METHVEN, John (1884-1948), born in Dundee, Scotland on 12 June 1884 He attended the Edinburgh College of Art in 1905-08 and articled under Sir Rowand Anderson, a leading architect and educator in that city. Methven emigrated to Canada in 1915 or 1916 and opened an office under his own name in Chatham, Ont. (Chatham City Directory, 1917, 182). He designed a variety of residential, commercial and industrial buildings in Chatham and surrounding Kent County, and was associate architect for the International Harvester Co. assembly plant. Methven died in Chatham, Ont. on 1 November 1948 (obit. Chatham Daily News, 2 Nov. 1948; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxv, Dec. 1948, 462; inf. Ontario Association of Architects)
(works in Chatham unless noted)
QUEEN MARY SCHOOL, Queen Street near Patterson Avenue, major addition and alterations, 1917 (C.R., xxxi, 16 May 1917, 48, t.c.)
PARK STREET UNITED CHURCH, Park Street at Dufferin Avenue, major addition of a parish hall with gymnasium, auditorium and Sunday School, 1927; still standing in 2022 (C.R., xli, 8 June 1927, 52)
ELLWOOD AVENUE, residence for Wilfrid H. Seeley, 1927 (Const., xxi, Sept. 1928, 313-15, 319, illus. & descrip.)
KING STREET WEST, near Lacroix Street, residence for Samuel M. Glenn, 1927-28 (Const., xxi, Dec. 1928, 417-19, illus. & descrip.)
CHATHAM DAILY NEWS CO., 4th Street, remodelling and alterations to office building, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 3 July 1929, 63, t.c.)
CHATHAM HOTEL, 5th Street, for J.B. Kerr, 1933-34 (C.R., xlvii, 12 July 1933, 40, t.c.; xlviii, 24 Jan. 1934, 67)
WILLIAM STREET, warehouse and showroom for an unnamed client, 1938 (C.R., li, 11 May 1938, 33)
WALLACEBURG, ONT., warehouse for Mirwin Stores, Wellington Street, 1938-39 (C.R., li, 9 Nov. 1938, 29)
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER CO. LTD., Grand Avenue, a large new factory, office, and vehicle assembly plant, 1947 (Financial Post [Toronto], 24 May 1947, 9)