In this column, I continue documenting the extraordinary lives of Newmarket pioneers of the early 1900s
In previous columns, the name Oliver Edgar Tench has surfaced regarding the designing of local schools, buildings and houses, so I felt he was an excellent historical character to examine as part of this series.
Oliver Edgar Tench (1859-1941) was an architect who was active in Newmarket for nearly 40 years, from the late 19th to the early 20th century. He was born in Schomberg on April 19, 1859, and later settled in Newmarket. Trench was the son of Charles and Jane Trench and grandson of William Trench, who had originally arrived in Newmarket in 1829 to run the William Robinson Grist Mill.
In 1893, his plans for the new Newmarket High School on Prospect Street were approved, one of his earliest commissions in the town. He designed one of Ontario’s first reinforced concrete industrial buildings in 1909, the Davis Tannery complex on Davis Drive, which led to more and more work locally.
Tench worked extensively for the Newmarket Public School Board for more than two decades, designing new school buildings and a series of additions.
His other notable works in Newmarket include several residences on Park Avenue and Queen Street (including his own home built around 1910), the remodelling first of the Cane Factory and then the Dixon Pencil factory, and the Office Specialty Furniture Manufacturing Co. factory in 1910-11.
Trench served on town council for one term (1915 to 1916) and held a contract with the Metropolitan Railway to build electrical power stations, including one in Newmarket.
He served on the Newmarket Cemetery Board (1922 to 1923), where he was be responsible for the placement of the iron fence and stone gates that adorned the entrance. (I so remember those.)
He resigned from the Ontario Association of Architects in 1932 and he died in Newmarket on Oct. 14, 1941, at the age of 82.
Tench enjoyed a prolific architectural practice spanning nearly 40 years in Newmarket and area. His field of expertise included the design of many local prominent buildings including schools, factories, the tannery complex, and residential homes, and he left behind a lasting impact on this town’s architectural heritage.
I have attached some surviving photographs of Oliver Tench’s buildings in Newmarket. Some of Trench’s notable works in Newmarket are as follows:
- Newmarket High School (1893)
- Davis Leather Co. tannery complex (1904, with later additions in 1920, 1922, 1925 and 1927)
- Residences on Park Avenue and Queen Street, including his own home (circa 1910) and the Charles Clark home on Park Avenue (1905)
- Major alterations and improvements to the York County Industrial Home (1911)
- Office Specialty Furniture Manufacturing Co. factory (1910-11)
- King George Public School (1912-13) and Stuart Scott Public School (1923)
- Alexander Muir Public School.
Tench’s biography in the register of the Ontario Association of Architects describes him as having had a prolific architectural practice in Newmarket spanning nearly 40 years from the late 19th to early 20th century.
It also identifies the fact Tench’s designs reflected several key trends and innovations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the use of new materials and construction methods. Tench designed one of Ontario’s first reinforced concrete industrial buildings in 1909 for the Davis Tannery Company, showcasing his adoption of new materials like reinforced concrete, which was an emerging construction method at the time.
His designs for factories like the Office Specialty Furniture Manufacturing Co. incorporated industrial architectural elements befitting their purpose, such as large open-floor plans and functional layouts. Factories and industrial buildings were an emerging typology at the time.
Many of Tench’s commissions were for public and institutional buildings like schools, his work reflecting the growth of public education infrastructure in that period.
Tench’s residential works, like his own home on Queen Street and others on Park Avenue, incorporated popular architectural styles of that era such as wood-frame construction, gabled roofs, and covered porches. These reflected popular trends in domestic architecture moving away from more ornate Victorian styles toward simpler Edwardian and early-20th-century esthetics.
The Oliver Tench House at 475 Queen St. was built around 1910 and featured a one-and-a-half-storey wood-frame structure with vinyl siding and a gable roof.
Timothy Trivett, who worked at the W.M. Cane Manufacturing Co., built a two-and-a-half-storey wood-frame house with a brick exterior at 603 Queen St. in 1909. It featured a hip roof with dormers and a covered front porch supported by wooden columns on brick piers.
Peter Trivett, a local lumber filer and later a bailiff, built a two-storey wood-frame house clad in brick at 613 Queen St. in 1901. It features a gable roof, shuttered windows, were built in the early 20th century and have heritage value with its covered front porch with features detailed woodwork.
One of the criteria frequently used to evaluate an historical figure’s place in history is the extent to which they affected the future.
Tench’s design for the Newmarket High School in 1893 was likely his best-known project and it had a significant influence on future school architecture in Newmarket and the region.
When Tench designed the new high school in 1893 to replace the original one that had burned down, his plans were approved by the provincial Ministry of Education, which suggested his design met all the contemporary standards and served as a prototype for other schools.
When the Stuart Scott Public School was being planned in 1923, it was decided a six-classroom building modelling the King George and Alexander Muir schools would be built. Since the same architect, O.E. Tench, was selected to design that school, it seems clear that Tench’s high school design influenced the models for these later elementary schools he designed. Key architectural elements and the overall style of the 1893 Newmarket High School appear to have been replicated in Tench’s later school commissions.
The fact that he worked extensively for the Newmarket Public School Board for more than two decades to design new buildings and to plan additions to existing schools indicates Tench carried over and evolved design principles from his early 1893 Newmarket High School project into his later commissions. For more about Trench’s architectural style, you can read my columns on the history of the King George and Stuart Scott schools to be found on NewmarketToday.
In the column about the Stuart Scott school, I highlight a quote from the architectural association: “that the Stuart Scott school remains a picturesque example of early 20th-century school architecture in Ontario.” This would suggest Tench’s designs exemplified typical school architectural styles and construction methods of that era and perhaps moved it forward.
Sources: Tench, Oliver Edgar | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada; Town of Newmarket - Triage and Prioritize Listed Properties; Oliver Edgar Tench (1859-1941) - Find a Grave Memorial; Some name dropping highlights Newmarket's early movers and ...; Photo Building Name Property Address Legal ... - Newmarket.ca; ROOTED: Oldest remaining Newmarket school marks 100 years; Who’s Who in Newmarket – Newmarket Era – April 7th, 1933.
Newmarket resident Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, has been a local historian for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly feature about our town's history in partnership with NewmarketToday, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews.
