SELF, James Harvey (1884-1951), of Toronto, Ont. was associated with a remarkably sophisticated design for the Town Hall in Beaverton, Ont. in 1910. Born in Toronto on 26 October 1884, he studied architecture at the School of Practical Science at the University of Toronto, and after his graduation he received his training in 1908-09 under George M. Miller, a prominent Toronto architect. In 1910 he collaborated with William F. Shepherd on the Edwardian design for the Beaverton Town Hall & Market Building, a substantial civic landmark with a tall clock tower and belfry, and a large public assembly hall seating 700 visitors. When opened in December 1910, a local newspaper from nearby Lindsay, Ont. described the building but credited J.H. Self as the architect, an indication that he alone may have been the sole author of the design.
Self moved to Vancouver, B.C in 1911 to work as a staff architect with the Vancouver School Board, but soon returned to Toronto where he joined the City Architect's Department as a concrete inspector in 1917-20. By 1921 he had joined the Toronto Board of Education, and served as Superintendent of Construction for the next 32 years. During this period, he collaborated with Charles E.C. Dyson, Chief Architect to the Board, and was credited with helping to plan a total of 35 new school buildings for the Board in Toronto. Self died in Georgetown, Ont. on 21 December 1951 (obituary Globe & Mail [Toronto], 22 Dec. 1951, 5; obit. Georgetown Herald, 26 Dec. 1951, 8). A biography of J.H. Self up to 1913 was published in the Toronto Daily Star on 26 February 1913, page 3.
BEAVERTON, ONT., Town Hall & Market Building, Simcoe Street at Osborne Street, 1910; still standing in 2024 (C.R., xxiv, 13 April 1910, 31; Lindsay Post [Lindsay, Ont.], 2 Dec. 1910, 12, descrip.)
TORONTO, ONT., residence for an unnamed client, Wells Hill Avenue, west of Avenue Road, 1910-11 (Builder & Contractor [Toronto], vol. 1, 1 March 1911, 4-10, illus. & descrip.)