Mark Girouard (7 October 1931 – 16 August 2022) was a British architectural historian. He was an authority on the

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

, and Elizabethan and Victorian architecture.

Life and career

Girouard was born on 7 October 1931. He was educated at

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the groun ...

, read Classics at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

, and then worked for the magazine '' Country Life'' from about 1958 until 1967, firstly as a writer on architecture and then, from 1964, as its architectural editor. He was

Slade Professor of Fine Art The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the oldest professorship of art and art history at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and University College, London. History The chairs were founded concurrently in 1869 by a bequest from the art collecto ...

from 1975 to 1976 and elected a Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

in 1987. Girouard was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

in 2011. He was on the board of trustees of

The Architecture Foundation Founded in 1991, The Architecture Foundation is Britain's oldest independent architecture centre. It examines contemporary issues in architectural theory and practice, through a public programme that has involved exhibitions, competitions publicatio ...

from 1992 to 1999 and a founder, and the first chairman, of the

Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust The Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust, also known as the Spitalfields Trust, is a British architectural conservation Charitable organization, charity. It originated in the Spitalfields area of London, although it also operates elsewhere in Engla ...

. He was the grandson of

Henry Beresford, 6th Marquess of Waterford Henry de La Poer Beresford, 6th Marquess of Waterford KP (28 April 1875 – 1 December 1911), was an Irish peer, styled Earl of Tyrone until 1895. Biography Lord Tyrone was educated at Eton and became Marquess of Waterford in 1895 on the dea ...

through his mother,

Lady Blanche Girouard Lady Blanche Maud de la Poer Beresford Girouard (13 October 1898 – 29 September 1940) was an Irish journalist and writer. She was the eldest child of the 6th Marquess of Waterford. Life She was born Lady Blanche Maud de la Poer Beresford ...

. His ''Life in the English Country House'' won the

Duff Cooper Memorial Prize The Duff Cooper Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of history, biography, political science or occasionally poetry, published in English or French. The prize was established in honour of Duff Cooper, a British diplomat, C ...

for 1978, and the

WH Smith Literary Award The WH Smith Literary Award was an award founded in 1959 by British high street retailer W H Smith. Its founding aim was stated to be to "encourage and bring international esteem to authors of the British Commonwealth"; originally open to all res ...

in 1979.

National Life Stories National Life Stories is an independent charitable trust and limited company (registered as the ‘National Life Story Collection’) based within the British Library Oral History section, whose key focus and expertise is oral history fieldwork. S ...

conducted an oral history interview (C467/92) with Girouard in 2009 for its Architects Lives' collection held by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

.National Life Stories, 'Girouard, Mark (1 of 5) National Life Stories Collection: Architects' Lives', The British Library Board, 2009
. Retrieved 10 April 2018 Photographs by Girouard are held in the

Conway Library of Art and Architecture Conway may refer to: Places United States * Conway, Arkansas * Conway County, Arkansas * Lake Conway, Arkansas * Conway, Florida * Conway, Iowa * Conway, Kansas * Conway, Louisiana * Conway, Massachusetts * Conway, Michigan * Conway ...

at the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

, and are currently being digitised.

Personal life

Girouard was married to the artist Dorothy Girouard and they lived in

Notting Hill Gate Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossington Street/Ke ...

, London. Their daughter is the writer Blanche Girouard. Girouard died on 16 August 2022, at the age of 90. Girouard wrote of his ancestral connection to

Saul Solomon Saul Solomon (25 May 1817 – 16 October 1892) was an influential liberal politician of the Cape Colony, a British colony in what is now South Africa. Solomon was an important member of the movement for responsible government and an opponent o ...

, a pioneer liberal politician and businessman in

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

, and his wife

Georgiana Solomon Georgiana Margaret Solomon (née Thomson; born 18 August 1844 – 24 June 1933) was a British educator and campaigner, involved with a wide range of causes in Britain and South Africa. She and her only surviving daughter, Daisy Solomon, were su ...

, a social activist and

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

. Girouard was descended from Saul's brother Edward, born in 1820 in

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

, who spent 18 years working with the

Griqua Griqua may refer to: * Griqua people * Griqua language or Xiri language * Griquas (rugby) Griquas (known as the Windhoek Draught Griquas for sponsorship reasons since April 2022) are a South African rugby union team that participates in the an ...

s and

Basuto The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...

s for the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational miss ...

Bibliography

*''

Montacute House Montacute House is a late Elizabethan mansion with a garden in Montacute, South Somerset. An example of English architecture during a period that was moving from the medieval Gothic to the Renaissance Classical, and one of few prodigy house ...

, Somerset'' (1964) *''

Robert Smythson Robert Smythson (1535 – 15 October 1614) was an English architect. Smythson designed a number of notable houses during the Elizabethan era. Little is known about his birth and upbringing—his first mention in historical records comes in 155 ...

and the Architecture of the Elizabethan Era'' (1966) *''The Victorian Country House'' (1971) *''Victorian Pubs'' (1975) *''

Hardwick Hall Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire is an architecturally significant country house from the Elizabethan era, a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house. Built between 1590 and 1597 for Bess of Hardwick, it was designed by the architect Ro ...

'' (1976) *''Sweetness and Light: The "Queen Anne" Movement, 1860–1900'' (1977) *''Life in the English Country House: A Social and Architectural History'' (1978) *''Historic Houses of Britain'' (1979) *''

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known f ...

and the Natural History Museum'' (1981), *''The Return to Camelot: Chivalry and the English Gentleman'' (1981) *''Robert Smythson and the Elizabethan Country House'' (1983) *''Cities and People: A Social and Architectural History'' (1985) *''A Country House Companion'' (1987) editor *''The English Town: A History of Urban Life'' (1990) *''Town and Country'' (1992) *''Windsor: The Most Romantic Castle'' (1993) *''Big Jim: The Life and Work of James Stirling'' (1998) Chatto & Windus, . *''A Hundred Years at Waddesdon'' (1998), . *''Life in the French Country House'' (2000) *''Rushton Triangular Lodge'' (2004) *''Elizabethan Architecture: Its Rise and Fall, 1540–1640'' (2009), . *''Enthusiasms'' (2011) Frances Lincoln, *''Friendships'' (2017)

References

External links

* – list of books published
Photo and Elizabethan Architecture book profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Girouard, Mark 1931 births 2022 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British people of Jewish descent British writers British architectural historians Country Life (magazine) people Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People educated at Ampleforth College Slade Professors of Fine Art (University of Oxford)