ALLAN, William Bryson (1840-1911), was an important regional architect of the Niagara Peninsula in the late nineteenth century. Born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1840, he began his architectural education there and completed his apprenticeship in Toronto after his parents had emigrated to Canada in 1858. He moved to St. Catharines in 1861, and is first listed as an architect in that city in Mitchell's Canada Gazetteer & Business Directory of 1864. He joined his brothers in operating a large furniture manufacturing business, but when his architectural practice flourished he was forced to withdraw from the partnership. He held several public positions during his career, including that of ward alderman, school trustee and as Water Commissioner. Almost all of his architectural commissions were for residential, institutional and commercial buildings, but his most accomplished work must certainly be that of First Presbyterian Church, St. Catharines (1877), an assured Romanesque design executed entirely in brick with meticulous corbelling that surrounds the entire building. Allan died in New York City on 27 June 1911 while on a brief visit there, and was later buried at St. Catharines Cemetery (obituary in Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 28 June 1911, 8; obit. Brantford Daily Expositor, 28 June 1911, 1)
William B. ALLAN (works in St. Catharines)
BAPTIST CHURCH, Queen Street, 1871 (Daily Times [St. Catharines], 8 March 1871, 3)
ST. CATHARINES SAW WORKS, St. Paul Street East, 1873-74 (St. Catharines General & Business Directory, 1874, 18)
HAYES BLOCK, extensive remodelling of store for James Douglas, 1873 (Weekly News [St. Catharines], 15 May 1873, 3, descrip.)
WOODRUFF & CO. STORE, St. Paul Street at William Street, enlargement and remodelling, 1873 (Weekly News [St. Catharines], 19 June 1873, 3, descrip.)
J.D. TAIT STORE, in the Masonic Temple Building, 1873 (Weekly News [St. Catharines], 26 June 1873, 3, descrip.)
SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH ROMAN CATHOLIC CONVENT, James Street at Church Street, 1874 (Globe [Toronto], 17 Feb. 1874, 1, descrip.)
GENERAL & MARINE HOSPITAL, Queenston Street, major addition of new wards and surgery wing, with addition of an extra storey to the entire building, 1874; demol. (Globe [Toronto], 3 June 1874, 1, descrip.)
ODD FELLOW'S TEMPLE, St. Paul Street, 1873, a one storey addition with mansard roof (St. Catharines General & Business Directory, 1874, 18)
PROTESTANT ORPHAN'S HOME, Ontario Street, 1877; demol. 1951 (E. Julian et al, St. Catharines: Our Built Heritage, 2005, 154, illus.)
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Church Street at Clark Street, 1877-78; still standing in 2022 (Canada Presbyterian [Toronto], 22 Feb. 1878, 261, descrip.; J. Tuer, A Historical Narrative...of the First Church, St. Catharines 1831-1931, 37-8)
RIDLEY COLLEGE, Yates Street, 1889, renovation of the former Springbank Sanatorium for the new College buildings; addition to Ridley College, 1896; burned 1903; (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 22 April 1896, 3; K. Beattie, Ridley: The Story of a School, 1963, 19)
PUBLIC SCHOOL, ST. GEORGE'S WARD, Church Street, 1890 (C.R., i, 27 Sept. 1890, 2)
ST. PAUL STREET METHODIST CHURCH, a new Sunday School, 1890 (C.R., i, 27 Sept. 1890, 2)
NIAGARA DISTRICT FRUIT PRESERVING CO., several new buildings, 1892 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 18 May 1892, 2, t.c.)
THE BIG 22 DEPARTMENT STORE, St. Paul Street, for R. Stanley, 1892-93 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 25 Jan. 1893, 2, descrip.)
unnamed street, a large and elaborate verandah for the mansion of Charles A. Riordon, 1895 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 5 April 1895, 1, described as ".....the finest verandah in the city")
GENERAL AND MARINE HOSPITAL, Queenston Street, 1896, The Jubilee Wing, an addition to the original building (C.R., vii, 5 March 1896, 2); addition to the Nurses Home, 1910; all later demol. (C.R., xxiv, 4 May 1910, 2)
RUSSELL HOUSE HOTEL, St. Paul Street, 1900, a three storey addition (C.R., xi, 21 Feb. 1900, 2)
SHELLY BROS., Queen Street, factory and bakery building (C.R., xii, 6 Feb 1901, 2)
ONTARIO STREET, residence for W.G. Finlay, 1901 (C.R., xii, 3 April 1901, 2)
CHURCH STREET, residence for S.G. Smith, 1902, (C.R. xiii, 28 May 1902, 2)
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, 1904 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 14 June 1904, 1, t.c.)
J.M. ROSS, SONS & CO., George Street, several large factory buildings including blacksmith shops, warehouse, and paint shop, 1905 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 8 April 1905, 6, t.c.)
THE INTERNATIONAL HOTEL, James Street, for William Gordis, major alterations and additions, 1905 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 13 Oct. 1905, 2)
ST. CATHARINES LAMP CO., major addition to factory, 1906 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 14 June 1906, 5, t.c)
LAKESIDE STREET, a two storey terrace of 4 houses for P.M. Leiffer, with towers at east and west end, 1906 ((Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 1 Sept. 1906, 7, descrip.)
CHURCH STREET, at the head of Clark Street, residence for J.P. Casey, 1906 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 17 Sept. 1906, 6, detailed descrip.)
THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP, at No. 9 St. Paul Street, new facade and extensive alterations to the 3 storey retail store, 1909-10 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 2 March 1910, 4, detailed architectural descrip.)
NURSE'S HOME, at the General & Marine Hospital, additions and alterations to the residence block, 1910 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 19 May 1910, 4)
William B. ALLAN (works elsewhere in Ontario)
CENTREVILLE, ONT., a large paper mill for Mr. Riordan (St. Catharines Constitutional, 4 April 1867, 2, col. 4, descrip.; E. Julian et al, St. Catharines: Our Built Heritage, 2005, 110, illus.)
MERRITTON, ONT., row of six tenement houses for the Lybster Cotton Mfr. Co., 1874 (Globe [Toronto], 16 March 1874, 3, t.c.)
MERRITTON, ONT., St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Merritt Street at Oakdale Avenue, 1875; destroyed by cyclone Autumn, 1898; rebuilt at a new location on Merritt Street, east of Elm Street, 1899; church closed November 2012; but building still standing in 2023 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 9 Sept. 1899, 2)
THOROLD, ONT., Bank of Commerce, Front Street, 1875 (Thorold Post, 23 July 1875, 1)
PORT COLBORNE, ONT., St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, King Street near Victoria Street, 1879; still standing in 2023 (Thorold Post, 25 July 1879, 4)
THOROLD TOWNSHIP, Beaverdams Public School, S.S. No. 2, 1879 (Thorold Post, 24 Oct. 1879, 4, descrip.)
MERRITTON, ONT., Town Hall, Merritt Street, 1879-80; still standing in 2023 (Canada, Town Halls of Canada, 1987, 297-8, 306 ff., illus.; E. Julian et al, St. Catharines: Our Built Heritage, 2005, 137, illus.)
VIRGIL, ONT., St. John's Anglican Church, Niagara Stone Road near Four Mile Creek Road, 1893-94; church closed 1996; building restored in 2011 and now occupied by Silversmith Brewery; still standing in 2023 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 9 Nov. 1893, 4, t.c.)
GUELPH, ONT., residence for Mrs. J. Elliott, Park Avenue, 1894 (Guelph Daily Mercury, 18 Oct. 1894, 4)
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONT., headquarters for the Niagara Historical Society, Castlereagh Street, 1906-07 (Daily Standard [St. Catharines], 3 Jan. 1906, 3, t.c.; The Times [Niagara-on-the-Lake], 21 Sept. 1906, 4; and 8 March 1907, 4, descrip.; Niagara Historical Society, Report on the Opening of Memorial Hall, 1907, 29, illus.)