HELLIWELL, Grant (1855-1953), active in Toronto for the duration of his long career as partner in the leading firm of Gordon & Helliwell. Born in Todmorden, East York, on 3 November 1855, he was educated at the Toronto Grammar School, and at Jarvis Collegiate. In 1879, at the age of 24 years, he was invited to form a partnership with Henry B. Gordon, which proved to be an enduring collaboration lasting nearly five decades. Together, their firm can be credited with the design of more than two hundred institutional, commercial and residential buildings, including more than fifty designs for churches in Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia (see list of works under Gordon & Helliwell).
Helliwell was also a tireless advocate and spokesman for the architectural profession in Ontario. He was one of the founding members of the Toronto Architectural Guild in October 1887, and a founding member of the Ontario Association of Architects in 1889. He was appointed treasurer of that organization in 1899. Just two years later, in 1901, he was elected President of the Association. He took a particular interest in residential design, and he wrote frequently on the subject, including an essay entitled “Domestic Architecture” (C.A.B., ix, March 1896, 38-39), and a more extensive illustrated essay “Suggestions on House Planning” (C.A.B., xi, June 1898, 106-09, illus.). No references to his work after 1930 have been found, and he appears to have retired from the profession at that time. Helliwell died in Toronto on 26 December 1953 (death notice Toronto Telegram, 27 Dec. 1953, 20; death notice Globe & Mail [Toronto], 28 Dec. 1953, 25; inf. Ontario Association of Architects). A large photographic portrait of Helliwell can be found in the Canadian Architect & Builder, xiv, February 1901, p. 26. Another portrait appeared in Construction [Toronto], ii, February 1909, 37.