Arthur, Eric Ross 1898 - 1982

Eric Ross Arthur was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 1 July 1898 and received his initial training as an architect with Basil Hooper in Dunedin in 1916-17. In 1918, at the end of World War One, he enlisted with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and went with them to England.  With the war over, he remained in England and with the benefit of a Kitchener Scholarship, enrolled at Liverpool University School of Architecture in 1919.   Arthur was one of 17 students whose drawings were selected for exhibition at Burlington House in London. His contribution received praise in The Architect, 18 February 1921 pp. 120-121, and The Builder 11 February 1921 pp. 182, 187 and 189.

After graduating with a B. Arch. in 1923 he worked briefly as an assistant to Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens and Sir Aston Webb in London. Later that year, with William Naseby Adams, he entered and won two important architectural competitions -  Britannic House for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, and the Dewsbury War Memorial.

In September 1923 he accepted the post of lecturer in design at the University of Toronto, School of Architecture and in 1934 was appointed a full professor at the School.  During his tenure he instigated a number of changes and was responsible for raising the profile of the School both in Canada and overseas.

In 1929 Arthur was granted a licence to practice in Ontario by the Ontario Association of Architects.  He subsequently practised in Toronto for a number of years and was in partnership with Anthony Adamson from 1929 to 1934; William Eric Fleury, George H. Piersol and Robert Gordon Calvert  from 1938 to 1949); and with Fleury and Stanley Bennett Barclay from 1949 to 1965. He also collaborated with other architects on various projects.

In addition to his work as an academic and practising architect, Arthur was the author of books and articles on architecture and architectural history including Small Houses of the Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries in Ontario (1929); The Early Buildings of Ontario (1938); Toronto No Mean City (1964); and The Barn: A Vanishing Landmark in North America (1972).

Among awards Arthur received were the University of Alberta Gold Medal for distinguished service to the arts and architecture in Canada  in 1956; City of Toronto Award of Merit for distinguished public service in 1965;  American Association of State and Local History Award for outstanding contribution to local history in 1965; Centennial Medal for Confederation Memorial Centre, Charlottetown in 1967; Canada Council Medal for outstanding cultural achievement in 1968); Companion of the Order of Canada in 1968); and honorary degrees from the University of Manitoba in 1959 and University of Guelph  in 1981.

Arthur died in Toronto, Ontario on 1 November 1982