ELTON, Ambrose Gresley (1898-1976), active in Toronto, Ont. where he was in partnership with Murray Brown from 1945 until 1958 (see list of works under Brown & Elton). Born in Hanwell, in the Borough of Ealing, West London, England on 16 August 1898, he was brought to Canada by his family in 1905 and educated at Central Technical School in Toronto. He studied architectural drafting for four years, but did not receive a formal university education. Instead, he joined the local Toronto architect John M. Jeffrey in 1920 and trained as an apprentice in his office until 1923. In 1924, he obtained a position as an assistant to Murray Brown and remained with him for one year, but it was Brown who recommended that Elton should move to New York City to train in the office of Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, one of the most talented and prolific architects in the United States during the early 20th C. Although Goodhue had died in 1924, Elton spent three and a half years training in that office from early 1925 to June 1928, assisting them with preparation of drawings and completion of key landmark works such as his Nebraska State Capitol Building (1920-32) and the Los Angeles Central Public Library (1922-26), both now considered masterpieces of American architecture.
Elton then returned to Toronto in mid-1928 and rejoined Murray Brown as associate and chief draftsman. In 1945 Brown invited Elton to become a full partner in their office, and the firm of Brown & Elton continued to practise, specializing in the design of public schools and bank buildings. After the death of Brown in April 1958, their office was dissolved and Elton then joined the firm of Allward & Gouinlock as a senior associate. Elton was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Inst. of Canada in 1961 (Toronto Star, 24 May 1961, 23; Globe & Mail [Toronto], 5 June 1961, 25). He later died in Toronto on 30 January 1976 (death notice Globe & Mail, 31 Jan. 1976, 53; inf. Ontario Association of Architects; inf. Barbara Myrvold, Toronto Public Library).