Pattison, John Henry | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

PATTISON, John Henry (1825 - c. 1865), a native of Bridlington, Yorkshire, Engand and born there on 17 September 1825. He was active in Toronto and Ottawa from about 1853 onward. In September 1862 he testified before the Commission of Inquiry into the Parliament Building in Ottawa, stating that he was 'an architect and building surveyor by profession, and I have followed it for twenty two years, fourteen years in England and nearly eight years here' (Canada, Sessional Papers, 1863, Dept. of Public Works, Report No. 3). In 1859 he was one of several architects to enter the competition for the House of Refuge at Toronto, but the commission was awarded to John Tully (City of Toronto, Council Minutes, 1859, 204). The following year he designed the Fireman's Arch at Toronto City Hall, TORONTO, ONT. to commemorate the arrival of the Prince of Wales (Globe [Toronto], 8 Sept. 1860, 2, descrip.). He moved to Ottawa to take up the appointment as Measurer of the construction of the Parliament Building on 1 June 1861.