West, Welsford Alexander | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

WEST, Welsford Alexander (1888-1967), son of Charles W. West, studied engineering at St. Mary's University in Halifax and gained much of his practical experience while engaged in structural design work for the Truro Foundry and the Brown Machine Co. By 1914 he had begun to list himself as an architect; he was employed by the Steel and Coal Company as their resident designer from 1917 to 1920, and by 1929 he had joined the provincial Dept. of Public Works & Mines as designer and draftsman. One of his few private commissions from this period was a residence for Dr. Clarence Miller, NEW GLASGOW, N.S. (C.H.G., vii, April 1930, 41, illus.). In 1932 West was appointed Provincial Architect for Nova Scotia and contributed to the design and construction of all provincial buildings between 1932 until his retirement in 1953. He then worked briefly for Leslie R. Fairn and later opened an office in Hopewell, N.S. in partnership with his son. West died in Halifax on 28 November 1967 (obituary Chronicle-Herald [Halifax], 30 Nov. 1967, 40; biog. in M. Rosinski, Architects of Nova Scotia, 1994, 280; inf. Garry Shutlak, Halifax)