GRIST, John Jr. (1827-1906), son of John Grist, Sr., of the Royal Engineers, was one of the early architects of Kingston, Ont. He arrived in Canada from England in 1847 and first advertised his services in that city in April 1853 (Daily British Whig [Kingston], 21 April 1853, 2, advert.). He solicited business in other towns along the north shore of Lake Ontario (Port Hope Guide, 29 Sept. 1855, 1, advert.) and it is possible that many early but as yet unattributed works in Frontenac, Hastings and Northumberland Counties may be ascribed to him. Grist moved to Ottawa in June 1860 to take up the position of Clerk of Works on the construction site for the new Parliament Building. On 21 August 1862 he testified before the Commission of Inquiry on this project that he was '...an architect by profession, and served my time with Mr. [William] Thomas of Toronto commencing in 1847' (Province of Canada, Sessional Papers, 1863, xxi, No. 2, Report on the Commission to Inquire into Matters Connected with Public Buildings at Ottawa, Appendix of testimony). From 1870 onward he is frequently listed as an architect or as a patent agent in the Ottawa City Directory, but few references to his work in that city can be found after 1875. At the time of his death on 9 June 1906 he was described as 'a patent solicitor.... in a firm with his brother Henry Grist, and was a director of the Ottawa Street Railway Co.' (obituary in the Ottawa Citizen, 9 June 1906, 1; biog. Jennifer McKendry, Architects Working in the Kingston Region 1820-1920, 2019, 56)
(with William Thomas of Toronto) BELLEVILLE, ONT., Christ Church (Anglican), Moira Street near Coleman Street, 1853; church burned 25 April 1881 (Kingston Daily News, 17 May 1853, 2)
KINGSTON, ONT., 'Barberry Cottage', Centre Street, for Mrs. Henry Cassady, 1853 (Daily News [Kingston], 10 June 1853, 2, t.c.; Kingston, Buildings of Architectural and Historic Significance, i, 1971, 79-80, illus.)
KINGSTON, ONT., pair of houses for the architect and for Joseph George, Wellington Street, 1854 (Kingston, Buildings of Architectural and Historic Significance, v, 1980, 248-50, illus.)
OTTAWA, ONT., residence for Archibald Keys, Daly Avenue near Cobourg Street, 1871 (Free Press [Ottawa], 14 June 1871, 3, t.c.)
OTTAWA, ONT., Ottawa Ladies College, Albert Street at Slater Street, 1871-72 (Free Press [Ottawa], 6 Jan. 1871, 3, t.c.; 28 Feb. 1872, 2, descrip.)