Gray, Maj. Henry Alfred | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

GRAY, Maj. Henry Alfred (1843-1905) trained as an engineer and held the post of engineer-in-charge of Public Works for Canada. He also took an interest in architecture and, on occasion, executed projects in the province where he was posted. Born in Edgbaston, England on 21 November 1843 he was educated at Doncaster and Birmingham, then entered the service of the Midland Railway. He worked in India and the West Indies and arrived in Canada in 1866 to join the engineering staff of the Intercolonial Railway. In 1871 he was appointed engineer in charge of construction for the I.C.R. in Nova Scotia; this position may have encouraged him to solicit business with senior Catholic church officials who commissioned his to advise on several ecclesiastical works in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. His best known work was St. Joseph's Roman Catholic College at Memramcook, N.B., a commendable interpretation of the Second Empire style. In 1877 he opened an office in Saint John and formed a partnership in early 1878 with Bradish Billings, a colleague from Ottawa (Morning Freeman [Saint John], 15 Sept. 1877, 3; 7 Feb. 1878, 2). In late 1878 he was appointed to the Dept. of Public Works of Canada, in charge of the western Ontario division at Stratford, where he obtained the commission to rebuild St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church there. He moved to Ottawa in late 1886 and held various posts with the Department. Gray died in Toronto on 23 May 1905 from effects of pneumonia contracted while working in northern Ontario (obit. Toronto World, 24 May 1905, 7; Globe [Toronto], 24 May 1905, 12; obit. and port. Canadian Architect & Builder, xviii, May 1905, 70; biog. G.M. Rose, Cyclopedia of Canadian Biography, 1886, i, 362-3)

DORCHESTER, N.B., Roman Catholic Church, 1873 (Saint John Daily Telegraph, 3 Oct. 1873, 2, descrip.)
(with P.W. St. George) MEMRAMCOOK, N.B., St. Joseph's Roman Catholic College, 1875-76 (Morning Freeman [Saint John], 20 April 1875, 2, descrip.; 3 Feb. 1876, 2, descrip.)
STRATFORD, ONT., rebuilding and renovation of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, 1886 (Free Press [London], 7 June 1886, 3, descrip.)