Sous-fonds SF1 - George F. Durand

George F. Durand was born in 1850 to James Durand, a building and contracting business owner in London, Ontario. Noticing his son’s artistic ability, James Durand wrote to sculptor and drawing teacher J.R. Peel in 1864 arranging for his son to enroll at Peel’s school. In the late 1860s, Durand articled for architect William Robinson where he met his friend and future partner Thomas Tracy. After his apprenticeship, he was hired by Thomas Fuller to work on the New York State Capital building in Albany, New York. The project became embroiled in scandal when the cost of the building ballooned to well over the original projected cost. As a result of the controversy, Fuller was dismissed which led to Durand leaving the project as well. His experience in New York lasted from 1870 to 1876.
Durand returned to London and formed a partnership with Robinson and Tracy in 1878. In 1880, Robinson left and Tracy and Durand worked as partners. This partnership lasted until Tracy became city engineer and Durand then partnered with architect John M. Moore. In 1888, a legal dispute between Durand and Moore dissolved their partnership. In 1889, Durand began to take large lengths of time off work due to illness and on December 20th of that year he passed away.