FINDLAY, John Thomas (1887-1947) was active in St. Thomas, Ont. for nearly forty years. Born in Inverness, Scotland in October 1884, he articled with William L. Carruthers, FRIBA, a prominent architect in Inverness, from 1901 to 1905. He also attended classes at the School of Art in Inverness where he studied drawing and building construction. Findlay arrived in Canada in 1907 and settled at St. Thomas, Ont. and took a position as draftsman with Neil Darrach, another Scotsman and a successful architect in that town. Findlay’s talent as a delineator and designer came to public attention in 1908 when he was awarded First Prize for Architectural Drawing in the annual Autumn Exhibition at the London, Ont. Annual Fair (C.R., xxii, 7 Oct. 1908, 23). He worked briefly for the London, Ont. architect John L. Thomas who had opened a branch office in St. Thomas, and in late 1909 he moved to Toronto and spent two years in the office of Ellis & Connery before returning to St. Thomas in 1911 and opening an office under his own name. Findlay maintained his practise there until 1917.
By 1920 he had rejoined Darrach who had returned to St. Thomas from Regina, Saskatchewan and a successful practise there. Together they formed a new partnership (see list of works under Darrach & Findlay), but only one major work by their firm has been identified. They collaborated for five years until Darrach was forced to retire in 1925 due to poor health, and Findlay then continued to operate his own office until 1947. His major works included ecclesiastical, commercial and institutional works, and he specialised in educational buildings that can be found throughout the Elgin County region. During WWII he moved to Ottawa to assist the federal government with designs for coastal fortifications and other wartime structures.
Findlay died in St. Thomas on 20 December 1947. His office was then taken over by his successor George E. Morley, a local architect in St. Thomas (obit. St. Thomas Times-Journal, 22 Dec. 1947, 1 and 3; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxv, March 1948, 89; inf. Ontario Assoc. of Architects). An exhibition catalogue on the career and work of J.T. Findlay, written by Paul Baldwin, was published in 2013 by the Elgin County Museum, St. Thomas, Ont. This catalogue contains a lengthy list of works designed by Findlay (p. 9-11).
(works in St. Thomas)
FRANK GOODWIN FURNITURE CO., Talbot Street near Southwick Street, department store, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 8 March 1911, 138)
SCOTT STREET PUBLIC SCHOOL, Scott Street near East Street, major addition, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 15 March 1911, 54)
ALMA COLLEGE, major addition of a new East Wing, 1911 (Clinton New Era, 20 April 1911, 5, descrip.)
PUBLIC SCHOOL, S.S. No. 11, Township of Alborough, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 31 May 1911, 59; and 14 June 1911, 59, t.c.)
ISOLATION HOSPITAL, Chester Street at Willow Street, 1911-12 (Free Press [London], 2 Nov. 1911, 8, descrip.; C.R., xxv, 15 Nov. 1911, 58; and 13 Dec. 1911, 123)
MOVIE THEATRE (perhaps the A-Muse-U Theatre) , for Dr. H.C. Borbridge, Talbot Street, 1911-12 (C.R., xxv, 6 Dec. 1911, 55)
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE, for the St. Thomas Board of Education, Elysian Street opposite Pearl Street, 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 27 March 1912, 67)
unnamed street, private residence for an unnamed client, 1911-12 (Const., v, April 1912, 35, illus.)
YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC., Talbot Street at Ross Street, 1913-14 (C.R., xxvii, 24 Dec. 1913, 66, t.c.)
BRODERICK MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH, Fifth Avenue near Chestnut Street, addition of a new Sunday School, 1916; new church 1933 (dwgs. Canadian Baptist Archives, McMaster Univ., Hamilton; History of Broderick Memorial Baptist Church, 1921, 11; C.R., xlvii, 22 Feb. 1933, 90)
YOUNG WOMEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOC., Mary Street at Curtis Street, 1929-30 (C.R., xliii, 13 Nov. 1929, 61; St. Thomas Times-Journal, 20 Nov. 1930, 12)
MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, Pearl Street at Scott Street, addition of a new Nurses Home, 1931 (C.R., xlv, 14 Jan. 1931, 53)
GRACE UNITED CHURCH, Balaclava Street at Malakoff Street, addition of a Sunday School, 1931-32 (C.R., xlv, 7 Oct. 1931, 53)
(with William L. Somerville) ONTARIO MENTAL HOSPITAL, No. 4 Highway, addition of six new dormitory buildings, 1937 (C.R., Vol. 50, 19 May 1937, 34; and 14 July 1937, 31, t.c.; and li, 4 Jan. 1938, 29)
WEATHERHEAD CO. OF CANADA, Inkerman Street at Nolan Street, addition to factory, 1941 (C.R., liv, 1 Jan. 1941, 35)
(works elsewhere)
WARDSVILLE, ONT., building for D.M. Campbell, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 25 Oct. 1911, 64)
FINGAL, ONT., public school, 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 14 Feb. 1912, 62)
WEST LORNE, ONT., Town Hall, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 21 Aug. 1929, 96; Parks Canada, Town Halls of Canada, 1987, 302)
OIL SPRINGS, ONT., Town Hall, with Library, Fire Hall, Post Office and auditorium, Oil Springs Line, 1932-33; still standing in 2023 (C.R., xlvi, 3 Feb. 1932, 43; and xlvii, 5 July 1933, 670)
STRAFFORDVILLE, ONT., public school, 1937 (C.R., Vol. 50, 4 Aug. 1937, 27)
BAYHAM TOWNSHIP, ONT., public school for the Richmond School Board, 1942 (C.R., lv, 8 July 1942, 27)
PORT STANLEY, ONT., Public Library, Bridge Street at Bostwick Street, c. 1947; still standing in 2023 (St. Thomas Times-Journal, 22 Dec. 1947, 3, list of works in obituary article)