LAILEY, William Nicholson (1877-1937) was active in Brandon, Man. from 1904 until 1906. Born in Glanford Brigg, Co. Lincolnshire, England in April 1877, he emigrated to Canada in 1898 and was recorded as living and working in Moose Jaw, Sask. in 1901. By 1904 he had relocated to Brandon, Man. and opened an office there as a professional architect where his name can be linked with the design of several commercial, residential and institutional projects. One of his apprentices in his Brandon office was Norman A. Kearns. In late 1904 he was hired as local supervising architect by the Dept. of Public Works in Ottawa to oversee the construction of the planned Armoury & Drill Hall in Brandon, but the project did not begin until 1907, after Lailey had left Brandon for California, and the job was passed to Thomas Sinclair, another local Brandon architect.
The calamity of the great earthquake in San Francisco in April 1906 caught the attention of Lailey, and he moved there to assist with the reconstruction of the city. By late 1907 he had returned to Canada, taking up residence in North Vancouver, B.C. where he lived until 1911. He moved again, this time to Prince Rupert, B.C. where he collaborated with Joseph W. Potter, and later formed a partnership with Gordon Munro (see list of works under Munro & Lailey). In 1914 he moved to Australia and changed his name to Marcus O'Dean, and he continued to work as an architect with the War Services Homes Department. From 1934 to 1937 he was a staff architect with the Works & Services Branch of the Department of the Interior, located in the federal capitol of Canberra. He died there on 7 March 1937 (obituary article for "Marcus O'Dean", in the Canberra Times, 8 March 1937, 4; inf. Dr. Gordon Goldsborough, Manitoba Historical Society, Winnipeg)
W. Nicholson LAILEY (works in Brandon)
11th STREET, residence for Robert J. Campbell, 1904 (Brandon b.p. 24, 21 April 1904)
WESTERN AGRICULTURE & ARTS ASSOCIATION, major addition to exhibition hall and cottage for the caretaker, 1904 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 14 April 1904, 1, descrip.; Brandon b.p. 33, 28 April 1904; b.p. 34, 28 April 1904; C.A.B., xvii, Sept. 1904, illus. plates)
1st STREET, residence for E. Shingfield, 1904 (Brandon b.p. 59, 21 May 1904; C.A.B., xvii, Oct. 1904, illus. plates)
unnamed street, but "..near the CPR roundhouse", a boarding house for A. Hobson, 1904 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 14 April 1904, 1)
ROSSER AVENUE, residence for Thomas J. Somerville, 1904 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 14 April 1904, 1; Brandon b.p. 99, 9 June 1904)
13th STREET, residence for Frank Calvert, 1904 (Brandon b.p. 100, 20 June 1904)
3rd STREET, residence for Andrew Swinton, 1904 (Brandon b.p. 130, 23 July 1904)
ROSSER AVENUE, store for David A. Reesor, 1904 (Brandon b.p. 142, 6 Aug. 1904)
BRANDON HOTEL, 9th Street, for T.E. Shore, 1904 (Brandon b.p. 196, 21 Oct. 1904)
(with David Ewart, Chief Architect, D.P.W.) ARMOURY & DRILL HALL, Victoria Avenue at 10th Street, designed 1904, but not built until 1907-08 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 13 Oct. 1904, 3; Brandon Sun, 8 Dec. 1904; inf. Dr. Gordon Goldsborough, Winnipeg)
DENNIS STREET, residence for James L. White, 1905 (Brandon b.p. 234, 10 March 1905; Brandon Weekly Sun, 27 April 1905, 16, list of works by Lailey)
CAMPBELL & CAMPBELL, Rosser Avenue, a 4 storey commercial block for Robert J. Campbell and Archibald F. Campbell, 1905 (C.R., xv, 15 Feb. 1905, 5, descrip.; Brandon b.p. 270, 20 April 1905; Brandon Weekly Sun, 27 April 1905, 16, list of works by Lailey)
ANDREWS & CO. STORE, Rosser Avenue, additions and alterations for Thurlow B. Andrews, 1905 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 27 April 1905, 16, list of works by Lailey)
4th STREET, residence for William J. Young, 1905 (C.R., xvi, 5 April 1905, 2; Brandon Weekly Sun, 27 April 1905, 16, list of works by Lailey; Brandon b.p. 322, 5 June 1905)
LOUISE AVENUE, residence for Robert A. Clement, 1905 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 27 April 1905, 16, list of works by Lailey; C.R., xvi, 5 April 1905, 2)
FERGUSON WHOLESALE WINES LTD., 8th STREET at Princess Avenue, large warehouse for William Ferguson, 1905 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 27 April 1905, 16, list of works by Lailey; Brandon b.p. 337, 29 June 1905)
W. Nicholson LAILEY (works elsewhere)
AUSTIN, MAN., public school, 1905 (C.R., xv, 25 Jan. 1905, 2, t.c.; Brandon Weekly Sun, 27 April 1905, 16, list of works by Lailey)
AUSTIN, MAN., hall and stores for A.J. Durain, 1905 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 27 April 1905, 16, list of works by Lailey)
LILLY, MAN., near Souris, Presbyterian Church, 1905 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 27 April 1905, 16, list of works by Lailey)
GRISWOLD, MAN., Anglican Church, for the Indian Mission, 1905 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 27 April 1905, 16, list of works by Lailey)
CARLYLE, SASK., Methodist Church, 1905 (Brandon Weekly Sun, 27 April 1905, 16, list of works by Lailey)
NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C., major addition to public school, Chesterfield Avenue at Third Street, 1907 (Express [North Vancouver], 10 May 1907, 3, descrip.)
NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C., a two storey commercial block on The Esplanade "...immediately west of Murray's Restaurant", for Mr. Ellwood of New Westminster, 1908 (Vancouver Daily World, 28 Jan. 1908, 2, descrip.)
NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C., an exhibition pavilion for the Horticultural Association, 1908, with site plan and layout for the Horticultural grounds (The Express (North Vancouver), 1 May 1908, 3; and 29 May 1908, 1; and 12 June 1908, 1)
NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C., St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, East 6th Street facing Victoria Park, major additions and alterations, 1908 (The Express (North Vancouver), 8 May 1908, 4, t.c.)
NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C., a large club house on Grouse Mountain for the Vancouver Mountaineering Club, 1908 (The Express (North Vancouver), 8 May 1908, 1, descrip.)
(with Joseph W. Potter) PRINCE RUPERT, B.C., Fire Hall, Fulton Street, 1911; demol. 1960 (C.R., xxv, 18 Oct. 1911, 56)