engineering

John George Howard

John George Howard is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand John George Howard rather than just read about it. In short: John George Howard (born John Corby; July 27, 1803 – February 3, 1890) was the official surveyor and civil engineer for the government of Toronto in Upper Canada and later Canada. He was also the first professional architect in Toronto.

Key takeaways

John George Howard belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect John George Howard to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of John George Howard from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

John George Howard (born John Corby; July 27, 1803 – February 3, 1890) was the official surveyor and civil engineer for the government of Toronto in Upper Canada and later Canada. He was also the first professional architect in Toronto. He designed numerous public, commercial and residential buildings during the 19th century. In addition, he was the principal donor of High Park to the people of Toronto.

Personal life

Born as John Corby in Bengeo, Hertfordshire, England, he was the fourth of seven children of John and Sarah Corby. He attended a boarding school in Hertford and spent two years at sea as a sailor before returning to England to become a carpenter and joiner. In 1824, he entered the architecture profession, articling for three years with a London architect, William Ford, who became his brother-in-law by marrying his older sister in 1825. He remained with Ford until his departure for Upper Canada. In London, he married the 24-year-old Jemima Frances Meikle on May 7, 1827. In 1832, he met Mr. Cattermole of the Canada Land Company, leading to him immigrating to Upper Canada with his wife in 1832. It was at this time that he adopted the Howard surname. He himself gave two explanations. On February 11, 1834, when his change of name was revealed in a court case, he wrote to Lieutenant Governor Sir John Colborne's secretary, explaining that he was illegitimate, that when he was about 18 he had adopted the name Corby after the man his mother had subsequently married, and that he had assumed his 'proper name' when he left England. Later in life, he claimed direct descent from Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, through a 17th-century Howard who had adopted the name Corby from the ancestral estate Corby Castle, because of a family quarrel. Howard and his wife remained married until her death, although he also maintained a lifelong relationship with Mary Williams, with whom he had three children. Howard and his wife had no children together. In 1877, Jemima Howard died of cancer. Howard lived until 1890, dying at his home, Colborne Lodge, in High Park. The Howards are buried in High Park, and their cairn monument is near to Colborne Lodge. The monument was designed by Howard. The fence was brought from London, England. It dates to the 1700s and was formerly part of the fence around St Paul's Cathedral in London, which was designed by Christopher Wren. During its transport from England, the ship carrying the fence sank in the St. Lawrence River, and Howard arranged for the fence to be salvaged from the wreck.

Professional career Howard was an associate of William Ford from 1824 to 1832, with one notable engineering project working on the Cromford Canal in Derbyshire, England. He is also known to have worked for Mr. Grayson of St. Luke's, London, superintending work on Leeds Castle. When Howard arrived in Toronto (at that time still the town of York) in 1833, he was the first professional architect in the town. His first public appointment was as a teaching master at Upper Canada College (UCC), while developing an architectural practice. He remained affiliated with UCC until 1856. His practice thrived, with commissions ranging from cottages to banks to public projects, including Queen's College at Kingston, Ontario, and the Provincial Lunatic Asylum in Toronto (modeled on the National Gallery in London).

Howard started surveying work in 1836, and he became Toronto's official surveyor in 1843, a position he held until 1855. He surveyed Toronto Harbour, laid out the 'Esplanade' on the waterfront, and subdivided the harbour's peninsula (now known as Toronto Island). He also did surveying work for cemeteries and private land sub-divisions. In 1883, the Governor-General of Canada conferred upon him the dignity of "Royal Canadian Academician." In other endeavours, Howard was involved with the militia which put down William Lyon Mackenzie's 1837 rebellion. Howard is recorded as leading the scouting party which found the rebels' location on December 7, 1837. He would become a lieutenant the following year. In 1841, Howard received a license to practice as a public notary. In 1847, Howard was named president of a copper mine on Lake Huron. In 1848, Howard served as president and treasurer of the Toronto Society of Arts. In 1853, Howard was appointed a Justice of the Peace for a term of four years. Howard bought some land of his own, including the property now known as High Park, which he intended as a sheep farm. To the east of High Park, Howard owned Sunnyside Farm, on which he built Sunnyside Villa. It is now the site of St. Joseph's Health Centre. The area retains the nickname of 'Sunnyside'. In 1873, in return for a yearly pension of CA$1,200, Howard deeded 120 acres (49 ha) of his High Park property to the city as a public park. The remaining 45 acres (18 ha) and Colborne Lodge became city property at his death. Howard was appointed as forest ranger by the city in 1878, with responsibility for improving the park.

Notable projects

Paintings by John George Howard

References

External links

John George Howard – Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada (1800-1950) Photo and information about Howard gravestone

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John George Howard

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John George Howard claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to John George Howard before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about John George Howard ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of John George Howard

In research: John George Howard appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses John George Howard in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: John George Howard is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1803 births, 1890 deaths, 19th-century Canadian architects, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John George Howard outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study John George Howard in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what John George Howard means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain John George Howard out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is John George Howard in simple terms?

Why does John George Howard matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study John George Howard?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on John George Howard.