Walter Knight Shirley, 11th Earl Ferrers

FRIBA 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 suppl ...

(5 June 1864 – 2 February 1937) was a British architect and nobleman. Born 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 ...

, where his father was a professor and canon, Shirley was the second but only surviving son of Rev.

Walter Waddington Shirley Prof. Rev. Walter Waddington Shirley (1828–1866) was an English churchman and ecclesiastical historian. Life The only son of Walter Augustus Shirley, bishop of Sodor and Man, he was born at Shirley, Derbyshire, on 24 July 1828. In 1837 he beca ...

(d. 1866) and his wife Philippa Knight. Educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, whence he took a B.A. in 1887, Shirley entered the profession of architecture and was

articled Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

Basil Champneys Basil Champneys (17 September 1842 – 5 April 1935) was an English architect and author whose most notable buildings include Manchester's John Rylands Library, Somerville College Library (Oxford), Newnham College, Cambridge, Lady Margaret Hall, ...

. Part of the Arts and Crafts Movement, he was an active member of the

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the destructive 'restoration' of ancient buildings occurring in ...

and the

Art Workers Guild The Art Workers' Guild is an organisation established in 1884 by a group of British painters, sculptors, architects, and designers associated with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The guild promoted the 'unity of a ...

, being elected Master in 1918. He designed a large addition to 35 Victoria Road,

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

in 1896. Shirley's obituary described him as "a most conscientious architect...over-exacting, if anything, in his own work". On 9 July 1890, Shirley married Mary Jane Moon (d. 10 Jan 1944), daughter of the barrister Robert Moon and the sister of

Edward Robert Pacy Moon Edward Robert Pacy Moon (1858 – 11 September 1949) was a British barrister and Conservative MP for St Pancras North. He won the seat from the Liberals in 1895, held it in 1900, but lost it back to them in the 1906 landslide. He was educat ...

, by whom he had five children: *Lady Margery Joan Shirley (25 November 1891 – 1 June 1952), married Lancelot Sackville Fletcher on 22 September 1920 *Elizabeth Mary Shirley (30 December 1892 – 9 November 1893) *

Robert Shirley, 12th Earl Ferrers Robert Walter Shirley, 12th Earl Ferrers (7 July 1894 – 11 October 1954), was a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament o ...

(1894–1954) *Lady Phillida Shirley (4 November 1896 – 26 December 1985), under the name of Sister Mary Phillida a

recluse A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion from the public and society. The word is from the Latin ''recludere'', which means "shut up" or "sequester". Historically, the word referred to a Christian hermit's total isolation from th ...

at the Anglican shrine to

Our Lady of Walsingham Our Lady of Walsingham is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus venerated by Catholics, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Western Rite Orthodox Christians, and some Anglicans associated with the Marian apparitions to Richeldis de Faverches, a pious English peo ...

*Hon. Andrew Shirley (29 December 1900 – 20 June 1958), married Ethel Muriel Lewis on 30 April 1927 and had issue, art historian In 1912, Shirley succeeded his childless fourth cousin as

Earl Ferrers Earl Ferrers is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1711 for Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers, Robert Shirley, 14th Baron Ferrers of Chartley. The Shirley family descends from George Shirley (died 1622) of Astwell Castle ...

, and largely retired from architecture to tend the family estates. He died at the family seat of

Staunton Harold Hall Staunton Harold Hall is a large 18th-century Grade I listed country house built by the Earls Ferrers, situated within the Staunton Harold Park in Staunton Harold, Leicestershire, England, which includes the 17th-century Grade I listed Holy Tri ...

in 1937 aged 72.

References

External links

*
Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrers, Walter Shirley, 11th Earl 1864 births 1937 deaths Alumni of New College, Oxford Shirley, Walter Knight 11 People educated at Winchester College Architects from Oxford Masters of the Art Worker's Guild Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects