HAWKER, James William (1870- c. 1940), active in Winnipeg, Man. from 1921 to c. 1935 where he specialized in the design of low-rise apartment blocks built in that city from 1927 to 1931. Born in Brighton, England in April 1870, he was baptised at St. Nicholas Church, Brighton on 29 May 1870, and was educated and trained in England, He commenced practise in nearby Eastbourne and Bexhill where he was in partnership with A.A. Oakden, as Oakden & Hawker Architects (in 1900-05). He formed a new partnership called Hawker & Clover, with offices in Brighton, Seaford and Portsmouth, in 1905-10, then commenced practise under his own name in Brighton in 1910.
Hawker emigrated to the United States in 1913 and shortly after came to Canada to take up residence in Winnipeg . During WWI he served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, earning the rank of Major, and after returning in 1918 he found work in the office of James Chisholm & Son, assisting Colin C. Chisholm with several projects between 1918 to 1920. He applied for membership in the Manitoba Assoc. of Architects in April 1921, and later became a specialist in the design of low-rise apartment blocks in Winnipeg. His best-known works there include the Scarsdale Apartments (1930), the Raleigh Apartments (1931) and the Bessborough Apartments (1931). These Depression-era designs for rental apartment blocks are simple, with subtle, low-relief ornamentation expressed with a palette of brick and stucco and Art Deco flourishes of stylized entrance porticos clad in limestone. The floor plate of each building is U-shaped, allowing a generous amount of natural daylight to reach all units in the buildings. During this period, Hawker was elected as President of the Manitoba Assoc. of Architects in 1930, and again in 1931. He left Canada in 1935 and returned to England where he died after 1940 (inf. Manitoba Assoc. of Architects; inf. Murray Peterson, City of Winnipeg). A photographic portrait of Hawker was published in the Winnipeg Daily Tribune on 27 February 1931, page 8.
(works in Winnipeg unless noted)
CITY DRAY CO., Rupert Avenue, a large brick garage building, 1923; demol. (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 27 April 1923, 6)
WILLIAM AVENUE, at Princess Street, major alterations to the Princess Block for A.R. McNichol, 1923; demol. (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 5 May 1923, 1)
MacDONALD APARTMENTS, on a site between The Mall and Vaughan Street, for Alex MacDonald, 1925 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 17 Sept. 1925, 1, descrip.)
ROCHESTER APARTMENTS, Edmonton Street, near Broadway, for Mrs. E.M. Orris, 1927; demol. 1959 (C.R., xli, 8 June 1927, 55; Daily Commercial News [Toronto], 9 June 1927, 6)
RIVER STREET, west of Osborne Avenue, apartment block for W. Moxam, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 22 Feb. 1928, 141)
OXFORD APARTMENTS, Furby Street, between Portage Avenue and Broadway, for W.E. Rooke, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 22 Feb. 1928, 141)
CLINTON APARTMENTS, Vaughan Street, between St. Mary’s Street and York Street, apartment block for J.H. Wiltse, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 22 Feb. 1928, 141)
ST. JAMES, MAN., The St. James Hotel for Frank Fowlie, Portage Avenue at Queen Street, 1928 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 24 March 1928, 9, descrip.; 26 March 1928, 6, illus.)
DROMORE AVENUE, at Wilton Street, residence for John A. Forlong, 1928 (Winnipeg Free Press, 12 May 1928, 36, illus. & descrip.; inf. Robert Hamilton, Hamilton, Ont.)
TUXEDO PARK, residence for Frank Shea, Park Boulevard North near Wellington Crescent, 1928 (inf. Univ. of Manitoba - Winnipeg Building Index)
HARVARD APARTMENTS, Furby Street, for Moxam Const. Co., 1929 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 27 April 1929, 37, illus.)
HOTEL BROOKLANDS, Keewatin Street at William Avenue, for Samuel Cohen, 1930, now called The Brooklands Inn (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 3 March 1930, 3, descrip.)
RIVER BEND APARTMENTS (later renamed The Wiltshire Apartments), Spence Street, 1930 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 24 May 1930, 15, descrip.; 31 May 1930, 10; Manitoba Free Press [Winnipeg], 31 May 1930, 28, illus. & descrip.)
SCARSDALE APARTMENTS, Kennedy Street near Broadway, 1930 (City of Winnipeg b.p. 1763, 1930; inf. Peterson Projects, Feb. 2007, Heritage Report; inf. Robert Hamilton, Hamilton, Ont.)
EAST KILDONAN, MAN., a hotel “….modelled on the Shakespeare Inn at Stratford-on-Avon”, Henderson Highway at Washington Avenue, 1930, but project not built (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 11 Sept. 1930, 3, descrip.)
RALEIGH APARTMENTS, Vaughan Street at Ellice Avenue 1931 (Manitoba Free Press, 17 Jan. 1931, 8, illus. & descrip.; Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 5 Feb. 1931, 2, descrip.; 25 April 1931, 14; inf. Robert Hamilton, Hamilton, Ont.)
BESSBOROUGH APARTMENTS, Assiniboine Avenue, between Carlton Street and Hargrave Street, for S. Benjaminson, 1931 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 25 April 1931, 14, descrip.; 22 Aug. 1931, 4, illus. & descrip.)
LAYTON APARTMENTS, Corydon Avenue, 1931 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 6 June 1931, 19, descrip.; 1 Aug. 1931, 5, illus. & descrip.)
WAKEFIELD APARTMENTS, Stradbrook Avenue, between Osborne Street and Scott Street, 1931 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 22 Aug. 1931, 5, list of works)
PORTAGE AVENUE, at Ruby Street, a row of six stores for Dr. V.M. Leech, 1933 (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 5 Aug. 1933, 1, descrip.)