Taylor, Fernie Harper | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

TAYLOR, Fernie Harper (1891-1962), born in St. George, Brant Co., Ontario on 28 January 1891 and he first appears in Hamilton, Ont. where he was an employee of the prominent architect Frederick W. Warren in 1921. In that year, he was one of eight entrants in the competition for the WWI Cenotaph at Gore Park, Hamilton. His submission, marked “Design No. 2”, was highly commended by the Jury and selected as the winner (C.R., xxxv, 17 Aug. 1921, 751) with the proviso that he make revisions to the design. Taylor could not reach an agreement, and the Jury then selected another design by W.R. Souter, a virtual copy of the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, designed by the leading British architect Edwin L. Lutyens. By 1922 Taylor had moved to Windsor, Ont. and joined the Detroit office of Albert Kahn, remaining as a staff architect with Kahn for the next 36 years until his retirement in 1958. During this period, he designed his own residence in Walkerville, on Victoria Road (now Chilver Road) near Ontario Street, WALKERVILLE, ONT., 1927-28 (C.H.G., vi, June 1929, 28, illus.). Taylor later died in Windsor on 19 October 1962 (obituary Windsor Daily Star, 20 Oct. 1962, 12).