REILLY, Francis Bell (1874-1944), brother of William R. Reilly of Regina, Sask., was born in Wardsville, Ont. on 17 May 1874 and moved to Saskatchewan in 1891 where he found work as a teacher in the Wolseley and Regina districts. He joined his brother in the firm of Reilly, Dawson & Reilly in 1909 and remained a partner until 1934 when he formed a new firm of Reilly & Crowther. Both he and his brother were two of the founding members of the Saskatchewan Association of Architects in 1911, and Francis B. served as President of the organization in 1924-26. It was during this period that he collaborated with F.H. Portnall on the design of the Masonic Temple, Lorne Street near Victoria Avenue, in Regina, 1926. He again worked with Portnall, and with J.H. Puntin, to develop the striking modernist design for the Dominion Public Building, Regina, 1935-36. Reilly was also chairman of the Regina Public Library Board from 1923 until his retirement in 1943 and died in Regina on 22 November 1944 (obit. Leader-Post [Regina], 23 Nov. 1944, 2; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxi, Dec. 1944, 289). A biography and photographic portrait of F.B Reilly was published in the Morning Leader (Regina), 26 March 1919, 24. Another photographic portrait of F.B. Reilly taken in 1924 can be found in the Morning Leader (Regina), 23 Oct. 1924, 3.
F.B. REILLY (works in Regina)
(with F.H. Portnall) REGINA, SASK., Masonic Temple, Lorne Street near Victoria Avenue, 1926 (dwgs. at SAB)
(with J.H. Puntin and F.H. Portnall) REGINA, SASK., Dominion Government Building, Victoria Avenue at Scarth Street, 1935-36 (Leader-Post [Regina], 5 Jan. 1935, 1; and 25 May 1935, 1, illus.& descrip.; and 19 Aug. 1935, 1; and 17 April 1937, 3, illus.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xiv, Sept. 1937, 181, illus.)