LEIVERS, E. (fl. 1850-84), an Englishman active in London, England where he was said to have obtained 'considerable experience in his profession'. There, he had been employed by Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt (1820-77) and by Owen Jones (1809-74) on the commission for the Sydenham Crystal Palace in 1854, and later with Smith & Appleford, Pimlico, London where he met another young architect and staff member Augustus Laver. Leivers arrived in Ottawa after 1876 and was listed as an architect in 1878 (Ottawa City Directory, 1878, 239; Ottawa Citizen, 13 Jan. 1879, 4, advert.). He designed "...the stately residence of James MacLaren, President of the Bank of Ottawa" at BUCKINGHAM, QUE. c. 1880 (Manitoba Daily Free Press [Winnipeg], 9 March 1883, 8).
In late 1881 or early 1882 he moved to Winnipeg, N.W.T. to take part in the building boom there, and obtained the commission for the Princess Opera House, Ross Street at Princess Street, WINNIPEG, MAN, 1882-83 (Manitoba Daily Free Press [Winnipeg], 9 March 1883, 8, descrip.). With its vast domed roof and a clear span of nearly 75 feet, and with seats for 1,600 patrons, it was the largest public hall in western Canada at the time of its completion (Winnipeg Daily Sun, 31 March 1883, 1, descrip.). Leivers was also one of seven competitors who submitted an entry for the Winnipeg City Hall in July 1883 (G. Brooks, Plain Facts About The New City Hall, 1884, 10). He was not a finalist, and the First Premium was later awarded to Barber & Barber.