WILSON, Percy Roy (1900-2001) was born in Birmingham, England on 19 May 1900 and attended Repton School. He was brought to Canada by his family in 1913 and studied at Upper Canada College in Toronto, then enrolled at the School of Architecture at McGill University in 1919 where his professors included Ramsay Traquair and Percy Nobbs. Traquair helped Wilson develop a lifelong interest in the rural Quebec vernacular style of architecture, an influential resource which was clearly evident in his designs and drawings for residential projects over the next thirty years. Wilson was a gifted delineator and draftsman, and his talent was brought to national attention when, in 1921 while still a student, he received an award of $1,000 for his entry in the Canadian Battlefields Memorial Competition. He used his prize money to subsidize an extended tour of Europe, and later graduated from McGill in 1924. He moved to New York City and worked as an assistant to Harry T. Lindeberg (in 1924-25), then to Sault Ste. Marie to work with Findlay & Foulis (1925), and back to New York to join York & Sawyer (in 1926-27). There, his skill as an architect and artist was brought to the attention of the editors of the American journal called Architectural Forum (New York), who hired Wilson to design the covers of the magazine in 1927-29. Wilson returned to Canada and opened his own office in Montreal in 1927; within months he received a significant commission for a substantial country mansion for Robert O. Sweezy, the President of the Beauharnois Power Corporation, to be built near Kingston, Ont. .
In 1929, Sweezy asked Wilson to assist with the design of the dam and power house straddling the St. Lawrence River at Beauharnois, Que.. Wilson prepared designs for the complex in a stripped Art Deco style, and a copy of his presentation drawings for the project were later published in The Contract Record [Toronto]. Wilson was elected as an associate of Royal Canadian Academy in 1938 and frequently exhibited his drawings and paintings at the annual exhibitions of the Montreal Art Association (E. McMann, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Spring Exhibitions, 1988, 402-03). He retired from architectural practise after 1970 but remained active as an artist and author. A lifelong admirer of vernacular architecture in his native province, Wilson wrote and illustrated his own book on the subject called The Beautiful Old Houses of Quebec, pub. 1975. A full autobiography on the career and work of Wilson was written by him and privately published in a limited edition of 300 copies by Price-Patterson Ltd., Montreal, entitled Design and Delight: 90 Years in the Life of P. Roy Wilson, Architect & Artist., 1989. Wilson died at Beaconsfield, Que. on 11 June 2001 (death notice Gazette [Montreal], 15 June 2001, B 11; Globe & Mail [Toronto], 16 June 2001, S 14). A biography and portrait of Wilson appeared in the R.A.I.C. Journal, xlii, July 1965, 29.
(work in Montreal unless noted)
KINGSTON, ONT., country mansion in Pittsburg Township for Robert O. Sweezey, 1928-29 (C.R., xlii, 3 Oct. 1928, 63; C.H.G., vi, May 1929, 44, illus.; and viii, July 1931, 25-7, illus.; R.A.I.C. Journal, ix, Dec. 1932, 262, illus.; Const., xxvi, March-April 1933, 36, 40-5, illus. & descrip.; Design and Delight, 1989, 60-2, descrip.; dwgs. at NAC, Power Coll., 81203/9)
BEAUHARNOIS, QUE., Water Dam and Power Station, on the St. Lawrence River, 1929-32 (C.R., xliv, 22 Jan. 1930, 83, illus. & descrip.)
TRAFALGAR AVENUE, at Cote des Neiges Road, residence for Edwin A. Sherrard, 1930 (R.A.I.C. Journal, vii, Sept. 1930, 312, illus.; C.H.G., viii, Jan. 1931, 30-1, illus.; Design and Delight, 1989, 56, descrip.)
WESTMOUNT, QUE., residence of Alan D. McCall, Clarke Avenue, 1931-32 (R.A.I.C. Journal, x, April 1933, 66-7, illus.; and xiii, Sept. 1936, 170-1, descrip.; C.H.G., xii, Aug.-Sept. 1935, 28-9, illus.; Design and Delight, 1989, 56)
MONTEBELLO, QUE., a residence on Lake Commandant for Murray Chipman, 1936 (C.H.G., xiv, June 1937, 28, illus.; House Beautiful [New York], lxxxix, July 1947, 52-6, illus. & descrip.)
WESTMOUNT, QUE., residence for F.T. Parker, Upper Belmont Avenue, 1937 (E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 1880-1979, 1981, 431)
WESTMOUNT, QUE., residence for the architect, Sunnyside Avenue, 1937 (C.H.G., xv, April 1938, 46, 56, illus.)
WESTMOUNT, QUE., residence for Charles E. Frosst, Forden Avenue, 1937 (E. McMann, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Spring Exhibitions 1880-1970, 1988, 403)
VAL MORIN STATION, QUE., Far Hills Inn & Country Club, 1938 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xv, Jan. 1938, 295; and Nov. 1938, 257; and xviii, April 1941, 58)
QUEBEC, country house for Ralph C. Bulman, 1947 (E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 1880-1979, 1981, 432)
ST. ADELE-DES-MONTS, QUE., residence for A.B. Thompson, Chantecler Hills, 1948 (E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 1880-1979, 1981, 432)
ST. THOMAS ANGLICAN CHURCH, Somerled Avenue at Rosedale Avenue, 1951-52 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxxv, Nov. 1958, 409, illus.; Design and Delight, 1989, 97-9, illus.)
COMPETITIONS
FRANCE, The Canadian Battlefields Memorial Competition, 1921. Wilson was among over 100 competitors who collectively submitted a total of 160 sets of designs in this two-stage competition. The design by Wilson was advanced to the second stage of 17 competitors, and he received a consolation prize of $1,000 for his effort (Gazette [Montreal], 26 April 1921, 10; Contract Record [Toronto], xxxv, 4 May 1921, 452; Design and Delight, 1989, 22-3, illus.). Walter Allward of Toronto and F.C. Clemesha of Regina were later awarded the commission.
WELLAND, ONT., Welland-Crowland War Memorial, 1934. Wilson received the Second Prize for his design of the city war memorial (R.A.I.C. Journal, xi, Nov. 1934, 168; Dec. 1934, 183, illus.; Design and Delight, 1989, 23). The first prize was awarded to Miss Elizabeth Wynn-Wood, a Toronto sculptor.
A FRENCH CANADIAN HOUSE, 1942. The Quebec Ministry of Agriculture and the Quebec Tourist Bureau sponsored a competition among architects in Quebec for the design of a single family dwelling inspired by traditional Quebec architecture. Wilson was awarded one of three prizes for his "Countryman's House" (Gazette [Montreal], 25 Nov. 1942, 13, illus. & descrip).