HUNT, William George (1858-1927), active in Toronto, Ont. where he designed many small residential projects that were erected for owner-occupants, or for speculative builders. He appears to have had no formal education in architecture, and may have been entirely self-taught. Born in Romney Township, Kent. Co. in south-western Ontario in 1858, he lived and worked as a builder until his mid-40's and later moved to Toronto.
His name first appears in city directories of Toronto in 1904 when he was listed as “foreman, Gold Medal Furniture Mfr. Co., King Street West”, and was residing at 287 Bartlett Avenue (Toronto City Directory, 1904, 566). By 1906, he had changed his profession, and began to style himself as an “architect“, and operated his office from the same residence at 287 Bartlett Avenue (Toronto City Directory, 1906, 619). His early employment with the Gold Medal Furniture Mfr. Co. later led to a commission from that company in 1910 when he was asked to design six pairs of semi-detached houses on Carlaw Avenue, likely for the company managers or employees.
In April 1914 Hunt formed a partnership with Ashley Woodburn, who had previously worked in the office of the City Architect Robert McCallum (Const., vii, May 1914, 208), but their collaboration appears to have been shortlived, and few references to their work have been found. Hunt continued to list himself as an architect until 1928, but his name does not appear in the records of members the Ontario Association of Architects, and he is absent from membership rolls of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. His best known works in Toronto include the I.O.O.F. Sovereign Lodge, Dovercourt Road (1911-12), and the Merrill Mansions apartment block, Earl Street (1920). Hunt died in Toronto on 18 December 1927 (obituary The Globe [Toronto], 19 Dec. 1927, 14), and he was later buried at Wheatley, Ont. near his birthplace in Romney Township.
W.G. HUNT (works in Toronto unless noted)
RUSHOLME ROAD, two detached houses for Robert Watt, 1905 (Toronto b.p. 1822, 11 Aug. 1905; Toronto Region A.C.O., A Study of Rusholme Road, 1991, 22)
GALLEY AVENUE, near Sorauren Avenue, residence for George C. Craig, 1905-06 (Toronto b.p. 2659, 6 Dec. 1905)
WESTMORELAND AVENUE, near Hallam Street, residence for John C. Landeryou, 1906 (Toronto b.p. 3690, 1 May 1906)
WESTMORELAND AVENUE, pair of houses, including one for the architect W.G. Hunt, 1908 (Const., ii, Nov. 1908, 66)
HOWLAND AVENUE, residence for Mr. Condes, 1908 (Const., ii, Nov. 1908, 66)
GLADSTONE AVENUE, near Ilalla Street, six pairs of houses for an unnamed client, 1908 (Const., ii, Nov. 1908, 66)
RUSHOLME ROAD, residence for Joshua J. Williams, 1909 (Toronto b.p. 15252, 14 May 1909; Toronto Region A.C.O., A Study of Rushome Road, 1991, 30-31, illus.)
OTTAWA, ONT., apartment block for John McMurchy, James Street, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 24 March 1909, 21)
PORT CREDIT, ONT., residence at Lorne Park for Frederick Kelk, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 6 Jan. 1909, 22)
DELAWARE AVENUE, near Vanhorne Street, residence for W.C. Clatworthy, 1909 (Const., ii, Feb. 1909, 77)
PALMERSTON BOULEVARD, residence for John B. Shields, 1909 (Const., ii, March 1909, 67)
MARMADUKE STREET, near Roncesvalles Avenue, pair of houses for Robertson & Summers, 1909 (Const., ii, March 1909, 67)
CARLAW AVENUE, near Frizzell Avenue, six pairs of houses for the Gold Medal Furniture Mfr. Co., 1910 (Toronto b.p. 20100, 26 April 1910)
CASTLE FRANK ROAD, near Castle Frank Drive, residence for James H. McBrine, 1910 (Toronto b.p. 22951, 29 Aug. 1910)
LANSDOWNE AVENUE, at Wallace Avenue, commercial block of stores and assembly hall above, 1910 (Toronto b.p. 24470, 19 Nov. 1910)
LANSDOWNE AVENUE, residence for Dr. William Kerr, 1911 (Toronto b.p. 25081, 28 Jan. 1911)
LAPPIN AVENUE, residence for G.W. Cairn, 1911 (Toronto b.p. 26244, 8 April 1911)
OSSINGTON AVENUE, near Queen Street West, 4 storey apartment block for S. Hager, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 9 Aug. 1911, 62, t.c.)
I.O.O.F. SOVEREIGN LODGE, Dovercourt Road near Northumberland Street, 1911-12; with major addition of a hall and lodge rooms, 1922 (C.R., xxv, 9 Aug. 1911, 61; Toronto b.p. 35154, 19 June 1912; C.R., xxxvi, 5 April 1922, 58, t.c.)
CLAREMONT STREET, at Mansfield Street, pair of stores, with brick dwelling attached, for Raffuele Di Marco, 1912 (Toronto b.p. 34160, 22 May 1912)
RONCESVALLES AVENUE, near Fern Avenue, residence for Miss Davidson, 1912 (Toronto b.p. 36534, 9 Aug. 1911)
EMERY HARDWARE CO., Bloor Street West near Delaware Avenue, block of stores and offices for William Emery, 1913 (Toronto b.p. 2078, 17 Feb. 1913)
RUSSELL HILL ROAD, near Heath Street, residence for Alfred Poyntz, 1914 (Toronto b.p. 10965, 29 April 1914)
(with Ashley Woodburn) NORWOOD ROAD, near Gerrard Street East, residence for Frederick Spence, 1914 (City of Toronto b.p. 13441, 22 July 1914; inf. Barbara Myrvold, Toronto)
ST. LEONARD’S AVENUE, residence for J. Harvey Bone, 1916 (Const., ix, April 1916, 133)
GURNEY FOUNDRY CO., King Street West near Brant Street, major addition, 1916 (Const., ix, May 1916, 169)
ST. CLAIR AVENUE WEST, stores and apartments for George I. Hambly, 1916 (Const., ix, June 1916, 211)
CONCORD AVENUE, pair of houses for J.J. Schooley, 1916 (Const., ix, July 1916, 241)
KINGSWOOD ROAD, east side, pair of houses for an unnamed client, 1917 (City of Toronto b.p. 14182, 1917; inf. Barbara Myrvold, Toronto)
QUEEN STREET EAST, at Neville Park Boulevard, pair of stores with apartments for Emile Gagnon, 1917 (Const., x, Oct. 1917, 364)
NEVILLE PARK BOULEVARD, residence for J.A. Hearst, 1917 (Const., xi, Nov. 1917, 399)
LOUIS McLAIN MFR. CO., Dundas Street West at Wallace Avenue, major additions to factory and warehouse, 1920 (Toronto b.p. 29589, 5 April 1920; C.R., xxxiv, 28 July 1920, 51)
THE MERRILL MANSIONS, apartment block for Merrill Corp., Earl Street at Jarvis Street, 1920 (Toronto b.p. 30976, 12 May 1920; C.R., xxxiv, 25 Aug. 1920, 54; xxxv, 30 March 1921, 25, illus. in advert.)
AKED & CO LTD., Dupont Street at Ossington Avenue, factory, 1921 (Toronto b.p. 38250, 11 April 1921)
OLIVER & A.H. SPANNER CO., Elm Street, factory, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 26 July 1922, 79)
RUSHOLME ROAD, residence for William C. McBrien, 1923 (Toronto b.p. 67630; Toronto Region A.C.O., A Study of Rusholme Road, 1991, 22)
BAIN AVENUE, at Ingham Avenue, five houses for George W. Ormerod and Harvey W. Ormerod, 1923 (Toronto b.p. 57800, 28 Feb. 1923)
BINGHAM AVENUE, pair of houses for George W. Ormerod & Harvey W. Ormerod, 1923 (City of Toronto b.p. 57800, 6 March 1923; inf. Barbara Myrvold, Toronto)
BLOOR STREET WEST, at St. Clarens Avenue, apartments and stores for Arthur Poyntz, 1923 (Toronto b.p. 57799, 28 Feb. 1923)
BETH JACOB JEWISH SYNAGOGUE, Kenilworth Avenue near Queen Street East, 1926, addition of a new façade and interior alterations to the former Baptist Church built in 1895 and originally designed by J. Francis Brown (inf. Toronto Historical Board; M. Campbell & B. Myrvold, Historical Walking Tour of Kew Beach, 1995, 19, illus. & descrip.)
NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS., Bay Street at Grosvenor Street, showroom, 1926 (Toronto Daily Star, 7 Oct. 1926, 7, descrip.; C.R., xl, 20 Oct. 1926, 1014)
SHERBOURNE STREET, large apartment block for the Grimshaw Brothers, 1927 (C.R., xli, 9 Feb. 1927, 49; Daily Journal of Commerce [Toronto], 25 May 1927, 2; 18 June 1927, 5)