Memorable Manitobans: Samuel Hooper (1851-1911)

Samuel Hooper Click to enlarge

Stone mason, architect.

Born at Hatherleigh, Devon, England on 1 October 1851, son of John Hooper (1821-1898) and Susannah Weekes (1926-1910), brother of James Hooper, he started a career in his uncle’s office where he studied architecture. He came to Canada in 1869 and settled at London, Ontario where he was trained in stone carving and monument work. His family all went to England in 1878, but he returned to Canada in 1880.

He spent one year at Emerson and came to Winnipeg in 1881 where his first work was that of a monument designer and builder, in partnership with David Ede. In 1893, having studied architecture in England in the office of his uncle, who was Surveyor of the Duchy of Cornwall, he commenced practice at this profession and was working again at Winnipeg at least by 1901.

In 1904, he was appointed the first Provincial Architect of Manitoba, holding the position until his death, when he was succeeded by Victor Horwood. Around 1906, Hooper joined Charles Henry Walker to form the architectural firm of Hooper and Walker. The practice was dissolved by early 1909. He served as President of the Manitoba Association of Architects (1908).

In 1872, he married Jane Ferguson Simpson (1855-1942) with whom he had six children: John Simpson Hooper, Edith Hooper (1881-1882), Olive Hooper (1884-1884), Samuel Lawrence Hooper (1888-1919), Gertrude Hooper (1882-1975, wife of Lee Higbee), and Nina Simpson Hooper (1893-1962, wife of Alfred John Webb).

In the fall of 1911, he traveled to London, England to consult medical specialists and died there on 19 October 1911. His body was returned to Winnipeg for burial in the St. John’s Cathedral Cemetery.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:

Building	Location	Year	Status
Volunteer Monument	Main Street, Winnipeg	1886
Seven Oaks Monument	Main Street, Winnipeg	1891
St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral (new facade)	353 St. Mary Avenue, Winnipeg	1896
Bawlf House / Jasmin Apartments [Nicholas Bawlf]	11 Kennedy Street, Winnipeg	1897	Demolished (November 1976)
Grain Exchange Building II	156 Princess Street, Winnipeg	1898
Isbister School	310 Vaughan Street, Winnipeg	1898
Cass Block	279 Fort Street, Winnipeg	1900	Demolished (?)
Western Building	90 Albert Street, Winnipeg	1901
St. Mary’s Academy	550 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg	1902-1903
Victoria Hotel	First Avenue SW, Carman	1903	Destroyed by fire (2002)
Knox Presbyterian Church	341 Eveline Street, Selkirk	1903-1904
Merchant’s Hotel	383 Eveline Street, Selkirk	1903-1904
Winnipeg Land Titles Building	433 Broadway, Winnipeg	1903-1904
Carnegie Library	380 William Avenue, Winnipeg	1903-1905
Francis Block	501 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg	1904	Demolished (?)
Morden Court House	Wardrop Street, Morden	1904-1905
Avoca Apartments	329-335 Sargent Avenue, Winnipeg	1905	Demolished (1983)
Glencoe Apartments	145 Scott Street, Winnipeg	1905	Destroyed by fire (1990)
Neepawa Land Titles Building	329 Hamilton Street, Neepawa	1905
Marshall Wells Warehouse	136 Market Avenue, Winnipeg	1905
MacDonald House	26-30 Avonherst Street, Winnipeg	1905
Central Normal School	442 William Avenue, Winnipeg	1905-1906
Manitoba Agricultural College	Tuxedo Avenue, Winnipeg	1905-1906
Adelaide Block	103-111 Osborne Street, Winnipeg	1906
Bardal Block	843 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg	1906
St. Boniface School No. 1188	St. Joseph Street, St. Boniface	1906
International Order of Good Templars Hall	635 Sargent Avenue, Winnipeg	1906
St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Chapel and Winter Vault	506 Osborne Street, Winnipeg	1906
West Treherne School No. 537	Treherne	1906	Destroyed by fire (1958)
Garry Telephone Exchange Building	474 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg	1907
Fort Rouge Telephone Exchange Building	628 Corydon Avenue, Winnipeg	1907-1908
Tache School	Kenny Street, St. Boniface	1907-1908	Demolished (1963)
Black Building (expansion)	80 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg	1907-1908
Carnegie Library (addition)	380 William Avenue, Winnipeg	1908
Industrial Training School	Portage la Prairie	1908-1909
Brandon Court House	1104 Princess Avenue, Brandon	1908-1910
Minnedosa Court House	70 Third Avenue SW, Minnedosa	1908-1910
Sherbrook Telephone Exchange Building	297 Sherbrook Street, Winnipeg	1909
Vaughan Street Gaol (renovation)	444 York Avenue	1909-1910
Portage la Prairie Telephone Exchange Building	16 Royal Road South, Portage la Prairie	1909-1910
Glenwood School	51 Blenheim Avenue, Winnipeg	1910-1911
Burrows Court	230 Salter Street, Winnipeg	1911	Demolished (1980)
Cycel Court	193-197 Furby Street, Winnipeg	1911
Parkland Building	Brandon Asylum for the Insane, First Street, Brandon	1910-1912
St. Vital Municipal Hall	St. Mary’s Road, Winnipeg	1911-1912	Demolished (c1955)
Agricultural College Building	66 Chancellors Circle, Winnipeg	1911-1913
Agricultural College Powerhouse	33 Maclean Crescent, Winnipeg	1912
Agricultural Engineering Building	96 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg	1912
Engineering I Building	75B Chancellors Circle, Winnipeg	1912
Horticulture and Biology Building	35 Chancellors Circle, Winnipeg	1912
Tache Hall	150 Dafoe Road, Winnipeg	1912
Principal’s Residence	177 Dysart Road, Winnipeg	1912-1913

See also:

Samuel Hooper, Dictionary of Canadian Biography XIV, 505-6.

Sources:

“Tenders [Bawlf House],” Manitoba Free Press, 8 June 1897, page 5.

A History of Manitoba: Its Resources and People by Prof. George Bryce, Toronto: The Canadian History Company, 1906.

“Winnipeg’s big building development during 1908,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 December 1908, page 26.

1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, edited by C. W. Parker, Vancouver: Canadian Press Association, 1911.

The Story of Manitoba by F. H. Schofield, Winnipeg: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913.

“Samuel Hooper died in London,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 October 1911, page 1.

“Samuel Hooper dies in England,” Manitoba Free Press, 20 October 1911, page 17.

“Nurses 4 of 1 family who die in 3 months,” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 January 1919, page 1.

“City architect dies in Alberta,” Winnipeg Tribune, 8 August 1940, page 3.

“Mrs. J. Hooper funeral held,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 September 1942, page 24.

Obituary [Nina Webb], Dauphin Herald, 27 June 1962, page 4.

Pioneers and Early Citizens of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Manitoba Library Association, 1971.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.

Samuel Hooper, FindAGrave.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

We thank Robert Hill, Murray Peterson, Jordan Makichuk, Nathan Kramer, and Ed Krahn for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 13 September 2023

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