Thomas Ridout (October 17, 1828 – July 3, 1905) was a Canadian architect and railway engineer.

Personal

Ridout was the son of Upper Canada official and banker

Thomas Gibbs Ridout Thomas Gibbs Ridout was a member of the small circle of privileged insiders who Lieutenant Governors of Upper Canada appointed to hold administrative posts and sinecures. His father, Thomas Ridout, was Surveyor General of Upper Canada. Initia ...

and grandson of Surveyor General of Upper Canada Thomas Ridout.

Career

Federic Victor Poole’s watercolour of the former Post Office at 10 Toronto Street, circa 1912

Ridout completed his training at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

and returned to Toronto in 1850 to practice under a short-lived partnership of Cumberland and Ridout. His architecture career was dim so with his family's influence left Toronto in 1852 to become assistant engineer with

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

, with a short-lived engineering practice with

Sandford Fleming Sir Sandford Fleming (January 7, 1827 – July 22, 1915) was a Scottish Canadian engineer and inventor. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to colonial Canada at the age of 18. He promoted worldwide standard time zones, a prime meridian, ...

in 1857 and then to

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

in 1875 with the

Department of Railways and Canals The Department of Railways and Canals is a former department of the Government of Canada. It had responsibility for the construction, operation, and maintenance of federal government-owned railways, as well as the operational responsibility for ca ...

. Ridout died in Ottawa in 1905.

Buildings built under Cumberland and Ridout

Toronto Normal School The Toronto Normal School was a teachers college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1847, the Normal School was located at Church and Gould streets in central Toronto (after 1852), and was a predecessor to the current Ontario Institute for St ...

1851-1852 (demolished 1958-1963) *

Cathedral Church of St. James (Toronto) The Cathedral Church of St. James is an Anglican cathedral in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the location of the oldest congregation in the city, with the parish being established in 1797. The cathedral, with construction beginning in 18 ...

1853 *

Toronto Street Post Office The Toronto Street Post Office, also known as Toronto's Seventh Post Office, is a heritage building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was completed in 1853 and is located at 10 Toronto Street in downtown Toronto. The building was designed by Freder ...

1853 * York County Courthouse 1853

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridout, Thomas 1828 births 1905 deaths Canadian architects