Memorable Manitobans: Edmund Walter Crayston (1871-1940)

Carpenter, architect.

Born at Helen Mills, Pennsylvania on 6 February 1871, son of Edmund Crayston (1842-1920) and Amelia Crayston (1842-1910), he was educated at Ridgeway, Pennsylvania. He came with his family to Manitoba in 1888 and farmed near Glenora.

In 1892, he moved to Winnipeg where he worked as a foreman carpenter until 1901 then as a draughtsman in the architectural office of James Henry Cadham before taking correspondence courses to train as an architect. He opened his own architectural practice in 1911, retiring in 1928. On 14 January 1903, he married Elizabeth Adair (c1874-1962, daughter of Alexander Adair) at Winnipeg. They had no children. He was a member of St. Paul’s United Church and IOF.

He died at his Winnipeg home, 867 Bannatyne Avenue, on 14 June 1940 and was buried in the Brookside Cemetery.

Some of his architectural works in Manitoba included:

Building

Location

Year

Status

Parker House (John F. Parker)

194 Young Street, Winnipeg

1910

 

Brook House

79 West Gate, Winnipeg

1911

 

Victoria General Hospital

424 River Avenue, Winnipeg

1911

 

Delmar Apartments

623 William Avenue, Winnipeg

1912

 

Fensala Court

277 Arbuthnot Street, Winnipeg

1912

 

Loch Katrine Apartments

531 Furby Street, Winnipeg

1912

 

Acadia Apartments

590 Victor Street, Winnipeg

1913

 

Elsinore Apartments

677 Maryland Street, Winnipeg

1913

 

Linden Court

730 Maryland Street, Winnipeg

1913

Demolished (?)

Manitoba Medical College (expansion)

750-770 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg

1913

 

Tremont Apartments

694 Sherbrook, Winnipeg

1914

Destroyed by fire (2022)

Woodbine Hotel (expansion)

466 Main Street, Winnipeg

1923

 

Sources:

“Crowning testimony from prominent people,” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 January 1904, page 5.

Marriage and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

City of Winnipeg Building Permit 1972/1910 [Parker House], City of Winnipeg Archives.

Who's Who and Why, Volumes 6 and 7, 1915-1916, page 613.

“Father and son burned to death; fire destroys home,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 December 1920, page 13.

Obituary, Winnipeg Tribune, 15 June 1940, page 3.

Obituary [Elizabeth A. Crayston], Winnipeg Free Press, 9 January 1962, page 23.

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

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

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

We thank Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 18 July 2024

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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