John B. Forbes (born 1795?) was an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

. He designed the

Pittville Pump Room The Pittville Pump Room was the last and largest of the spa buildings to be built in Cheltenham. The benefits of Cheltenham's mineral waters had been recognised since 1716, but not until after the arrival of Henry Skillicorne in 1738 did seriou ...

for

Joseph Pitt Joseph Pitt (1759–1842) was a British lawyer of humble origins who prospered as a property speculator, notably in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, but also in Wiltshire, and who served as a Tory MP for Cricklade, Wiltshire 1812–1831. His ...

(1825-1830) and St Paul's Church (1829-1831). Besides the Pump Room, on which he personally worked 1825–28, and St Paul's Church, he is credited with several other buildings in Cheltenham, including 129-131 Promenade, 1-13 Imperial Square, 3 houses in St James Square, Montpellier Villas, 29-37 Pittville Lawn, and Brandon House, Grafton Road. He had difficulty managing the finances of several concurrent speculative developments. In 1835 he was convicted of

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

, having attempted

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

on a business partner: a sentence of

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

was commuted to a short prison term. His architectural career did not recover.

Personal life

He is consistently referred to as 'local' in descriptions of Cheltenham's development in the 1820s-30s, but his origins are currently obscure. He married twice, firstly in November 1821 to Elizabeth Martha Cook, second daughter of the late Charles Cook esq of Kennington Place, London and secondly on 22 July 1838 at Clerkenwell to Mary Ann Poole, eldest daughter of Thomas Poole of Cheltenham.''Cheltenham Chronicle'', 8 Aug 1838 There were four children by the first marriage, at least two of whom died young.

References

1795 births 19th-century English architects English fraudsters People from Cheltenham Year of death missing Architects from Gloucestershire {{UK-architect-stub