Coursol, Jean Casimir

COURSOL (or COURSOLLES), Jean Casimir (fl. 1853-78), active in Montreal, first advertised his services as 'architect and measurer' in 1853 (Montreal Transcript, 2 May 1853, 2, advert.). His name continues to appear regularly in Montreal City Directories as an architect until 1873 when he formed a partnership with Francois X. Mailhot (see list of works under Mailhot & Coursolles). Their firm remained active in Montreal until 1879, but Coursol had relocated to Ottawa nearly four years earlier in 1875, perhaps to operate a branch office for their firm, or to supervise commissions which their office had obtained in that city. Only one major project by Coursol can be found, that for the Roman Catholic Church at STE. ANNE-DE-LA-PERADE, QUE., 1855-69; towers completed by J.B. Bourgeois, 1881-82 (Franklin Toker, The Church of Notre-Dame in Montreal: An Architectural History, 1970, 79, with Plate 51, illus.; H. Kalman, History of Canadian Architecture, 1994, 269; Canadian Centre for Architecture, The Use of Models: Nineteenth Century Church Architecture in Quebec, 1994, 16-19, illus.). This twin-towered Gothic Revival work was directly inspired by Notre Dame Cathedral in Montreal (built 1823-29). Coursol's drawings for the church survive in the church vaults; the original wood study model of the building is now held at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA DR 1990:0064).