John A. Pearson

Who was John A. Pearson?

John Andrew Pearson was an early 20th Century Canadian architect and partner to the Toronto-based firm of Pearson and Darling.

Pearson was born in Chesterfield, UK, and emigrated to Canada in 1888. Most of his architectural output is associated with a series of partnerships: he worked for Henry Sproatt beginning in 1890, joined Darling, Curry, Sproatt, & Pearson in 1892, with fellow partners Frank Darling and S. George Curry. Curry departed, and from 1893 through 1896 that office was known as Darling, Sproatt & Pearson, then finally stabilised into the successful and long-lasting Pearson and Darling from 1897 through Pearson's death in 1940 and buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Pearson's most significant project apart from this partnership is undoubtedly the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a complex that contains the Canadian House of Commons and Senate of Canada, and the adjoining Peace Tower.

The previous Centre Block burned in 1916, entirely destroyed except for the Library of Parliament. By 1920 the Centre Block was rebuilt with a design by Pearson and collaborator Jean Omer Marchand from Montreal.