JONES, William Francis (1881-1947) was active in Vancouver from 1908 until 1924. He was born at Aberdovey, North Wales, England on 24 September 1881 and articled with Frank H. Shapler of Shropshire from 1896 until 1900. He emigrated to Canada in 1903 and worked briefly in Winnipeg before moving to Vancouver in 1904. He began his own practise there in 1908 and the following year designed the Balmoral Apartments, 1909; demol. 1978. In 1910 he formed a partnership with Walter M. Thornton, but by 1914 he was again working under his own name (see list of works under Thornton & Jones). One of his largest commissions after WWI was the Richmond Municipal Hall, Lulu Island, RICHMOND, B.C., 1919-20; demol. His increasing interest and preoccupation with agricultural research and dairy farming led him to organize Brooksbank Laboratories in 1924, and he appears to have abandoned the profession of architecture after this time. He died in Vancouver on 10 March 1947 (obituary in The Province [Vancouver], 12 March 1947, 13; biography in Who's Who in British Columbia, 1942-43, 171; D. Luxton, Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 470, 507).
VANCOUVER, B.C., Balmoral Apartments, Thurlow Street, 1909; damaged by fire July 1920; demol. 1978 (Vancouver Sun, 7 July 1920, 3; dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Point Grey Municipal Building, West Boulevard, 1909; demol. 1950 (dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
EBURNE, B.C., a three storey block for the I.O.O.F. Lodge No. 24, 1909 (Vancouver Daily World, 1 April 1909, 12)
RICHMOND, B.C., Richmond Municipal Hall, Lulu Island, 1919-20; demol. (British Columbia Record [Vancouver], 3 Nov. 1919, 2)
LADYSMITH, B.C., major alterations and improvements to the Ladysmith Hotel, for Mrs. Stevens, 1921-22 (Cumberland Islander, 3 Dec. 1921, 6)
CHILLIWACK, B.C., large farm residence for F.H. Barton, near Chilliwack, B.C., which was "...designed along English lines" (Chilliwack Progress, 3 Aug. 1922, 1, descrip.)