David Stirling was a Canadian architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 of Scottish birth. In 1872 he was made Dominion architect for the federal works in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 and in 1880 he became one of the first associate architects of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts

The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts is a Canadian arts-related institution founded in 1880, under the patronage of the Governor General of Canada, Sir John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, the Marquess of Lorne. Canadian landscape painter Homer Watson was a member and president of the Academy...

.

Born in Galashiels

Galashiels

Galashiels is a burgh in the Scottish Borders, on the Gala Water river. The name is often shortened to "Gala" .Galashiels is a major commercial centre for the Scottish Borders...

, Stirling was the son of stonemason James Stirling. After training as an architect in his native country, he immigrated to St. John's, Newfoundland in 1847 where he played a major role in rebuilding portions of the town destroyed by fire the year previously. He spent the next 35 years designing and building a wide array of buildings out of practices in Charlottetown, Halifax, and Toronto. Having never retired, he died in Charlottetown in 1887 at the age of 64.

Selected works

• Pictou County Court House (1855)
• Fernwood, Halifax (1860)
• Halifax Club (1862),
• Library and Museum at King's College, (1862-63); Chapel, (1877), Windsor, Nova Scotia
  Windsor, Nova Scotia
  Windsor is a town located in Hants County, Mainland Nova Scotia at the junction of the Avon and St. Croix Rivers. It is the largest community in western Hants County with a 2001 population of 3,779 and was at one time the shire town of the county. The region encompassing present day Windsor was...
  
   (by Stirling & Dewar)
• Alexander Keith's residence (1863)
• Hyndman Building, 57 Queen Street, Charlottetown (originally the Victoria Building, 1866)
• Custom House, 40 Great George Street, Charlottetown (originally the Bank of Prince Edward Island, built 1867-1868)
• Presbyterian Church of St. David, Halifax (originally the Grafton Street Methodist Church, built 1868-1869)
• Fort Massey United Church, Halifax (1870)
• St. Matthew's manse, Halifax (1874)
• Kirk of St. James Presbyterian Church, Charlottetown (1877)
• Falconwood Insane Asylum / Hospital, Charlottetown (built 1877-1879)
• H.H. Houle House, 96-98 Prince Street, Charlottetown (1879)
• South Shore United Church, Tyron (1880)
• Summerside City Hall, Summerside (originally the Summerside Post Office, built from 1883-1886)
• MacLennan House, 235-237 Prince Street, Charlottetown (1886)
• Convocation Hall, King's-Edgehill School
  King's-Edgehill School
  King's-Edgehill School is a Canadian independent University Preparatory boarding and day School located in the town of Windsor, Nova Scotia.-History:...
  
  (1861);