STEWART, George Alexander (1830-1917), son of Thomas A. Stewart of Peterborough, Ont., was born there on 26 August 1830. He received his early training as a surveyor under John Read in 1849 and then moved to Toronto to work under Sir Sandford Fleming, whom he assisted with surveying work for the Northern Railway. Stewart registered as a Provincial Land Surveyor on 8 July 1852 and then moved to Port Hope to open an office as 'Civil Engineer, Architect and P.L.S.' (Port Hope Guide, 28 Oct. 1854, 1, advert.). By 1857 he was joined in partnership by his brother Charles E. Stewart (Port Hope Guide, 24 Jan. 1857, 3, advert.), but by March 1859 he once again was working under his own name. His primary work as a surveyor was, on occasion, supplemented by architectural work; in 1862 he submitted an ambitious Palladian design for the Victoria County Court House in Lindsay (M. MacRae & A. Adamson, Cornerstones of Order, 1983, 187, illus.). His scheme was not premiated however, and Cumberland & Storm of Toronto were declared the winners.
In 1868 he was appointed as Chief Engineer of the Midland Railway at Port Hope and held this position until 1877 when he moved back to Peterborough. In September 1880 he formed a partnership in Toronto with his son-in-law Arthur R. Denison and while the firm was active in that city until June of 1886 it appears that Stewart had left Toronto before this time, perhaps in 1883, to take up residence in Winnipeg. By 1886 he had moved to Banff, Alberta to direct the survey of Canada's first national park, known as Rocky Mountains Park (now Banff National Park). Stewart accepted the appointment of Superintendent of that park, and from 1898 until 1902 he held the position of Engineer for the City of Calgary. He retired from active practice in late 1902 and moved to Victoria, B.C. where he died on 13 May 1917 (obituary in the Colonist [Victoria], 16 May 1917, 7; Victoria Daily Times, 16 May 1917, 13; biography and port. in Association of Ontario Land Surveyors Annual Reports, 1918, 182-4)
G. A. STEWART (works in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan)
PETERBOROUGH, ONT., residence for Charles Dunlop, 1852 (J. Rempel, Building with Wood, 1980, 160-1)
PORT HOPE, ONT., residence for William Fraser, Walton Street, 1857 (Port Hope Guide, 21 Nov. 1857, 1)
INDIAN HEAD, SASK., large grain elevator for the Qu'Appelle Valley Farming Co., 1884 (Manitoba Daily Free Press [Winnipeg], 22 July 1884, 3, descrip.)
GRISWOLD, MAN., large grain elevator for the Griswold Farmer's Elevator Co., 1884 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 28 Aug. 1884, 7)
STEWART & DENISON (works in Toronto unless noted)
HOPE STREET PUBLIC SCHOOL, Manning Avenue at Robinson Street, 1880 (Globe [Toronto], 22 Oct. 1880, 7, t.c.)
LAMBTON MILLS, six cottages for workers at the Woolen Factory, 1880 (Globe [Toronto], 3 Dec. 1880, 7, t.c.)
BROCKTON VILLAGE, West Toronto, Public School, St. Claren's Avenue at Shirley Street, 1881 (Globe [Toronto], 7 July 1881, 8, t.c.; 9, news item)
BELLEVILLE, ONT., Anglican Church, Coleman Street at Catherine Street, 1881-82 (Evangelical Churchman [Toronto], 26 May 1881, 40; Daily Intelligencer [Belleville], 5 April 1882, 2, descrip.)
RUNNYMEDE ROAD, near Bloor Street West, public school, 1882 (Telegram [Toronto], 4 Feb. 1882, 6, t.c.)
ST. PHILIP'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Spadina Avenue at Dundas Street West, 1883-84; demol. c. 1980 (Globe [Toronto], 9 March 1883, 7, t.c.; 28 Jan. 1884, 6, descrip.)
DALE AVENUE, residence for William Croft, 1883 (Globe [Toronto], 5 May 1883, 5)
PARKDALE MASONIC HALL, Queen Street West at Dowling Avenue, 1883 (Telegram [Toronto], 11 Aug. 1883, 2, t.c.; Toronto Daily Mail, 7 Sept. 1883, 2, descrip.)
UXBRIDGE, ONT., Presbyterian Church, 1884 (Globe [Toronto], 2 Feb. 1884, 9, t.c.)
TORONTO ISLAND, St. Andrew-by-the-Lake Anglican Church, 1884; with residence for Bishop Sweatman, 1884 (Telegram [Toronto], 2 Feb. 1884, 2, t.c.; Toronto Daily Mail, 14 Feb. 1884, 8; 22 July 1884, 8, descrip.; W. Dendy, Lost Toronto, 1993, 48-9, illus.)
UXBRIDGE, ONT., Market Hall, 1884 (Telegram [Toronto], 7 April 1884, 3, t.c.)
UXBRIDGE, ONT., large store and public hall, 1884 (Telegram [Toronto], 5 July 1884, 3, t.c.)
KETTLE POINT, ONT., Anglican Church for the Indian Reserve, 1884 (Sarnia Observer, 18 July 1884, 5)
FIREHALL NO. 12, Bolton Avenue, St. Matthew's Ward, 1884 (Globe [Toronto], 1 Oct. 1884, 3, t.c.)
LINDSAY, ONT., St. Paul's Anglican Church, Russell Street, 1885 (Evangelical Churchman [Toronto], 13 Nov. 1884, 326-7; Canadian Post [Lindsay], 27 Nov. 1885, 1, illus. & descrip.)
EUCLID AVENUE METHODIST CHURCH, Queen Street West at Euclid Avenue, enlargement and alterations, 1885 (Telegram [Toronto], 4 July 1885, 3)