Milligan, John

MILLIGAN, John (1774-1821) was active in Saint John, N.B. and must certainly rank among the first professional architects to practise in the Maritimes. Born in Dumfrieshire, Scotland he was active in Great Britain and the United States, and appears to have arrived in New Brunswick before 1820. He advertised his services as 'Architect & Civil Engineer' from his residence in St. James Street, Saint John, offering to prepare 'Plans, Sections and Elevations, furnished on the shortest notice, for every description of Building, from the splendid Mansion to the elegant Villa, or simple Cottage' (The Star [Saint John, N.B.], 7 Nov. 1820, 3, advert.). In his designs, he aimed 'to combine stability, elegance, simplicity and economy' and offered assiduous attention to business, stating that he has been employed in his professional line for several years in the United States. Works designed by him in the Saint John area have yet to be identified. His promising career was cut short when he died suddenly the following year on 1 May 1821 (Loyalists Centennial Souvenir - Inscriptions from the Old Burial Ground, 131). His name is absent from standard reference works on British architects by Howard Colvin, and no information can be found on his work in the United States (inf. Robert Boyce, Saint John).