AIRD, James Albert (1885-1935), served as the chief draftsman in the Montreal office of Ross & MacDonald from 1907 until his retirement, and in this position he organized and administered what was the largest architectural office in Canada in its time. He distinguished himself in 1924 when his design for the DOMINION SQUARE WAR CENOTAPH, MONTREAL, was awarded first prize in an architectural competition and was erected the following year (Montreal Daily Star, 29 April 1924, 11; Const., xvii, June 1924, 210). Encouraged by this success, both he and Robert Heughan, another staff member from the office of Ross & MacDonald, submitted an entry in the international competition for the National War Memorial in Ottawa (Ottawa Journal, 1 Feb. 1926, 3). Their proposal was among over one hundred designs sent in, and they were fortunate enough to be among the seven finalists, but their scheme was later set aside in favour of the winning entry from Vernon March, a sculptor from London, England.
Aird received his early training in Montreal under Eric Mann in 1897 and 1898, and studied in private college for one year before becoming indentured to Alexander F. Dunlop for four years and then serving as his head draftsman from 1903 to 1907. He became an associate of Royal Institute of British Architects in 1911, and later died in Pointe Claire, Que. on 9 April 1935 (obituary in the R.A.I.C. Journal, xii, April 1935, 68; inf. R.I.B.A., London)