CAPPER, Stewart Henbest (1859-1925) was instrumental in establishing the first program in architecture at McGill University in Montreal. With his firm conviction that '...architecture is the great object lesson of history' he brought his knowledge of European tradition and precedent to Canada when he was appointed as Macdonald Professor of Architecture in 1896 and held the post until 1903. Born in Douglas, Isle of Man on 15 December 1859, the son of John J. Capper, he graduated from Edinburgh University in 1880 and worked briefly for John J. Burnet before moving to Spain where he was employed as member of the household staff of Sir Robert Morier, a Minister of the British Government and ambassador in Madrid. In 1884 he enrolled in the Atelier Pascal at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris and returned to Edinbugh in 1887 to work as assistant to Sir George Washington Browne, one of Scotland's leading architects. Capper later opened an office there in 1891-96 and was briefly in partnership with Frank W. Simon, but an opportunity to travel to Canada in 1896 resulted in his acceptance of an invitation to join the faculty at McGill University in Montreal (Gazette [Montreal], 6 Nov. 1896, 4, inaugural lecture). He established an Architecture Museum at the university, and assembled an extensive library of important books and plaster casts which formed the core of the School library and Study Collection. His efforts received extensive attention and praise from the local Montreal press (Gazette [Montreal], 18 Feb. 1897, 2) and he made regular trips to Europe to acquire new material for his students (Gazette [Montreal], 21 Sept. 1897, 2). Many of his ideas and professional observations on the training of Canadian architectural students can be found in the Canadian Architect & Builder, xiv, Jan. 1901, 6-8.
Capper served a term as President of the Province of Quebec Association of Architects in 1900 and was succeeded as Director of the school in 1903 by George T. Hyde, who later formed a partnership with Percy Nobbs. In late 1903 Capper accepted the appointment as the first Chair of Architecture at Victoria University in Birmingham, Engl. and taught there until 1912. Fluent in seven languages, he served during WWI with the British Military Censor Board in Egypt and remained there until after 1918 to continue work with the Ministry of the Interior. He died in Cairo on 8 January 1925 (obit. Montreal Daily Star, 9 Jan. 1925, 15; obit. Gazette [Montreal], 9 Jan. 1925, 6; R.I.B.A. Journal, xxxii, 24 Jan. 1925, 200-01; biog. Montreal Daily Star, 18 Aug. 1896, 4; Canadian Engineer, iv, Sept. 1896, 130; biog. and port. C.A.B., ix, Nov. 1896, 175; xii, Oct. 1899, 196; 'Teaching the History of Architecture at McGill 1896-1903', by Prof. Norbert Schoenauer, in Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada Bulletin, xxi, Sept. 1996, 67-9; R.I.B.A., Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, 2001, i, 332-3)
SIMON & CAPPER (works in Scotland)
WIGAN, SCOTLAND, Hope Chapel, 1888, a commission won in an architectural competition (Builder [London], liv, 25 Feb. 1888, 143)
S.H. CAPPER (works in Scotland)
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, Girl's Orphanage at Whiteinch, 1892 (Builder [London], lxiii, 30 July 1892, 89, with plate illus.)
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, University Hall Extension, Castle Hill, 1893 (Builder [London], lxv, 19 Aug. 1893, 140-1, with plate illus.; John Gifford et al, The Buildings of Scotland - Edinburgh, 1984, 191, descrip.)
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, Wardrop's Court, at No. 453-461 Lawnmarket Street, for Patrick Geddes, 1892 (Building News [London], lxiv, 16 June 1893; John Gifford et al, The Buildings of Scotland - Edinburgh, 1984, 197, descrip.)
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, reconstruction of Riddle's Close and Court, fronting on 322-328 Lawnmarket Street, for Patrick Geddes, 1893 (John Gifford et al, The Buildings of Scotland - Edinburgh, 1984, 198-99, descrip.)
THORNHILL, CO. STIRLING, Blairhoyle Masonic Lodge, 1893 (John Gifford et al, The Buildings of Scotland - Stirling & Central Scotland, 2002, 75 and 766, descrip.)
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, major extension to the Royal College of Physicians, 1894 (list of works in Montreal Daily Star, 18 Aug. 1896, 4)
BLAIRHOYLE, CO. STIRLING, Model Workmen's Dwellings, c. 1895 (list of works in Montreal Daily Star, 18 Aug. 1896, 4)
PERTHSHIRE COUNTY, SCOTLAND, Model Workmen's Dwellings, c. 1895 (list of works in Montreal Daily Star, 18 Aug. 1896, 4)
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, Edzell Lodge, a villa at No. 34 Inverleith Terrace, 1895 (John Gifford et al, The Buildings of Scotland- Edinburgh, 1984, 579, descrip.)
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, a villa at No. 48 Inverleith Place, 1895 (J. Gifford et al, The Buildings of Scotland - Edinburgh, 1984, 580)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, Whitworth Laboratories at Manchester University, with J.W. Beaumont, architect, 1909 (N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England - South Lancashire, 1993, 310)