Hutchison, George Norman

HUTCHISON, George Norman (1870-1937) was active in Ottawa where he held the post of Assistant Chief Architect in the Department of Public Works, and worked under the supervision of various Chief Architects from 1901 to 1936 including David Ewart, Edgar L. Horwood, Richard C. Wright, and Thomas W. Fuller. Born in Ottawa, Ont. on 13 February 1870, he was educated at the Central School and at Ottawa Collegiate Institute, and served an apprenticeship under William Hodgson. In May 1891 he moved to Montreal to study the profession of architecture with his uncle Alexander C. Hutchison and remained there until November 1901 when he returned to Ottawa. In that year, he joined the staff of the architectural branch of the D.P.W. as a junior draftsman, and rose through the ranks to become Assistant Chief Architect in 1928. He retired in June 1935 and was replaced by Charles Sutherland, who later became Chief Architect in November of that year (C.R., Vol. 50, 24 June 1936, 569). Hutchison died in Ottawa on 7 January 1937 (obit. Ottawa Journal, 7 Jan. 1937, 1 & 12; Ottawa Citizen, 7 Jan. 1937, 1; C.R., li, 20 Jan. 1937, 55; biog. and port. Evening Journal [Ottawa], 8 Oct. 1904, 11; inf. Ontario Assoc. of Architects). A biography and tribute to Hutchison on his retirement was published in the Ottawa Journal, 11 Oct. 1935, 6.