MEAD, William Robert (1868-1938) was a partner with the talented Hamilton, Ont. architect W. Lawrence Munro (see list of works under Munro & Mead). Mead was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England in 1868 and articled there with the firm of Hall & Hopewell, Architects. He arrived in Canada before 1888 and was active in the Toronto Architectural Sketch Club where he served as Director of that organization (C.A.B., iii, Oct. 1890, 111). By 1889 he joined the office of G.M. Miller, a prominent Toronto architect, and was chief draftsman and assistant to Miller until 1903. It was there that he met W. Lawrence Munro, who was also employed by G.M. Miller in 1891-92. In early 1905 both Mead and Munro formed a partnership in Hamilton, Ont. (C.A.B., xviii, March 1905, 46). Mead lived and worked in that city for two years, but the success of their busy office prompted Mead to move to Toronto where they opened a branch on York Street in late 1906. Their firm continued to operate dual offices in both cities, with Munro serving clients in Hamilton, and Mead completing designs for projects in the Toronto area. It appears that Mead also accepted several commissions under his own name during this period, as Toronto building permit records show him as sole architect and applicant.
Mead was active briefly in Yorkton, Sask. in 1913 where the office of Munro & Mead established a branch in the Dracup Block (Yorkton Directory, 1913), but their attempt to obtain commissions was apparently unsuccessful, as no references to their work in Saskatchewan have been found. Mead returned to Toronto and the firm of Munro & Mead was dissolved by mutual consent in 1918. He then opened an office under his own name and remained active until c. 1930. Mead died in Toronto on 20 September 1938 (death notice Globe & Mail, 21 Sept. 1938, 24; obit. R.A.I.C. Journal, xv, Oct. 1938, 235; inf. Ontario Assoc. of Architects; Saskatchewan Assoc. of Architects). An early biography of Mead was published in the Brantford Expositor, 21 March 1905, 1, and describes the formation of the firm of Munro & Mead, Architects, and lists many of the projects which Mead was principal assistant while working for G.M. Miller in Toronto from 1889 to 1904 (inf. Robert Hamilton, of Hamilton, Ont.).
TORONTO
EAST TORONTO, a High School, 1906 (C.R., xvi, 10 Jan. 1906, 2, t.c.)
MARGARET EATON SCHOOL OF EXPRESSION, Bay Street near St. Mary's Street, 1906; demol. (Toronto b.p. 3517, 20 April 1906; Eric Arthur, Toronto: No Mean City, 1964, 230, illus.)
NORWAY, a public school, near Kingston Road and Woodbine Avenue, 1907 (C.R., xvii, 30 Jan. 1907, 2)
PALMERSTON BOULEVARD, at Herrick Street, residence for Caleb Evans, 1908 (Toronto b.p. 10893, 7 May 1908)
WILLIAM J. CRAIG CO., Victoria Street near Shuter Street, warehouse, 1909 (Toronto b.p. 15055, 4 May 1909)
RUSSELL HILL DRIVE, at Heath Street, residence for William J. Craig, 1911 (Toronto b.p. 26323, 13 April 1911)
LYNDHURST AVENUE, near Nina Street, residence for Edward Russell, 1911 (Toronto b.p. 27381, 22 May 1911)
LONSDALE ROAD, at Dunvegan Road, residence for Christopher N. Mills, 1924 (Toronto b.p. 69768, 16 April 1924; C.R., xxxviii, 30 April 1924, 68; Const., xviii, Sept. 1925, 19, illus. in advert.)
YONGE STREET, at Broadway Avenue, apartment block for W. Mead, 1927 (Toronto b.p. 96296, 7 March 1927)
WILKINS SMALLWARE CO. LTD., King Street East at Princess Street, store and warehouse, 1927 (Toronto b.p. A 291, 29 June 1927; Daily Commercial News [Toronto], 20 July 1927, 5; C.R., xli, 27 July 1927, 51; The Globe [Toronto], 5 Nov. 1927, 7, illus.)
CANADIAN GARAGES LTD., Bay Street near Edward Street, for L.A. DeLeplante, 1928 (Toronto b.p. B 1138, 31 Aug. 1928; C.R., xlii, 17 oct. 1928, 49; xliii, 9 Jan. 1929, 38-9, illus.)
NO. 36 YONGE STREET, renovations and a new facade for existing building, for Mr. DeLeplante, a conversion of the former Moffatt, Murray & Co. warehouse into offices, 1928; still standing in 2010 and now part of BCE Place (Toronto b.p. 9709, 1928; Toronto Daily Star, 3 Aug. 1928, 18, descrip.; BCE Development Co., The Spirit of Place, 1988, 10, illus. but lacking attribution to the architect)
ELSEWHERE
MARKHAM, ONT., restoration of the public school, 1906 (C.R., xvii, 25 April 1906, 2, t.c.)