Person Record

Metadata

Name

Meikle, William James

Othernames

William Meikle

Born

1870

Birthplace

Ontario

Places of residence

In order:
Ontario (born)
Glasgow, Scotland
New York, New York, USA
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Toronto, Ontario

Father

James Harvie Meikle

Mother

Annie McNeill

Nationality

Scottish

Education

Apprenticed there with Stephen Adam (Glasgow)

Notes

Active c. 1900-1940, William James Meikle began his career as a designer in the employ of Gorham Silversmiths in New York, at the turn of the 20th. century. He is listed in the 1902 edition of "Who's Who in America". He later moved to Chicago then returned to Ontario, where he'd been born, in 1914.
Upon his return to Toronto, William was the Art Director designing ecclesiastic stained glass for Hobbs Glass in Toronto, then for many years he served as Art Director for Robert McCausland Ltd. in Toronto. He later went on to found Meikle Studios, also based in Toronto.

History:
William Meikle Sr. (1816-1900) founded Meikle glaziers in Glasgow. He had two sons: William Tait Meikle ("Tertius") (1841-1935), and James Harvie Meikle (1842-1914) . William Tait Meikle and James Harvie Meikle were involved in a 1895 legal suit. They inherited the glazing business from their father, and began designing stained glass in 1886.

James Harvie Meikle married Annie McNeill. Their son was William James Meikle. He founded Meikle Studios in Toronto. He was born in Ontario but his parents returned to Glasgow when he was young, so he was raised in Glasgow and he apprenticed there with Stephen Adam. After his father (James Harvie) left Meikle & Sons and the legal battle raged between James Harvie and his brother William Tait, William James left Glasgow and moved to New York City, where he became a designer with Gorham Silversmiths. He is listed in the 1902 issue of "Who's Who in America".

In 1908 he married his mother's Canadian first cousin, Mary Jane McNeill, and they lived for a time in New York. They had four children. By age (oldest-to-youngest), they were: Anne; James (who worked with his father, William James, at Meikle Studios in Toronto, and carried-on the business after his father died); Mary; and Robert.

William James Meikle and his family left the U.S. in ca. 1914 and moved to Ontario, where he was the Art Director of Robert McCausland Studio in Toronto for over 20 years until he left and founded Meikle Studio.

William James Meikle passed away in Toronto, in 1953.

- - - -
Window Installations in Grey County:
Desboro United Church
St. John's Anglican Church, Desboro, Ontario (1947)
Lutheran Church, Desboro (1940)
St. Michael's RC Church at the Irish Block (installed in the fall of 1942, they were lost in a fire January 2, 1943).

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From Ben Meikle via email August 2022:

My understanding is that William James (my great-grandfather) worked at Gotham Silversmiths, then Hobbs glass, and then McCausland studios. His son James (my grandfather) also worked at McCausland studies as a young man where he learned the trade. James had to go to the war and when he returned he bought the stained glass division from Hobbs glass to create Meikle stained glass. James recruited his father William James as well as his friend "Slim" from McCausland studios, and later on James also hired his brother Robert. The studio was in the Toronto area at first. Slim's wife Edith had allergies and and they moved to Southampton due to the lower pollen count. James followed Slim and relocated the studio to this area. James did the glass work and Slim did the leading.

Occupation

Stained glass designer, Founder of Meikle Studios, Toronto

Relationships

Father: James Harvie Meikle (1842-1925) who was the partner of his brother William Tait Meikle in stained glass designers and glaziers 'William Meikle & Sons' and his wife Annie Abraham Meikle who had been born in Canada. The firm had been started by his grandfather, William Meikle Senior (c 1818-1900). James Harvie Meikle left William Meikle and Sons on 30 Dec 1894, joined other glass merchants, and then moved to Wandsworth, where he appears in the 1901 census.
Brother: Joseph Abraham Meikle, Architect (1876 - 1942)
Cousin: William Meikle 'Junior', glass designer