Name

George Raby

Designation
Architect
Born
1829
Place of Birth
Manchester
Location
Ottowa, St Louis
Died
1925

  • Born                    19 October1829, Manchester
  • Baptism                17 November 1829 at St Paul’s Church, Manchester
  • Married (1)            December 1856 Mary Jane Thorbecke at St Luke’s Church Liverpool.
  • Married (?)             Ellen Priest – see below
  • Naturalised            1875 US Citizen
  • Died                     10 November 1925 at his residence, 4756A Cote Brilliant, St Louis, Missouri
  • Burial                    Bellefontaine Cemetery, St Louis

The son of John Spencer Raby, spirit merchant and hop dealer and his wife Eleanor, George Raby was born in Manchester, and trained as an architect and engineer. He was the nephew of John Rylands, the Manchester cotton magnate and the brother of John Spencer Raby (qv). Records indicate that he was working on the Isle of Man from 1850-1851 where he designed two villas at Onchan.

George Raby emigrated to Canada in 1860 where he was on the board of architects organized by Charles Baillairge to oversee the completion of the East Block and West Block of old Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, as designed by Stent & Laver. He remained in Ottawa until 1868, when he moved to Quincy, Illinois, to work as an architect for the Burlington Railroad Bridge and a Catholic Cathedral. He then moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he designed several business buildings. He was also a charter member of the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

In 1856 George Raby married firstly Mary Jane Thorbecke the daughter of Frances Thorbecke tobacco manufacturer, of Dale-street, Liverpool at St Luke’s Church Liverpool. How successfl this marriage was is unclear, but no record of a divorce has been found. Mary Jane does not appear to have travelled to Canada and death records indicate that she died in 1868 at Liverpool. Next George Raby entered into a long-term relationship with Ellen Priest (1847/8-10 December 1891) in Ottowa where their first child, Georgina, was born in April 1866. Ellen was sixteen years George’s junior and still in her teens at this time. The couple had six children. He died on 10 November 1925 at his residence, 4756A Cote Brilliant, St Louis, Missouri St. Louis, Missouri and was buried alongside Elolen at Bellefontaine Cemetery, St Louis.

Address
1850-1856     Isle of Man
1860-1868    Ottawa, Canada
1868-187?    Quincy Illinois
1890             George Raby, 1409 Glasgow Avenue, St. Louis.  [Gould's St. Louis (Missouri) city directory 1890]
1890             Goodfellow Avenue St Louis (census)
1925             4756A Cote Brilliant, St Louis

Obituary        R.A.I.C. Journal, ii, Nov.-Dec. 1925, 235
Obituary        Canadian Engineer, xlix, 17 Nov. 1925, 566
Obituary        Ottowa Journal 11 November 1925

Reference     Aditional information Richard Bond by email

Reference      Additional Information Peter Kelly by e-mail