HADDON, William [senior] (1796-1876) was recorded as an architect in St. John's, Newfoundland during the period from 1826 until 1849. Born in England in 1796, he may have learned the building trades there before emigrating to the British colony of Newfoundland. His obituary published in local newspapers in St. John's in 1876 states that “,....he came here in 1826 to build Government House, and was here until 1849. He later moved to New York City” (death notice Royal Newfoundland Gazette [St. John's], 1 Aug. 1876; The Patriot [St. John's], 3 Aug. 1876). In 1846 he received 2nd Prize in the architectural competition for the the new Market House in St. John's, and he received L 10.00 Sterling for his effort (Morning Courier [St. John's], 6 Oct. 1847, 2). The first prize was awarded to William Haddon, but the entire project was shelved just weeks later after the Great Fire in St. John's on 9 June 1846, and an inferior design for the Market was substituted in the following year.
Haddon moved to New York City in late 1849; his name as an “architect” appears in the U.S. Census, 1850 – New York – Brooklyn – Ward Five, where he continued to work as a professional until after 1855. He died there on 10 June 1876. His son William Haddon Jr. also worked in St. John's after 1840, likely as an assistant to his father.