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John William Simpson (architect)
Encyclopedia
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
(born Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, 9 August 1858, died Highgate
Highgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, 30 March 1933) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
from 1919 to 1921.
Background and early life
Simpson was the eldest son of the BrightonBrighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
architect Thomas Simpson and his wife Clara Hart. He was the brother of another architect, Gilbert Murray Simpson.
He was educated privately and articled to his father in 1875, but later attended the Royal Academy Schools.
Career
Simpson became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British ArchitectsRoyal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
in 1882. He was in partnership with M. P. Manning from 1881 to 1884 and subsequently with E. J. Milner Allen, specializing in public buildings.
He was an active member of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
, rising to be its President, and of a number of architectural associations in other countries. He also wrote books and articles on architecture.
In 1905, he was joined in his practice by the young Maxwell Ayrton
Maxwell Ayrton
Ormrod Maxwell Ayrton FRIBA , known as Maxwell Ayrton, was a Scottish architect. He spent most of his adult life working in London and designed houses, public buildings, and bridges.- Career :...
, and they entered into a partnership in 1910.
He never married, and died at home in West Hill, Highgate, Middlesex, on 30 March 1933.
Publications
- Introduction to Sir Lawrence Weaver's Architectural Copyright (1911)
- Essays and Memorials (1923)
- Paris Rosemary (1927)
- Some Account of the Old Hall of Lincoln's Inn (1928)
- The Architecture of the Renaissance in France by W. H. Ward (second edition, ed. J. W. Simpson, 1926)
Simpson wrote many professional papers on architecture and town planning. He edited the periodical The Book of Book-Plates between 1900 and 1903.
Memberships and appointments
- Secretary-general of the London Town Planning Conference, 1910
- Member of Council of the British School at RomeBritish School at RomeThe British School at Rome was established in 1901 and granted a Royal Charter in 1912 as an educational institute in the fields of archaeology, literature, music, and history of Rome and Italy of every period, and for the study of the fine arts and architecture...
- Corresponding member of the Institut de FranceInstitut de FranceThe Institut de France is a French learned society, grouping five académies, the most famous of which is the Académie française.The institute, located in Paris, manages approximately 1,000 foundations, as well as museums and chateaux open for visit. It also awards prizes and subsidies, which...
- Member of the Sociedad Central de Arquitectos, Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
- Member of the Centralvereinigung der Architekten, ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
Honours
- Fellow of the Royal Institute of British ArchitectsRoyal Institute of British ArchitectsThe Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
, 1900 - President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, 1919
- Gold medal of the Société des Artistes FrançaisSociété des artistes françaisThe Société des Artistes Français is the association of French painters and sculptors established in 1881. Its annual exhibition is called the Salon....
, 1922 - President of the Union Franco-Britannique des Architectes, 1922
- Knight Commander of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, 1924 - Chevalier of the Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
Major works
- Victoria Institute, WorcesterWorcesterThe City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
(1896) (collaboration) - Offices of the Crown Agents for the Colonies at MillbankMillbankMillbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico and south of Westminster...
- West Downs SchoolWest Downs SchoolWest Downs School, Romsey Road, Winchester, Hampshire, was an English independent preparatory school, which was established in 1897 and closed in 1988.-History:...
, WinchesterWinchesterWinchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
(1897-98) - Roedean SchoolRoedean School-Roedeanians in fiction:* Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward * Dawn Drummond-Clayton * Emily James...
(1898–99, 1906, 1908, 1911) - New school buildings at Gresham's SchoolGresham's SchoolGresham’s School is an independent coeducational boarding school in Holt in North Norfolk, England, a member of the HMC.The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free grammar school for forty boys, following King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Augustinian priory at Beeston Regis...
(completed 1903) - Restoration of the Old Hall of Lincoln's InnLincoln's InnThe Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
, London - Kelvingrove Art Gallery and MuseumKelvingrove Art Gallery and MuseumThe Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. The building houses one of Europe's great civic art collections...
(with E.J. Milner Allen) - New buildings for Lancing CollegeLancing CollegeLancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...
- New buildings for Haileybury CollegeHaileybury and Imperial Service CollegeHaileybury and Imperial Service College, , is a prestigious British independent school founded in 1862. The school is located at Hertford Heath, near Hertford, from central London, on of parkland occupied until 1858 by the East India College...
(now called Haileybury and Imperial Service College) - Queen Victoria memorial at BradfordBradfordBradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
- Royal Sussex RegimentRoyal Sussex RegimentThe Royal Sussex Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed as part of the Childers reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th Regiment of Foot and the 107th Regiment of Foot...
memorial at Regency Square, BrightonRegency Square, BrightonRegency Square is a large early 19th-century residential development on the seafront in Brighton, part of the British city of Brighton and Hove... - Onslow Ford memorial in St John's WoodSt John's WoodSt John's Wood is a district of north-west London, England, in the City of Westminster, and at the north-west end of Regent's Park. It is approximately 2.5 miles north-west of Charing Cross. Once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem...
- Cartwright Memorial HallCartwright HallCartwright Hall is the civic art gallery in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, situated about a mile from the city centre in the Manningham district....
at BradfordBradfordBradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897... - Brighton War Memorial, Old SteineOld SteineThe Old Steine is a thoroughfare in central Brighton, East Sussex, and is the southern terminus of the A23. The southern end leads to Marine Parade, the Brighton seafront and the Palace Pier. The Old Steine is also the site of a number of City Centre bus stops for Brighton buses...
, BrightonBrightonBrighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain... - Palace of Industry, Palace of Engineering and Stadium at British Empire ExhibitionBritish Empire ExhibitionThe British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley, Middlesex in 1924 and 1925.-History:It was opened by King George V on St George's Day, 23 April 1924. The British Empire contained 58 countries at that time, and only Gambia and Gibraltar did not take part...
, WembleyWembleyWembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
, 1924 (with Maxwell AyrtonMaxwell AyrtonOrmrod Maxwell Ayrton FRIBA , known as Maxwell Ayrton, was a Scottish architect. He spent most of his adult life working in London and designed houses, public buildings, and bridges.- Career :...
) - Grafton Street Hospital, LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
(collaboration) - National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic, Queen Square, London (collaboration)
- Glasgow Art Galleries for the Corporation of Glasgow (collaboration)