DONOVAN, Patrick Harrington (1828-1904) was recorded as an architect in Victoria, B.C. from 1886 until 1891. He was prompted to move there after the untimely death of his son James P. Donovan who died in Victoria in April 1886. Patrick H. Donovan began his career in St. Paul, Minnesota where he practised in partnership with Edward P. Bassford (1837-1912) a leading architect in that city. In 1876 both Donovan Senior and his son moved to California, but his son later moved to Portland, Oregon, then to Seattle, and finally to Victoria, B.C. to pursue his own career.
A native of Ireland, Patrick H. was born there in 1828 and emigrated to the United States after 1850. Patrick H. appears in Victoria in early September 1886, and that same month he was noted as the architect of major additions to the Victoria Bakery Building, located on the south side of Fort Street, Victoria, B.C., between Broad Street and Douglas Street. The owner was Moses R. Smith, and the complex was often referred to as “Smith’s Bakery”. Donovan was also credited as local associate architect for St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Victoria (1890), designed by Perrault & Mesnard of Montreal, and this appears to be his last work in the city. Donovan left British Columbia after 1891 and later died at Everett, Washington on 20 June 1904, and was buried there in Evergreen Cemetery.
(works in Victoria, B.C.)
SMITH'S BAKERY, Fort Street, between Broad Street and Douglas Street, major additions for Moses R. Smith, 1886 (Victoria Daily Times, 30 Sept. 1886, 1, t.c.)
(with Perrault & Mesnard of Montreal) ST. ANDREW'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL, View Street at Blanchard Street, 1890-91 (Victoria Daily Times, 27 Jan. 1890, 8, descrip.; and 27 June 1890, 8, descrip.)