REES, George Stanley (1848-1919), born in England and articled with the London firm of John Johnson from 1862 to 1867. By 1880 Rees was living in South Africa where he designed (or assisted with) the plans for the offices of DeBeers Diamond Mining Co. at Kimberley, and later went to the United States where he was assistant architect for the New Orleans Centennial Cotton Exposition. He arrived in Canada in October 1907 and opened an office in Calgary. In 1908, as a member of the firm of Rees, Wilson & Pearse, he prepared the initial design, in an Edwardian style, for the Court House at Fernie, B.C. in 1908 (Daily Colonist [Victoria], 16 Oct. 1908, 7, descrip.; dwgs. BCPA, Victoria). The proposal proved too small for the requirements of the growing judicial district and the following year a larger, more elaborate scheme was prepared in association with the Vancouver firm of Honeyman & Curtis and completed in 1911. Few references to his activity in Alberta can be found after 1911. Rees died in Calgary on 21 January 1919 (death notice Calgary Herald, 22 Jan. 1919, 3; biog. Calgary Herald, 10 Oct. 1907, 3; R.I.B.A., Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, 2001, ii, 447; D. Luxton, Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 516)
(works in Calgary unless noted)
DOMINION EXHIBITION GROUNDS, at Victoria Park, a brick gate and entranceway, 1908 (Morning Albertan [Calgary], 17 April 1908, 1, descrip.)
DOMINION EXHIBITION GROUNDS, at Victoria Park, The Industrial Building, 1908 (Morning Albertan [Calgary], 17 April 1908, 1, descrip.)
DOMINION EXHIBITION GROUNDS, at Victoria Park, The Administrative Building, 1908 (Morning Albertan [Calgary], 17 April 1908, 1, descrip.)
DOMINION EXHIBITION GROUNDS, at Victoria Park, The Livestock Building, the Poultry Building, and the Outdoor Grandstand, (Morning Albertan [Calgary], 17 April 1908, 1, descrip.)
(with Honeyman & Curtis) FERNIE, B.C., Court House, 4th Avenue, 1908-09; completed 1911 (C.R., xxii, 11 Nov. 1908, 26; B.C. Sessional Papers, Public Accounts, 1910, 016; 1912, 132; M. Carter, Early Canadian Court Houses, 1983, 190, 230, illus.)
CALGARY, ALTA., an outdoor Welcome Arch for the Governor General, The Duke of Connaught, c. 1910 (dwgs. Glenbow Archives, Calgary)
CALGARY, ALTA., City Market Hall & Sheds, c. 1910 (Glenbow Archives, Calgary)