Crane, Edward

CRANE, Edward (died 1847) of Cobourg, Ont. is best know for his imposing neoclassical design of the Upper Canada Academy, University Avenue East, COBOURG, ONT., 1832-36, for which he was employed as both the architect and builder (Christian Guardian [Toronto], 20 June 1832, 3; J.G. Hodgins, Schools and Colleges in Ontario 1792-1910, iii, 63-7, illus. & descrip.; L. Maitland, Neoclassical Architecture in Canada, 1984, 63, illus.). The building is surmounted by a disproportionately tall and slender tower and cupola constructed as a later addition; a view of the original structure appears in N. Burwash, History of Victoria College, 1927, 15-17, descrip., with illus. p. 430 ff. No information on the activity of Crane has been found after 1832 until 1845 where he called tenders on behalf of George Browne for the Bank of Montreal in KINGSTON, ONT. (Kingston Chronicle, 19 Feb. 1845, 3, t.c.). His role in this project was that of clerk-of-works; the following year he held a similar position as local architect to Henry B. Lane for the construction of St. Paul's Anglican Church, also situated in KINGSTON, ONT. (The Church [Cobourg], 17 April 1846, 162). It may be presumed that Crane was residing in Kingston by 1845; he was elected to the Committee of Management of the Kingston Mechanics Institute in that year (Kingston Chronicle, 26 Feb. 1845, 3). Crane died in Kingston on 11 January 1847 (obituary Hamilton Spectator, 13 June 1847, p. 3)