WEBB, Sir Aston (1849-1930) was a talented and remarkably prolific architect of London, England and an acknowledged master of the Edwardian style. He executed one significant work in Canada, that for the Newfoundland Museum, Duckworth Street, St John's, Newfoundland. 1907-08, a skillfully crafted work that ranks as one of most sophisticated Edwardian buildings to be found in the Maritimes. The signed drawings by Webb and his partner E. Ingress Bell (1837-1914) for this work can be found in the collection of the Newfoundland Dept. of Public Works (Pocket 8, Folder l).
Webb trained under Charles Barry Jr. (1824-1900) and early in his career he won major competitions for the Law Courts in Birmingham in 1885 and for the Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington in 1891. Webb possessed a clear vision of the picturesque and the monumental, and was adept at sifting through a complex building programme and finding the essence of a simple solution. In 1907 he was hired by the Toronto Guild of Civic Art to draw up plans for the beautification of Toronto, Ont. (Vancouver Daily World, 20 Feb. 1907, 1, descrip.). Many of his recommendations later formed the basis of the proposals developed by John M. Lyle in 1909. In 1913 Webb was asked to submit a design for the Departmental Buildings on Wellington Street in Ottawa, Ont. (Builder [London], civ, 23 May 1913, 596 and plate illus.; Charles C. Hill, edit., Artists, Architects & Artisans - Canadian Art 1890-1918, 2013, 204, illus. & descrip.). If his grand vision has been carried out, it would have become one of the most convincing ensembles of government buildings in North America. The federal government was reluctant to commit itself to such an ambitious scheme and called another competition for the complex in 1914. None of the sixty-three proposals submitted in response to this call for entries was ever built. Webb was knighted for his achievements in British architecture in 1904 and received the R.I.B.A. Gold Medal in 1905. He died in London on 21 August 1930 (obituary in The Times [London], 22 Aug. 1930, 12; obit. Gazette [Montreal], 22 Aug. 1930, 1; obit. R.I.B.A. Journal, xxxvii, 20 Sept. 1930, 710-11, 744; A. Stuart Gray, Edwardian Architecture: A Biographical Dictionary, 1985, 374-9, illus.)
TORONTO, ONT., Master Plan for the beautification of Toronto, for the Toronto Guild of Civic Art, 1907 (Toronto Daily Star, 20 Feb. 1907, p. 2 and 7, illus. & descrip.; Vancouver Daily World, 20 Feb. 1907, 1, descrip.)
ST. JOHN'S, NFLD., The Newfoundland Museum, Duckworth Street, opposite Cathedral Street, 1907-08; still standing in 2022 (dwgs. Newfoundland Dept. of Public Works, St. John's)
LONDON, ENGL., The Grand Trunk Railway Co. of Canada, Cockspur Street, facing Trafalgar Street, a 6 storey office block and ticket office, 1910 (Montreal Daily Star, 12 Nov. 1910, 17, illus. & detailed descrip.; Brantford Daily Expositor, 11 Nov. 1910, 10, detailed descrip.; Daily Standard [Kingston], 15 Nov. 1910, 4, illus. and detailed descrip.)