Descendant of Birge-Carnegie, Burwash Architect Visits Vic U

^{Lynn Sproatt, great-granddaughter of architect Henry A. Sproatt, stands in front of the Birge-Carnegie Building at Victoria University. Her great-grandfather's Toronto firm, Sproatt & Rolph, designed the building along with Burwash Hall and Emmanuel College.}

By Leslie Shepherd

The great-granddaughter of the architect who designed three of Victoria University’s most beautiful and iconic buildings made an emotional visit to campus this week to explore her ancestral ties.

Lynn Sproatt, who lives in Milan, Italy, is descended from Henry A. Sproatt, who was one of Canada’s most prominent architects of the early 20th century.

His Toronto firm Sproatt & Rolph designed the Birge-Carnegie Building, which is undergoing a major renovation to add more office, study and gathering spaces while preserving its historic grandeur. 

Sproatt & Rolph also designed Burwash Hall and Emmanuel College, as well as Hart House and the Soldier’s Tower war memorial at U of T, and the Canada Permanent Trust Building in Toronto’s financial district. They were the associate architects for the Royal York Hotel and Eaton’s Department Store on College Street.

The visit was an opportunity for Sproatt to learn more about a family legacy she’s only recently begun to explore.

“It’s very emotional,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to see something that I didn’t know, something so beautiful. These buildings allow me to experience my family again.”

Henry Sproatt was born in 1866 in Toronto, where he trained as an architect before travelling through Europe, where he studied Gothic architecture in France and Italy. These influences shaped his signature style—most notably the Collegiate Gothic aesthetic that defines many of his buildings.

He co-founded Sproatt & Rolph in 1899 with Ernest Rolph. While Rolph oversaw engineering and construction, Sproatt led the firm’s design work, producing some of the city’s most enduring architectural landmarks. The University of Toronto awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1920.

Though Lynn Sproatt studied art and design and spent decades working in Toronto’s advertising industry, she said she knew little about her great-grandfather’s life and work until recently. 

“He died [in 1934] long before I was born, and my own grandfather passed away when I was 12,” she said. “Most of what I know comes from stories my mother told me.”

While she was on campus, Sproatt received a guided tour of the Birge-Carnegie renovations from Mayes Rihani, Victoria University’s associate director of major capital project management and planning.

She also planned to view archival materials related to her great-grandfather in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at U of T.

“It’s a way to reconnect,” she said. “Not just with him, but with the legacy he left behind.”