Scottish-Canadian architect
David Webster (1885–1952) was a Scottish-Canadian architect best known for his designs of elementary schools in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. His school designs were often in a Collegiate Gothic style emphasizing a central tower, locally referred to as a "castle style". Along with other local architects of his era, such as Walter LaChance and Storey and Van Egmond, Webster prospered during the province’s 1912 economic boom which sparked a frenzy of new construction.
Biography.
Webster was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1885. However, one reputable source gives 1886 as the year of birth. He articled with the Glasgow firm of Jarvis and McAlpin, and moved to Winnipeg in 1902. During his six years in Winnipeg, he had four different employers: G.W. Murray, J. McDiarmid and Co., the Winnipeg office of Sprote, Rolph and Chrysler, and lastly, Herbert B. Rugh.
Webster moved to Saskatoon in 1908, forming the short-lived partnership of Webster and Noel (Joseph H. Noel). The two partners separated in 1909.
Webster played a key role in founding the Saskatchewan Association of Architects in 1911, and held membership card #1. He served six terms as president of the association. When World War I began, Webster served in a Canadian unit from 1915 to 1919. He was wounded in June 1918 in the Battle of Messines.
A second partnership was created in 1930 with E.J. Gilbert (Webster and Gilbert). In 1939, Webster moved to Regina to accept the position of Deputy Minister of Public Works in the provincial government, working under both Liberal and New Democratic Party administrations. His son, John Webster, became a partner in the firm of Webster and Gilbert at this point. The firm would go on to design such buildings as Royal University Hospital, the 1956 wing of Saskatoon's city hall, the Livestock Pavilion and Jubilee Buildings at the Saskatoon Exhibition Grounds, and elementary schools such as Churchill, Holliston, and the original Brunskill School.
From 1948 to 1950, David Webster was employed by the Saskatchewan Department of Public Works to supervise construction of certain buildings on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon. He died at age 67 on 1 January 1952.
David Webster had been married twice. His first wife was Ada Webster of Liverpool, England, who died in 1928 at the age of 45. They had three sons and one daughter. Little is known about David Webster's second wife, except that she outlived him and they had a son together.
Notable commissions.
This list includes works attributed to Webster as a solo practitioner, and those attributed to the partnership of Webster and Noel, as well as the partnership of Webster and Gilbert.
"All are extant unless otherwise specified. In chronological order:"
References.
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External.
Historic Places of Canada