William Coverdale (c. 1801 – 28 September 1865) was an English-born builder and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

Personal life

The son of Christopher Coverdale, the family is thought to have arrived in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

around 1810 before coming to Kingston,

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

around 1833. Coverdale married Catherine Delmage and had five children. Unlike his many Anglican contemporaries, Coverdale was a practicing member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church.

Career

Coverdale worked as

master builder A master builder or master mason is a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times (a precursor to the modern architect and engineer). Historically, the term has generally referred to "the head of a construction project in the ...

on the construction of

Kingston Penitentiary Kingston Penitentiary (known locally as KP and Kingston Pen) is a former maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, between King Street West and Lake Ontario. History Constructed from 1833 to 1834, and opened on June 1, 1 ...

from 1836–1840, and was involved in the later additions of the dining hall, perimeter walls, and towers in the mid-1840s. When Kingston city architect George Browne was discharged on 20 May 1855, Coverdale was hired to replace him. He oversaw the construction of Kingston City Hall from 1844 and prepared plans for the rebuilding of the rear wing after it burned down in 1865; the rebuilding was completed by his son William Miles Coverdale. In 1859, Coverdale was hired as architect for the Government of Canada's Criminal Lunatic Asylum. He designed plans for several large residences and a number of churches in Kingston, many of which are still in use today.

Death

Coverdale died in Kingston in 1865 at the age of 64, with his most reputable building, Rockwood Asylum, only partially complete.

Designated Heritage Buildings

References

External links

* 1801 births 1865 deaths 19th-century Canadian architects {{Canada-architect-stub