Young Frances Rattenbury left his architectural mark on BC

Detail image from wikimedia

Francis Mawson Rattenbury was born in Leeds in 1867, the year of Canada's birth. He trained as an architect and served his apprenticeship in England. After arriving in British Columbia in 1891, he tried his luck in a contest to design a new British Columbia Parliament Building and won.

While working for the CPR as their Western Division architect, Rattenbury designed Victoria's CPR Steamship Terminal, the Chateau Lake Louise near Banff and Vancouver's Court House, now the Vancouver Art Gallery. He also designed several banks in British Columbia towns, as well as a Governor General's residence, later destroyed by fire.

Some private homes he designed include the Roedde House in Vancouver, now a museum, and the Janet Clay house in Victoria. In Calgary, he created a friend's private home, called Burns Manor.

Sadly, Rattenbury's later life brought financial trouble, scandal and a violent death.