Edmund Burke (31 October 1851 – 2 January 1919) was a highly regarded Canadian architect best known for building Toronto's Prince Edward Viaduct or "Bloor Street Viaduct", and Toronto's Robert Simpson store. He served as the vice-president, then President of the Ontario Association of Architects.
Personal Burke was born in Toronto to parents with ties to building industry: His father, William Burke, was a local lumber merchant and builder who founded Burke, Smith & Co in 1850 (ceased operations 1967) that supplied timber to build important structures in Toronto like the Crystal Palace at the Provincial Exhibition Grounds and Gooderham and Worts Distillery)) His mother, Sarah Langley, was sister to architect Henry Langley, whom Burke later trained with. He had family ties to Sackville, New Brunswick where several important works survive: His wife, the former Minnie Jane Black of Sackville, was related to William Black, founder of Methodism in Nova Scotia.
Education and training Burke attended Jesse Ketchum Public School, Upper Canada College and Toronto Mechanics' Institute before apprenticing as an architect with his maternal uncle and forming the firm Langley and Burke in 1873.
Later life and death Most of Burke's professional career was in Toronto and he lived a little more than a decade after his uncle's death. Burke died in the city and is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, where he designed the mortuary chapel in 1893.
Works
BuildingYear CompletedBuilderStyleSourceLocationImage Saint Luke's United Church 1874 Henry Langley and Edmund Burke Romanesque Revival 15 Sherborne Street and Carlton Street, Toronto, Ontario St. Andrew's Evangelical Lutheran Church 1878 Henry Langley & Edmund Burke Gothic Revival 15 383 Jarvis Street, Toronto, Ontario Jarvis Street Baptist Church 1878 Henry Langley & Edmund Burke Gothic Revival Jarvis Street, Toronto, Ontario McMaster Hall 1881 Henry Langley, Henry Langley and Edmund Burke (Design) Romanesque Revival 2 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario Beverley Street Baptist Church 1886 Henry Langley & Edmund Burke Gothic Revival 6 72 Beverley Street, Toronto, Ontario Trinity-St. Paul's United Church 1887–1889 Henry Langley and Edmund Burke Gothic Revival 15 Bloor Street west of Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario Prince Edward Viaduct 1918 Edmund Burke Gothic Revival Toronto, Ontario Robert Simpson's Department Store Building 1896, 1908, 1923 Edmund Burke Romanesque Revival, Chicago School Toronto, Ontario Orillia City Hall – rebuild plans for Orillia City Hall built in 1895 by Gordon & Helliwell 1915 Edmund Burke, J.C.B. Horwood and Murray White Romanesque Revival 20 Mississauga Street West, Orillia, Ontario Owens Art Gallery 1895 Edmund Burke Renaissance Revival Mount Allison University, 61 York Street, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada Hammond/Black House (home for Fine Arts head John Hammond and now residence to the President of Mount Allison University) 1896 Edmund Burke Queen Anne Revival-style Mount Allison University, 82 York Street, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada Walmer Road Baptist Church 1889–1892 Edmund Burke & Henry Langley Gothic Revival 188 Lowther Street, Toronto, Canada Broadmoor Manor 1908 Edmund Burke Romanesque Revival 15 382 Main Street, Tantramar, New Brunswick. Home of renowned Canadian sculptor Christian Cardell CorbetDr. Charles Paisley House1903Edmund BurkeShingle style42 York Street, Sackville Ogilvie Building1907Langley & BurkeSoutheast corner of Bay and Well; demolished ca. 1962
Biographies
Carr, Angela. Toronto Architect Edmund Burke: Redefining Canadian Architecture. McGill-Queen's University Press, 1995.
References