Derick, John Macduff | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

DERICK, John Macduff (1810-1861) of Oxford, Engl. received First Prize for his design of the Anglican Cathedral at ST. JOHN'S, NFLD. in 1843. His proposal was '..one of the most simple, grand and majestic edifices which we have seen for some years ornament the walls of the Academy' (The Church [Toronto], 30 June 1843). Derick's plans, commissioned by Bishop A.G. Spencer in 1842, did not meet with the approval of Bishop Edward Feild, his successor, who expressed a preference for the Gothic Revival style. The cornerstone was laid on 21 August 1843 but the Great Fire of 1846 ruined the stonework on site and new church structure was commenced to the designs of George Gilbert Scott of London and completed in 1850. Derick was a native of Ireland and was known chiefly for his ecclesiastical works in the north of England and in Ireland; he later moved to the United States for his health and died there in 1861 (obituary Builder [London], xix, 26 Oct. 1861, 743; 2 Nov. 1861, 753; list of works in R. Dixon and S. Muthesius, Victorian Architecture, 1978, 257; R.I.B.A. [London] Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, 2001, vol. 1, 529)