Sir Frederic James Osborn (1885–1978) was a leading member of the UK Garden city movement

Garden city movement

The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts" , containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and...

 and was chairman of the Town and Country Planning Association

Town and Country Planning Association

The Town and Country Planning Association is England's oldest environmental charity. It was founded as the Garden Cities Association in 1899 by Ebenezer Howard, initially to promote the development of Garden Cities...

. He lived in Welwyn Garden City

Welwyn Garden City

-Economy:Ever since its inception as garden city, Welwyn Garden City has attracted a strong commercial base with several designated employment areas. Among the companies trading in the town are:*Air Link Systems*Baxter*British Lead Mills*Carl Zeiss...

, the garden city he helped create, and a local school (Sir Frederic Osborn School

Sir Frederic Osborn School

Sir Frederic Osborn School is a secondary school in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England. The school was built and opened in 1965 as two separate schools - Welwyn Garden City High School and Attimore Hall School. The schools were combined in 1968 and renamed after the town's urban planner...

) was named after him in 1968.

Life

Born in 1885 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, he left school at 15 for a job as an office boy. He attended night-school, and joined the Fabian Society

Fabian Society

The Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World...

.

In 1912, he took a job as secretary-manager of the Howard Cottage Society in Letchworth Garden City

Letchworth

Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The town's name is taken from one of the three villages it surrounded - all of which featured in the Domesday Book. The land used was first purchased by Quakers who had intended to farm the...

, founded by Ebenezer Howard

Ebenezer Howard

Sir Ebenezer Howard is known for his publication Garden Cities of To-morrow , the description of a utopian city in which people live harmoniously together with nature. The publication resulted in the founding of the garden city movement, that realized several Garden Cities in Great Britain at the...

. In 1919, Howard purchased land for a second garden city at Welwyn, and Osborn moved with him to become Company Secretary and Estate Manager.

He left the company in 1936, and devoted the rest of his life to promoting the garden city movement.

Publications

• Frederic J. Osborn, Green-Belt Cities (first published 1946)
• Frederic J. Osborn & Arnold Whittick, New Towns (1978) ISBN 0-249-44140-3
• The letters of Lewis Mumford
  Lewis Mumford
  Lewis Mumford was an American historian, philosopher of technology, and influential literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a writer...
  
  and Frederic J. Osborn: A transatlantic dialogue, 1938-70 ISBN 0-239-00099-4