. Extensive photographic coverage of their designs for these marine vessels was published in The Canadian Architect & Builder, and in the journal Construction (see list of works below).
The partnership of Bond & Smith ended in 1914 when Smith went overseas to serve during WWI, and Bond appears to have virtually retired from active practise, and only two works by him have been located from the period of 1919-20. Much of his time during the period after 1914 was taken up with professional duties. He served as President of the Toronto Society of Architects from 1906 to 1910, and he held an unprecedented six-year long term as President of the Ontario Association of Architects from 1913 to 1919. He was also elected to the Royal Canadian Academy in 1909. Bond died suddenly at the age of 55 years on 29 April 1924 while undergoing medical treatment at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto (obituary The Globe [Toronto], 30 April 1924, 15; Toronto Telegram, 29 April 1924, 19; Daily Mail & Empire [Toronto], 30 April 1924, 2; obit. Engineering & Contract Record [Toronto], xxxviii, 7 May 1924, 462; R.A.I.C. Journal, i, June 1924, 70; biog. H. Morgan, Canadian Men & Women of the Time, 1912, 117; Who’s Who & Why in Canada, 1915-16, 764; biog. Jesse Middleton, The Municipality of Toronto, iii, 1923, 234). A photographic portrait of Bond was published in the journal Construction, vi, Nov. 1913, 433.
BOND & SMITH (Commercial & Industrial Works in Toronto unless noted)
CONSUMER'S GAS CO., Parliament Street near The Esplanade, retort house, 1898 (Toronto b.p. 166, 25 May 1898; C.R., ix, 15 June 1898, 6)
TURKISH BATHS, Terauley Street, 1899; demol. (C.R., x, 8 March 1899, 3; Globe [Toronto], Saturday Edition, 29 April 1899, 5, illus. & descrip.)
UNION BANK, Wellington Street West near Yonge Street, major addition, 1899; dismantled 1988 (C.A.B., xiii, April 1900, illus.; Toronto Architectural Eighteen Club Catalogue, 1901, 123, illus.; Toronto Daily Star, 23 June 1905, Industrial Edition Supplement, 24, illus.)
STOUFVILLE, ONT., factory for the Stoufville Pork Packing Co., 1899 (C.R., x, 1 Nov. 1899, 3, t.c.)
SUSSEX, N.B., Bank of Nova Scotia, 1900 (C.R., xi, 27 June 1900, 3; inf. from Bank of Nova Scotia Archives, Toronto)
NORTH SYDNEY, N.S., Bank of Nova Scotia, 1901 (C.R., xii, 24 April 1901, 5; dwgs. at Bank of Nova Scotia Archives, Toronto)
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I., Bank of Nova Scotia, Richmond Street at Great George Street, 1901 (C.R., xii, 7 Aug. 1901, 4; Morning Guardian [Charlottetown], 5 Sept. 1901, 8, descrip.)
CITY STORAGE & CARTAGE CO., College Street, east of Spadina Avenue, warehouse for Mr. Frazee, 1902; demol. 2014 (Toronto b.p. 123, 24 April 1902; Toronto Architectural Conservancy, College Street: A Study - Part One, 2012, 21-23, illus. & descrip.)
T.N. SAMPSON DRUGS, Dundas Street West at Dufferin Street, store and residence, 1902 (Toronto b.p. 121, 30 June 1902)
PETERBOROUGH, ONT., Ontario Bank, Simcoe Street at Water Street, addition and alterations, 1903 (C.R., xiv, 8 April 1903, 2, t.c.)
NIAGARA FALLS, ONT., office building for the Toronto & Niagara Power Co., Victoria Park, 1903 (C.A.B., xvi, Dec. 1903, illus.; Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1912, 69, illus.)
MERCHANTS DYEING & FINISHING CO., York Street north of Front Street West, warehouse, 1904 (Toronto b.p. 574, 1 June 1904)
MASON & RISCH PIANO CO., King Street West near Bathurst Street, factory, 1905 (Toronto b.p. 2038, 13 Sept. 1905)
COOKSTOWN, ONT., Union Bank, 1906 (C.R., xvii, 26 Sept. 1906, 5)
ST. CATHARINES, ONT., Sovereign Bank, St. Paul Street at St. James Street, 1907 (C.R., xviii, 1 May 1907, 6; Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1909, 17)
GODERICH, ONT., Sterling Bank, 1907 (C.R., xviii, 1 May 1907, 6)
HUNTER, ROSE & CO., Sheppard Street, warehouse, 1907 (Toronto b.p. 8575, 23 July 1907; Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1909, 17)
IMPERIAL EXTRACT CO., Matilda Street at Steiner Street, factory, 1909 (Toronto b.p. 15736, 7 June 1909)
WILLIAM DAVIES CO., Front Street East at Beachall Street, warehouse, 1909 (Toronto b.p. 16238, 6 July 1909; Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1909, 17)
ST. STEPHEN, N.B., Bank of Nova Scotia, 1910 (dwgs. at Bank of Nova Scotia Archives, Toronto)
MASON & RISCH PIANO CO., Yonge Street near Albert Street, a 6 storey retail store and warehouse, 1910; demol. c. 1974 (Toronto Star Weekly, 30 July 1910, 24; Const., iv, March 1911, 77-81, illus. & descrip.; Oct. 1911, 64-73, illus. & descrip.; Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1912, 49, 57, 115, illus.)
LANGMUIR MFR. CO., King Street West at Niagara Street, factory, 1910 (Toronto b.p. 23615, 4 Oct. 1910)
CONDUITS CO., Radenhurst Street east of River Street, factory, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 1 Nov. 1911, 62)
BRIGDEN'S LTD., Richmond Street West near York Street, engraving factory, 1911-12; demol. c. 1970 (C.R., xxvi, 3 April 1912, 52-3, illus. & descrip.; Const., v, Dec. 1912, p. 12, illus. in advert; vi, March 1913, 94-6, illus. & descrip.)
WELLINGTON STREET WEST, near Bay Street, warehouse for James Manning, 1912; demol. 1972 (Toronto b.p. 34883, 14 June 1912)
HERMANT BUILDING, Dundas Square at Victoria Street, for the Imperial Optical Co., 1913 (C.R., xxvii, 26 Feb. 1913, 68; Const., vii, April 1914, 141, illus.)
UNION BANK [now the Royal Bank of Canada], Danforth Avenue at Pape Avenue, 1913; facade restored 2019 (Toronto b.p. 4285, 17 May 1913; dwgs. at Royal Bank Archives, Montreal)
HAMILTON, ONT., Bank of Nova Scotia, King Street East near John Street, a three storey bank, 1913; altered 1953; still standing in 2023 (H. Lister, Hamilton, Canada: Its History, Commerce, Industries & Resources, 1913, 256, illus.; inf. from Bank of Nova Scotia Archives; inf. Robert Hamilton)
PETERBOROUGH, ONT., Barries Fur Co. Ltd., George Street, factory, 1915 (C.R., xxix, 13 Jan. 1915, 54, t.c.)
CARSWELL LTD., Adelaide Street West near York Street, 1918-19; demol. (Const., xiii, Jan. 1920, 50-4, illus. & descrip.)
WHITE SHOE CO., Wellington Street West near Yonge Street, 1919 (inf. from Toronto Historical Board)
BOND & SMITH (Institutional & Ecclesiastical Works in Toronto unless noted)
The 'CITY OF TORONTO', the 'CAYUGA', the 'KINGSTON', and the 'MONTREAL', for the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Co., the complete design of interiors, furniture and decoration for four steam ships serving the Great Lakes from the port of Toronto, 1898-99 (C.R., ix, 9 Nov. 1898, 3; C.A.B., xii, Sept. 1899, illus.; xiii, April 1900, illus.; Const., iv, Aug. 1911, 65-76, illus. & descrip.; Charles C. Hill, edit., Artists, Architects & Artisans - Canadian Art 1890-1918, 2013, 145-46, illus. & descrip.)
ST. CLEMENT'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Brooklyn Avenue near Queen Street East, 1898-99 (Canadian Churchman [Toronto], 20 Oct. 1898, 637, descrip.; C.A.B., xiii, Nov. 1900, illus.; J.R. Roberston, Landmarks of Toronto, iv, 109-110, illus. & descrip.)
OTTAWA, ONT., large addition to residence for Sir Sanford Fleming, Chapel Street, 1898 (C.R., ix, 15 June 1898, 4)
ALL SAINT'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Sherbourne Street at Dundas Street East, new Club Hall, 1902 (Toronto b.p. 419, 23 Sept. 1902)
NIAGARA FALLS, ONT., Refectory Building, Queen Victoria Park, 1903-04 (C.R., xiv, 7 Oct. 1903, 4; Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 12 March 1904, 8; Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1909, 17)
NIAGARA FALLS, ONT., Christ Church (Anglican), River Road, new Sunday School and Parish Hall, 1905-06 (C.R., xv, 1 March 1905, 2; Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 20 Oct. 1906, 5)
PORT HOPE, ONT., St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Walton Street, 1905-06 (C.R., xvi, 21 June 1905, 1, t.c.; Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1909, 17)
REFORMED CHURCH OF CHRIST, Soho Street near Queen Street West, 1906; demol. 2001 (Toronto b.p. 5611, 13 Oct. 1906)
NIAGARA FALLS, ONT., King Edward Memorial Nurses' Home, 1911 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 21 April 1911, 2, t.c.)
NIAGARA FALLS, ONT., Imperial Order of Foresters Lodge, Ontario Avenue at Queen Street, 1914-15 (C.R., xxviii, 2 Sept. 1914, 72; Evening Review [Niagara Falls], 4 Nov. 1914, 1)
BOND & SMITH (Residential Works in Toronto unless noted)
PETERBOROUGH, ONT., row of eight houses for Sir Sanford Fleming, 1897 (C.A.B., x, Aug. 1897, 147 and illus. plate; C.R., viii, 21 Oct. 1897, 3)
LOWTHER AVENUE, west of Avenue Road, for Frederick J. Campbell, 1898 (C.R., ix, 21 Sept. 1898, 3)
OTTAWA, ONT., for Sir Sandford Fleming, Chapel Street, 1898 (C.R., ix, 27 July 1898, 3)
WILSON AVENUE, Parkdale, near King Street West, for Arthur E. Hill, 1899 (C.R., x, 19 April 1899, 4)
WILLCOCKS STREET, near Huron Street, for Charles H. Westwood, 1899; demol. (Toronto Architectural Eighteen Club Catalogue, 1901, 97, illus.; 1902, 109, illus.)
BATHURST STREET, near Ulster Street, pair of houses for John E. Webb, 1900 (Toronto b.p. 284, 31 Oct. 1900)
PRINCE ARTHUR AVENUE, near Bedford Road, for James E. Jones, 1901 (Toronto b.p. 161, 10 April 1901; Toronto Architectural Eighteen Club Catalogue, 1902, 109, illus.; C.A.B., xvi, May 1903, illus.)
BERNARD AVENUE, near Bedford Road, for Frank Fleming, 1901 (Toronto Daily Star, 19 Feb. 1902, 4; Toronto Architectural Eighteen Club Catalogue, 1902, 89, 93, illus.; C.A.B., xv, July 1902, illus.)
INDIAN GROVE ROAD, near Howard Park Avenue, for George A. Howell, 1901 (C.R., xii, 29 May 1901, 4; Toronto Architectural Eighteen Club Catalogue, 1901, 44, illus.)
MARION STREET, near Roncesvalles Avenue, for Emerson B. Biggar, 1902 (Toronto b.p. 64, 4 April 1902)
BRUNSWICK AVENUE, north of Bloor Street West, for Hugh White, 1903 (C.A.B., xvii, May 1904, illus.)
BRUNSWICK AVENUE, north of Bloor Street West, for Geoffrey T. Clarkson, 1904 (Toronto b.p. 514, 21 May 1904)
SPADINA ROAD, near Lowther Avenue, for Thomas Woodbridge, 1904 (Toronto b.p. 751, 24 June 1904)
BALMORAL AVENUE, near Avenue Road, for James W. Barry, 1905 (Toronto b.p. 887, 16 May 1905; Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1909, 17)
SPRINGHURST AVENUE, near King Street West, for John R. McDonald, 1905 (Toronto b.p. 974, 30 May 1905)
BALMORAL AVENUE, at Avenue Road, for John Billings Jr., 1905 (Toronto b.p. 982, 31 May 1905)
SPADINA ROAD, at Bloor Street West, for Mrs. Ellen Bertram, 1905; demol. (Toronto b.p. 10l9, 3 June 1905; Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1909, 17)
PRINCE ARTHUR AVENUE, near Bedford Road, for Lt. Col. Clarence A. Denison, 1905 (Toronto b.p. 2203, 5 Oct. 1905)
AVENUE ROAD, at Heath Street, for Duncan MacDonald, 1906 (C.A.B., xix, Dec. 1906, 181 and illus.; dwgs. at OA, Horwood Coll.)
POPLAR PLAINS ROAD, near Schiller Avenue, for Eugene Coste, 1906 (Toronto b.p. 3278, 2 April 1906; Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1909, 17)
POPLAR PLAINS ROAD, near Schiller Avenue, for John K. McMaster, 1906 (Toronto b.p. 3406, 11 April 1906; Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1909, 17)
GLEN ROAD, near Elm Avenue, for F.J. Smale, 1906 (Toronto b.p. 3634, 28 April 1906)
ST. CATHERINES, ONT., large residence for D.B. Crombie, College Place at Yates Street, 1906 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 10 Aug. 1906, 8, detailed descrip.). This may be the same residence in St. Catharines listed below in c. 1908, and illustrated in the Toronto architectural journal called Construction, vol. 3, July 1910, 98-100, illus..
FOREST HILL ROAD, at Heath Street, for Thomas Allen, 1907 (Toronto b.p. 7124, 22 April 1907)
POPLAR PLAINS ROAD, opposite Cottingham Street, for Charles Cambie, 1907 (Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1909, 115, illus; Const., iii, July 1910, 95-6, illus.)
DAVENPORT ROAD, near Ossington Avenue, for Capt. James C. Royce, 1907 (Const., i, Oct. 1907, 52, illus)
GRENVILLE STREET, near Yonge Street, for John F. Lash, 1908 (Toronto Society of Architects Exhibit Catalogue, 1909, 17)
TORONTO ISLAND, for Amelius Jarvis, '.......on the Goad Property, east of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club', 1908 (Toronto b.p. 10044, 4 March 1908)
ST. CATHARINES, ONT., for Albert W. Taylor, Yates Street at College Street, c. 1908 (Const., iii, July 1910, 98-100, illus.)
GLEN ROAD, near South Drive, for G. Franklin McFarland, 1909 (C.R., xxii, 30 Dec. 1908, 27; Const., iii, July 1910, 89, 91, illus.)
EDGAR AVENUE, for Gabriel T. Somers, 1909 (Toronto b.p. 18411, 27 Nov. 1909)
DUNVEGAN ROAD, near Heath Street West, for William E.H. Carter, 1910 (Const., iii, July 1910, 92-3, illus.)
WARREN ROAD, for John M. Hedley, 1910 (Const., iii, July 1910, 92, 94, illus.)
RUSSELL HILL ROAD, near St. Clair Avenue West, for Walter B. Brumell, 1910 (Const., iii, July 1910, 92-3, illus.)
BALMORAL AVENUE, for James W. Barry, 1910 (Const., iii, July 1910, 94-5, illus.)
ADMIRAL ROAD, near St. George Street, for Charles Bonnick, 1910 (Const., iii, July 1910, 97, illus.)
DUNVEGAN ROAD, near Lonsdale Road, for George Brigden, 1911 (Const., v, Jan. 1912, 78-81, illus.)
PARKWOOD AVENUE, near St. Clair Avenue West, for Ernest W. Turner, 1912 (Toronto b.p. 33855, 11 May 1912)
DUNVEGAN ROAD, near Lonsdale Road, for Zebulon G. Lash, 1912 (Toronto b.p. 766, 1 Nov. 1912)
FOREST HILL ROAD, near Lonsdale Road, for Dr. Edward M. Hooper, 1914 (Toronto b.p. 8982, 27 Jan. 1914)
COMPETITIONS
TORONTO, ONT., "Design for a Town House Costing $2,500", a design competition staged by the Canadian Architect & Builder magazine, 1888. Bond received 4th Prize for his drawings submitted under the pseudonym "Gamut" (C.A.B., i, May 1888, 3). The winner was J.C.B. Horwood of Toronto (inf. Harry T. Holman, Charlottetown)
TORONTO, ONT., Design for a Workman's Cottage, 1889. This open competition was sponsored by the Canadian Manufacurer's Association, and the entry by Bond was published in the Canadian Architect & Builder, ii, November 1889, plate illus. It is not known who the winner was.
TORONTO, ONT., Design for A Window in a Distinctive Style, 1891. Bond received First Prize in the Senior Division in this competition sponsored by the Toronto Architectural Sketch Club (C.A.B., iv, Feb. 1891, 24, illus.). The juror for the competition was his employer Frank Darling.