Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Archibald, Harry Patten
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1876-1972
History
Harry Patten Archibald (1876-1972) was an engineer and partner in the engineering firm of Bayfield and Archibald.
He was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and was educated at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and at McGill University in Montreal, where he received his B.A.Sc. in electrical engineering in 1898. He was then employed as the director of manual training at Horton Collegiate Academy. Around 1899 he moved to Western Canada as the chief engineer for the Lethbridge Water Works and Electric Light Company. From 1901 to 1903 he worked as an engineer and assistant to the manager at James Cooper Manufacturing Company. Archibald then worked as the erecting engineer for the Inverness Railway and Coal Company from 1903 to 1904.
In 1904 he joined with Henry Arthur Bayfield to establish the Vancouver firm of Bayfield and Archibald, consulting, supervising and designing engineers. However, when Bayfield was appointed Superintendent of Dredging in B.C. for the federal government in 1910, the partnership was dissolved and Archibald registered the name Bayfield and Archibald with himself as the sole partner. Archibald acted as a consulting engineer on the fire hydrant system for Dawson City Water and Power Company in 1906, and as a consulting engineer for Dominion Wood Pipe Co. of New Westminster in 1907 and 1908. In later years he worked on many other projects, such as West Coast Woollen Mills, the B.C. Electric Company's streetcar system in Vancouver, and the Greater Vancouver and Greater Victoria water systems.
During World War I he was a shell examiner on the 18PR H.E. Imperial Munitions Board at Vancouver, in 1915 and 1916. He was also on the British Production Engineer's staff at the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in Connecticut. In this position he was involved in the production of the Enfield Pattern 1914 Rifle under the British War Mission to the United States. In 1918 and 1919 he was involved in an investigation of the Ross Rifle Plant, which resulted in the cancellation of contracts under the Purchasing Department of the British War Mission in the United States.
After the war he returned to private practice with Bayfield and Archibald.
Archibald was also involved in the engineering profession in other roles. Beginning in 1920, and continuing for several years, he was an Instructor in the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of British Columbia. He was also a member of the Engineering Institute of Canada and the B.C. Chapter of the American Water Works Association.
Archibald was also a member of the Vancouver Rowing Club, the Vancouver Y.M.C.A., the Men's Canadian Club of Vancouver, and the Vancouver Board of Trade. He was also an elder of St. Andrew's Church (later St. Andrew's Wesley United Church). He was married in 1907 to Violet Macdonald.
Archibald's partner, Henry Bayfield (1873-1918) was also a mechanical engineer and draftsman.
He was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and was educated at McGill University, receiving his Bachelor's degree in Applied Science (with a specialization in mechanical engineering) in 1896. From 1896 to 1898, he worked for the Intercolonial Railway in Moncton, New Brunswick, as a machinist and junior mechanical draftsman, and was also involved in testing locomotives on the road. He then began work for the Great Northern Railway shops at St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was draftsman in charge of the office. He was later made superintendent of the company's shops at West Superior, Wisconsin. He worked briefly with the Dardanelles Mining Company in Sandon, B.C., in the overhauling and operation of their plant. From 1899 to 1900, he was connected with the Albion Iron Works and the Victoria Machinery Depot in Victoria, B.C., and was later with the James Cooper Manufacturing Company in Montreal. In 1901, he became the mechanical superintendent in charge of dredging fleet, shops, and shipyard from the Harbour Commissioners of Montreal. From 1904 to 1909, he worked with H.P. Archibald in the firm Bayfield and Archibald. Around 1910, he was made the Superintendent of dredging in B.C. for the federal government, and his partnership with Archibald was dissolved. In 1912, he was made Chief Engineer in charge of all estimating and designing for the Vancouver Machinery Depot Company. He remained in this position until 1913, when he was hired by the Dominion government to design a self-propelling hyrdraulic bridge. In 1914, he returned briefly to private practice, and in 1916 he accepted a position with the British Ministry of Munitions of War to oversee the production of the Enfield rifle at the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in New Haven, Conn. In 1917, he was appointed the supervising engineer at the Ogden Point assembly plant of the Imperial Munitions Board in Victoria. He was still holding this position at the time of his death on February 12, 1918