Sir John William Simpson KBE FRIBA (9 August 1858 – 30 March 1933) was a British

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 ...

and President of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

from 1919 to 1921.

Background and early life

Simpson was the eldest son of the

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

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

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

, 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, and they entered into a partnership in 1910.Ormrod Maxwell Ayrton
at scottisharchitects.org.uk, accessed 4 February 2009 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 Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is an interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture. History The British School at Rome (BSR) was established in 1901 and granted a UK Royal Charter in 1912. Its mission is " ...

* Corresponding member of the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institut ...

* Member of the Sociedad Central de Arquitectos,

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

* Member of the Centralvereinigung der Architekten,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Honours

* Fellow of the

, 1900 * President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, 1919 * Gold medal of the

Société des Artistes Français The Société des Artistes Français (, meaning "Society of French Artists") is the association of French painters and sculptors established in 1881. Its annual exhibition is called the "Salon des artistes français" (not to be confused with the ...

, 1922 * President of the Union Franco-Britannique des Architectes, 1922 * Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, 1924 *Chevalier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Major works

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

(with Maxwell Ayrton) *Victoria Institute,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

(1896) (collaboration) *Offices of the Crown Agents for the Colonies at 4

Millbank Millbank 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. Millbank is known as the location of major government offices, Burberry headquarters, the ...

(1914–16) * West Downs School,

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

(1897–98) * Roedean School (1898–99, 1906, 1908, 1911) *New school buildings at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Baccalaureate schools in England. The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a free g ...

(completed 1903) *Restoration of the Old Hall of

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the 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.) Lincol ...

, London *

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, h ...

(with E.J. Milner Allen) *New buildings for

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...

*New buildings for

Haileybury College Haileybury may refer to: Australia * Haileybury (Melbourne), a school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia **Haileybury Rendall School, an offshoot in Berrimah, North Territory, Australia China * Haileybury International School, an international ...

(now called Haileybury and Imperial Service College) *

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

memorial at

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

* Royal Sussex Regiment memorial at

Regency Square, Brighton Regency Square is a large early 19th-century residential development on the seafront in Brighton, part of the British city of Brighton and Hove. Conceived by speculative developer Joshua Hanson as Brighton underwent its rapid transformation int ...

*Onslow Ford memorial in St John's Wood * Cartwright Memorial Hall at

* Brighton War Memorial,

Old Steine The 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 Ci ...

*Palace of Industry, Palace of Engineering and

Stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

at British Empire Exhibition,

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, 1924 (with Maxwell Ayrton) *Grafton Street Hospital,

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

(collaboration) *National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic, Queen Square, London (collaboration) *Glasgow Art Galleries for the Corporation of Glasgow (collaboration)

References

* ''Simpson, Sir John William (1858–1933), architect'' by W. G. Allen and John Elliott in

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 ...

(2004) * ''Sir John William Simpson'' by R. Unwinetal, RIBA Journal, volume 40 (1932–33), pages 514–15 and 517 * ''The Builder'', volume 144 (1933), pages 568-573 and 614 * Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', 1 April 193
John William Simpson's entry at www.scottisharchitects.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, John William Architects from Sussex 1858 births 1933 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Art Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Associates of the Royal Institute of British Architects Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects