PARFITT, Gilbert (1886 -1966) of Winnipeg, Man. was connected with activities of the Provincial Architects’ Office in Manitoba for nearly fifty years. Born in England on 22 December 1886 at Kingswinford, Co. Staffordshire, he attended school in Birmingham and entered the profession there after 1905. In early 1912 he emigrated to Canada and arrived in Winnipeg in April 1912. The following year he accepted a position as draftsman in the provincial Dept. of Public Works, working under the direct supervision of Victor Horwood, the Chief Architect of that department in 1913-15. When Horwood retired, Parfitt continued to work under William Fingland, the Acting Provincial Architect, until May 1920. He appears to have taken up private practise and he completed several commissions, either under his own name, or in collaboration with Edgar Prain.
From 1929 onward, he was once again employed by the Province of Manitoba, at first in the capacity of Acting Building Superintendent (1929-33), then as Building Superintendent (1933-44), and finally as Provincial Architect & Superintendent of Public Buildings from 1944 until his retirement from the post in 1957. Parfitt was one of the founding members of the Manitoba Association of Architects in 1914, and he remained a member until his retirement from the MAA in 1961. He was a respected member of the profession and his colleagues elected him twice to the position of President of the Manitoba Association of Architects, the first in 1927, and again in 1942. Parfitt moved to British Columbia in 1963 and died in Vancouver on 24 May 1966 (death notice Vancouver Sun, 25 May 1966, 34; death notice Winnipeg Tribune, 25 May 1966, 27; inf. S.M. Sims, MRAIC, Winnipeg). A photographic portrait of Parfitt appeared in the Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 3 Dec. 1927, page 1.
Gilbert PARFITT (works in Manitoba)
STONEWALL, MAN., War Memorial Cenotaph, 2nd Avenue North near Main Street, 1922 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 3 Dec. 1927, 1, list of works by Parfitt)
WINNIPEG, MAN., St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields Anglican Church, Smithfield Avenue, 1922 (K. Crossman, A Study of Anglican Church Buildings in Manitoba, 1989, 159, illus.)
WINNIPEG, MAN., residence for an unnamed client on Ashland Avenue, 1925 (C.H.G., ii, Nov. 1925, 38, illus.)
(with Edgar Prain) WINNIPEG, MAN., St. John’s Anglican Cathedral, Anderson Avenue, 1925-26 (Winnipeg Tribune, 8 Oct. 1926, 9, descrip.; The Cathedral Story: A Brief History of St. John’s Cathedral Winnipeg - 50th Anniversary 1926-1976, 9, illus.)
SELKIRK, MAN., a three storey Nurses' Home at the Provincial Mental Hospital, 1925-26 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 21 Oct. 1925, 21)
NINETTE, MAN., public school, 1926 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 25 Feb. 1926, 6; 20 Sept. 1926, 10)
SHOAL LAKE, MAN., public school, 1926 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 11 June 1926, 6)
(with Edgar Prain) WINNIPEG, MAN., St. Patrick's Anglican Church, Valour Road at Riddle Avenue, 1927 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 21 Oct. 1927, 9, descrip.)
WINNIPEG, MAN., War Memorial Cenotaph, York Avenue at Memorial Boulevard, 1927 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 3 Dec. 1927, 1, descrip.)
(with Edgar Prain) WINNIPEG, MAN., St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Bannerman Avenue, 1928 (City of Winnipeg, 1989 - The Year Past, 25-6, illus.)
DELORAINE, MAN., Consolidated School No. 490, a large 4 storey brick school building, 1928; demol. c. 1980 (C.R., xlii, 13 June 1928, 66, t.c.)
Gilbert PARFITT (works for the Manitoba Dept. of Public Works)
SELKIRK, MAN., major addition to the Provincial Mental Hospital, 1929-30 (C.R., xliii, 16 Oct. 1929, 61; and 27 Nov. 1929, 64)
HEADINGLY, MAN., Provincial Jail and Correctional Institute, 1929-30 (C.R., xliii, 15 May 1929, 67; 24 July 1929, 59; Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 29 June 1929, 6, descrip.; and 7 Oct. 1930, 1, descrip.)
WINNIPEG, MAN., Manitoba Home for Girls, Main Street near Seven Oaks Avenue, in West Kildonan, 1930-31 (Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 24 Jan. 1931, 16, descrip.)
(with A.A. Stoughton) FORT GARRY (South Winnipeg), MAN., University of Manitoba, a new Science Building on the Agricultural College grounds, 1931-32 (C.R., xlv, 28 Oct. 1931, 51; and xlvi, 6 Jan. 1932, 20; Const., xxv, Dec. 1932, 278, 280-83, illus. & descrip.)
(with A.A. Stoughton) FORT GARRY (South Winnipeg), MAN., Arts Building for the University of Manitoba (Const., xxv, Dec. 1932, 281-85, illus.)
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MAN., Administration Building and two cottages at the Provincial Industrial Training School for Boys, 1930 (C.R., xliv, 20 Aug. 1930, 90, t.c.)
BRANDON, MAN., major additions to the Provincial Mental Hospital, 1932 and 1934 (C.R., xlvi, 27 Jan. 1932, 47; and xlviii, 22 Aug. 1934, 32)
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MAN., Nurses' Home, likely for the Provincial Mental Hospital, 1936 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 30 May 1936, 5, descrip.; and 13 June 1936, 12)
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MAN., Provincial Mental Hospital, 1937; with additions, 1950 (C.R., vol. 50, 1 Sept. 1937, 29, t.c.; and lxiii, Jan. 1950, 148)
WINNIPEG, MAN., Provincial Vehicle Garage, Kennedy Avenue, 1946 (C.R., lix, Oct. 1946, 92; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxv, April 1948, 124, illus.)
LAC DU BONNET, MAN., air station buildings for the Manitoba Government, 1948 (C.R., lxi, June 1948, 160)
COMPETITIONS
WINNIPEG, MAN., War Memorial Cenotaph, 1927. Parfitt was one of 25 architects, artists and sculptors who submitted a design in this national competition (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 12 Nov. 1927, 19). He was awarded Third Prize for his effort. The competition was won by Elizabeth Wood, a Toronto artist and sculptor, but her submission was later set aside by the jury who gave the commission to Parfitt (The Nugget [North Bay], 13 Dec. 1927, 13).