Alfred Dennis Thacker was born in Walsall, England on 12 January 1879 and was articled to Samuel Loxton in Walsall from 1894 to 1896 [or 1896 to 1898 - sources differ] and to Charles Edward Batemen in Birmingham. During this period, he also attended Birmingham School of Art. He then worked as an assistant to Ernest Augustus Runtz (1859-1913) and George McLean Ford (1867-1921) of Runtz & Ford in London for eighteen months. Thacker also served as assistant master at the Birmingham and Five Counties Architectural Association. In 1907 he qualified as an architect and later that year was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA). He subsequently practised as an architect in the English Midlands and was in partnership with Rupert Jeff in Walsall.
Thacker emigrated to Canada in 1910. He was employed as a draughtsman by Ross & MacFarlane in Montreal, Quebec and then by Chapman & McGiffin in Toronto, Ontario. He later returned to Montreal and worked for Brown & Vallance and for MacVicar & Heriot.
Thacker established his own practice in Montreal in 1926. Most of his work was in the Montreal area, including several churches; and a number of private residences. He also designed a garage for McArthur Irwin Ltd. in Outremont in 1934, and in 1936 designed choir stalls and chancel fittings for All Saints Anglican Cathedral in Halifax, Nova Scotia which were made by the Bromsgrove Guild of Canada. Thacker died in Montreal on 26 September 1938.
See Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950 [link below] for a list of Thacker's architectural work in Canada
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 155, 7 October 1938 p. 695
‘Obituary’. Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Journal, vol. 15, November 1938 p. 257
‘Obituary’. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal, 21 November 1938 p. xlvi