WHITTAKER, Henry (1885-1971) was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 15 May 1885 where his father was a cotton manufacturer. His family moved to England and he articled there with J. Perry at Dudley, Engl., with Haywood & Harrison of Accrington, and with the architectural department of Waring & Gillow Furniture Store in London. In 1905-10 he lived and worked in Port Sudan, Khartoum and at Wad Medani as an architectural assistant to the government of the Sudan. He returned to England in 1911 and emigrated to Canada in early 1913. On 3 May 1913 he was appointed as assistant in the drafting department of the British Columbia Public Works Dept. in Victoria. In April 1919 he was promoted to Acting Supervising Architect and later that year he attained the position of Chief Architect for the province, , holding that post for the next thirty years.
His early designs for public buildings were modest and conservative variants of the Tudor Revival style with characteristic English half-timber framing, but he later adopted a more progressive Art Deco style by the mid-1930's. One of his department's most impressive works from the period was the Power Commission Building in Victoria (1948-49). Whittaker retired as Chief Architect for the British Columbia Government on 30 June 1949 and was succeeded by Guy S. Ford. He continued to practise privately after that time, in partnership with Donald Wagg, advising on plans for several hospitals in the province. He retired in 1954 and died in Victoria on 18 August 1971 (death notice Daily Colonist [Victoria], 10 Aug. 1971, 26; biog. Daily Colonist [Victoria], 16 July 1949, 3; D. Luxton, Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 428-30, 524; inf. Architectural Inst. of British Columbia). A photographic portrait of Whittaker was published in the Daily Commercial News [Toronto], 15 Dec. 1936, 1.
BUILDINGS FOR THE B.C. DEPT. OF PUBLIC WORKS
ABBOTSFORD, B.C., Matsqui Elementary School, 1913 (D. Franklin, Early School Architecture in British Columbia, 1980, 48, illus.)
(attributed) MERRITT, B.C., Provincial Government Building, 1914 (dwgs. BCPA)
(attributed) NICOLA, B.C., Provincial Government Building, 1914 (dwgs. BCPA)
VANCOUVER, B.C., several prototypes for War Veteran's housing, Windsor Street, at South Hill, overlooking the Fraser River, South Vancouver, 1919 (Vancouver Daily World, 21 Feb. 1919, 16, descrip.; H. Kalman, Exploring Vancouver, 1993, 203, illus.)
OWENS FALLS, B.C., Court House, 1919-20 (Parks Canada, Canadian Inventory of Historic Buildings, Manuscript Report No. 288, 63)
ESSONDALE, B.C., several buildings on the site of the Provincial Hospital, including:
Boy's Industrial Home, Coquitlam Road, five new buildings, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 21 Jan. 1920, 48, t.c.; and 16 June 1920, 51; and Vancouver Sun, 1 Oct. 1920, 1, detailed descrip.), and
Nurse's Home and nine cottages, 1920; and
Acute Care Patients wing, 1922-23; (Vancouver Daily World, 28 March 1922, 9, descrip.; and 11 June 1923, 30, descrip.), and
Mental hospital, 1927; and
Staff Quarters, 1928; (C.R., xlii, 11 Jan. 1928, 50; and 25 July 1928, 61, t.c.), and
Soldier's Infirmary, 1930; (C.R., xliv, 5 Feb. 1930, 55), and
Admission Unit, 1946; (C.R., lix, Feb. 1946, 112); and
Clinic for Psychological Medicine, 1949 (Canadian Hospital [Toronto], xxvii, March 1950, 30-4, illus. & descrip.)
COURTENAY, B.C., public school, 1920 (C.R., xxxiv, 16 June 1920, 51, t.c.)
KAMLOOPS, B.C., model barn, 1921 (C.R., xxxv, 15 June 1921, 62)
PRINCE RUPERT, B.C., Provincial Court House, Market Place facing McBride Street, designed by A. Alfred Cox in 1913, but construction suspended during WWI, and building later completed by Whiittaker in 1921-22 (Vancouver Daily World, 26 Oct. 1920, 17; M. Carter, Early Canadian Court Houses, 1983, 232)
ARMSTRONG, B.C., public school, 1921 (D. Franklin, Early School Architecture in British Columbia, 1980, 31, illus.)
SMITHERS, B.C., Provincial Government Building, 1925 (M. Carter, Early Canadian Court Houses, 1983, 233, illus.)
TRANQUILLE, B.C., major addition to the Sanatorium, 1927; central heating plant, 1931; Nurse's Home, 1948 (C.R., xli, 16 Feb. 1927, 47; xlv, 21 Jan. 1931, 49; lxi, Sept. 1948, 130; Nanaimo Free Press, 8 Jan. 1931, 3, descrip. of the Power House)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Children's Home, for the Children's Aid Society, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 25 Jan. 1928, 65)
CHILLIWACK, B.C., public school, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 4 Jan. 1928, 47)
VANCOUVER, B.C., University of British Columbia, gymnasium, 1929 (Province [Vancouver], 12 April 1928, 4; C.R., xliii, 10 July 1929, 69)
SALMON ARM, B.C., Provincial Government Building, 1929-30 (M. Carter, Early Canadian Court Houses, 1983, 233, illus.)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Vancouver General Hospital, additions including the following:
Tuberculosis Wing, Willow Street, 1935-36 (The Province [Vancouver], 10 Jan. 1936, 2, descrip.; C.R., vol. 50, 15 Jan. 1936, 42), and
Nurse's Home, Heather Street, 1937-38 (C.R., vol. 50, 6 Oct. 1937, 32), and
major addition to hospital, 1947-48 (C.R., lx, Sept. 1947, 174)
VANCOUVER, B.C., University Hill Public School, at the end of Chancellor Boulevard, University Heights, a large addition of classrooms and auditorium, 1936 (Vancouver Sun, 1 May 1936, 2)
KAMLOOPS, B.C., Royal Inland Hospital, major addition, 1937 (Vancouver Sun, 5 June 1937, 15, descrip.)
KIMBERLEY, B.C., Junior High School, 1937 (C.R., vol. 50, 21 July 1937, 35)
PRICE RUPERT, B.C., major addition to the General Hospital, 1938 (C.R., li, 9 March 1938, 33)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Motor Vehicle License Office & Testing Garage, West Georgia Street at Bidwell Street, 1938 (C.R., li, 13 July 1938, 36; dwgs. Vancouver City Archives)
CRESTON, B.C., public school, 1938 (C.R., li, 27 July 1938, 118)
POWELL RIVER, B.C., Provincial Government Building, 1938-39 (inf. Gordon Fulton, Ottawa)
KELOWNA, B.C., major addition to the hospital, 1939 (C.R., lii, 13 Sept. 1939, 28)
BURNABY, B.C., New Haven Borstal Home for Boys, Marine Drive at New Haven Close, five bungalow dormitories and large barn, 1939; still standing in 2022 (Vancouver Sun, 30 Oct. 1939, 13, descrip.)
VICTORIA, B.C., Mount Mary Roman Catholic Hospital, Burdett Street near Vancouver Street, 1940 (M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria's Architecture, 1996, 198, illus.)
VICTORIA, B.C., major addition of the Richmond Pavilion for the Royal Jubilee Hospital, Richmond Avenue at Fort Street, 1944-46; Maternity Pavilion, 1946 (C.R., lvii, 28 June 1944, 29, t.c.; Canadian Hospital, xxiii, Dec. 1946, 28-30, illus. & descrip.; 40 ; M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria's Architecture, 1996, 199, illus.)
NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C., major addition to Royal Columbia Hospital, Columbia Street at Sherbrooke Street, 1944 (C.R., lvii, 23 Aug. 1944, 22)
VICTORIA, B.C., St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Hospital, major addition, Collinson Street, 1946 (C.R., lix, Oct. 1946, 92)
PENTICTON, B.C., Provincial Court House, Main Street at Lakeshore Drive, 1948-49 (Penticton Herald, 24 March 1949, 1 & 12; Tim Morawetz, Art Deco Architecture Across Canada, 2017, 69, illus. & descrip.)
COURTENAY, B.C., Provincial Government Building, 1949 (C.R., lxii, May 1949, 156)
VICTORIA, B.C., The Douglas Building, Government Street at Superior Street, for the Provincial Government, 1949 (C.R., lxii, July 1949, 136; Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House - Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods - Vol. 2, James Bay, 2018, 130-31, illus. & descrip.)
VICTORIA, B.C., B.C. Electric Power Commission Building, Blanshard Street at Humboldt Street, 1949-51 (Vancouver News-Herald, 7 Sept. 1949, 18, t.c.; and 1 October 1949, 2, descrip.; Victoria Daily Times, 22 Feb. 1950, 3, descrip.; and 24 Oct. 1950, 17, illus.; M. Segger & D. Franklin, Exploring Victoria's Architecture, 1996, 78-9, illus.; Tim Morawetz, Art Deco Architecture Across Canada, 2017, 68, illus. & descrip.)
NELSON, B.C., Kootenay Lake General Hospital, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, Jan. 1950, 144)
VICTORIA, B.C., Royal Jubilee Hospital, Richmond Avenue at Fort Street, a new Laboratory Building, 1950-51 (Victoria Daily Times, 9 Dec. 1950, 39, t.c.)