GARDINER, John Rawson (1866-1956), active in Montreal, Que. for nearly sixty years, where he was best know for designs of several Anglican churches in and around the city. Born in London, England in March 1866, he trained there with the London office of Taylor & Gordon and was transferred to the Montreal branch of that office in 1887 where Sir Andrew T. Taylor was living and working. He joined the Province of Quebec Association of Architects in July 1891 and opened his own office that same year. The influence of Taylor and the popular Romanesque Revival style was clearly evident in his competition entry which he submitted for the Board of Trade Building in Montreal in 1891 (C.A.B., iv, May 1891, 56 ff., plate illus. and plan). Much of his early work was devoted to residential and ecclesiastical commissions, and from 1894 to 1899 he worked in partnership with Alex G. Fowler, and was his successor when Fowler died in January 1899 (C.A.B., xii, May 1899, 100; see list of works under Fowler & Gardiner). He possessed a keen interest in, and wide-ranging knowledge of, both historical and contemporary architecture, and was among the first to write extensively about the history of Canadian architecture in a series of illustrated essays published in the Toronto architectural journal Construction (Const., xxiv, March 1931, 96-104, illus.; and April 1931, 132-40, illus.; and June 1931, 204-10, 212, illus.; and July 1931, 236-43, illus.)
Gardiner served as President of the P.Q.A.A. in 1911, and retired from the profession in 1943. He died in Montreal on 7 February 1956 (obit. Gazette [Montreal], 8 Feb. 1956, 33; Montreal Star, 8 Feb. 1956, 34; biog. Who's Who and Why in Canada, 1912, 262; E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts: Exhibitions & Members 1880-1979, 1981, 144; inf. Province of Quebec Assoc. of Architects)
J. Rawson Gardiner (works in Montreal)
R.S. AULD & CO., St. Antoine Street at Atwater Avenue, stores and bakery, 1891-92 (C.R., ii, 5 Dec. 1891, 2)
ST. GEORGE'S ANGLICAN MISSION CHURCH, Notre Dame Street at Garneau Street, 1891-92 (C.R., ii, 5 Dec. 1891, 2)
ST. JAMES THE APOSTLE MISSION CHURCH, at Cote Ste. Antoine, 1892 (C.R., iii, 16 April 1892, 2)
WESTMOUNT, two houses on Prospect Street for Mr. Evans, 1897 (C.R., viii, 28 Oct. 1897, 3)
DARLING BROTHERS LTD., Queen Street at Ottawa Street, 1899 (C.R., x, 3 May 1899, 5)
WESTMOUNT, St. Stephen's Anglican Church, Dorchester Boulevard West at Atwater Street, 1903 (A. Gubbay & S. Hooff, Montreal's Little Mountain: A Portrait of Westmount, 1979, 13, illus.; City of Westmount, Westmount: A Heritage to Preserve, 1991, 39, illus.)
COTE DES NEIGES ROAD, mansion for James Gardner Thompson, 1907; restored 2008-10 (E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 1880-1979, 1981, 144, list of works exhibited by Gardiner; Gazette [Montreal], 4 June 2011, Section F, p. 1, illus. & descrip.; inf. Scott Edwards)
WESTMOUNT, residence for Arthur D. Fry, Bellevue Avenue, 1908 (Const., ii, Nov. 1908, 66)
ST. SIMON'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Notre Dame Street West at DeCourcelles Street, addition of a chancel and Sunday School, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 1 Sept. 1909, 21)
TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH, Delorimier Avenue at Huron Street, incorporating the old facade of St. Gabriel's Presbyterian Church, 1910 (Montreal Daily Star, 11 March 1910, 4, descrip.; C.R., xxiv, 16 March 1910, 24)
WESTMOUNT, a Presbytery for the Serbian Orthodox Church, Melville Avenue, 1912 (City of Westmount, Westmount: A Heritage to Preserve, 1991, 45, illus.)
ST. CYPRIAN'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Morgan Boulevard, major addition, 1924; new pulpit in the nave, 1928 (C.R., xxxviii,23 Jan. 1924, 50; Const., xviii, Feb. 1925, 57-9, illus. & descrip.; Montreal Daily Star, 28 March 1928, 2, descrip.; Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 174-77, illus.)
ST. LAMBERT, St. Barnabas Anglican Church, Lorne Avenue at Elm Avenue, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 31 July 1929, 59; Gazette [Montreal], 2 Aug. 1929, 4, descrip.; and 10 Sept. 1929, 6, descrip.; South Shore Press [St. Lambert], 9 Jan. 1930, 7-8, illus. & descrip.; inf. Scott Edwards)
BORDEAUX, St. Bartholomew's Anglican Church, Pasteur Street, 1934-35 (City of Montreal b.p. 593, 1934; Montreal Daily Star, 2 Feb. 1935, 29)
J. Rawson Gardiner (works elsewhere)
MONTREAL JUNCTION, QUE., Anglican Church, 1891 (Gazette [Montreal], 3 Oct. 1891, 3)
DORVAL, QUE., Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club, Lakeshore Drive, 1892 (C.R., iii, 16 April 1892, 2)
BEACONSFIELD, QUE., summer residence for Mrs. Locke, 1892 (C.R., iii, 23 July 1892, 2)
DORVAL, QUE., summer residence for A.W. Morris, 1892 (C.R., iii, 23 July 1892, 2)
THOMPSON'S POINT, QUE., summer residences for Mr. Slater, Mr. McMaster, Mr. Black, and Mr. Kavanaugh, 1892 (C.R., iii, 23 July 1892, 2)
POINTE CLAIRE, QUE., summer residence for B. Tooke, 1892 (C.R., iii, 20 Aug. 1892, 2)
STE. ANNES [STE. ANNE DE BELLEVUE], QUE., summer residence for W.G. Slack and H. Brunet, 1892 (C.R., iii, 24 Sept. 1892, 2)
MAISONNEUVE, QUE., a Mission church, 1896-97 (C.R., vii, 10 Dec. 1896, 4)
BEACONSFIELD, QUE., summer residence for Charles L. Shorey, 1899 (C.A.B., xii, Aug. 1899, illus. plate)
GRANDE LIGNE, QUE., major addition and alterations to the Feller Institute, 1901-02 (C.R., xi, 23 Jan. 1901, 3, t.c.; C.A.B., xiv, May 1901, 92, t.c.; Canadian Baptist [Toronto], 30 Oct. 1902, 4 & 5, illus.)
OTTAWA, ONT., French Baptist Church, King Edward Avenue at Clarence Street, 1904 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 22 Nov. 1904, 6, descrip.)
POINTE CLAIRE,QUE., summer residence for Dr. J.W. Stirling, overlooking Lake St. Louis, 1907; demol. (E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 1880-1979, 1981, 144, list of works exhibited by Gardiner; inf. Scott Edwards)