Day, Robert Scott

DAY, Robert Scott (1858-1920) was briefly in partnership with Cornelius J. Soule in Victoria, B.C. from 1891 until late 1892. Born in Cork, Ireland on 8 November 1858 Day was educated at Queen's College and received a degree in civil engineering in 1877. He articled with Sir Thomas Drew, the well-known Dublin architect, and continued his architectural career in London and at Kimberley, South Africa. He moved to British Columbia in early 1891 where he became associated with Cornelius J. Soule but only a few works by this firm have been located (see list of works under Soule & Day). Soon after arriving in Victoria he designed an elaborate Arts & Crafts style residence for his family on Rockland Avenue in 1892 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2021, 160-62, illus. & descript.). Day later became involved in real estate, purchasing a business controlled by H.E. Croasdail & Co. In 1907 he reorganized his company with Beaumont Boggs and continued to work in the field of insurance and real estate development. He also served a term as President of the Royal Victoria Hospital and as a Police Commissioner in that city. Day died in Victoria on 5 December 1920. His portrait can be found at the British Columbia Public Archives, 50779 (biography in Victoria Illustrated, 1891, 90; E.O.S. Scholefield, British Columbia: From the Earliest Times to the Present, 1914, iv, 461-2; obituary in The Colonist [Victoria], 7 Dec. 1920, 1; with editorial, 4; Victoria Daily Times, 6 Dec. 1920, 1 and 20; D. Luxton, Building The West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 497)