DOCTOR, William Alexander (1876-1949) is an obscure architect who was active in Vancouver from 1908 until late 1918. He first appeared in partnership with Sholto Smith in 1908, but this association was dissolved in early 1909 and Doctor practiced on his own until 1910 when he formed another brief partnership with Ormond Higman, an engineer. In 1913 he opened another office, this time with W.F.T. Stewart and Hugh S. Davie, and they remained active as a partnership until 1918. Their best known work is a convincing Beaux-Arts scheme for the Vancouver Police Headquarters, East Cordova Street (1913-14). This project was initially won in a competition by Doctor in 1912 when he was working under his own name (Vancouver Daily World, 18 June 1912, 13). Their office was one of thirty architectural firms from the United States and Canada who later submitted an entry in the competition for the Vancouver Civic Centre in 1914, but their submission was not premiated (C.R., xxix, 6 Jan. 1915, 8). Doctor later moved to Berkeley, Calif. and continued to work as an architect after 1920. He died in Alameda, Calif. on 24 March 1949 (D. Luxton, Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 461, 497)
HIGMAN & DOCTOR (works in Vancouver unless otherwise noted)
POINT GREY ROAD, near Stephens Street, residence for William L. Keate, 1910 (Northwest Architect [Portland, Ore], ii, Oct. 1910, illus. plates)
NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C., People's Trust Co., Columbia Street, office building, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 12 July 1911, 64)
NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C., St. Alice Hotel, Second Street West, c. 1911 (BCPA, Modern Architecture (in Vancouver), 1911, illus.)
W.A. DOCTOR (works in Vancouver unless otherwise noted)
HUDSON BAY INSURANCE CO., Hastings Street West near Burrard Street, office building, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 27 Sept. 1911, 61; dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
POINT GREY, B.C., residence for Frederick W. Sterling, Second Avenue West near Blanca Street, 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 10 Jan. 1912, 62-3)
SIXTH AVENUE WEST, near Balsam Street, residence for Dr. William F. Mackay, 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 3 Jan. 1912, 65, t.c.)
DOCTOR, STEWART & DAVIE (works in Vancouver)
WEST PENDER STREET, near Thurlow Street, two brick blocks, each 3 storeys high, with retail stores and flats, for William Jervis, 1912 (The Sun [Vancouver], 2 Oct. 1912, 14, descrip.; Province [Vancouver], 2 Nov. 1912, 30, descrip.; City of Vancouver b.p. 3647, 11 Oct. 1912)
WEST 26th AVENUE, at Alexander Street, residence for H.E.A. Robertson, 1912; demol. (The Sun [Vancouver], 30 Sept. 1912, 15, descrip.; Vancouver Daily World, 22 Oct. 1912, 5; Vancouver b.p. 346, 14 Oct. 1912; inf. Patrick Gunn, Vancouver)
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, West 11th Avenue at Trafalgar Street, 1912-13 (Province [Vancouver], 2 Nov. 1912, 30, descrip.; City of Vancouver b.p. 4402, 26 Feb. 1913)
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST SCIENTIST, Georgia Street, extensive interior alterations to the existing church, 1912-13 (Vancouver Daily World, 2 Dec. 1912, 24)
SHAUGHNESSY HEIGHTS, large residence for Dr. Donald M. MacKay, Granville Street at Angus Road, 1912-13; demol. c. 1980 (Point Grey b.p. 126, 13 July 1912; Daily News Advertiser [Vancouver], 2 Feb. 1913, 20, detailed architectural descrip.)
VANCOUVER POLICE HEADQUARTERS, East Cordova Street at Gore Avenue, competition-winning design by W.A. Doctor, 1912; built 1913-14 (Vancouver Daily World, 18 June 1912, 13; The Sun [Vancouver], 18 June 1912, 1, descrip.; and 26 Aug. 1912, 17, descrip.; Vancouver Daily World, 22 Feb. 1913, 19, descrip.; C.R., xxviii, 28 Oct. 1914, 1326-27, illus. & descrip.; dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
W.A. DOCTOR (works in California)
OAKLAND, CALIF., The Knight Apartments, Desmond Street at 51st Street, for Harry C. Knight, 1922-23 (Oakland Tribune, 18 March 1923, Development Section, 2-3, illus. & descrip.)
OAKLAND, CALIF., East Bay Country Club, on the Crow Canyon Road, off the Dublin Highway, 1923-24 (Oakland Tribune, 30 Sept. 1923, Development Section, 3, illus. & descrip.)