Bousfield, Robert William Gambier | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

BOUSFIELD, Robert William Gambier (1860-1920), son of George Benjamin Richings Bousfield, was born in Nottingham, Engl. on 29 February 1860 and articled with local architects Alfred Smith and Albert N. Bromley from July 1877 to July 1881. He travelled in Europe and emigrated to Canada in late 1883. He opened an office in Hamilton in December 1883 and remained there until September 1884, then moved to Montreal where he was invited to join Andrew T. Taylor as a partner in the new firm of Taylor, Gordon & Bousfield. In October 1887 he retired from that firm and had relocated in Toronto and opened an office under his own name (Montreal Daily Star, 4 Oct. 1887, 8), but there is scant information on his activity. In 1888 he was one of eighteen competitors who submitted an entry in the competition for the Toronto Board of Trade Building, but he was not among the four finalists (C.A.B., ii, April 1889, 42). He took a particular interest in the fledgling Ontario Association of Architects, and wrote frequently on professional and educational matters (C.A.B., iii, Jan. 1890, 7-9; April 1890, 42-3; iv, April 1891, 46-50). In 1891 he published a book entitled Architects & The Law (C.A.B., iv, July 1891, x, advert.). For unexplained reasons he applied to legally change his last name from Bousfield to Gambier-Bousfield on 17 November 1897 and remained in Toronto until 1898. He then moved back to Hamilton to re-open an office there (C.A.B., xi, Sept. 1898, 156). By 1900 Bousfield had left Canada and had apparently abandoned the profession. He became an ordained minister of the Anglican church in New York City and cultivated an interest in biblical history and philosophy, later joining the Irvingite Church. He died in The Bronx, N.Y. in December 1920 (inf. Arthur Bousfield, Toronto; inf. Humphrey G. Bousfield, Stuart, Fla., USA; R.I.B.A., London)

HAMILTON, ONT., major additions and alterations to St. Mark's Anglican Church, Bay Street at Hunter Street, 1884 (Spectator [Hamilton], 9 May 1884, 1, t.c.)
TORONTO, ONT., 'Glen Tower', a residence in Rosedale for an unnamed client, near Glen Road, 1889 (C.A.B., ii, May 1889, plate illus.)
HAVELOCK, ONT., St. John's Anglican Church, George Street East at Oak Street, 1889; still standing in 2024 (Canadian Churchman [Toronto], 9 Jan. 1890, 23)