HARGREAVES, Wilfrid Lord Watkins (1880-1966), active in Victoria, B.C. from 1909 until after 1950. He was a native of Rawtensall, near Manchester, England, and was the son of James Henry Hargreaves who was recorded as an “architect & surveyor”, and a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers. His son Wilfrid was born there on 1 October 1880 and was brought to Canada by his family in 1892 at the age of 12 years. They settled in Winnipeg, Man., and it is likely that J.H. Hargreaves persuaded his son to pursue a career as an architect. Wilfrid served a three-year apprenticeship with George C. Browne, a leading architect in Winnipeg (in 1900-03), and then worked as a draftsman in the office of Daniel Smith (in 1904-05). In 1906, he opened an office in Winnipeg under his own name, but coincidentally, his office in the Canada Permanent Block was just down the hall from that of his mentor, George C. Browne, and it is possible that Hargreaves was collaborating with Browne, or representing him during the extended periods when Browne was living in the Hudson Valley, north of New York City. In 1906 Hargreaves moved west to Calgary, Alta. and accepted an offer to become a draftsman in the busy office of William M. Dodd (Daily Herald [Calgary], 27 Feb. 1906, 8).
Hargreaves left Canada in 1908 and moved to Spokane, Wash. where he worked in the office of John K. Dow, assisting him with the plans for the new Library, Assembly Hall and Heating Plant for Washington State College in Pullman, Wash. In 1909 Hargreaves moved to Victoria, B.C. and, at this point, he appears to have changed his name from Wilfrid Lord Watkins Hargreaves to Lord Wilfrid Hargreaves, and most documents and sources in Canadian publications refer to the latter spelling. He designed a number of commercial and residential buildings in Victoria before WWI, but by 1921 he had taken a new post of staff architect with the B.C. Provincial Dept. of Public Works (Henderson’s City of Victoria Directory, 1921, 349). By 1930, he had been appointed Assistant Chief Architect in that department, working under the direct supervision of Henry W. Whittaker, the Chief Architect. His last known works for the Province were a series of plans for Provincial Liquor stores in several cities in British Columbia.
Hargreaves died in Victoria, B.C. on 13 August 1966 (obituary Victoria Daily Times, 19 Aug. 1966, 13; Daily Colonist [Victoria], 20 Aug. 1966, 15; biog. and port. D. Luxton, Building The West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 365, 503-04; inf. Architectural Inst. of British Columbia, Application for Membership No. 39, 1920).
(works in Victoria, B.C. unless noted)
PRINCE GEORGE HOTEL [now The Douglas Hotel], Douglas Street at Pandora Street, for Lim Bang, 1911 (Daily Colonist [Victoria], 8 Jan. 1911, 10, illus. & descrip.; C.R., xxv, 25 Jan. 1911, 28; M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria‘s Architecture, 1996, 65, illus.; John Adams, Chinese Victoria, 2022, 204-05, illus.)
PRINCESS AVENUE, near Cook Street, residence for William Lindley, 1911-12 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House - Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2021, 124-25, illus. & descrip.)
YEN WO SOCIETY BUILDING, Government Street near Fisgard Street, 1912 (M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria‘s Architecture, 1996, 118, illus.; John Adams, Chinese Victoria, 2022, 165, illus.)
ANDREW WRIGHT BLOCK [now The Leland Apartments], Douglas Street at Bay Street, 1912 (D. Luxton, 503-04, list of works)
SCOTT BUILDING, Douglas Street at Hillside Avenue, 1911-12 (D. Luxton, 503-04, list of works; Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2021, 43, illus. & descrip.)
BELMONT AVENUE, at Begbie Street, residence for Henry Harkness, 1912 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House - Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 1, 2013, 30-1, illus. & descrip.)
ARNOLD AVENUE, near Clifford Street, residence for Janet G. Winter, 1912 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House - Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 4, 2009, 22, illus. & descrip.)
PACIFIC AVENUE, at Thompson Avenue, residence for Wilfrid L.W. Hargreaves, architect, 1913 (D. Luxton, 503-04, list of works)
KAMLOOPS, B.C., addition to the Leland Hotel, Victoria Street at 3rd Avenue, 1919-20; burned 1980 (A.I.B.C., Application for Membership by Hargreaves, list of works)
OAK BAY, residence for Avard Pineo, Foul Bay Road near Crescent Road, 1924 (Stuart Stark, Oak Bay’s Heritage Buildings, 1986, 77, illus.; M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria‘s Architecture, 1996, 193-4, illus.)
QUEEN’S PRINTER BLOCK, for the Provincial Government, Superior Street at Government Street, 1926-28 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House - Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 2, 2005, 154-55, illus.)
RAEBURN HOUSE APARTMENTS, Rockland Avenue near Cook Street, 1928 (Victoria Daily Times, 18 Feb. 1928, 9)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Provincial Liquor Store, East 8th Avenue near Quebec Street, 1948 (dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
NANAIMO, B.C., Provincial Liquor Store, Cavan Street, 1949 (David N. Spearing, Heritage Inventory of Downtown Buildings - Nanaimo, 1982, 51, illus. & descrip.)
PRINCE GEORGE, B.C., Provincial Liquor Store, 1949 (D. Luxton, 503-04, list of works)
COMPETITIONS
VICTORIA, B.C., Y.M.C.A. Building, Blanchard Street at View Street, 1909. The firm of Hargreaves & Hargreaves was one of 6 local architects who submitted a design (Evening Post (Victoria), 16 July 1909, 5). They were awarded second prize for their effort. The winner was H.S. Griffith of Victoria.