Memorable Manitobans: John Hamilton Gordon Russell (1863-1946)

John Hamilton Gordon Russell Click to enlarge

Architect.

John Hamilton Gordon Russell Click to enlarge

Born at Toronto, Ontario on 5 November 1863, son of James Russell (1830-1913) and Fanny Heath Russell (c1839-1910), he was educated at the Toronto Model School. He worked as a draughtsman in Toronto starting in 1879 then came to Winnipeg in 1882. He set up an architectural practice in 1895, and over the course of nearly a half century, Russell designed some of Winnipeg’s finest buildings. A Presbyterian church at Roslyn, Washington is also attributed to him.

He served as the First Vice-President (1906) and President (1910) of the Manitoba Association of Architects. In addition to his architectural work, Russell was Vice-President of the Winnipeg Mercantile Trust Company, President of the Manitoba Association of Architects, a Director of the Canadian Securities Company, a member of Manitoba Board of Examiners of Architects, and a stockholder in Monarch Life Assurance Company, Sovereign Life, Standard Trusts Company, Great West Permanent Loan and Savings Company, and Northern Crown Bank.

On 2 March 1898, he married Agnes McAlpine Campbell (1868-1943) of Milton, Ontario. They had three children: John Gordon Russell (1899-1983), Ruth McAlpine Russell (1903-2002, wife of Fred Walker), and Norman Campbell Hall Russell. He was a member of the Canadian Club of Winnipeg and the AF & AM. In 1911, the family lived at 237 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg.

Uncle of architect Gordon Leslie Russell.

He died at Winnipeg on 7 February 1946 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:

Building	Location	Year	Status
Maw Block	280 William Avenue, Winnipeg	1897
McIntyre House (expansion)	123 Middle Gate, Winnipeg	1897
Gladstone School	Osborne Street, Winnipeg	1898	Demolished (1962)
Wellington School	Wellington Avenue, Winnipeg	1898	Demolished (?)
Ashdown Warehouse (expansion)	179 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg	1899
Carnefac Block	188 Princess Street, Winnipeg	1901
Lake of the Woods Building	212 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg	1901
L. L. Lang Residence	62 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg	1901
Children’s Home of Winnipeg (expansion)	198 River Avenue, Winnipeg	1901-1902	Demolished (?)
Hammond Building	63 Albert Street, Winnipeg	1902
Jubilee Block	215-223 Alexander Avenue, Winnipeg	1902	Demolished (?)
McKerchar Block	600-602 Main Street, Winnipeg	1902-1903	Demolished (?)
J. Porter and Company Building	368 Main Street, Winnipeg	1902-1903	Demolished (?)
Adelman Building	92-100 Princess Street, Winnipeg	1903
Bole Drug Building	70 Princess Street, Winnipeg	1903
McArthur House	159 Mayfair Avenue, Winnipeg	1903
Free Kindergarten Building	294 Ellen Street, Winnipeg	1903
Thomson Block	499 Main Street, Winnipeg	1903	Demolished (?)
McKerchar Block	600 Main Street, Winnipeg	1903
Bright and Johnston Building (renovations)	137 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg	1903
Windatt House	657 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg	1903
Augustine Presbyterian Church	444 River Avenue, Winnipeg	1903-1904
Starbuck Presbyterian Church	Starbuck, RM of Macdonald	1903-1904	Destroyed (2014)
Euclid Block	865 Main Street, Winnipeg	1903-1904
Allman Block	592-594 Main Street, Winnipeg	1904
Daylite Building (addition)	296 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg	1904
Ashdown Building	476 Main Street, Winnipeg	1904
C. H. Becket House	94 Middlegate, Winnipeg	1904
Franklin Press Building	168 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg	1904
Green and Litster Block	235-237 Fort Street, Winnipeg	1904	Demolished (?)
Silvester-Willson Building	222 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg	1904
Wilson House	545 Broadway, Winnipeg	1904
Calvary Temple / First Baptist Church	400 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg	1904
Beckett House	94 Middle Gate, Winnipeg	1904
McKay House	204 Colony Street	1904
Central Park Block	389 Cumberland Avenue, Winnipeg	1904	Demolished (?)
Bathgate House	34 Carlton Street, Winnipeg	1905
Canadian Moline Plow Building	669 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg	1905
Deacon House	251 Furby Street, Winnipeg	1905
F. M. Morse House	515 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg	1905	Demolished (?)
Pilot Mound School No. 105	Pilot Mound	1905	Demolished (?)
Aikins Block (renovation)	221 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg	1905
Killarney Public School	Killarney	1905-1906	Demolished (?)
Porter Building	165 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg	1906
J. D. Clark House	511 Stradbrook Avenue, Winnipeg	1906
West House	124 Nassau Street North, Winnipeg	1906
Crane-Ordway Building / Lombard Building	93 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg	1906
Harvey House	112 West Gate, Winnipeg	1906
Scott-Bathgate Building	149 Pioneer Avenue, Winnipeg	1906
Lorraine Apartments / Aurora Court	543 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg	1906	Demolished (?)
Grassie House	53 Harvard Avenue, Winnipeg	1907
Treherne Presbyterian Church	Treherne	1907-1908
McMillan House (N. T. MacMillan)	412 Wardlaw Avenue, Winnipeg	1908
All People’s Mission	119 Sutherland Avenue, Winnipeg	1908
Casa Loma Building	644 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1909
McArthur Building / Childs Building	211 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1909	Demolished (1988)
Royal Bank of Canada Building	460 Main Street, Winnipeg	1909
Whiting Hardware Building	106 Osborne Street, Winnipeg	1909
H. Archibald House	176 Roslyn Road, Winnipeg	1909
Medway Court / Midway Court	307 Edmonton Street, Winnipeg	1909	Destroyed by fire (1 September 1929)
McPherson House	36 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg	1909
Smith House	119 West Gate, Winnipeg	1909
Campbell Brothers & Wilson Limited	102 Princess Street, Winnipeg	c1910
Glengarry Building	290 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg	1910
Westminster Presbyterian Church	745 Westminster Avenue, Winnipeg	1910-1912
Fort Rouge Methodist Church	525 Wardlaw Avenue, Winnipeg	1910-1911
Chatsworth Apartments	535 McMillan Avenue, Winnipeg	1911
Trust and Loan Building	173 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1911
Dingwall Building	62 Albert Street, Winnipeg	1911
Robertson Memorial Presbyterian Church	648 Burrows Avenue, Winnipeg	1911
YMCA Building	475 Selkirk Avenue, Winnipeg	1911
Campbell House	58 Middle Gate, Winnipeg	1911
YMCA Building	301 Vaughan Street, Winnipeg	1911-1913
Williams House (John Williams)	2 Ruskin Row, Winnipeg	1912
Wesley Hall Annex / Sparling Hall	University of Winnipeg	1912
Great West Permanent Loan Company Building	356 Main Street, Winnipeg	1912	Demolished (?)
Guelph Apartments	778 McMillan Avenue, Winnipeg	1912
Wilkinson Kompass and Hawkey Warehouse	92 Gomez Street, Winnipeg	1912
Ashdown House	529 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg	1913
Donald Hall (addition)	72 Donald Street, Winnipeg	1913-1914	Demolished (?)
Sunset Manufacturing Warehouse	655 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg	1914
Knox Presbyterian Church	400 Edmonton Street, Winnipeg	1914-1917
Children’s Home of Winnipeg	615 Academy Road, Winnipeg	1915-1916	Demolished (?)
Stanley Brock Building	145 Market Avenue, Winnipeg	1916
Popham House (Edwin Samuel Popham)	555 River Avenue, Winnipeg	c1916
Baltic Apartments (completion)	347 Manitoba Avenue, Winnipeg	1917
Russell Telephone Exchange Building (brick)	Russell	1918
Royal Bank Building (renovation)	968 Main Street, Winnipeg	1918
MacMillan House (Neil Thomas MacMillan)	137 Kingsway, Winnipeg	c1918
Norwood Telephone Exchange Building (brick)	235A Horace Street, Winnipeg	1919
Manitoba Government Telephones Garage	464 Hargrave Street, Winnipeg	1919
Grosse Isle Consolidated School No. 1975	Grosse Isle, RM of Rosser	1919-1920
Home Street Presbyterian Church / Home Street United Church / Home Street Mennonite Church	318 Home Street, Winnipeg	1920
Foxwarren Telephone Exchange Building (frame or tile)	Foxwarren	1921
Morris Telephone Exchange Building (brick)	Morris	1921
Newdale Telephone Exchange Building (frame or tile)	Newdale	1921
Selkirk Telephone Exchange Building (brick)	Selkirk	1921
Sidney Telephone Exchange Building (frame or tile)	Sidney	1921
Shoal Lake Telephone Exchange Building (brick)	Shoal Lake	1921
Swan River Telephone Exchange Building	114 Fifth Avenue North, Swan River	1921
Gladstone School No. 70	Gladstone, Municipality of WestLake-Gladstone	1921-1922	Demolished (1973)
Marlborough Hotel addition	331 Smith Street, Winnipeg	1921-1923
Odd Fellows Home	4025 Roblin Boulevard, Winnipeg	1922
St. John’s Presbyterian Church (superstructure)	250 Cathedral Avenue, Winnipeg	1923
Wawanesa Telephone Exchange Building	Third Street West, Wawanesa	1924
Riverview Presbyterian Church	360 Oakwood Avenue, Winnipeg	1925
Wilson House (Robert Richey Wilson)	680 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg	1925
Minto Telephone Exchange Building (frame and stucco)	Minto, Municipality of Grassland	1927
Gilbert Plains Telephone Exchange Building	Gilbert Plains, Municipality of Gilbert Plains	1927
Grandview Telephone Exchange Building (brick)	Grandview, Municipality of Grandview	1927
Canadian National Institute for the Blind Building	1031 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1928
Neepawa Collegiate Institute	213 Mountain Avenue, Neepawa	1928	Demolished (1985)
Eastman Kodak Building	287 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg	1930	Demolished (?)
Johnson Apartments	524 Sargent Avenue, Winnipeg	?

Sources:

Ontario marriage registration, Ancestry.

Birth registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Winnipeg Tribune, 2 June 1899, page 6.

1901 and 1911 Canada censes, Automated Genealogy.

“Winnipeg’s big building development during 1908,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 December 1908, page 31.

“James Russell died Saturday,” Manitoba Free Press, 13 October 1913.

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.

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

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

The Leading Financial, Business & Professional Men of Winnipeg, published by Edwin McCormick, Photographs by T. J. Leatherdale, Compiled and printed by Stone Limited, c1913. [copy available at the Archives of Manitoba]

“Tenders,” Russell Banner, 25 July 1918, page 15.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 4 July 1919, page 15.

“Tenders,” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 May 1921, page 2.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 August 1921, page 12.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 27 February 1928, page 22.

“Eight dead, 10 injured in apartment fire disaster,” Winnipeg Tribune, 2 September 1929, page 1.

“J. H. G. Russell architecture pioneer, dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 February 1946. [Manitoba Legislative Library, Biographical Scrapbook B9]

Obituary [John Gordon Russell], Winnipeg Free Press, 13 July 1983, page 49.

Crescentwood, A History by R. R. Rostecki, Winnipeg: Crescentwood Home Owners Association, 1993.

We thank Randy Rostecki, Grant Klassen, Nathan Kramer, Robert Hill, and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 5 January 2023

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