DICKINSON, George L. (1788-1848), active in Montreal, Que. from 1841 to 1848. He was among the first wave of English-speaking architects to practise the profession in Montreal in the early 19th C. His colleagues included leading architects such as George Browne, William Footner, James Springle and John Wells. In 1841 both he and James Springle collaborated on a design submitted in the competition for Queen's College [now Queen's University] in Kingston, Ont. and together they received the 2nd Premium, but the commission was later awarded to John G. Howard of Toronto. Just three years later, in 1844, Dickinson received the First Premium of $40. for the best plan of Third Methodist Church, Montreal, 1844-45, and the project was completed to his winning design.
His outstanding work in Montreal was the sophisticated and refined design of the Bank of British North America, St. James Street, 1843-44; demol. 1912. His design combined Doric and Ionic elements of Greek architecture into a distinctive three storey neo-Classical landmark which stood until 1912 when it was demolished and replaced by the new head office of the Bank designed by Barott & Blackader. No information has been found on the education and training of Dickinson, but he was likely born in England or Scotland, and gained his knowledge of architecture there. He arrived in Montreal in 1839 or 1840. and his name as “architect” appears consistently in Lovell's City Directory of Montreal from 1841 to 1847 (Montreal Transcript, 2 Oct. 1847, 2, advert.). His last work was located in Griffintown, Montreal, a design for a small Wesleyan Methodist Church, executed in the Gothic style. Dickinson died in Montreal on 30 March 1848 (death notice Gazette [Montreal], 3 April 1848, 2). Only three weeks later, a full list of the contents of his office library and residence was published in the Montreal Gazette, and provides valuable insight into the lifestyle and range of interests of Dickinson as a professional architect (Gazette [Montreal], 19 April 1848, 2, advert. from C.F. Hill & Co., Auctioneers). This list includes over 40 books and architectural journals, many of which appear to have been brought to Canada in 1840 when Dickinson emigrated to Lower Canada.
(works in Montreal)
BANK OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA, St. James Street, 1843-44 (Newton Bosworth, Hochelaga Depicta – Addenda, 1846, 17-18, descrip.; L. Maitland, Neoclassical Architecture in Canada, 1984, 65, illus. & descrip.)
WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH, Great St. James Street, 1844-45 (Montreal Transcript, 1 June 1844, 2; British North American Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, iv, Aug. 1845, 105-06; Newton Bosworth, Hochelaga Depicta – Addenda, 1846, 5-7, illus. & descrip.)
GRIFFINTOWN, Wesleyan Methodist Church, 1846, to replace the church “..lately destroyed by fire” (Newton Bosworth, Hochelaga Depicta – Addenda, 1846, 7)
COMPETITIONS
KINGSTON, ONT., Queen's College [now Queen's University], 1841. The office of Springle & Dickinson were among at least 6 architects from Canada and the United States who submitted plans (J. Stewart & Ian Wilson, Heritage Kingston, 1973, 121-22). They were awarded 2nd Prize for their effort. The winner was John G Howard of Toronto, but his scheme was never built.