Edmund Burke (1851–1919) was a highly regarded

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

architect best known for building

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Prince Edward Viaduct The Prince Edward Viaduct System, commonly referred to as the Bloor Viaduct, is the name of a truss arch bridge system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, connecting Bloor Street East, on the west side of the system, with Danforth Avenue on the east. The ...

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: * 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 Gooderham and Worts, also known as Gooderham & Worts Limited, was a Canadian distiller of alcoholic beverages. It was once one of the largest distillers in Canada. The company was merged in 1926 with Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd., and the merged fir ...

Distillery)) * mother Sarah Langley was sister to architect Henry Langley, whom Burke later trained with.

Education and training

Burke attended Jesse Ketchum School,

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...

and

Toronto Mechanics' Institute The Toronto Mechanics' Institute, originally named the York Mechanics' Institute, was an educational institution in 19th century Toronto that became the city's first public library. It was one of a series of mechanics' institutes that were set up ...

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

References

1851 births 1919 deaths Canadian architects Upper Canada College alumni Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts {{Canada-architect-stub