Fonds - Aldborough School Section No. 1 fonds

John T. Findlay was born in October 1884 in Inverness, Scotland, raised there and left Glasgow for Canada aboard the Pretorian at teh age of 23. He landed in Montreal on May 10, 1907. The ship's passenger list includes his signature and his profession: Architect. It seems that he was not in Montreal for long and either came directly to St. Thomas or by way of a London office. In the St. thomas directory of 1908, he is listed as a draughtsman in the office of Neil Darrcah. By 1909, even though Darrach's office was very busy, John was in the City of Toronto, a draughtsman for the architectural firm of Ellis & Connery. Perhaps he had moved to gain exposure to a bigger practice.
John had been in Toronto for about 2 years when, in March of 1911, Neil Darrach left St. Thomas for Regina. Although only 26 and with limited experience, John, no doubt with encouragement from friend in St. thomas, returned to take over the office of his former employer. And while Darrach chose to move because of a lack of work in St. thomas and Elgin and teh opportunities in the West, John was immediately in demand, busy from then until the outbreak of The Grest War, three years later.
The City, School Boards, clients who had used Darrach and new clients all looked to his office.
As busy as he must have been at work, John was active in teh local militia, a Lieutenant, then a Captain in the 25th Elgin Regiment. He also took teh time to court the interest of Miss Anne Leith and on April 10, 1914, they were married at the home of her parents at 26 Jackson Street, St. Thomas. They resided at 15 (now 21) Margaret Street, a home they had bought and would live in until a lack of work railroaded them back to Toronto. Son Donald was born on May 15, 1915 and in 1918, when John took work with the Building & Bridges Division of teh Grand Trunk Railroad, the family moved to Toronto. They were there until 1921, when they were listed as living at 108 Metcalfe St. and John reappears as a partner with his old mentor, Neil Darrach.
John maintained the practice for the next 21 years. He died suddenly on December 19, 1947, at the age of 63.