Thomas Stent (1822-1912) was a British-born architect who worked professionally in Canada and the United States. He assisted Alexander Saeltzer on the Astor Public Library (later merged 1895 into the current

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

), and was the architect for its 1879–1881 expansion. Stent was born in 1822 and trained in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and practised there before traveling to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, in what was then

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

, in 1855. In 1858, he moved to the capital at

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. In 1857 he redesigned Tiffany Castle built in 1840 for Gideon Tiffany in Delaware Township, of

Middlesex County, Ontario Middlesex County is a primarily rural county and Census divisions of Canada, census division in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Landlocked, the county is bordered by Huron County, Ontario, Huron and Perth County, Ontario, Perth counties on the north ...

. The house was renamed as "Belvoir" (pronounced as "Beever") in 1880 and was owned by Helen Gibson Weld's grandfather, Richard Albert Gibson (1840-1911). At

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...

in Ottawa, the team of Thomas Stent and Augustus Laver (1834-1898), under the pseudonym of ''Stat nomen in umbra'', won the prize for the second category, which included the new Canadian parliamentary buildings of the

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

West Block The West Block (officially the Western Departmental Building; ) is one of the three buildings on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario. Since 28 January 2019, it has housed the interim House of Commons Chamber, installed to accommodate the House wh ...

s. These proposals were selected for their sophisticated use of

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

, which was thought to remind people of

parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of the legisl ...

's history. This contrasted with the republican use in the 19th (and later early 20th centuries) of Neo-classical/ Classical Revival styles of architecture with white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

, as used in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and was more suited to the rugged surroundings of the still wilderness in the north of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, while still also being stately and impressive for governmental buildings. $300,000 was allocated for the main building, and additional $120,000 for each of the departmental buildings. Stent and Laver's partnership also won the competition decades later to build the monumental

San Francisco City Hall San Francisco City Hall is the seat of government for the City and County of San Francisco, California. Re-opened in 1915 in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, it is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epito ...

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, U.S.A. It was designed in the then popular elaborate Beaux Arts/ modified Classical Revival styles of architecture. It was unusually large topped by a tall dome, more resembling a typical

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

or national capitol than a

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. It was completed in 1898, but destroyed eight years later by the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of April 1906.

Works

Yeovil Town House The Town House is a municipal building in Union Street in Yeovil, Somerset, England. The building, which is the meeting place of Yeovil Town Council, is a Grade II listed building. History The first municipal building in Yeovil was the "Tolle ...

, Yeovil, Sometset, England 1849 With Augustus Laver: *

East Block The East Block (officially the Eastern Departmental Building; ) is one of the three buildings on Canada's Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, containing offices for parliamentarians, as well as some preserved pre-Canadian Confederation, Confede ...

and

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

1859-1866 *

1871-1899

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stent, Thomas British emigrants to Canada Canadian emigrants to the United States 1912 deaths Architects from New York City Year of birth missing