CARD, Raymond William George (1893-1969), an architect, author, playwright and engineer, was born in Birmingham, England on 2 April 1893, the son of an Anglican church minister. He was educated at Birmingham Technical School and articled in that city to the firm of Grew & Edwards from 1910 to 1913. He emigrated to Canada in April 1913 and worked in Toronto as a mechanical draftsman while spending his evenings preparing a monumental Edwardian design for the competition for the Departmental Buildings in Ottawa. His visionary scheme, one of 62 submitted, was not premiated, but his drawings survive (OA, Drawings Collection, Acc. 11104). Card returned to England at the outbreak of WWI and was severely wounded in 1916. He recovered and returned to London where he enrolled in engineering courses at the University of London (1918-19). In early 1920 he moved back to Toronto and worked with Sharp & Horner (in 1920) and with the City Architect's Dept. (in 1921) before opening his own office in 1922. Many of his designs for residential and commercial projects employed a popular Tudor or Spanish eclecticism that was fashionable in the building industry in the 1920's, but it was not long before his true passion for the theatre emerged and he became a well-known author and playwright of several Canadian historical plays staged at the Hart House Theatre at the University of Toronto and elsewhere, including 'A Pageant in Honor of Queen Elizabeth The 1st' (1927), 'General Wolfe' (1931), 'General Montcalm' (1932), and 'Laura Secord' (1933).
Card eventually gave up private practice to become regional Director of the National Housing Corporation and later served as Regional Architect to Central Mortgage & Housing Corp. in Toronto. He holds a unique position in the profession as author of the first retrospective history of the Ontario Association of Architects, a carefully researched and accurate chronicle of the architectural profession published in 1950 by the University of Toronto Press. A full transcript of this work appears in the R.A.I.C. Journal, xxxi, Dec. 1954, 432-439. Card died in Toronto on 3 April 1969. The Ontario Archives holds a small collection of drawings by Card (OA, Acc. 11104; death notice in Globe & Mail, 4 April 1969, 54; biog. The Canadian Who's Who, 1936-37, 171; biog. in R.A.I.C. Journal, xxxi, Dec. 1954, 458)
(works in Toronto unless noted)
ST. BARNABAS ANGLICAN CHURCH, Danforth Avenue at Hampton Avenue, major addition, 1921 (dwgs. at OA, Raymond Card Coll.)
BROADVIEW AVENUE, near Pretoria Avenue, apartment block for Dr. J.A. Cudmore, 1927 (C.R., xli, 6 July 1927, 57)
AVENUE ROAD, at Poplar Plains Crescent, two apartment blocks for Stanley T. Floyd, 1927 (C.R., xli, 29 June 1927, 53)
RIVERDALE UNITED CHURCH, Gerrard Street East at Leslie Street, major addition, 1927; demol. 2018 (Toronto Daily Star, 22 July 1927, 4, descrip.; and 5 Aug. 1927, 21, illus. and descrip.; inf. Ian Mason)
NORMANDY APARTMENTS, Gerrard Street East at Normandy Boulevard, 1927-28, still standing in 2024 (Toronto Daily Star, 8 July 1927, 16, descrip.; C.R., xlii, 4 Jan. 1928, 49)
BLOOR STREET WEST, at Jane Street, block of nine stores and apartments for F.J. Cummings and G. Charlesworth, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 14 March 1928, 63)
ST. CLAIR AVENUE WEST, near Rushton Road, apartment block, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 18 April 1928, 73)
HUBBARD COURT APARTMENTS, Hubbard Boulevard at Hammersmith Avenue, apartment block for E.J. Furniss, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 18 April 1928, 73)
OAKVILLE, ONT., factory for General Metal Devices Ltd., Kerr Street, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 13 June 1928, 72, t.c.)
LEICESTER MANOR APARTMENTS, Roncesvalles Avenue at Galley Avenue, 1929-30; still standing in 2024 (Toronto Daily Star, 4 Oct. 1929, 8, descrip., Toronto b.p. 11165, 27 Sept. 1929)
HEATHVIEW APARTMENTS, Tichester Road near Bathurst Street, 1929-30 (C.R., xliii, 30 Oct. 1929, 55; xxxv, 5 Aug. 1931, 931, illus. & descrip.)
RENFREW APARTMENTS, Bathurst Street near Tichester Road, 1929 (R.A.I.C. Journal, vii, Feb. 1930, xx, illus. in advert.)
KENNEDY PARK ROAD, near Bloor Street West, residence for John S. Lee, 1930 (Weekly Building Reporter [Toronto], vii, 28 Feb. 1931, 12, illus. & descrip.)
NOBLE SCOTT LTD., King Street West at Brant Street, office and printing plant, 1930 (Toronto Daily Star, 12 Sept. 1930, 32, descrip.)
VICTORIA GARDEN APARTMENTS, Queen Street East at Victoria Park Avenue, 1930 (Toronto Daily Star, 21 Nov. 1930, 33, descrip.)
DUNVEGAN ROAD, near Hillholme Road, residence for Harry E. McRobb, 1934 (C.R., xlviii, 17 Jan. 1934, 30)
WINTHORPE ROAD, residence for Peter Harcus, carpenter, 1934, and later occupied by Thomas H. Allan, at 47 Winthorpe Road; still standing in 2024 (dwgs. at City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 005)
DANFORTH AVENUE, opposite Bastedo Avenue, a two storey office for Dr. Fred C. Lankin, 1936; still standing at 1768 Danforth Avenue in 2024 (dwgs. at City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 410)
BEECH AVENUE, near Pine Avenue, residence for Fred C. Lankin, 1937; still standing at 192 Beech Avenue in 2024 (dwgs. at City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 410, File 650)
KENNEDY PARK ROAD, near Bloor Street West, residence for James B. Westlake, 1937 (dwgs. in the possession of Trish Lamanna, Toronto)
TICHESTER ROAD, at Lonsmount Drive, apartment block, 1938 (C.R., li, 23 Feb. 1938, 140)