Mitton, Edward Stanley Reeve

MITTON, Edward Stanley Reeve (1880-1953) was born in Birmingham, Engl. on 6 August 1880 and educated at St. Edmond's College. He articled with the Birmingham firm of Ingall & Son (in 1897-1901) then moved to London to join the office of Herbert Bolton (in 1901-02). He was a precocious draftsman and delineator who toured the Continent and saw his sketches of Belgium published in 1903 (Builder [London], lxxxiv, 4 April 1903, 365 and plate illus.). He practised under his own name in Birmingham in 1904 and was invited by his former employer there to become partner in the new firm of Ingall, Son & Mitton (1905-07). In 1906 their office obtained a commission from a client in Winnipeg, Man. for a commercial block to accommodate an artist's supply store with offices and studios. The elegant Edwardian design for this building, prepared by Mitton, may have been for James Payne Art Supplies Ltd., Portage Avenue near Fort Street, and it was published in October 1906 (see list of works below). In January 1907 Mitton was brought to Toronto by Francis S. Baker and he held the post of 'special designer' for only two months before an accident forced him to move to Vancouver to recover his health. While he was in Toronto, he submitted an entry under his own name in the competition for the new City Hall in Calgary, Alberta (Morning Albertan [Calgary], 7 May 1907, 4, list of competitors). His design was passed over in favour of the winning scheme by William Dodd.

Mitton moved to Vancouver in May 1907 and opened his own office there, and in mid-1908 he formed a brief partnership with Francis H. Strain, and later opened a branch office in Victoria in 1911 (C.R., xxv, 20 Sept. 1911, 55). He held a particular interest in the contemporary design of ecclesiastical buildings and wrote a lengthy essay on the subject (Canadian Churchman [Toronto], xxxv, 25 June 1908, 441). He was also a regular contributor of designs for "Country and Suburban Homes", featured in monthly issues of the Vancouver journal called Westward Ho! Magazine (Vol. ii, January to June 1908, and Vol. iii, August to November 1908). In 1910 he staged an 'exhibition of domestic arts' depicting many of his own designs for cottages, bungalows and residences in Vancouver (Province [Vancouver], 2 April 1910, 3). Mitton continued to practice there until 1914, but he appears to have returned to England after that date. He died at King's Norton, South Birmingham, England on 27 February 1953 (England & Wales, Death Certificate No. DYE 045031; biog. Saturday Sunset [Vancouver], 25 Sept. 1909, 20; biog. Who's Who in Western Canada, 1911, 287; E.O.S. Scholefield, History of British Columbia, 1913, 618-19; D. Luxton, Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 338-9, 512; inf. William Norton, England).

INGALL, SON & MITTON (of Birmingham & Truro, England)

WINNIPEG, MAN., a four storey retail art supply store and office block, Portage Avenue near Fort Street, perhaps for James Payne Art Supplies Co., 1906; demol. (Builder's Journal & Architectural Engineer [London], xxiv, 17 Oct. 1906, 194, illus. & descrip.)

E.S.R. MITTON (of Vancouver)

(works in Vancouver)

WEST NINTH AVENUE, at Bridge Street, retail store for Frank B. Elkins, 1907 (Province (Vancouver), 18 Oct. 1907, 18, t.c.)
JAPAN & CANADA TRUST CO., Powell Street near Dunlevy Avenue, 1907 (dwgs. Vancouver City Archives)
COAL HARBOUR, master plan for a new park, arena and Exhibit Hall, adjacent to Chilco Street, 1908 (Saturday Sunset [Vancouver], 18 April 1908, 3, illus. & detailed descrip.)
(with Francis H. Strain) GRANDVIEW PUBLIC SCHOOL, Park Drive at 1st Avenue East, major addition, 1908 (C.R., xxii, 27 May 1908, 28; Vancouver Daily World, 25 July 1908, 23; and 30 July 1908, 11, t.c.)
(with Francis H. Strain) SIR WILLIAM MacDONALD PUBLIC SCHOOL, East Hastings Street, major addition, 1908 (C.R., xxii, 27 May 1908, 28; Vancouver Daily World, 25 July 1908, 23; and 30 July 1908, 11, t.c.)
POINT GREY ROAD, near Waterloo Street, residence for William O. Webster, 1908 (C.R., xxii, 19 Aug. 1908, 27, t.c.; Const., iii, Nov. 1910, 81, illus.)
CEDAR COTTAGE, apartment block for William H. Fellows, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 13 Jan. 1909, 20, t.c.)
SHERMAN HOUSE, Cordova Street at the foot of Homer Street, a six storey commercial block, 1909 (Vancouver Daily World, 17 April 1909, 27, illus.)
SHERMAN HOTEL, East Pender Street, 1909 (Saturday Sunset [Vancouver], 25 Sept. 1909, 20, list of works in biography for E.S. Mitton)
1st AVENUE, near Balsam Street, residence for Fred J. Calvert, 1910 (Const., iii, Nov. 1910, 80, 82, illus.)
BURNABY, residence for Arthur P. Watkins, Magee Road, 1910 (Const., iii, Nov. 1910, 78-9, illus.)
HARO STREET, residence for Herbert D. Hulme, 1910 (Const., iii, Nov. 1910, 76-7, 79, illus.)
SHAUGHNESSY HEIGHTS, residence for Humphrey J. Simmons, Matthews Avenue, 1910 (Const., iii, Nov. 1910, 75, 79, illus.; Province [Vancouver], 2 Nov. 1912, 32, illus. & descrip.; Builder [London], cxix, 24 Sept. 1920, 330, illus. & descrip.)
ELKINS BLOCK, West Broadway, 1910 (dwgs. Vancouver City Archives)
CHUNG HING & CO., commercial block of four stores and rooming houses 'in the Chinese quarter', 1911 (C.R., xxv, 13 Sept. 1911, 62)
HARRIS STREET, commercial block for Chow T. Tong, 1912 (Province [Vancouver], 15 June 1912, 27, illus.)
WING SANG CO., Market Alley, a commercial block of stores and apartments, 1912 (Province [Vancouver], 15 June 1912, 27, illus.; dwgs. Vancouver City Archives)
ALBERT STREET, commercial block for the Chinese Society, 1912 (Province [Vancouver], 22 June 1912, 22, illus. & descrip.)
ALBERT APARTMENTS, Franklin Street, 1912 (dwgs. Vancouver City Archives)
DICKENSON APARTMENTS, East Georgia Street, 1912 (dwgs. Vancouver City Archives)
GRANVILLE STREET, near Marpole Avenue, residence for T. McEwan Robertson, c. 1913 (Builder [London], cxix, 24 Sept. 1920, 330-1, illus. & descrip.)

(works in Victoria)

BELMONT AVENUE, near Cold Harbour Road, residence for Henry G.S. Heisterman, 1911 (The Week [Victoria], 9 Sept. 1911, 11)
ELFORD STREET, at Padora Avenue, residence for Mrs. Laura A. Heisterman, 1911 (The Week [Victoria], 9 Sept. 1911, 11)
SHASTA PLACE, residence for Mrs. Laura A. Heisterman, 1911-12 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2021, 232-33, illus. & descript.)
COOK STREET, residence for Arthur Lineham, 1912 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 4, 2009, 42-3, illus. & descrip.)
OAK BAY, residence for Alfred A. Charles, Newport Avenue at Beach Drive, 1912 (S. Stark, Oak Bay's Heritage Buildings, 1986, 71, illus.)
BELMONT AVENUE, residence for Arthur Cameron, 1913 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 1, 2013, 36, illus. & descrip.)

(works elsewhere)

(by Mitton & Strain, Architects) SEATTLE, WASH., The Vancouver World Newspaper Exhibition Building at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, 1908-09; demol. (J.K. Ochsner, Shaping Seattle Architecture, 2014, 494)
NANAIMO, B.C., residence for Mrs. A.R. Johnston, Stewart Avenue, 1912 (Nanaimo Free Press, 10 June 1912, 2, t.c.)

COMPETITIONS

CALGARY, ALTA., City Hall, 1907. This architect was one of nine Canadian competitors for this major commission. His plans were set aside and W.M. Dodd was declared the winner (Daily Herald [Calgary], 7 May 1907, 9, list of competitors).
SIMON FRASER PUBLIC SCHOOL, West 16th Avenue, 1908. Mitton was one of 19 architects who sent in plans for this competition, but he was not among the three finalists. The winners were Pearce & Hope (Vancouver Daily World, 9 April 1908, 10; 12 May 1908, 10).