Hodgson, William

HODGSON, William (1827-1904), the eldest son of William and Deborah Hodgson, was born in Wigton, Co. Cumberland, England on 11 February 1827. He learned the carpenter's trade under his father and came with him to Canada in 1841, passing through Bytown and Kingston on their way to Whitby, Ont. where the brother of Hodgson's father had settled. The family established a residence in nearby Brooklin and began a cabinet-making business. After the death of his father in 1856 Hodgson worked briefly as a builder in Whitby, Ont., in New York City and then in Hamilton, Ont. In early 1859 he accepted an invitation from Thomas Gallagher, a prominent builder in Ottawa, to become his foreman and site supervisor there. Hodgson held this position for nearly eight years and in 1867 began his own business as an architect in Ottawa. His knowledge of construction and design was widely respected, and likely precipitated his selection as a Juror, along with Thomas S. Scott, for the 1872 competition for a new City Hall in Ottawa. However, political squabbling at City Council later led to the rejection of all the submissions. Two years later Hodgson submitted a design of his own in a new competition for the same landmark. His entry 'in the Italian style' was a modification of an earlier scheme that had been submitted by Silas James but initially rejected as too costly (Free Press [Ottawa], 13 Feb. 1874, 2, descrip.; The Times [Ottawa], 16 April 1874, 2). The First Prize was later awarded to Horsey & Sheard.

Hodgson was 'a man of a very retiring disposition' who disliked publicity but nevertheless was respected as a competent and knowledgeable designer and builder who possessed 'farsightedness and cool judgement'. At the time of his death it was said that Metcalfe Street, from one end to the other, was a living monument to his enterprise '....as nearly all the principal residences of that street have been built under his instructions as an architect' (obituary and portrait in the Evening Journal [Ottawa], 20 July 1904, 1). His patrons included Sir John A. MacDonald, Hon. E.H. Bronson, Judge L. Tilley, J.R. Booth, C.B. Powell and other leading citizens of Ottawa. He died in Ottawa on 19 July 1904 (obituary in the Ottawa Citizen, 20 July 1904, 3; Evening Journal [Ottawa], 20 July 1904, 1; biography and portrait in G. Mercer Adam, Prominent Men of Canada, 1892, 252-4; OA, Wills, Carleton County, 4423)

(works in Ottawa unless noted)

ELGIN STREET, near Sparks Street, commercial block for John G. Bell, 1867 (Ottawa Citizen, 8 Nov. 1867, 3, descrip.)
SALLY STREET, row of four houses for Mrs. Sally Austin, 1867 (Ottawa Citizen, 8 Nov. 1867, 3)
ALBERT STREET, west of Sally Street, a pair of stone residences with stables and coach houses at the rear, for Mrs. Nicholas Sparks, 1867 (Ottawa Citizen, 8 Nov. 1867, 3, descrip.)
CENTRAL SCHOOL, East End, George Street near Cumberland Street, 1867-68; demol. 1962 (Ottawa Citizen, 8 Nov 1867, 3, descrip.)
CENTRAL SCHOOL, West End, Maria Street at Hugh Street, 1868-69 (Ottawa Citizen, 24 July 1868, 3; The Times [Ottawa], 20 Nov. 1869, 3, descrip.)
HUNTON, SHOOLBRED & CO., Sparks Street at Metcalfe Street, commercial block for Thomas Hunton, 1871 (Ottawa Citizen, 20 Apri 1871, 3, t.c.)
OTTAWA CITIZEN PRINTING CO., Sparks Street, 1872 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 24 Dec. 1877, 1, illus. & descrip.)
ORANGE HALL, Albert Street at O'Connor Street "...in the Italian style of architecture", 1872-73 (Free Press [Ottawa], 28 Feb. 1872, 3, descrip.; Times [Ottawa], 13 July 1872, 2; Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 28 Feb. 1874, 4, descrip.)
LEWIS & PINHEY, Elgin Street, offices, 1872 (dwgs. at OA, D. Coll. 668-669)
SPARKS STREET, at O'Connor Street, block of stores for Anthony Swalwell and the Borbridge Brothers, 1872 (Free Press [Ottawa], 31 Jan. 1872, 3, t.c.)
SUSSEX STREET, two stores for Joseph Boyden and George Murphy, 1872 (Free Press [Ottawa], 13 Feb. 1872, 3, t.c.)
MARIA STREET, near O'Connor Street, a residential tenement building '......in the Gothic style' for Thomas Gallagher, 1872 (Free Press [Ottawa], 3 Aug. 1872, 3)
WELLINGTON STREET, at Market Square, block of three stores for Joseph Kavanaugh, 1872 (Free Press [Ottawa], 13 May 1872, 3, t.c.)
RIDEAU STREET, three stores for William Glegg, 1874 (Free Press [Ottawa], 3 March 1874, 2, t.c.)
GRAND OPERA HOUSE, Albert Street at O'Connor Street, for Mr. Gowan, 1874 (Free Press [Ottawa], 4 June 1874, 4, descrip.; Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 18 Jan. 1875, 3, descrip.)
ALBERT STREET, row of five houses for R. Bishop, 1874 (Free Press [Ottawa], 8 July 1874, 2, t.c.)
REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH, Elgin Street at Gloucester Street, 1874 (Free Press [Ottawa], 17 July 1874, 2, t.c.; Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 13 March 1875, 4, descrip.)
TRAFALGAR PLACE, Slater Street near Metcalfe Street, a row of four houses for Edmund Miles, 1874 (Free Press [Ottawa], 22 July 1874, 4, descrip.)
ELGIN STREET, at Wellington Street, block of stores for A.H. Mathewman, 1874 (Free Press [Ottawa], 3 Aug. 1874, 2, t.c.)
ARNPRIOR, ONT., store for Whitloe & Galvin, John Street, 1875 (Free Press [Ottawa], 8 Jan. 1875, 2, t.c.)
BORBRIDGE BLOCK, York Street at William Street, a block of stores for John Borbridge and Anthony Swalwell, 1875 (Free Press [Ottawa], 13 Jan. 1875, 2, t.c.; Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 6 Dec. 1875, 4, descrip.; Ottawa: A Guide to Heritage Structures, 2000, 36, illus.)
CARLETON CLUB HOUSE, Wellington Street, 1875 (Free Press [Ottawa], 31 March 1875, 2, descrip.; Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 6 Dec. 1875, 4, descrip.)
ARNPRIOR, ONT., High School, Ottawa Street at Hugh Street, 1875 (Free Press [Ottawa], 12 June 1875, 3; A.H.D. Ross, Short History of Arnprior High School, 1922, 21)
DALY AVENUE, residence for Isaac Moore, 1875-76 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 6 Dec. 1875, 4, descrip.; Ottawa: A Guide to Heritage Structures, 2000,126, illus.)
RIDEAU STREET, in Sandy Hill, residence for Alex Taylor, 1875 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 8 Dec. 1875, 2)
MACKENZIE AVENUE, opposite Major's Hill Park, residence for W.J. Wills, 1878 (Free Press [Ottawa], 23 March 1878, 3, descrip.)
COOPER STREET, residence for D.S. Eastwood, 1878 (Free Press [Ottawa], 25 April 1878, 3)
STEWART STREET, at Chapel Street, residence for James Fraser, 1879 (Free Press [Ottawa], 22 July 1879, 3)
MAJOR'S HILL PARK, glass Conservatory and greenhouse, 1879 (Free Press [Ottawa], 5 Sept. 1879, 3)
STEWARTON, residence for F.J. Boswell, Argyle Avenue, 1880 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 17 July 1880, 4)
BANK STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, reconstruction after a fire, 1881 (Free Press [Ottawa], 2 Oct. 1880, 4, descrip.)
METCALFE STREET, at Slater Street, residence for the architect, 1882 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 1 Aug. 1882, 3)
SCOTTISH ONTARIO BLOCK (later the Trust Block), Elgin Street at Sparks Street, 1882 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 1 Aug. 1882, 3, descrip.; Ottawa: A Guide to Heritage Structures, 2000, 61, illus.)
GLOUCESTER STREET, residence for H. Williams, 1886 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 11 March 1886, 1)
DALHOUSIE STREET, at McKay Street, major addition and alterations to 'Earnscliffe', the residence of Sir John A. MacDonald, 1888 (Commonwealth Relations Office, London, Earnscliffe, 1955, 19-20, illus.)
ST. JOHN'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Sussex Street, new rectory and Sunday School, 1890 (Daily Citizen [Ottawa], 1 May 1890, 2; C.R., i, 24 May 1890, 2)
BROWN BLOCK, Sparks Street, 1892 (Free Press [Ottawa], 30 March 1892, 2, descrip.)
METCALFE STREET, at Waverly Street, large residence for Thomas Birkett, 1895 (C.R., vi, 9 May 1895, 3; Andrew Waldron, Exploring the Capital: An Architectural Guide to the Ottawa-Gatineau Region, 2017, 62-3, illus. & descrip.)
WELLINGTON STREET PUBLIC SCHOOL, 1901 (C.R., xi, 23 Jan. 1901, 2)