![Portrait of Matthew Digby Wyatt, Esq (4671075) (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Portrait_of_Matthew_Digby_Wyatt%2C_Esq_%284671075%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt (28 July 1820 – 21 May 1877) 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
art historian who became Secretary of the
Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary The Crystal Palace, structure in which it was held), was an International Exhib ...
, Surveyor of the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
and the first
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 ...
at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. From 1855 until 1859 he was honorary secretary 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 ...
, and in 1866 received the Royal Gold Medal.
Life
Born in
Rowde
Rowde () is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire, on the A342 about northwest of Devizes. The parish includes the hamlet of Tanis.
History
The village now mainly consists of modern brick-built houses, but a number of 1 ...
, Wiltshire, Wyatt trained as an architect in the office of his elder brother,
Thomas Henry Wyatt
Thomas Henry Wyatt (9 May 1807 – 5 August 1880) was an Anglo-Irish architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1870–73 and being awarded its Royal Gold Medal for ...
. He assisted
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "on ...
on the terminus of the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
at
London Paddington
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...
(1854). He also enlarged and rebuilt
Addenbrooke's Hospital
Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Camp ...
in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
(1866: now the
Judge Institute of Management). He designed the
Rothschild Mausoleum
West Ham Jewish Cemetery is a cemetery for Jews in West Ham in the London Borough of Newham, England. It was established in 1856 by the New Synagogue on Great St. Helen's, soon joined by the Great Synagogue in Duke's Place, both of them Lond ...
in the
Jewish Cemetery at West Ham
West Ham Jewish Cemetery is a cemetery for Jews in West Ham in the London Borough of Newham, England. It was established in 1856 by the New Synagogue on Great St. Helen's, soon joined by the Great Synagogue in Duke's Place, both of them Lond ...
.
In 1851, Wyatt produced the book ''The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century'', an imposing imperial folio in two volumes which illustrates a selection of items from the
Great Exhibition of 1851
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...
. The book, which has won widespread acclaim for the quality of its plates, appeared in two parts, with the first dated 1 October 1851, through to the extra-illustrated title pages dated 15 March 1853. There are 160
chromolithographed plates produced by a team of artists and lithographers including
Francis Bedford, J. A. Vinter and
Henry Rafter
Henry Rafter was a British master artist who can be categorized as part of the naturalism and realism movements. He is noted for his scenes of landscapes, nature and animals. He was also a prolific book illustrator, and produced several portraits ...
.
He was appointed to the post of Surveyor of the East India Company in 1855, shortly before its role in governing India was taken over by the Crown, and subsequently became Architect to the
Council of India. In this role he designed the interiors of the
India Office in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
(1867: now part of the
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...
) and the
Royal Indian Engineering College
The Royal Indian Engineering College (or RIEC) was a British college of Civil Engineering run by the India Office to train civil engineers for service in the Indian Public Works Department. It was located on the Cooper's Hill estate, near Egham, ...
(1871-3: now the Runnymede campus of
Brunel University
Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June ...
).
A paper on the construction of the exhibition building read before the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1866 was awarded the
Telford medal
The Telford Medal is a prize awarded by the British Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) for a paper or series of papers. It was introduced in 1835 following a bequest made by Thomas Telford, the ICE's first president. It can be awarded in gold ...
.
His work included, c. 1869, a substantial private residence, known as 'Newells', not far from
Leonardslee
Leonardslee is an English country house and English landscape garden and woodland garden in Lower Beeding, near Horsham, West Sussex, England. The Grade I listed garden is particularly significant for its spring displays of rhododendrons, azal ...
at
Lower Beeding
Lower Beeding is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. The village lies on the B2110, B2115 and A281 roads southeast from Horsham, and is centred on Holy Trinity Church and The Plough public house, where t ...
, near Horsham in Sussex, as mentioned in ''A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6''. Newells had been occupied as a preparatory school for boys from 1946 until destroyed by fire in 1968. Photographic images of the exterior and interior of the house, when occupied by the prep. school, can be seen at an external link given in the article '
Newells Preparatory School'. His other commissions in Sussex included
Possingworth Manor and Oldlands near Herron's Ghyll.
Amongst the extravagant pieces he worked on was
Robert Stephenson Works of
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
1295 of 1862. This 2-2-4T for the
Egyptian Railways
Egyptian National Railways (ENR; ar, السكك الحديدية المصرية, Al-Sikak al-Ḥadīdiyyah al-Miṣriyyah) is the national railway of Egypt and managed by the parastatal Egyptian Railway Authority (ERA; ar, الهيئة الق ...
survives with all its fantastical marquetry in the Egyptian Railway Museum in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
. It is called the Khedive's Train.
In 1870, for the
Secretary of State for India
His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...
, Wyatt oversaw the conversion of the Elm Grove House estate at
Hanwell
Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...
into the new
Royal India Asylum, which opened in August 1870.
[A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982)]
Ealing and Brentford: Public services
Pages 147–149, accessed 11 September 2008
Selected publications
*
*
*with J. B. Waring:
*with P. H. Delamotte:
*with Edmund Oldfield and J. A. Spencer:
*with W. R. Tymms:
*
*
See also
*
Wyatts, an architectural dynasty
*
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 ...
*The
Pitt Club
The University Pitt Club, popularly referred to as the Pitt Club, the UPC, or merely as Club, is a private members' club of the University of Cambridge, with a previously male-only membership but now open to both men and women.
History
The ...
in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, designed by Wyatt
*
Newells Preparatory School, Sussex private residence designed by Wyatt
Newells photo album
/ref>
References
External links
*
*
Matthew Digby Wyatt
at the Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
Dictionary of Art Historians
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyatt, Matthew Digby
1820 births
1877 deaths
British art historians
Architects from Wiltshire
Academics of the University of Cambridge
People associated with Brunel University London
British East India Company people
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
19th-century English architects
Knights Bachelor
Matthew Digby