Basic Biographical Details

Name:	James Syme
Designation:
Born:	c. 1832
Died:	1881
Bio Notes:	James Syme was born in Edinburgh in1832 and was probably articled there perhaps as a plasterer rather than as an architect. He was attracted by the gold rush and spent the years 1859 to 1862 in San Francisco. In the latter year he joined the Cariboo gold rush, and passed through Victoria en route to it. He first came to notice when he modelled a plaster relief portrait of Sir James Douglas in 1864. In the following year he designed his first known building in independent practice, a barge-boarded timber cottage house for Captain William Irving at New Westminster for which he was also a contractor, executing its elaborate plasterwork with his own hands. In 1866 he began canning salmon on the Fraser River but lack of capital caused him to close down that business by 1868. After the gold rush was over the he returned to San Francisco as plasterer and decorator in 1869, but recommenced business in Victoria in 1874, primarily as an architect designing St Joseph's Hospital there in 1875. He came second in the City Hall competition, and designed the temporary arches for Lord Duffern's visit to Victoria as Governor General in 1876. His practice was predominantly domestic and Italianate in style. Syme died in Victoria on 19 April 1881 and was buried at Ross Bay. His address was then Barossa Lodge on Simcoe Street which he had designed for John Graham. His wife Janet survived him by two years dying on 23 June 1883

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	Edinburgh, Scotland	Private	c. 1832	1859
	San Francisco, California, United States of America	Private	1859	1862	Also returned 1869
	Victoria, Canada	Private/business	1874	1881

The following books contain references to this :
	Author(s)	Date	Title	Part	Publisher	Notes
	Canadian Biography	2005	Dictionary of Canadian Biography		Toronto, University of Toronto Press
	Luxton, Donald (ed.)	2003	Building the West: the early architects of British Columbia		Vancouver: Talon Books