Verret, Joseph J.B.

VERRET, Joseph Jean Baptiste (1867-1902) was one of the principal architects for the Roman Catholic church in the Eastern Townships of Quebec during the last decade of the nineteenth century. Born in Ancienne Lorette, Que. on 5 July 1867 he was the son of Olivier Verret, a contractor in that town under whom the younger Verret may have received training in the building trades. After obtaining his formal education at the Quebec Seminary he entered the office of Francois X. Berlinguet, a talented and prolific ecclesiastical architect, to serve an apprenticeship. Verret moved to Sherbrooke in late 1892 and became the first trained architect to maintain a practise in that city. He married Miss Laurence Gagnier in 1893 and that same year received his first major commission, that for St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Magog which did much to establish Verret's reputation as an architect in the Diocese of Sherbrooke. His best known work is that for St. Charles Borromee Seminary in Sherbrooke, an admirably composed and magnificently sited landmark executed in collaboration with Tanguay & Vallee of Quebec City. Verret's promising career was cut short unexpectedly when he fell victim to pneumonia and died in Sherbrooke on 24 December 1902 (obituary in the Sherbrooke Daily Record, 26 Dec. 1902, 1)

MAGOG, QUE., St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, 1893-94 (Le Prix Courant, xiii, 20 Oct. 1893, 230; dwgs. at the Eastern Townships Historical Society, Sherbrooke)
LENNOXVILLE, QUE., St. Antoine Roman Catholic Church, new foundations and interior, new sacristy, 1894 (Le Prix Courant, xiv, 13 July 1894, 586)
ASCOT CORNER, QUE., new Presbytery for St. Stanislas Roman Catholic Church, 1895 (Le Prix Courant, xvi, 26 April 1895, 292)
MAGOG, QUE., Roman Catholic School, 1895 (C.R., vi, 2 May 1895, 2)
SHERBROOKE, QUE., Christian Brothers School, South Ward, addition, 1895 (C.R., vi, 13 June 1895, 2, t.c.)
LAC MEGANTIC, QUE., Sisters of the Congregation of Villa Maria Convent, 1895 (C.R., vi, 6 June 1895, 2)
MAGOG, QUE., College for the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, addition, 1895 (C.R., vi, 6 June 1895, 2)
EAST ANGUS, QUE., St.. Louis Roman Catholic Church, 1895 (Le Semaine Commerciale, 28 June 1895)
SHERBROOKE, QUE., Convent for Sisters of Ste. Famille, 1896 (Le Semaine Commerciale, 14 Aug. 1896)
DISRAELI, QUE., Ste. Luce Roman Catholic Church, restoration of exterior and interior, 1896 (C.R., vii, 20 Aug. 1896, 1)
ST. JACQUES-LE-MAJEUR, QUE., Roman Catholic Church, 1898 (C.R., ix, 8 June 1898, 6)
STE. CECILE-DE-WHITTON, QUE., Roman Catholic Church, 1898 (C.R., ix, 8 June 1898, 6)
GARTHBY, QUE., St. Charles Borromee Roman Catholic Church, 1898 (C.R., ix, 8 June 1898, 6)
ST. ADOLPHE-DE-DUDSWELL, QUE., Roman Catholic Church, 1898 (C.R., ix, 8 June 1898, 6)
NOTRE-DAME-DE-LOURDES, QUE. (near Plessisville), enlargement of Roman Catholic Church, 1898 (C.R., ix, 8 June 1898, 6)
ST. HERMENEGILDE-DE-BARFORD, QUE., Roman Catholic Church, 1898 (C.R., ix, 8 June 1898, 6)
EAST HEREFORD, QUE., Roman Catholic Church, 1898 (C.R., ix, 8 June 1898, 6)
(with Tanguay & Vallee) SHERBROOKE, QUE., St. Charles Borromee Seminary, Marquette Street, 1898 (C.R., ix, 6 April 1898, 3; 15 June 1898, 6; Montreal Daily Star, 17 May 1898, 5)
LAKE MEGANTIC, QUE., Roman Catholic Church, 1889-99 (Le Semaine Commerciale, 25 Nov. 1898)
RIMOUSKI, QUE., Bishop's Palace for Monseigneur A.A. Blais, of St. Germain Roman Catholic Cathedral, 1900-01 (C.R., xi, 21 Nov. 1900, 1, t.c.)
SHERBROOKE, QUE., Convent des Dames de la Congregation, addition and restoration, 1900-01 (C.R., xi, 21 Nov. 1900, 1)
ST. JULIEN-DE-WOLFESTON, QUE., completion of the Roman Catholic Church and new Presbytery, 1900-01 (C.R., xi, 21 Nov. 1900, 1)