John A. Pearson

John A. Pearson
Born	June 22, 1867 Chesterfield, England
Died	June 11, 1940 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Architect
Practice	Pearson and Darling

John Andrew Pearson (June 22, 1867 – June 11, 1940) was an early 20th Century Canadian architect and partner to the Toronto-based firm of Pearson and Darling.

Pearson was born in Chesterfield, UK, and emigrated to Canada in 1888. Most of his architectural output is associated with a series of partnerships: he worked for Henry Sproatt beginning in 1890, joined Darling, Curry, Sproatt, & Pearson in 1892, with fellow partners Frank Darling and S. George Curry. Curry departed, and from 1893 through 1896 that office was known as Darling, Sproatt & Pearson, then finally stabilised into the successful and long-lasting Pearson and Darling from 1897 through Pearson's death in 1940 and buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Pearson's most significant project apart from this partnership is undoubtedly the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a complex that contains the Canadian House of Commons and Senate of Canada, and the adjoining Peace Tower.

The previous Centre Block burned in 1916, entirely destroyed except for the Library of Parliament. By 1920 the Centre Block was rebuilt with a design by Pearson and collaborator Jean Omer Marchand of Montreal. The Peace Tower commemorating the end of the First World War was completed in 1927.^[1]

Pearson was the first Vice-President of Ontario Association of Architects (1902). He died in Toronto, aged 72.

Works

Building	Year Completed	Builder	Style	Source	Location	Image
University of Toronto Faculty of Law Flavelle House	1901	John A. Pearson & Frank Darling	Romanesque Revival architecture		University of Toronto St. George campus, Toronto, Ontario
Convocation Hall	1906	John A. Pearson & Frank Darling	Romanesque Revival architecture		University of Toronto St. George campus, Toronto, Ontario
University of Toronto Sanford Fleming Building	1907	John A. Pearson & Frank Darling	Romanesque Revival architecture		10 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario
University of Toronto Sigmund Samuel Building	1907	John A. Pearson & Frank Darling	Romanesque Revival architecture		10 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario
University of Toronto Sigmund Samuel Building additions	1912	John A. Pearson & Frank Darling	Romanesque Revival architecture		7 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario
Toronto General Hospital- College Wing	1913	John A. Pearson & Frank Darling	Romanesque Revival architecture		101 College Street, Toronto, Ontario
Centre Block containing Canadian House of Commons, Senate of Canada, Peace Tower,	1920	John A. Pearson & Jean Omer Marchand	Romanesque Revival architecture		Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario

See also

• Henry Sproatt - partnered with Pearson from 1890 to 1896

External links

• JA Pearson
• John A Pearson at The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Pearson and Darling
• Historic Places in Canada

References

1. Pound, Richard W. (2005). 'Fitzhenry and Whiteside Book of Canadian Facts and Dates'. Fitzhenry and Whiteside.