SCOBELL [or SCOBLE], Joseph (1793-1855), a builder and architect active at first in Montreal, then in Kingston, Ont., and later again in Montreal. Born in Colyton, Devonshire Co., England on 1 December 1793, he was christened there on 21 December 1793 and appears to have been one of a number of residents who were born in that town and later came to Canada to pursue a career as an architect and builder here. All were born in Colyton, and they likely knew each other before emigrating to Canada. This group included Edward Horsey (of Colyton), John Power (of Colyton), and the Scobell brothers (of Colyton).
Scobell arrived in Montreal, Que. before 1828, and the following year he was ambitious enough to prepare a design in the important competition for the new City Hall In Albany, New York. This competition elicited entries from some of the luminaries of the American architectural scene including Ithiel Town & A.J. Davis of New York, and from Minard Lafever, also of New York. It is a testament to Scobell that his entry, one of 12 submitted, was selected as one of the six finalists by the Jury, and his design and presentation drawings must have made a positive impression on the selection committee. Ultimately, his drawings were set aside and Philip Hooker of Albany was selected as the winner.
By 1834 Scobell may have been living in Peterborough, Ontario where he was hired as the builder to construct St. John’s Anglican Church (1834-36), designed by John G. Howard of Toronto. Just four years later in 1838, he was commissioned to build (and he may have designed) the Peterborough County Court House (1838-42). During this period, he had moved his business to Kingston, Ont. and in late 1841 he announced that he would “practise the profession of architect, measurer and valuator, having long experience in the practical department” (Kingston Chronicle & Gazette, 8 Dec. 1841, 3, advert.)
By 1844, he had moved back to Montreal, where he placed an advertisement for his new business as “carpenter & builder” (Montreal Transcript, 17 Oct. 1844, 2, advert.). His name as “architect” consistently appears in the Montreal City Directories from 1849 to 1855. He was again called to Kingston, Ont. in 1855 by Edward Horsey to serve as the contractor for his new Frontenac County Court House (1855-58), but he did not live to see it completed. Scobell died in Montreal on 27 April 1855 at the age of 63 years, and was later buried in Mount Royal Cemetery (death notice Montreal Daily Transcript, 1 May 1855, 4; Montreal Pilot, 2 May 1855, 3; Globe [Toronto], 8 May 1855, 3; inf. A.J.H. Richardson, Ottawa; inf. Stephen A. Otto, Toronto; (biog., in Jennifer McKendry, Architects Working in the Kingston Region 1820-1920, 2019, 101)
PETERBOROUGH, ONT., Peterborough County Court House, Water Street, 1838-42 (T. Poole, Sketch of the Early Settlement of the Town of Peterborough, 1967, 43; Leslie Maitland, Neoclassical Architecture in Canada, 1984, 44, illus.; Martha Kidd, Peterborough’s Architectural Heritage, 1978, 166, illus. & descrip.)
QUEBEC CITY, QUE., a brick weigh house at the St. Paul Market, 1845 (ANQ, Charles Maxime DeFoy, greffe, 27 Sept. 1845, Contract No. 947)
QUEBEC CITY, QUE., a brick Fire Engine House in the St. Jean Quarter, 1845 (ANQ, Charles Maxime DeFoy, greffe, 27 Sept. 1845, Contract No. 4842)
QUEBEC CITY, QUE., a brick Fire Engine House in the St. Roch Quarter, 1845 (ANQ, Charles Maxime DeFoy, greffe, 27 Sept. 1845, Contract No. 4842)
MONTREAL, QUE., a row of four houses on Ste. Catherine Street at Union Street, fronting on Phillips Square, Beaver Hall, for John Honey, advocate (ANQM, J. Belle, notaire, 31 Jan. 1851, No. 11986)
MONTREAL, QUE., St. Luke’s Anglican Church, Dorchester Street at Champlain Street, 1852-54 (Historical Sketch of St. Luke’s Church 1854-1904, 1-3 & 7, illus.)
COMPETITIONS
ALBANY, N.Y., City Hall, 1829. There were 12 sets of plans submitted by architects from the United States and Canada, including a design from “..Mr. Scobe [sic] of Montreal” (W. Richard Wheeler & D.G. Bucher, Philip Hooker and His Contemporaries, 1993, 264, list of competitors). The local jury, composed of board members of the Common Council, selected six finalists including the design by Scobell of Montreal, but his scheme was passed over in favour of the winning proposal by the Albany architect Philip Hooker.