Hand, Havelock Elkins

HAND, Havelock Elkins (1860-1918) was active in Buffalo, N.Y. from c. 1890 in partnership with Thomas W. Harris. They were later joined by Aaron R. Merritt, and the firm of Hand Harris & Merritt executed some of the most distinctive terra cotta buildings in Ontario for H.L. Bowles, owner of the Bowles Lunch Co. restaurant chain. Impeccably detailed and exquisitely crafted, these landmarks (all now regrettably demolished) were mature and thoughtfully conceived works that combined English Georgian or Renaissance Revival features that distinguished them from other utilitarian buildings adjacent. Hand was born in Rochester, N.Y. and worked in Buffalo, N.Y. before moving to Toronto in 1908. He collaborated on several Canadian commissions with his younger Buffalo partners but by 1914 the firm had dissolved when Harris joined the U.S. Army during WWI and Merritt enlisted in the American Aviation Corps. Hand died in Toronto on 7 June 1918 (obituary in Telegram [Toronto], 8 June 1918, 12; Toronto Star, 8 June 1918, 21)

TORONTO, ONT., warehouse for Hamilton Brewing Co., Ontario Street at Richmond Street East, 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 6 March 1912, 73)
TORONTO, ONT., Bowles Building & Restaurant, Yonge Street near Richmond Street East, 1911-12; demol. (C.R., xxv, 20 Dec. 1911, 65; Const., vi, March 1913, 87-90, illus. & descrip.)
TORONTO, ONT., Bowles Restaurant, King Street East near Yonge Street, 1913; demol. 1960 (Toronto b.p. 3842, 3 May 1913; Const., viii, March 1915, 123-7, illus. & descrip.)
TORONTO, ONT., Bowles Restaurant, Queen Street West at Bay Street, 1914; demol. (Const., viii, Aug. 1915, 334-7, illus. & descrip.)
OTTAWA, ONT., Bowles Restaurant, Sparks Street, 1916 (C.R., xxx, 6 Sept. 1916, 44)