Chapman and Oxley was a
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
-based architectural firm that was responsible for designing a number of prominent buildings in the city during the 1920s and 1930s. Even with the departure of Chapman, the firm's last projects appeared to be in the late 1940s.
History
The firm was founded in 1919 by architects Alfred Hirschfelder Chapman (1875-1949) and James Morrow Oxley (1883-1957).
A.H. Chapman was born in Toronto to the Chapman family, owners of Grenadier Ice Company at Grenadier Pond (in what is now
High Park) and Belle Ewart Ice Company (later as Chapmans Limited). Chapman apprenticed under architect
Beaumont Jarvis (1864-1948). He then went to study architecture in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. From 1920 he was head of the family business, Chapmans Limited, which sold ice and fuel in Toronto. Chapman served as president of the
Ontario Association of Architects for two consecutive periods, 1929 and 1930. Chapman retired in 1943 and died in 1949. He is buried at St. George's Church (Anglican) and Cemetery (Susan Sibbald Memorial Stone Church) in
Sutton, Ontario.
Chapman's son Howard Dennison Chapman (1917-2014), also an architect, formed his own firm, Chapman and Hurst, and worked with
Howard V. Walker on a number of buildings, such as the
Riverdale Hospital, and on restoration projects in the 1980s (
Koffler Student Centre, built by his father Alfred H. Chapman as Central Reference Library). Another son,
Christopher Chapman
Christopher Chapman (January 24, 1927October 24, 2015) was a Canadian film writer, director, editor and cinematographer. Best known for his award-winning 1967 short film ''A Place to Stand (film), A Place to Stand'', he also pioneered the multi- ...
(1927-2015), was a writer, director and cinematographer. His multi-award-winning documentary, "A Place to Stand", was nominated for two Oscars, winning one; Christopher's twin brother
Francis Chapman (1927-2020) was also a noted filmmaker.
J.M. Oxley attended the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
as an engineering (applied sciences) student. He fought in
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in the
Canadian Expeditionary Force
The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF; French: ''Corps expéditionnaire canadien'') was the expeditionary warfare, expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed on August 15, 1914, following United Kingdom declarat ...
from 1915 to 1918.
[ orld War I Roll of Service, 1914-1918, University of Toronto, p419/ref> Oxley was also president of the Mississaugua Golf & Country Club from 1939 to 1940. He died in 1957.
]
Projects
A list of projects worked on by Chapman and Oxley:
A list of work by Chapman or Oxley prior to the founding of their firm in 1919:
See also
List of other Toronto architectural firms:
* Bregman + Hamann Architects
* Darling and Pearson
* WZMH Architects
References
Christopher Chapman dies
{{Authority control
Architecture firms of Canada