A Liverpool Exemplar - Alfred Waterhouse

Alfred Waterhouse was born on 19 July 1830, the eldest child of wealthy mill owning parents, Alfred Waterhouse Senior, a Quaker cotton broker and his wife Mary Brown. She was also a Quaker from Tottenham where their family was educated at the Friends School, Grove House. The family were living at Stone Hill, Liverpool but their son Alfred was educated at the Quaker run Grove Boarding School in Tottenham, Middlesex. 

Having been articled as an architect to Quaker Richard Lane in Manchester from 1848 to 1853, Alfred then embarked on an extensive study tour of France Northern Italy and Switzerland. Upon his return to England he set up his own architectural practice in Manchester. During his twelve years there, his skills were in great demand, especially for the many new public buildings that the city authorities commissioned in the High Victorian era. Employing a dozen staff, many of his early commissions came from Quakers and he was able to produce large quantities of high-quality drawings with both speed and efficiency. Among his first commissions in 1854 were those for his family, a set of stables at Sneyd Park, for his father, who had moved to Bristol, and alterations to his uncle Roger's home at Mossley Bank in Liverpool. Winning the competition to build the Assize Courts in 1859 he gained national recognition and other buildings soon followed; the original Owens Park Building (now the University of Manchester), Strangeways Prison, the Refuge Assurances Building (now the Palace Hotel) and the National Provincial Bank. The most notable of Waterhouse's Northern structures, however, was the new Manchester Town Hall (1868-77) for which he was awarded the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1878. The triangular site called for innovative and original ideas, the  difficulties of which only Alfred's clever design were able to overcome. The result is the striking Neo-Gothic Building of today, always admired by the general public as well as the architectural community. ( see the Natural History Museum, London and Manchester Town Hall below ).

In 1860 Alfred had married another Quaker, Elizabeth Hodgkin, the daughter of a Tottenham man, and in 1865 opened an office in London. This most successful of architects was probably best known as the designer in chief of the quite wonderful Natural History Museum in London, 1873 - 81. He also erected earlier fine buildings for the City of Liverpool; Liverpool’s own North Western Hotel (now student accommodation) on Lime Street 1868-71, The Royal Infirmary ( his largest hospital ), Turner Memorial Home, Part of Newsham Park Hospital, The Prudential Assurance Building and The Victoria Building of Liverpool University.  

North Western Hotel

His biographer, Colin Cunningham, states that between about 1865 and about 1885 he was "the most widely employed British architect" with his buildings largely in Victorian Gothic revival style notable for his use of red brick and terracotta. Eventually he would have about 650 buildings to his credit. Strongly influenced by German Romanesque design he made many trips to Germany where terracotta had already been widely used as a decorative feature of civic buildings. The use of these materials for many university buildings in the north of England is a major factor in their being termed 'red brick universities'. His success came from 'a thoroughly professional approach rather than on brilliance or innovation as a stylist, with his buildings having characteristically bold and picturesque outlines, with especial awareness of the urban skyline. Amongst his many honoured positions, he was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects from 1888 to 1891.

If the above achievements weren't enough, he was also designing country houses, with his major work being the rebuilding of Eaton Hall in Cheshire for the 1st Duke of Westminster which was 'the most expensive country house of the 19th century'. In the commercial field, he designed banks and offices for insurance and assurance companies, especially the Prudential Assurance Company for whom he built 27 buildings. In addition to his design work as an architect, Alfred was an assessor for about 60 architectural competitions and was also a painter, exhibiting 80 water colours at the Royal Academy. Alfred retired from architecture in 1902, having practiced in partnership with his son, Paul Waterhouse, from 1891. He suffered a stroke in 1901 and died at the country home he had built for himself in 1878, Yattendon Court, Berkshire, on the 22nd August 1905. His practice was continued by his son Paul, followed by his grandson, Michael, and his great-grandson. His estate at death amounted to over £215,000 (equivalent to £23,260,000 as of 2019.

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