CHARTERS, William Chesteain (1870-1952), active in Toronto as a builder, architect and lumber dealer from 1905. He practiced with his son Chesteain Melville Charters (1907-1985) during the period from 1929 to 1933. Born in Toronto on 11 September 1870, he obtained his early education there but does not appear to have received a formal university education in architecture or engineering. He may have trained in the building trades as a carpenter, and after 1895 he began to style himself as an architect, preparing plans for buildings which he then completed by serving as the contractor. He is almost certainly the same "W.C. Charters, a talented architect and clever gymnast" who prepared the plans for the large indoor swimming pool at the Y.M.C.A. Building in Brantford, Ont. in 1897-98 (Expositor [Brantford], 30 Oct. 1897, 1, detailed descrip.). This recreational facility was described as "...the largest YMCA pool tank in Canada" and was completed in early 1898. After moving to Toronto, Charters was also the owner of a large lumber supply company on Kingston Road in east end, and he later retired from the construction business in 1935. Charters died in Toronto on 10 March 1952 (obituary Globe & Mail [Toronto], 11 March 1952, 36; inf. Barbara Myrvold, Toronto).
(works in Brantford, Ont.)
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOC., major addition for a new indoor swimming pool, 1897-98 ( (Expositor [Brantford], 30 Oct. 1897, 1, detailed descrip.; and 3 Jan. 1898, 3).
(works in Toronto)
RUSHOLME ROAD, residence for Edmund Hardy, 1905 (Toronto b.p. 1983, 5 Sept. 1905)
RUSHOLME ROAD, residence for W. Heintzman, 1907 (Toronto b.p. 7028, 17 April 1907)
GEORGIAN ARMS APARTMENTS, Queen Street East at MacLean Avenue, 1929 (inf. Toronto Historical Board)
DUNRAVEN APARTMENTS, Yonge Street at Yonge Boulevard, 1929 (Toronto Daily Star, 19 July 1929, 2, illus. & descrip.)
BLOOR STREET WEST, at Ellis Park Road, apartment block for Morris Rotterman, 1929-30 (Toronto Daily Star, 25 Oct. 1929, 8, illus. and 31, descrip.)
ST. CLAIR AVENUE WEST, near Avenue Road, duplex houses for Mrs. F.T. Burgess, 1930 (dwgs. at City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 410, File 107, dated 16 May 1930)
SOUDAN AVENUE, near Bayview Avenue, residence for Mrs. R. McArdle, 1930 (dwgs. at City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 410, File 67, dated 7 Aug. 1930)
AVION AVENUE, west of MacLean Avenue, pair of semi-detached houses for H. George Yates, north side at 8-10 Avion Avenue, 1931, still standing in 2024 (dwgs. at City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 410, File 4792, and Building Permit No. B25034)
QUEEN STREET EAST, near Balsam Avenue, pair of semi-detached houses for Vaughan M. Howard, 1931 (dwgs. at City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 410, File 132, dated 30 May 1931)
AVENUE ROAD, near Kelway Boulevard, two houses for an unnamed client, 1932 (C.R., xlvi, 17 Feb. 1932, 45)