SCOTT, Sir George Gilbert (1811-1878), the patriarch of the Scott family dynasty of architects from London, England. His son was George Gilbert Scott (1839-1897), and his two grandsons were Adrian Gilbert Scott (1883-1963) and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960). All three generations of the Scott family have completed works in Canada. Sir G.G. Scott made a significant contribution to ecclesiastical architecture in Newfoundland when he was called in after the Great Fire there in June 1846 and was asked to prepare a design for a new Anglican Cathedral. Begun in July 1846, it took more than 3 years to complete the nave and side aisles of the building, but the remaining portion stood unfinished for more than 40 years. After the death of Sir G.G. Scott in 1878, his son George G. Scott prepared elaborate plans to finish the building in 1880-85, but the church was damaged in another Great Fire in the city in July 1892, and efforts were undertaken to repair and restore the building during the following five years.
Sir G.G. Scott was born at Gawcott, Co. Buckinghamshire on 13 July 1811 and articled to James Edmeston in London in 1827, and then with architect Sampson Kempthorne before commencing practise under his own name in 1835, and he later formed a partnership with William B. Moffatt (in 1838-1846). He then launched his own career, boosted by a number of winning designs in architectural competitions for works in London, England and in Hamburg, Germany. His architectural office in London grew to become one of the largest (and indeed the busiest) offices in England, and during the next 40 years, he was credited with a staggering 850 projects, a remarkable record for a 19th C. architect who was an acknowledged master of the Gothic Revival style. Sir G.G. Scott died in London on 27 March 1878 (obituary and list of works, The Architect [London], xix, 30 March 1878, 193; obit. The Builder [London], xxxvi, 6 April 1878, 339-43; Building News [London], xxxiv, 29 March 1878, 309-10; obituary R.I.B.A. Transactions, 1878-79, 3-5, and 193-208; biog. and list of works in the MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 1982, Vol. 4, 12-16; biog. R.I.B.A., Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, pub. 2001, Vol. 2, 558-59).
(works in Canada)
ST. JOHN'S, NFLD., St. John's Anglican Cathedral, No. 18 Church Hill, 1846-1849 (Illustrated London News [London], xiv, 23 June 1849, 429, illus. & detailed architectural descrip.; Canadian Illustrated News, iii, 1 April 1871, 204, illus. & descrip,; Weekly Herald & Conception Bay Advertiser [Harbour Grace], 2 Oct. 1850, 1-2, detailed architectural descrip.; H. Kalman, History of Canadian Architecture, 1994, 288-89, illus. & descrip.; Peter Coffman, "St. John's Anglican Cathedral and the Beginnings of Ecclesiological Gothic in Newfoundland", in the Journal for the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, xxxi, No. 1, Sept. 2006, 3-22, illus.)
MONTREAL, QUE., Christ Church Anglican Cathedral, Ste. Catherine Street West, a new reredos screen in the nave, to honour the late Dean John Bethune (1791-1872), designed by Sir G.G. Scott (Montreal Daily Star, 26 Oct. 1903, 4, historical article on the church)