Memorable Manitobans: Charles Arnold Barber (1848-1915)

Architect.

Born in Upper Canada, he apprenticed as an architect and opened his own practice in 1870. He moved to Winnipeg in 1876 and, with his brother Earle William Barber, headed the architectural firm of Barber & Barber which designed many buildings before, during, and after the city’s first boom, which ended in the early 1880s. Many of their buildings were ornate, often with Italianate flourishes. They designed the Winnipeg City Hall (1883-86) in Victorian eclectic style. There were constant rumours of corruption and dishonesty against Barber, a rival architect describing him as “an artist truly whose canvas is that of cunning and whose tools are those of deception.” At one point, it is believed that he practiced with architect James R. Bowes.

Barber left Winnipeg in 1887 following a charge of election bribery, and returned in 1892. In Montreal in 1903 he and his wife were arrested for extortion with violence, and the court heard that they had behaved similarly before in many other cities. He was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. He died at New Westminster, British Columbia on 22 September 1915.

Some of his Winnipeg buildings included:

• Central School No. 1 (Ellen Street), 1877 - demolished
• North Ward School (McTavish Street), 1877 - demolished
• Carlton School / South Central School (Graham Avenue), 1880-81 - demolished
• Manitoba College (Ellice Avenue), 1881-82 - demolished
• Benson Block (146 Princess Street), 1882 - facade now part of Red River College
• Bawlf Block (148 Princess Street), 1882 - facade now part of Red River College
• Bathgate Block (242 Princess Street), 1882-83
• Pinkham School (765 Pacific Avenue), 1883 - demolished
• Winnipeg City Hall (Main Street), 1883-86 - demolished
• Mulvey School No. 1 (Maryland Street), 1884 - demolished
• Leland Hotel (218 William Avenue), 1884 - demolished
• Utility Building / Bawlf Grain Exchange II (164 Princess Street), 1892 - facade now part of Red River College

See also:

Charles Arnold Barber, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

Sources:

Death registration, British Columbia Vital Statistics.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by J. M. Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

Quiet Dignity: Aspects of Building Schools in the Winnipeg School Division No. 1, 1871-1928 by Giles Bugailiskis, MA thesis, Department of History, University of Manitoba, 1990.

Winnipeg Building Index

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada: 1800-1950

Utility Building / Bawlf Grain Exchange II (164 Princess Street), City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee, June 1979.

J. Bowes & Son, Architects in Ottawa by Elizabeth V. Krug, Bytown Pamphlet Series No. 73, The Historical Society of Ottawa, 2008.

This profile was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Profile revised: 5 October 2012

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