KICKHAM, Charles (1813-1893), an architect and builder active in St. John's, Newfoundland for more than thirty years. Born at “The Beach” in St. John's, Nfld. in 1813, he was raised in Nova Scotia where his father was a ship builder, and it was “...from the early association with his father's trade that he imbibed the taste for architectural construction which in later years developed to a high degree” (see the biography of Charles Kickham published in The Colonist [St. John's], Christmas Number, 1889).
In 1828 Kickham moved back to St. John's, Nfld. where he attended school and served an apprenticeship with Mr. Saunders, a local builder, then pursued a career in the local fisheries and worked at sea for four years before returning to St. John's in 1841. The Great Fire of June 1846 prompted him to resume the trade of carpentry, and he worked for two years on construction of the Colonial Building in 1849-50. He later lived and worked in Montreal, Que. but returned to St. John's in 1859 and devoted the rest of his career to activity as an architect and builder. His biography published in 1889 states that “....Mr. Kickham has had the inspection of nearly all the principal buildings of St. John's erected during recent years, including the Star of the Sea Hall, the Total Abstinence Hall, St. Michael's, Belvidere, the residence of the Christian Brothers and, perhaps the crowning glory of his work, the grand hall of St. Patrick, the finest building of its kind on this side of the Atlantic”.
It is unclear if the terminology “..had the inspection of....” clarifies his role as builder, or that of architect and builder; it is known, however, that his plans, along with those of another architect John Coleman, were submitted to the building committee of the Benevolent Irish Society of St. John's for the new St. Patrick's Hall in September 1876, and that the plans of Kickham were approved, but that the elements of the mansard roof and central tower were taken from the drawings submitted by Coleman and grafted to the plans by Kickham. Completed in 1880, this landmark was heavily damaged during the Great Fire of 1892, and then rebuilt to the plans of Greene & Pearson, The complex still stands today as of 2020, and was converted to residential use in 1998-2000. Kickham died in St. John's on 28 November 1893 (obituary and biography, Evening Herald [St. John's], 29 Nov. 1893, 4; obituary Evening Telegram [St. John's], 29 Nov. 1893, 4, in which he was referred to as "architect and contractor").
(works in Newfoundland)
ST. JOHN'S, NFLD., St. Patrick's Hall, for the Benevolent Irish Society, Queen's Road, 1877-79; converted to residential use in 1998-2000 (Terra Nova Advocate [St. John's], 2 May 1877, 3, t.c.; Terra Nova Advocate [St. John's], 27 Aug. 1879, 2, extensive architectural description, with credit to both Charles Kickham and John Coleman as architects; Evening Herald [St. John's], 29 Nov. 1893, 4, list of works by Kickham in obituary article; Centenary Volume – Benevolent Irish Society of St. John's, Nfld. 1806-1906, p. 140, p. 164; Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland & Labrador, Heritage Designation Statement, July 2004; inf. Prof. Shane O'Dea, Memorial University)
ST. JOHN'S, NFLD., Roman Catholic Boy's School, St. Patrick Street, at Riverhead, "in the West End", for the Christian Brothers, 1888-90 (Daily Colonist [St. John's], 6 June 1888, 4, descrip.; 16 July 1888, 4, descrip.; Evening Herald [St. John's], 1 Sept. 1890, 4, descrip.)