Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1883-1952 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
8 boxes, 8 vols and 2 mapcases (3.5 metres)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
George Miller and his son William's architectural practice was centred on Toronto and its suburbs, although he also designed buildings in the Ontario towns of Belleville, Guelph, Lindsay and other towns in Southern Ontario.
Name of creator
Biographical history
William John Miller (1889-1960) was a Toronto architect active from 1908 until some time after WWII. Son of the prominent architect George Martell Miller (1854-1933), William John Miller trained under his father and was a registered member of the Ontario Association of Architects from 1935 onwards. William assisted his father's firm with several notable commercial and residential projects in and around the city of Toronto, and would eventually take over his father's firm. Architectural plans for buildings completed by the Millers are held in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library's Miller collection (Manuscript Collection 194).
William Miller married Ruby Adelaide Scott (died 1973). The couple lived for several years at 105 Rochester Avenue in Toronto and had a daughter, Joanne Martell Miller. The family frequented a summer cottage on Lake Simcoe, known as "Martell Villa." In 1949, Joanne married Robert Butt Dunlop, a Toronto area dentist, to become Joanne Martell Miller Dunlop (also known as Mrs. R.B. Dunlop). She died August 5, 1980.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The collection of original architectural drawings was acquired in 1975 from the antiquarian bookseller Hugh Anson-Cartwright.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This collection consists of architectural drawings and other documentation for buildings designed by Toronto architect George M. Miller and his son William J. Miller. Additional documentation includes microfilms of G.M. Miller's ledger books (1894-1912), as well as correspondence, specifications and other materials for several of the buildings designed by Miller of his son. It also includes photographs of many of the buildings designed by Miller and a small amount of biographical material.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
The fragility of many of the plans make handling the originals undesirable . The detailed inventory has photographs of many plans. These should be sufficient for most purposes and should save the originals from additional wear and tear. Prints can also be ordered from the negative microfilm for these plans.
Material may be requested in person at the Fisher Library Reference Desk, or in advance using our online stack retrieval request form: https://aeon.library.utoronto.ca
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English