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Alberta, Past and Present, Historical and Biographical
Vol 3
William George Blakey


The name of Blakey is well and favorably known throughout this province in connection with the profession of architecture and William G. Blakey is ably sustaining the reputation of the family in this respect, for he has designed many of Edmonton's finest public buildings and his work has attracted much favorable notice. He was born at Sunderland, in Durham county, England, in 1885, and is a member of one of the old families of the mother country, while his maternal ancestors were natives of Scotland. He is a son of George Hudson and Mary Jane (Palm) Blakey, who are still residing in Sunderland, where the father was born in 1850, but the mother is of Scotch parentage.

William G. Blakey attended the public schools of Sunderland and the Bede Collegiate School and ill he became a student at a technical college of that place, being graduated therefrom in 1905. During that period he was also an articled pupil in the office of George T. Brown, a well known architect of Sunderland, where he continued to reside until 1907. He then started for Canada to join his brother, B. P. Blakey, now provincial architect of Alberta, who had preceded him to Edmonton. Oil here William G. Blakey secured a position with A. M. Jeffers, then serving as piovincial architect, with whom he remained for a year, and then spent a similar period in the office of another architect of Edmonton. Late in the fall of 1915 he went to Ottawa, Quebec, and was connected with the inspection department of the Imperial Ministry of Munitions until March, 1918, when he was commissioned a lieutenant. He went overseas with the Canadian Engineers, remaining in the service of his country until January, 1919, when he returned to Edmonton, where he has since followed the profession of architecture independently with gratifying success. His designs are distinctive and his work is of high character and standard excellence, while his integrity and thorough reliability commend him to the confidence and support of the public. Among the most notable examples of his handiwork are the Journal building, Memorial Hall, Viking Hospital and the additions to Royal Alexandra hospital.

On the 27th of August, 1914, Mr. Blakey was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Arnold Thomas, a daughter of George H. Thomas of Edmonton, and they have become the parents of two sons: Norman George, who was born in 1915; and Arnold Palm, whose birth occurred in 1920. Mr. Blakey is a Master Mason and is also connected with the Edmonton and Kiwanis Clubs, while his religious views are in accord with the tenets of the Anglican church. He has gained an enviable reputation as an architect and his labors have been a vital element in the adornment and upbuilding of the city, as well as in the promotion of his own fortunes.


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