Anthony Patrick Cawthra Adamson was a leading expert in Ontario’s architectural heritage. He began his career as an architect, but proceeded to work as a professor at the University of Toronto (1955-1965), a town planner and a municipal reeve for the Township of Toronto (now Mississauga). He was the chief designer of Upper Canada Village and he also lobbied for and oversaw the restoration of Dundurn Castle in Hamilton. When Union Station in Toronto was threatened with destruction in 1971, Adamson was active in the movement to preserve it. He wrote several books on the history of Ontario architecture, both on his own and with his long-time collaborator Marion Macrae.
In addition to being well-known for his architectural knowledge, Anthony Adamson received several honours He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada (1974), won the Governor General’s award for non-fiction (1975) for Hallowed Walls, an exploration of ecclesiastical architecture in Ontario and won the Gabrielle Leger Medal (1981). He also served as Chairman of the Ontario Arts Council and was a member of the Board of the Ontario Heritage Foundation until he died at the age of 95.
Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History Books
Cornerstones of Order: Courthouses and Town Halls of Ontario, 1784-1914 (Toronto: The Osgoode Society and Clarke Irwin, 1983), 283 pp. (with Marion Macrae).
