RICHARDS, David Albert (1832-1909), an obscure figure active in Toronto from 1892, he was a member of the breakaway Architectural Eighteen Club. He was born in Vaughan Township, north of Toronto, on 23 February 1832, but no information has been found on his activity as an architect before 1890. Much of his work was commissioned by clients for residential structures, but his largest and most important project was the substantial bakery and residence complex for George Weston, founder of the Weston food and grocery empire. Reputed to be the largest bakery in Canada in the late 19th C., it was described and illustrated in the Toronto Evening Star, 16 Oct. 1897, 6, but an attribution to Richards is absent in this source. Building permit records confirm him as the original architect, as well as designer for two subsequent additions to the complex in 1899 and 1902. Richards died in Toronto on 30 January 1909 (death notice Toronto Daily Star, 1 Feb 1909, 5; death notice Telegram [Toronto], 1 Feb. 1909, 4).
D.A. RICHARDS (works in Toronto)
PINE HILL ROAD, residence for Charles Thorne, 1892 (Toronto b.p. 867, 8 June 1892)
MODEL BAKERY CO., Soho Street at Phoebe Street, a bread factory and residence for George Weston, 1897; addition, 1899; addition, 1902; all demol. (Toronto b.p. 3081, 20 April 1897; and b.p. 112, 5 June 1899, and b.p. 434, 30 Sept. 1902)
AUGUSTA AVENUE, opposite Denison Square, row of three houses for Alexander Norris, 1900 (Toronto b.p. 283, 19 May 1900)
NORTH BEACONSFIELD AVENUE, three houses for John Ewing, 1901 (Toronto b.p. 50, 2 Jan. 1901)
ANN STREET, near Yonge Street, ten houses for M. Ransom, 1902 (Toronto b.p. 58, 19 June 1902)
McGILL STREET, near Mutual Street, three houses for A. Turner, 1903 (Toronto b.p. 732, 12 Feb. 1903)
WILTON AVENUE (now Dundas Street), near Yonge Street, row of six houses for A. Turner, 1903 (Toronto b.p. 736, 13 Feb. 1903)
JARVIS STREET, near Wilton Avenue (now Dundas Street East), row of five houses for A. Turner, 1903 (Toronto b.p. 737, 13 Feb. 1903)
TORONTO FURNACE & CREMATORY CO., Golden Avenue near Silver Avenue, a 2 storey foundry block, 1905; still standing in 2023 and now converted to commercial offices (Toronto b.p. 1132, 13 June 1905)
LANSDOWNE AVENUE, at Wallace Avenue, residence for Alfred E. Morgan, 1908 (Toronto b.p. 12377, 29 Aug. 1908)