MOTT, Harry Claire (1890-1983) was born in Saint John, N.B. on 19 October 1890, the son of Harry H. Mott, a leading architect in New Brunswick. He was educated at public school and at Dr. Dole’s private school in Saint John, but he did not receive a formal university education in architecture. Instead, he trained under his father from 1906, and became associated with him in 1910, but by 1913 he was preparing designs for buildings under his own name. An examination of the drawings in the extensive Mott Collection at the University of New Brunswick confirms that after 1910 his father gradually withdrew from the practise, leaving his son to prepare and sign drawings for a variety of ecclesiastical, commercial and residential commissions built after 1912.
When his father finally retired from the profession in 1930, H. Claire Mott continued the work of their office in Saint John, N.B. His largest and most important commission from this period was the design for the New Brunswick Museum Building (1930-31), a Beaux-Arts landmark executed in a style which, by then, already seemed dated and out of fashion. When his father retired from the profession in 1930, his son introduced a more contemporary style to their commercial work, best seen in a number of telephone exchange buildings, executed in a more modern style, and built for the New Brunswick Telephone Company, but these designs never matched the calibre of the more progressive work of Alward & Gillies, who were his professional rivals in Saint John.
After the creation of the regional Maritime Association of Architects in 1927, Mott was instrumental in the formation of the New Brunswick’s own Provincial Association of Architects in 1933. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Inst. of Canada in 1935, and served as president of the provincial A.A.N.B. in 1941. He continued to practise after WWII, and after 1960 his firm was joined by two new partners, John R. Myles (1923-2010) and Alfred Chatwin (1922-2011), and his firm was then renamed Mott, Myles & Chatwin.
Mott retired in 1966 and died in Saint John, N.B. on 15 April 1983 (obit. and port. Telegraph-Journal [Saint John], 16 April 1983, 5; biog. R. Hamilton, Prominent Men of Canada, 1931-32, 510; C.H. McLean, Prominent People of New Brunswick, 1937, 65; biog. and port. R.A.I.C. Journal, xviii, Nov. 1941, 189). An essay by Mott on his early years in the profession in New Brunswick appeared in the R.A.I.C. Journal, xlv, Aug. 1968, 6. A biography and interview with the architect was published in the Kings County Record [Saint John], 13 Dec. 1978). The Public Archives of New Brunswick in Fredericton holds an extensive collection of architectural drawings by H. Claire Mott during the period from 1914 to 1950 and beyond (PANB, Mott. Coll., Acc. 164).
H. Claire MOTT (works in Saint John, N.B.)
PUBLIC SCHOOL, Douglas Avenue, 1914 (C.R., xxviii, 18 March 1914, 78)
PUBLIC HOSPITAL, for the County Council, 1914 (C.R., xxviii, 8 April 1914, 78)
QUEEN SQUARE THEATRE, 1917 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
VICTORIA STREET UNITED BAPTIST CHURCH, major addition, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 28 April 1920, 68; 19 May 1920, 58, t.c.; dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
CARLETON STREET, residence for R.D. Paterson, 1922 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
WEST SAINT JOHN, City Hall, King Street, 1925 (C.R., xxxix, 25 Nov. 1925, 49)
CENTRAL FIRE STATION, 1926 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
NEW BRUNSWICK TELEPHONE EXCHANGE, Union Street, 1927-28 (C.R., xli, 7 Dec. 1927, 50; John Leroux, Building New Brunswick: An Architectural History, 2008, 160, illus.)
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST SCIENTIST, Germain Street, 1928 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
TERRIS BEVERAGE CO., City Road, bottling plant, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 29 Aug. 1928, 58)
PROVINCIAL MUSEUM, Douglas Avenue, 1930-31; still standing in 2023 (Const., xxiii, Feb. 1930, 45; John Leroux, Building New Brunswick: An Architectural History, 2008, 155, illus.; dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.; dwgs. New Brunswick Museum, Saint John)
FORD MOTOR CO. OF CANADA LTD., Lancaster Avenue West, assembly plant, 1937-38 (C.R., l, 10 Nov. 1937, 33, t.c.; li, 2 March 1938, 51)
H. Claire MOTT (works elsewhere in New Brunswick)
SUSSEX, N.B., residence for George W. Fowler, 1913 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
ST. MARTIN'S, N.B., United Baptist Seminary, 1914 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
GLEN FALLS, N.B., Kitchener School, 1916 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
MONCTON, N.B., Liberty Block, Main Street, 1919 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
MONCTON, N.B., Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, George Street at Cameron Street, 1921 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
CAMPBELLTON, N.B., Telephone Exchange, Andrew Street at Roseberry Street, 1925; still standing in 2023 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xviii, Nov. 1941, 189, list of works)
SUSSEX, N.B., alterations and new facade for the Town Hall & Fire Station, 1926 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
ST. MARTIN'S, N.B., United Baptist Church, 1926-27 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
LANCASTER, N.B., major additions to the Provincial Hospital, 1927-28, including male ward, assembly hall, chapel, female wing, staff Dining Hall, club and power house, 1927 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
FREDERICTON, N.B., University of New Brunswick, Forestry & Geology Building, 1928-29; Library, 1928-29 C.R., xlii, 25 July 1928, 61; and xliii, 17 April 1929, 67; Const., xxiv, Oct. 1931, 331-32, illus. & descrip.; J. Leroux, Building a University: The Architecture of the Univ. of New Brunswick, 2010, 42-5, illus.; dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
LEWISVILLE, N.B., Baptist Church, Pleasant Street at Mill Road, 1928; still standing in 2023 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
CODY'S, N.B., additions and alterations to United Baptist Church, 1928-29 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
FREDERICTON, N.B., rebuilding and new facade of the Normal School, Queen Street, 1930 (C.R., xliv, 19 Feb. 1930, 59; dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
FREDERICTON, N.B., Ice Arena, 1931 (dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
RIVER GLADE, N.B., Jordan Memorial Sanatorium, 1932 (C.R., xlvi, 29 June 1932, 61; xlvii, 1 Feb. 1933, 118)
MONCTON, N.B., Telephone Exchange, c. 1935 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xviii, Nov. 1941, 189, list of works)
EDMUNSTON, N.B., Telephone Exchange, c. 1935 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xviii, Nov. 1941, 189, list of works)
ST. GEORGE, N.B., Post Office, Mary Street at Portage Street, 1935 (Gregory Utas, Summary Classification of Heritage Buildings, 1982, 65; dwgs. PANB, Mott Coll.)
BATHURST, N.B., Telephone Exchange, 1938 (C.R., li, 6 July 1938, 31)
ST. ANDREWS, N.B., Telephone Exchange, Water Street at William Street, 1939 (J. Leroux & T. Holownia, St. Andrews Architecture 1604-1966, 2010, Item 12, illus.)
FREDERICTON, N.B., Telephone Exchange, King Street, 1946-48 (C.R., lix, Dec. 1946, 74; John Leroux, Building New Brunswick: An Architectural History, 2008, 180-81, illus.)
ST. GEORGE, N.B., N.B. Liquor Control Board, store and warehouse, 1950 (John Leroux, Building New Brunswick: An Architectural History, 2008, 185, illus.)