George Corson (1829–1910) was a
Scottish architect active in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Background
He was born in
Dumfries, where he was articled to
Walter Newall
Walter Newall (3 April 1780 – 25 December 1863) was a Scottish architect and civil engineer, born at Doubledyke in the parish of New Abbey in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. He was the leading architect in the Dumfries a ...
before moving to Leeds in 1849 to work with his brother William Reid Corson who was working there with
Edward La Trobe Bateman
Edward La Trobe Bateman (8 January 1816 – 30 December 1897) was a Pre-Raphaelite watercolour painter, book illuminator, draughtsman and garden designer.
Life
Bateman was probably born in Lower Wyke, Yorkshire, the son of John Bateman, a ma ...
. His brother left Leeds in 1860, leaving Corson in charge of the practice.
In Leeds he was president of the Leeds and Yorkshire Architectural Association by 1898.
Works
Corson was responsible for many buildings in Leeds including:
* the
Grand Theatre (1877–78), with his assistant James Robinson Watson - Grade II*
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
* the municipal buildings (1878–84) - Grade II* listed, now housing the
Leeds Central Library
Leeds Central Library is a public library in Leeds. Situated in the city centre, on Calverley Street, it houses the city library service's single largest general lending and reference collection and hosts the Leeds Art Gallery.
Services avai ...
.
* an extension (1891–92) to
George Gilbert Scott's Grade I listed
Leeds General Infirmary
Leeds General Infirmary, also known as the LGI, is a large teaching hospital based in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and is part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Its previous name The General Infirmary at Leeds is stil ...
* Apsley House (formerly Concourse House) (1903) - originally a drapers and haberdashery warehouse for Crowe & Co and now occupied by
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
* many large houses in
Headingley
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...
including the Grade II* listed ''Spenfield''
* St Edmund's Church, Roundhay, Leeds, designed 1873.
* Bewerley Street School, Bewerley Street, Dewsbury Road, Leeds, designed 1872.
* St Silas National School, Goodman Street, Hunslet, designed 1872.
* Additions and alterations to Ripon Grammar School, designed 1875.
* Leeds School of Medicine, Park Street, inaugurated 1865.
* the warehouse (1859) at the textile manufacturing premises of
Francis Lupton in Wellington Street Leeds, the plans (June 1870) for the
Lupton family's Newton Hall/Newton Park Estate in
Potternewton
Potternewton (until recently also Potter Newton) is a suburb and parish between Chapeltown and Chapel Allerton in north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is in the Chapel Allerton ward of Leeds City Council.
Potternewton is bounded by ...
, and the 1860
Victorian wing of the
Lupton family's Beechwood Estate,
Roundhay
Roundhay is a large suburb in north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Roundhay had a population of 22,546 in 2011.
It sits in the Roundhay ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds North East parliamentary constituency.
History Etymology
Roun ...
; known as Corson House.
Roundhay Park and Lawnswood Cemetery
Corson won a competition for the landscaping of
Roundhay Park
Roundhay Park in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is one of the biggest city parks in Europe.Only Richmond Park (London), Phoenix Park (Dublin) and Silesian Culture and Recreation Park ( Chorzów, Poland) are larger. It covers more than of park ...
in 1873, and in 1874 designed the layout and many of the buildings of
Lawnswood
Lawnswood is a small suburb in the north west of the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. As such it is north north east of the West Yorkshire Urban Area. The suburb falls within the Adel and Wharefdale Ward of the City of Leeds Council.
...
cemetery, where he himself was buried in 1910. His gravestone, a celtic cross with five bosses, is grade II listed, one of only four listed memorials at Lawnswood.
File:Spenfield.jpg, Spenfield House, 1875–77
File:Grand Theatre, Leeds 001.jpg, Leeds Grand Theatre
References
External links
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Scottish Architects: George CorsonBiography and career
19th-century Scottish architects
People from Dumfries
1829 births
1910 deaths
Leeds Blue Plaques
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