WADDELL, George (1846-1894) was born at Oban, Ontario on 24 March 1846. As a young man he moved to Sarnia where he learned carpentry and draughting. In 1867 he took up residence in Grand Rapids, Michigan and continued to work as a carpenter's assistant for two years before moving to St. Louis, Missouri to study architecture. Upon his return to Grand Rapids in 1872 he entered a partnership with the architect John Grady and together they "....planned some of the finest business buildings, churches and private residences of that city" including the Godfrey-White-Aldrich Building (1874) and the residence for Thomas Gilbert (1876-77). In late 1876 Waddell returned to Sarnia and during the next four years he executed several works both there and across the river in Port Huron, Michigan. His best known work is that for the Town Hall, Sarnia (1877), an Italianate design with an unusual bell tower which borrows heavily from ecclesiastical rather than civic precedents.
In 1880 he returned to Grand Rapids and purchased an interest in the Waddell Furniture Manufacturing Co., a business operated by his brother John, and he held the position of vice-president and general manager of the company until early 1894. Wadell died in Grand Rapids on 6 December 1894 (obituary in the Grand Rapids Herald, 7 Dec. 1894, 2; biog. in D. Goss, History of Grand Rapids and Its Industries, 1906, ii, 1068-70; inf. Mrs. H. Bisbee, Grand Rapids; inf. Ian Mason, Sarnia)
SARNIA, ONT., commercial block for George Leys & Co., Front Street, 1875 (Sarnia Observer, 5 Nov. 1875, 2, descrip. & illus.)
SARNIA, ONT., Town Hall, Christina Street at Lochiel Street, 1876-77; demol. 1954 (Sarnia Observer, 22 Sept. 1876, 2, descrip.; Canadian Illustrated News [Montreal], xv, 26 May 1877, 322, 324, descrip. & illus.)
SARNIA, ONT., Middle Ward School, 1877; demol. 1938 (Sarnia Observer, 24 Aug. 1877, 3, t.c.)
PORT LAMBTON, ONT., Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, 1877; demol. c. 1964 (Free Press [London], 12 Dec. 1877, 4; Irish Canadian [Toronto], 26 Dec. 1877, 3)
POINT EDWARD, ONT., Sarnia Township, School for Section No. 8, 1878 (Sarnia Observer, 22 Feb. 1878, 2, t.c.)
SARNIA, ONT., commercial block for R.A. Baby, Front Street, 1878 (Sarnia Observer, 29 March 1878, 2, descrip.)
SARNIA, ONT., commercial buildings for James Foulds and for Stewart & Wilson, 1878 (Daily Advertiser [London], 29 May 1878, 3)
SARNIA, ONT., Exhibition Hall for the West Lambton Agricultural Grounds, 1879 (Sarnia Observer, 18 July 1879, 5)
SARNIA, ONT., Our Lady of Mercy Roman Catholic Church, Christina Street at London Road, 1878-79; still standing in 2023 (Sarnia Observer, 11 Jan. 1878, 2, t.c.; and 30 Jan. 1880, 1, descrip.; Register of Sarnia Heritage Property, 2010, illus. & descrip.)
WALLACEBURG, ONT., Our Lady of Help of Christians Roman Catholic Church, Duncan Street at Elgin Street, 1878-1880; still standing in 2023 (Catholic Record [London], 4 June 1880, 4, descrip.)
SARNIA, ONT., store for Alexander Leys, Front Street, 1880 (Sarnia Observer, 21 May 1880, 5)
SARNIA, ONT., Central Methodist Church, George Street at Brock Street, 1882-83; still standing in 2023 (Sarnia Observer, 31 March 1882, 5; Daily Advertiser [London], 13 Nov. 1883, 4, descrip.; Register of Sarnia Heritage Property, 2010, illus. & descrip.)