BLACKWELL, William (1881-1967) lived and worked in Toronto, Ontario with the prominent architectural firm of Wickson & Gregg from 1909 until 1936. He should not be confused with another architect of the same name, who was active in Peterborough, Ont. from 1885 until c. 1920.
Born in Derby, England on 29 May 1881, Blackwell attended St. Andrew’s Middle School in Derby, then articled with George Yates Mills, a leading architect in Derby, from 1897 to 1902. He continued to work in England until 1909 when he emigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto. That same year, he obtained a position as a junior assistant with Wickson & Gregg, and in 1922 was appointed as a project architect with the firm, remaining with that firm until after 1930. When A. Frank Wickson died in December 1936, Blackwell was appointed as a full partner, and the firm was renamed Wickson, Gregg & Blackwell, Architects (R.A.I.C. Journal, xiv, Jan. 1937, 18). With the outbreak of WWII, their office was closed, and Blackwell moved to Montreal to join the architectural department of Canadian National Railways. He later retired from that office in 1947, and resigned from the Ontario Assoc. of Architects in December 1964. Blackwell died at Vineland, Ontario on 12 May 1967 (death notice Globe & Mail [Toronto], 16 May 1967, 47; inf. Ontario Association of Architects; inf. Bruce Plumb, Tokyo, Japan).