WALTON, Charles Albert (1845-1908) was born at Leeds, England in January 1845 and was brought to Canada by his parents in 1856. He served an apprenticeship under William Kauffman of Toronto and was said to have possessed "....a natural taste for the profession, and entered actively upon it on his own account, travelling extensively and practising in Toronto, Montreal, Albany, Detroit and Chicago" (biography in Dominion Illustrated [Toronto], 1891-92, 122). From 1870 to 1875, he was employed by the Michigan Central Railroad in Detroit, Mich. and was said to have "...done a large body of work, notably the large workshops of the Grand Trunk Junction". In March 1875 he formed a partnership in Detroit with Julius A. Knapp, as Knapp & Walton, Architects, and the formation of their new firm was described in the Detroit Free Press, 23 April 1875, 1. Their firm was dissolved after April 1876, and Walton continued to work in Detroit until 1877.
Upon his return to Toronto he joined in a partnership with William Storm; the relationship was short-lived however, and by 1878 he had commenced practice on his own account (see list of works under Storm & Walton). During the next thirty years he worked in Toronto under his own name except for a brief period in late 1895 when he was joined by Luke A. Woods, an obscure figure. George M. Miller worked as an apprentice in his office from 1883 until 1885. In 1881 Walton prepared an elaborate Gothic design for Grace Church, Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg (Winnipeg Daily Times, 3 May 1881, 1, descript.;). His proposal was not built however, yet he was mistakenly credited with the design of this building erected two years later and designed by James Chisholm. In Toronto his major work was the innovative design for the Toronto Arcade, Yonge Street, 1883-84, with its elaborate 'Neo-Grec' facade and arched entrance demarcating the pedestrian shopping walkway leading through to Victoria Street. Regrettably this important Canadian precedent for the urban retail shopping complex was demolished in 1955. Walton suffered a stroke in late 1906 and died in Toronto on 23 September 1908 (obituary in the Telegram [Toronto], 24 Sept. 1908, 7; Toronto Star, 24 Sept. 1908, 1; obituary Detroit Free Press, 25 Sept. 1908, 12; biography in C.B. Robinson, History of Toronto and the County of York, 1885, i, 358; M. Bixby, Industries of Canada-Toronto, 1886, 121)
Charles A. WALTON (works in Toronto unless noted)
YONGE STREET, near Queen Street West, pair of stores for Dr. James Ross, 1878 (Telegram [Toronto], 11 Sept. 1878, 1)
MOZART MUSIC HALL, Adelaide Street East at Church Street, 1878; demol. (Mail [Toronto], 26 Oct. 1878, 4)
SPADINA AVENUE METHODIST CHURCH, Spadina Avenue at College Street, 1879; demol. 1887 (Globe [Toronto], 14 June 1879, 7, t.c.; Mail [Toronto], 25 June 1879, 4, descrip.)
RICHMOND HILL, ONT., Methodist Church, Yonge Street at Centre Street, 1880-81; still standing in 2023 (Globe [Toronto], 20 March 1880, 6, t.c.; York Herald [Richmond Hill], 17 March 1881, 2; Christian Guardian [Toronto], 13 April 1881, 119; Jubilee History of Richmond Hill Methodist Church, 1907, 8)
(with David Roberts) GODERICH, ONT., St. George's Anglican Church, North Street at Nelson Street, 1880 (Globe [Toronto], 8 May 1880, 7, t.c.)
BIJOU OPERA HOUSE, King Street West near Bay Street, 1883; demol. (Toronto World, 20 Jan. 1883, 12, descrip.; and 20 April 1883, 1, descrip.)
TORONTO ARCADE, Yonge Street opposite Temperance Street, 1883-84; demol. 1955 (Globe [Toronto], 26 June 1883, 6, descrip.; and 5 July 1883, 5, t.c.; Toronto Daily Mail, 30 June 1884, 7, descrip.; The Arcade Guide & Record, c. 1885, 8, 17, descrip.; W. Dendy, Lost Toronto, 1978, 153-55, illus.)
MUTUAL STREET SKATING RINK, 1885; demol. (Globe [Toronto], 29 June 1885, 5, t.c.)
NEW RICHMOND METHODIST CHURCH, McCaul Street opposite Grange Avenue, 1887 (Christian Guardian [Toronto], 7 Sept. 1887, 565)
PALMERSTON AVENUE SCHOOL, 1889 (Toronto Board of Education Annual Report, 1889)
BRUNSWICK AVENUE, near Harbord Street, residence for William H. Jones, 1897 (Toronto b.p. 81, 2 July 1897)
CANADA BISCUIT FACTORY, King Street West at Bathurst Street, 1901 (Toronto b.p. 107, 26 Nov. 1901)
KING STREET WEST, at Wilson Avenue, residence for R. Wert, 1904 (Toronto b.p. 547, 26 May 1904)
COMPETITIONS
STRATFORD, ONT., High School, 1877. Walton was one of thirty-four architects from the United States and Canada who submitted designs for this building (Stratford Beacon, 5 Oct. 1877, 2). His scheme was not among the finalists, and the commission was later awarded to McCaw & Lennox
VICTORIA, B.C., Provincial Legislative Buildings, 1892. Under the pseudonym of 'Plena Domus Ornamentis' Walton submitted a design in the competition for the Legislative Buildings at Victoria, B.C., but his proposal did not advance to the second stage, and the scheme by Francis M. Rattenbury was awarded First Premium (M. Segger, The British Columbia Parliament Buildings, 1979, 84).