MORIN, Pierre Louis (1811-1886) was active in the province of Quebec as an architect, surveyor and illustrator. Born at Nonancourt, France on 21 February 1811, he studied at the Grand Seminary at Chartres, and later traveled to Greenland in the company of Monseigneur Provencher. From there, their ship travelled to Hudson’s Bay, landing at York Factory, Manitoba on 17 December 1836. Morin spent nearly a year in St. Boniface, Manitoba (now part of Winnipeg), then moved to Montreal where he lived and worked. By 1839 he had accepted his first architectural commission, and the following year he advised on the design of the tower and steeple for the church at Laprairie, Que., as well as overseeing interior improvements and alterations inside Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal. In 1842 his name was connected with the design of churches in Joliette, and at Beauharnois, Que. His influence reached as far as Kingston, Ont. where he advised on the design of St. Mary’s Cathedral. His best known work was the Gothic Revival design for St. Patrick’s Church, Montreal (1843-47), executed in collaboration with Felix Martin. Morin was said to have laid out the floor plan and body of the church, leaving Martin to produce the design of the façade facing Dorchester Boulevard West. The interiors were later finished by Victor Bourgeau in 1848-51.
Morin appears to have been both a capable and ambitious architect, and he submitted designs and a model in competition with other architects for the Bank of Montreal headquarters in Montreal (1845), for which he received one of three prizes presented to the finalists. Nearly fifteen years later, in 1859, he teamed up with Charles Baillairge of Quebec City and submitted three separate designs, all in the Italian style, one for the Parliament Building, one for the Departmental Buildings, and the other for the Governor General’s mansion in Ottawa. Their collaborative efforts, however, were not premiated, and none of their proposals were accepted.
In 1857, by now a resident of Quebec City, he was appointed Assistant Professor at the Laval Normal School (Journal of Education of Lower Canada, i, March 1857, 51-2). In 1874 he was named as Director of Registry of Survey of Lands for Quebec, and later retired in 1880. Morin died in Mascouche, Quebec on 6 September 1886 (obit. and biography, Le Journal de Quebec [Quebec City], 16 Sept. 1886, 2; obit. La Minerve [Montreal], 17 Aug. 1843, 2; biog. J. Russell Harper, Early Painters and Engravers in Canada, 1970, 229; inf. Dr. Raymonde Gauthier, Montreal)
LAPRAIRIE, QUE., tower and steeple, and interiors for the Roman Catholic church, begun 1839; completed by Victor Bourgeau in 1851 (letter to Gerard Morrisette from Abbe Choquet, Vicar at Longueuil, dated 28 July 1937)
KINGSTON, ONT., St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Johnson Street at Clergy Street, 1843-48; facade redesigned by Joseph Connolly, 1885 (La Minerve [Montreal], 17 Aug. 1843, 2; Jennifer McKendry, Architects Working in the Kingston Region 1820-1920, 2019, 73-74, illus.)
(with Felix Martin) MONTREAL, QUE., St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Dorchester Boulevard West, 1843-47; interiors completed by Victor Bourgeau (Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 340-7, illus.; Donna McGee, 'St. Patrick's Church, Montreal: Sorting Out the Beginnings' in Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Bulletin, xii, March 1987, 7-9, illus.; H. Kalman, History of Canadian Architecture, 1994, 292-3, illus.)
TERREBONE, QUE., residence for Joseph Wilfrid Masson, 1848-54 (Continuite [Quebec], No. 43, Spring 1989, 32, illus.)
ST. HYACINTHE, QUE., Roman Catholic Seminary, 1850-53; burned 1963 (C.P. Choquette, l'Histoire du Seminaire de Saint Hyacinthe, Vol. 1, 1911, 305-25, illus.; L. Voyer, St. Hyacinthe, 1980, 81-2, illus.)
ST. CESAIRE, QUE., tower and steeple for the Roman Catholic church, 1850-52 (inf. Raymonde Gauthier, Montreal)
MONTREAL, QUE., residence for Joseph Wilfrid Masson, Dorchester Boulevard West opposite Seymour Avenue, 1853 (ANQ, J. Belle, Notaire, 2 Feb. 1850, 11366; Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 462-5, illus.; F. Remillard & B. Merrett, Mansions of the Golden Square Mile Montreal 1850-1930, 1987, 68-71, illus. & descrip.)
QUEBEC CITY, QUE., The Prescott Gate, 1853 (dwgs. at City of Quebec Archives, CPH A3, Cote 352.12)
LOWER CANADA [perhaps in Montreal?], plans and elevation of a School House, 1858 (Journal of Education for Lower Canada, ii, June 1858, 89-91, illus.)
QUEBEC CITY, QUE., the St. John Gate, c. 1866 (dwgs. at City Quebec Archives, CPH B9, Cote 352.10)
COMPETITIONS
MONTREAL, QUE., Bank of Montreal, Place d'Armes, 1845. A group of seven architects from Montreal and Toronto submitted a total of nine different designs for this important landmark. Morin put in an extra effort with his submission, presenting both drawings and an architectural model of his scheme (Gazette [Montreal], 12 Aug. 1845, 2, list of competitors; Merrill Denison, Canada's First Bank, ii, 1967, 20-1). The commission was eventually given to John Wells.
OTTAWA, ONT., Parliament Hill, 1859. Using the pseudonym 'Stadacona', Morin teamed up with Charles Baillairge and submitted three designs, one for the Parliament Building, another for the Departmental Buildings, and a third design for a Governor General's Residence, all in the Italian style (NAC, RG11, Letter Book, Vol 131, Item No. 29196; Carolyn Young, The Glory of Ottawa: Canada's First Parliament Buildings, 1995, 117). None of their proposals was accepted, and the commission for the Parliament Building went to Fuller, Messer & Jones, while Stent & Laver were selected for the Departmental Buildings.