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

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John Hamilton Gordon Russell
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Architect.

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John Hamilton Gordon Russell
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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

 

J. Porter and Company Building

368 Main Street, Winnipeg

1902-1903

Demolished (?)

Campbell Brothers and Wilson Warehouse

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 (?)

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

873-879 Main Street, Winnipeg

1904

 

Allman Block

592-594 Main Street, Winnipeg

1904

 

Daylite Building (addition)

296 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg

1904

 

Ashdown Building

476 Main Street, Winnipeg

1904

 

Becket House (C. H. Becket)

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 School No. 252

Broadway Avenue, 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

 

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

 

McArthur Building

205-211 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg

1909-1910

Demolished (1988)

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

 

Campbell Brothers and Wilson Warehouse (expansion)

92-100 Princess Street, 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

 

Crane-Ordway Warehouse

Isabel Street, Winnipeg

1913

Demolished (?)

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)

Westbourne Street West, Russell

1918

Demolished (?)

Royal Bank Building (renovation)

968 Main Street, Winnipeg

1918

 

MacMillan House (Neil Thomas MacMillan)

137 Kingsway, Winnipeg

c1918

 

Norwood Telephone Exchange Building

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

321 Manitoba Avenue, 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

 

Arborg Telephone Exchange Building (brick)

Arborg

1922

 

Dominion City Telephone Exchange Building (frame and stucco)

118 Waddell Avenue East, Dominion City

1922

 

Fort Rouge Telephone Exchange Building (alterations)

628 Corydon Avenue, Winnipeg

1922

 

Odd Fellows Home

4025 Roblin Boulevard, Winnipeg

1922

 

Plum Coulee Telephone Exchange Building (frame and stucco)

Plum Coulee

1923

 

St. John’s Presbyterian Church (superstructure)

250 Cathedral Avenue, Winnipeg

1923

 

Treherne Telephone Exchange Building (frame and stucco)

Treherne

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

 

Elgin Telephone Exchange Building (frame and stucco)

Elgin, Municipality of Grassland

1927

 

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

228 Roland Avenue, Grandview, Municipality of Grandview

1927

 

Knox United Church (renovations and addition)

Second Street, Belmont, RM of Prairie Lakes)

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 censuses, Automated Genealogy.

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

“Permits taken out for two warehouses,” Manitoba Free Press, 15 May 1913, page 19.

“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.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

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, 18 July 1918, page 11.

“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, 29 July 1922, page 18.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 29 July 1923, page 14.

“Recent building and trade notes,” Manitoba Free Press, 6 August 1927, page 13.

“Tenders,” Manitoba Free Press, 30 August 1927, page 17.

“Awarded contracts for three exchanges in telephone centres,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 September 1927, page 38.

“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]

Banner County: History of Russell and District, 1879-1967 by Russell Women's Institute, 1967.

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: 11 March 2024

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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