His architectural styles were Gothic, Romanesque, and Beaux Arts, with the Daly Building a Chicago style.[3]
Edey had worked with Ottawa architect W.E. Noffke and Ottawa architect Francis Conroy Sullivan had once worked as a draftsman for Edey.[4]
Moses Edey was born 1845 in the southwestern area of Quebec,[1]Pontiac County near Shawville. He was the second son of six children of Richard and Mary Edey, descendants of United Empire Loyalists.[1] The Edeys were part of the second wave of settlers to the Ottawa Valley, after Philemon Wright arrived in 1800 (the founder of Hull, Quebec[5]). Moses Edey came to Hull, Quebec from Randolph, Vermont, in 1805.[6] Moses' father, Richard had been born in 1812 in Aylmer, Quebec. Moses designed the red-brick Methodist chapel that still stands on Vanier Road, Aylmer. Artifacts from the Mayflower still exist, the possessions of the family of Moses' mother, whose ancestors journeyed on that famous ship.[1]
Following some time with the Casey Tool Company of Auburn, New York, he later worked for 10 years in design and construction in Ottawa under an A. Sparks. Thereafter, he concentrated on architecture.[1]
Daly Building ca. 1912, Rideau Street with tram streetcar. This building was demolished in 1991-1992 accompanied by a huge amount of publicity, controversy and criticism.
By the 1860s Moses Edey had completed apprenticeships in architecture and building construction, as well as in carriage design and construction.[5] He had moved to Arnprior at 17, where he worked in carriage making for two years, and two more in Ottawa in that trade. He then studied under Thomas in Toronto and went to Moravia, New York and studied under Z. D. Stearns[1]
During this time, he spent five years at the Ottawa School of Arts and held diplomas from the Ontario School of Art. He joined the Ontario Society of Architects.[1] After studying design at the Ottawa Art School, he set up shop on Sparks Street[3]
Moses Edey married Mary Whillans from Russell, Ontario and had two children, Mabel Gertrude Mary Edey, and Isabel Maude Edey.[1]
Edey had building plans for Lansdowne Park, a fairground in Ottawa, with the centrepiece the Aberdeen Pavilion, which came to be known affectionately as the "Cattle Castle".[5] The building survived despite sustained calls for demolition, and was rehabilitated.
