Cooper, Richard John | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

COOPER, Richard John (fl. 1844-45) was active in Quebec City and is presumably the same 'R.T. Cooper, Architect' listed in local directories (A. Hawkins, Quebec Directory, 1844-45). In 1844 he designed 'Hamwood', a reserved and unpretentious country villa for J.W. Leycroft, Ste. Foy Road, STE. FOY, QUE. (F. Gagnon-Pratte, Les Villas, 1980, 246-9, illus.; J. Wright, Architecture of the Picturesque in Canada, 1984, 122, illus.). Additions to the house were later made by Edward Staveley in 1857 and the structure was radically altered in 1921 by the Jesuit Fathers. The Archives Nationales du Quebec holds a drawing signed by Cooper showing a 'Design for a Tollhouse' dated 1844 (L. Noppen & M. Grignon, l'art de l'architecte - Three Centuries of Architectural Drawing in Quebec City, 1983, 224-25, illus.), but the crude and unsophisticated rendering of the plan and elevation adds little to the reputation of this obscure figure.