O’DELL, William (1865-1939) advertised his services as a “Resident & Architect” in Nanaimo, B.C. from early 1891 until 1894 (Nanaimo Free Press, 3 March 1891, 1, advert.), and his goal was to compete against non-resident architects such as J.G. Tiarks, Thomas Hooper, and Edward Mallandaine, all of whom had offices in Victoria, and who were active in the Nanaimo region in the late 19th C. O’Dell was born in Ontario on 18 October 1865 and likely trained in the building trades. He arrived in British Columbia before 1890, and practised as an architect until late 1894. By 1897, he appears to have moved to Vancouver, where he was listed as a carpenter (Vancouver City Directory, 1897, 666). He was still living and working there as a contractor in 1911. O’Dell later died in Vancouver on 24 November 1939.
(works in Nanaimo)
SLOAN & SCOTT DRY GOODS, Commercial Street, extensive alterations and improvements to retail store, with new façade and rear extension, 1891 (Nanaimo Free Press, 4 March 1891, 1, descrip.)
NEWCASTLE TOWNSITE, several private residences, situated in “….the Nob Hill of Nanaimo”, 1891 (Nanaimo Free Press, 4 March 1891, 4)
SELBY STREET, residence for Charles A. Wardill, 1892 (Nanaimo Free Press, 7 March 1892, 2, t.c.)
ROBERTS STREET, two large houses for an unnamed client, 1892 (Nanaimo Free Press, 4 May 1892, 4)
NICOL STREET, at Finlayson Street, residence for Archibald McGregor, 1892 (Nanaimo Free Press, 6 June 1892, 1, t.c.)