Edmund Burke (architect)

Edmund Burke (1851–1919) was a highly regarded Canadian architect best known for building Toronto's Prince Edward Viaduct or "Bloor Street Viaduct", and Toronto's Robert Simpson store. He served as the vice-president, then President of the Ontario Association of Architects.

Edmund Burke
Born	October 31, 1851 Toronto, Canada West
Died	January 2, 1919(1919-01-02) (aged 68) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Alma mater	Upper Canada College
Occupation	Architect
Spouse	Minnie Jane Black (m. 1881)
Projects	Prince Edward Viaduct

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 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 and Toronto Mechanics' Institute 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

Building	Year Completed	Builder	Style	Source	Location	Image
St. Luke's United Church	1874	Henry Langley and Edmund Burke	Romanesque Revival	15	Sherborne Street and Carlton Street, Toronto, Ontario
St. Andrew's Evangelical Lutheran Church	1878	Henry Langley & Edmund Burke	Gothic Revival	15	383 Jarvis Street, Toronto, Ontario
Jarvis Street Baptist Church	1878	Henry Langley & Edmund Burke	Gothic Revival		Jarvis Street, Toronto, Ontario
McMaster Hall	1881	Henry Langley, Henry Langley and Edmund Burke (Design)	Romanesque Revival	2	273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario
Beverley Street Baptist Church	1886	Henry Langley & Edmund Burke	Gothic Revival	6	72 Beverley Street, Toronto, Ontario
Trinity-St. Paul's United Church	1887–1889	Henry Langley and Edmund Burke	Gothic Revival	15	Bloor Street west of Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario
Prince Edward Viaduct	1881	Edmund Burke	Gothic Revival		Toronto, Ontario
Robert Simpson's Department Store Building	1896, 1908, 1923	Edmund Burke	Romanesque Revival, Chicago School		Toronto, Ontario
Orillia City Hall – rebuild plans for Orillia City Hall built in 1895 by Gordon & Helliwell	1915	Edmund Burke, J.C.B. Horwood and Murray White	Romanesque Revival		20 Mississauga Street West, Orillia, Ontario
Owens Art Gallery	1895	Edmund Burke	Renaissance Revival		Mount Allison University, 61 York Street, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada
Hammond/Black House (home for Fine Arts head John Hammond and now residence to the President of Mount Allison University)	1896	Edmund Burke	Queen Anne Revival-style		Mount Allison University, 82 York Street, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada
Walmer Road Baptist Church	1889–1892	Edmund Burke & Henry Langley	Gothic Revival		188 Lowther Street, Toronto, Canada