FLOCKTON, Alfred (1851- c. 1920), of Montreal, Que. was a member of the Flockton family of architects in Sheffield, England. His father was Thomas James Flockton (1825-1899), a well-known architect in Sheffield and a Fellow of the Royal Inst. of British Architects, and his grandfather was the architect William Flockton (1804-1864). Alfred was a talented draftsman and delineator who was educated at the Sheffield School of Art. In 1869 he received a Prize for his Design for a Fountain (Sheffield & Rotherham Independent, Supplement, 4 Sept. 1869, p. 12). This drawing was placed in a national competition in London in 1870, and received another prize (Sheffield & Rotherham Independent, 8 April 1870, 3), Alfred F. trained under his tather, and lived and worked in Sheffield until 1885 when he emigrated to Canada. He signed an agreement with W. McLea Walbank, an architect in Montreal, to work as apprentice or assistant to him (ANQM, William Heber Cross, notary, Item No. 158, dated 3 Oct. 1885). He opened his own office in Place d'Armes in Montreal in 1889, and in 1890 he submitted an elaborate Romanesque Revival design in the competition for the Confederation Life Insurance Building in Toronto, and was awarded 4th Prize for his effort (C.A.B., iii, Aug. 1890, double page plate illus.). The competition was won by Knox & Elliott of Cleveland,
His skill as an architectural draftsman became well-known in Montreal, and in 1894 he was invited to exhibit his drawings at the Annual Exhibition of the Art Association of Montreal. This architectural exhibition provided him with the opportunity to display his works alongside those from the elite of the Montreal architectural profession including A.C. Hutchison, Taylor & Gordon, his mentor W. McLea Walbank, James Nelson, Samuel Findlay, Brown & MacVicar, Theo Daoust, J.R. Gardiner, and many others (Gazette [Montreal], 5 Oct. 1894, 2). In 1896 he was hired by James Nelson & H.C. Nelson to prepare the presentation drawings for the Joseph Levy residence on Laval Avenue in Montreal. His signed drawings were published in C.A.B., ix, Nov. 1896, plate illus. Flockton remained in Montreal until 1900, but appears to have returned to England after that date. He may be the same “Alfred Flockton” who died in January 1919 at Croydon, Co. Surrey.
(works in Montreal)
DORCHESTER STREET WEST, a brick residence for an unnamed client, 1892 (C.R., iii, 16 July 1892, 2)
COTE ST. ANTOINE, a brick residence for W Knox, 1892 (C.R., iii, 16 July 1892, 2)
PARK AVENUE, two houses with cut stone fronts, for H.GS. Dixon, 1892 (C.R., iii, 16 July 1892, 2)