Edward Prentice Mawson (1885 in

Ambleside Ambleside is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, in Cumbria, in North West England. Historically in Westmorland, it marks the head (and sits on the east side of the northern headwater) of Windermere, England's larges ...

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

– 22 December 1954 in Lancaster) was the eldest of the nine children of

Thomas Hayton Mawson Thomas Hayton Mawson (5 May 1861 – 14 November 1933), known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner. Personal life Mawson was born in Nether Wyresdale, Lancashire, and left school at age 12. ...

, and, like his father a British

garden design Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise. ...

er, landscape architect, and

town planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

The Thomas Mawson Archive at Kendal Record Office
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Education

He was educated at

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in length, and almost 1 mile (1.5 km) at its wides ...

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

, the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

in Paris.

Career

He worked as an apprentice at a London architectural practice before joining his father as a partner in 1910. He took over the running of the firm when his father developed

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in 1923, running it almost single-handed following the emigration to New Zealand of his brother/partner John. After the end of WW2 the firm comprised Edward, his younger son Thomas and Gordon Farrow, an associate of the Institute of Landscape Artists. Notable works include The

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(with his father); the palace gardens in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

; Hazelwood Hall in Silverdale, Lancashire; Boveridge Park, near

Cranborne Cranborne is a village in East Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the parish had a population of 779, remaining unchanged from 2001. The appropriate electoral ward is called 'Crane'. This ward includes Wimborne St. Giles in the west and so ...

, Dorset; Dunira, Perthshire;

Stanley Park, Blackpool Stanley Park is a public park in the town of Blackpool on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England. It is the town's primary park and covers an area of approximately . The park was designed to include significant sporting provisions, along with f ...

(1922–26), now with Grade II status as an historically important garden, on the

National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

;

Droitwich Spa Lido The Droitwich Spa Lido is a lido in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, England. It is one of the few remaining inland, open-air salt-water swimming pools in the UK. Brief history The Lido was originally built in the 1930s to a design by Edwar ...

; Saffron Hill Cemetery, Leicester;

Squires Gate Squires Gate is a district and an Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in South Shore, Blackpool, South Shore, Blackpool on the The Fylde, Fylde coast in the county of Lancashire, England. It is located at the south ...

Holiday Camp A holiday camp is a type of holiday accommodation that encourages holidaymakers to stay within the site boundary, and provides entertainment and facilities for them throughout the day. Since the 1970s, the term has fallen out of favour with term ...

, Blackpool, (later

Pontins Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK, founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. Since 2011, it has been owned by Britannia Hotels. Pontins specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays featuring entertainment ...

, closed 2009 for housing) and well as several other parks and gardens in England, many at seaside resorts. Large-scale town planning schemes include

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

's St Helier Estate (1934), and for Ulster Garden Villages Limited in Northern Ireland,

Merville Garden Village Merville Garden Village is a housing estate located at Shore Road, Whitehouse, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland created by structural and landscape architect Edward Prentice Mawson. It was completed in 1949. Historical backgroun ...

, Abbots Cross, Fernagh, Princes Park, Kings Park, Whitehead and Muckamore Garden Villages, all in County Antrim. Due to its outstanding architecture and layout Merville Garden Village is the sole designated Conservation Area in the Newtownabbey borough. Mawson's eldest son and colleague, Thomas P. Mawson (b. 1925), unveiled a commemorative plaque there on 26 September 2009 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the estate being completed.

Personal life

In 1913 he married Hilda Bowhill (1885–1974), daughter of a successful

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

boot and shoe maker. They lived at

Hest Bank Hest may refer to: * Ari Hest (born 1979), American singer-songwriter * Greg van Hest (born 1973), Dutch runner * ''Hest'', an album by the Norwegian band Kakkmaddafakka See also * Hest Bank, a village in England {{disambiguation, surnam ...

, north of Lancaster and had two sons, Andrew (1917–2001) and Thomas (b. 1925) and a daughter, Elizabeth (1920–2010). Edward is remembered within his immediate family as being very creative, not least as he was brought up within the Arts & Crafts era and benefited from the full education that his father lacked. He also worked extremely hard, which ultimately led to his untimely death in 1954 aged 69. Ironically he was outlived by his mother Anna (née Prentice) who died the following year.

Awards

He was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Soane medallion in 1908. He was an honorary lecturer in landscape design at

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, a member of the Town Planning Institute, the Institute of Structural Engineers and a founder member of the Institute of Landscape Architects.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mawson, Edward Prentice 1885 births 1954 deaths British landscape architects People from Ambleside People educated at Windermere Grammar School