Thomas William Fuller (1865-1951)

Thomas Fuller was born in Ottawa to parents Thomas and Caroline Fuller. Fuller Sr. was a British-born architect and was then supervising the construction of the Parliament Building which he and his partner had submitted designs for in 1859. Two years after Thomas Jr.'s birth, the family went to New York where Fuller Sr. and his partner Augustus Laver oversaw the construction of their design for the New York State Capitol building and Fuller Jr. was educated by a tutor. Fuller returned in 1881 to become the chief architect at the Department of Public Works. His son returned to Ottawa as well and took up a job at a millwork factory and continued his architectural studies with his father. After the factory went under, Fuller started work with the civil service in his father's office. In 1885, he was an extra clerk and then served a 4-month period with the Ottawa Sharpshooters Company of the Governor General's Foot Guards in the North-West campaign of 1885. He returned to Ottawa and the life of a civil servant for the next 14 years. Thomas Fuller was in Dawson City between July 1899 and the spring of 1902 and his assistant was Harry [Henry] Ewart, one of the sons of the current chief architect.¹⁾

Thomas William Fuller arrived in Dawson in July 1899 and designed six public buildings during his two- and one-half year Dawson term: The Telegraph Office (Millen House), the Post Office, the Court House, the Commissioner's Residence, the Public School, and the Administration Building.²⁾ After Ottawa approved Fuller's plans for the Commissioner's Residence, Commissioner Ross found the proposed building too small to accommodate his official entertaining and housing for his family so Fuller designed a larger building. Ogilvie had originally planned to put the Administration Building on the present site of the Commissioner's Residence, but Ross decided the Territorial Administration Building should be in isolation on Fifth Avenue.³⁾

When Fuller returned to Ottawa, he also returned to his pre-Yukon salary and turned to private practice to supplement his earnings. A year after he returned, Fuller married Ethel Belford and they had two children: Caroline Belford and Thomas George. In 1904, Fuller was designated as architect of all military buildings and his salary was adjusted to reflect that. He held this title until 1918 when he became the assistant chief architect. He was named chief architect nine years later upon the death of R. C. Wright. His period in office is marked by his coordination of a number of federal public works programs. Until 1934, public construction design was done in-house. Fuller retired in 1936. His later working years were troubled by irido cyclitis, a disease of the eye. He died in 1951 at the age of 86.⁴⁾