William Stewart Mitchell D'Urban was born on July 29, 1836, in Templemore, Tipperary County, Ireland.
He was a British naturalist, archaeologist, and collector. He became the first curator of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM), Exeter City, Devon, England. He influenced the museum’s early approach to collecting. He was brought up in South Africa and Canada. During these early years, D'Urban suffered from diphtheria. A botched local cure left him with severe hearing impairment for the rest of his life. This disability meant that rather than the military career planned for him, he studied and collected specimens of the natural history and archaeology of his surroundings. This made him an ideal choice for RAMM. When D’Urban arrived in Exeter, his priority was to organize the collection and make it ready for opening in 1868. Afterwards, he continued to work on the displays and catalogue the early accessions. His original numbering is still in use today. In 1884, he left the museum and moved to California due to his son’s poor health. He continued to amass natural history specimens, ethnography, and archaeological artifacts that were given to RAMM. Following the death of his son, he returned to Exeter and lived there for another 40 years.
In 1863, he married Gertrude Porter (1839–1919). He died on January 20, 1934, in Exeter, Devon, England.
Mary Edith Durham was born on December 8, 1863, in London, England, the daughter of surgeon Arthur Edward Durham (1834-1895).
She was a British traveller, anthropologist, artist, and writer who became famous for her anthropological accounts of life in Albania in the early 20th century. She was educated at Bedford College (1878–1882) and the Royal Academy of Arts. She worked as an artist and illustrator and exhibited at the Royal Academy. Durham provided illustrations for the reptile volume of the “Cambridge Natural History” (1899). Caring for her sick mother for many years after the death of her father, she became exhausted. The doctor recommended a foreign vacation to recuperate. Sailing to Montenegro, she was captivated by Balkan life and culture. She studied the region, its history, languages, customs, and manners. She contributed to the journal Man and published several books, e.g., “Through the Lands of the Serb” (1904), “The Burden of the Balkans” (1905), and “High Albania” (1909). Durham became secretary of the Anglo-Albanian Society founded in 1918. Ill health ended her travels in 1921, but she continued to publish and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute. She was also a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
She died on November 15, 1944, in London, England.
Elizabeth Schevill (or Schwill, or Schvill) was from New York. In 1903 she married Montreal engineer Richard John Durley.
Richard John Durley, an engineer, was born on February 11, 1868, Bierton, Buckinghamshire, England.
He was educated at Bedford Modern School, University College, Bristol, and University College, London, and received his practical training with Earle's Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd., Hull, England. In 1893, he was awarded a Whitworth scholarship and in 1894, he became a chief lecturer in engineering at the Municipal Technical College in Hull. In 1896, he emigrated to Canada and became a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at McGill University (1901–1912). In 1903, he wrote a widely used textbook “Kinematics of Machines” (1903). He was made a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1905, one of three commission members for the design of the University of British Columbia and, during World War I, Officer-in-Charge of Gauges and Standards in the Canadian Ministry of Munitions Department of Inspection.
In 1918, he was awarded an MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for his wartime services in Canada. In 1919, he was appointed a founding vice-chairman and secretary of the Canadian Engineering Standards Committee, Secretary of the Canadian Engineering Standards Association and in 1925, he became Secretary of the Engineering Institute of Canada until his retirement in 1938. Durley was also editor of the Engineering Institute of Canada's Engineering Journal between 1925 and 1938, and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He was a regular contributor to engineering journals and a member of the University Club of Montreal and the Rideau Club in Ottawa. In 1941, he received the Engineering Institute of Canada's Julian C. Smith Medal.
In 1903, he married Elizabeth Schevill, or, Schwill, or, Schvill of New York. He died on August 13, 1948, in Montreal, Quebec.
The Durnford family lived at 658 Belmont Ave., Westmount, QC, Canada in 1992.
Alexander Tilloch Galt Durnford (1898-1973) was born in Montreal. In 1922 he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in architecture from McGill University. After working for a few years in New York, initially with the architectural firm of G. B. Post and Sons, later for Delano and Aldrich, Durnford returned to Montreal where he practised architecture from 1924 onwards. From 1924 to 1934 Durnford practised architecture alone. In 1934 he merged his practice with that of Harold Lea Fetherstonhaugh (1887-1971). In 1946 their practice was joined by Richard E. Bolton (b. 1907) and R.V. Chadwick (b. 1916). Fetherstonaugh retired in 1955. Durnford served in the Second World War and lived in Ottawa during the war. He was a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 1964 Durnford retired from the firm of Durnford, Bolton, Chadwick and Ellwood.
Alexander Tilloch Galt Durnford (1898-1973) est né à Montréal. En 1922, il a obtenu un baccalauréat en architecture de l'Université McGill. Après avoir travaillé quelques années à New York, d'abord au cabinet de G. B. Post and Sons puis pour Delano et Aldrich, Durnford est revenu à Montréal où il a exercé l'architecture à compter de l'année 1924. De 1924 à 19
34, il a exercé seul. En 1934, il s'est associé avec Harold Lea Fetherstonhaugh (1887-1971). En 1946, Richard E. Bolton (né en 1907) et R.V. Chadwick (né en 1916) se sont joints à leur cabinet. Fetherstonhaugh prend sa retraite en 1955. Durnford a participé à la Deuxième Guerre mondiale et a vécu à Ottawa pendant la guerre. Il a été membre de l'Institut royal d'architecture du Canada et du Royal Institute of British Architects. En 1964, Durnford se retire du cabinet Durnford, Bolton, Chadwick et Ellwood.
In 1955 Harold Lea Fetherstonhaugh retired from the firm of Fetherstonhaugh, Durnford, Bolton and Chadwick (CAC 11.02) and in 1956 the firm changed its name to Durnford, Bolton, Chadwick and Ellwood as a result of Michael Ellwood joining the firm as a partner. The firm was in existence until Durnford's retirement in 1964 and it was comprised of the architects Alexander Tilloch Galt Durnford (see CAC 11), Richard E. Bolton (see 1.1.01), R. V. Chadwick (see CAC 11.02) and Michael G.C. Ellwood. Among their public commissions, the Montreal Fraser Hickson Library of 1957 and the Standard Life Building of 1958 are noteworthy.
En 1955, Harold Lea Fetherstonhaugh prit sa retraite du cabinet de Fetherstonhaugh, Durnford, Bolton et Chadwick (CAC 11.02) et en 1956 le cabinet prit le nom de Durnford, Bolton, Chadwick et Ellwood avec la venue de Michael Ellwood comme associé. Ce cabinet formé des architectes Alexander Tilloch Galt Durnford (voir CAC 11), Richard E. Bolton (voir CAC 11.02), R. V. Chadwick(voir 11.02) et Michael G.C. Ellwood s'est maintenu jusqu'à la retraite de Durnford en 1964. Au nombre des immeubles publics que le cabinet a réalisés, signalons la bibliothèque Fraser Hickson de Montréal en 1957 et l'immeuble de la Standard Life en 1958.
