Thomas Fuller (March 8, 1823 – September 28, 1898) was an English-born Canadian architect. From 1881 to 1896, he was Chief Dominion Architect for the Government of Canada, during which time he played a role in the design and construction of every major federal building.

Early life and education

Fuller was born on March 8, 1823, in Bath, Somerset, England, where he trained as an architect with James Wilson (becoming a pupil of Wilson's in 1844) alongside his future architectural business partner William Bruce Gingell. His father, also called Thomas, was a carriage-maker, and his mother was Mary Fuller (née Tiley).

Career

While living in Bath and London, he did a number of architectural projects, with Wilson (with whom he went into partnership in 1854), with Gingell (working as Fuller and Gingell from 1848 to 1850) or on his own account. In 1845, he left for Antigua, where he spent two years working on the new St John's Cathedral, before emigrating to Canada in 1857. Settling in Toronto, he formed a partnership with Chilion Jones in which Fuller was responsible for design work. The company first won the contract to design Toronto's Church of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields. In 1859, the Legislative Assembly in Ottawa voted the sum of £75,000 for the erection of a "Parliament House" and offered a premium of $1000 for the best design within that budget. The winning bid was made by Fuller and Jones for a Neo-Gothic design. The principal architects until its completion in 1866 were Thomas Fuller and Charles Baillairge. In Hand Book to the Parliamentary and Departmental Buildings, Canada (1867), Joseph Bureau wrote, "The corner stone was laid with great ceremony by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales [the future king Edward VII] in September 1860, on which occasion the rejoicings partook of the nature of the place, the lumber arches and men being a novelty to most of its visitors, bullocks and sheep were roasted whole upon the government ground and all comers were feasted." In 1867, he won the contract to build the New York State Capitol building in Albany, New York, and spent the next several years in the United States. The project ran into severe cost overruns and an inquiry blamed Fuller. Fuller thus returned to Canada and, unable to work in the more lucrative private sector, in 1881 became Chief Dominion Architect, succeeding Thomas Seaton Scott. Canada's Department of Public Works erected a number of post offices in smaller urban centres during Thomas Fuller's term as chief architect.

Works

United Kingdom

England

Wales

United States

California

New York State

Canada

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

Nova Scotia

Ontario

Prince Edward Island

New Brunswick

Quebec

Saskatchewan

Family

In 1853 he married Caroline Anne Green, who was also from Bath; they had one son and two daughters together. Their son, Thomas W. Fuller, was also an architect, being appointed Canada's chief architect in 1927. Thomas W. Fuller's son, Thomas G. Fuller, spent more than 50 years in the building industry.

Death and legacy

Fuller died on September 28, 1898, and was interred in the Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa. A 35 cent, three-colour Canadian postage stamp, issued in 1980, featured an image of the Parliament Buildings and the text "Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, 1880–1980, Thomas Fuller". Several of his buildings in Bath have been threatened with demolition and other works, such as his Bradford-on-Avon Town Hall, have been converted into other uses (the Town Hall is now the St Thomas More Roman Catholic Church, Bradford-on-Avon). In 2002, the Thomas Fuller Construction Company, founded by Fuller's grandson Thomas G. Fuller and now operated by his great-grandsons, was awarded a contract to renovate the Library of Parliament in Ottawa which he originally designed. In 2016, the Canadian government added Fuller to their list of Persons of National Historic Significance.

Sources