Chatsworth - south front from Vitruvius Britannicus

William Talman (1650–1719) was an English architect and landscape designer.

Career

A pupil of Sir

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...

, in 1678 he and Thomas Apprice gained the office of King's Waiter in the

Port of London The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary (since 1968, a line drawn from Foulness Point in Essex via Gunfleet Old Lighthouse to Warden Point in Kent) with the North Sea ...

(perhaps through his patron

Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, PC (2 June 163831 October 1709) was an English aristocrat and politician. He held high office at the beginning of the reign of his brother-in-law, King James II. Early life He was the eldest son of Edward Hyde ...

). From May 1689 until

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

's death in 1702, he was Comptroller of the Royal Works, and also in 1689

William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland Hans William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, (20 July 164923 November 1709) was a Dutch and English nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder in the Netherlands, and future King of England. H ...

appointed Talman and George London as his deputies in his new role as Superintendent of the Royal Gardens. In these roles Talman worked with Wren in his rebuilding of

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

and its gardens and, by proposing a cheaper interior decoration scheme for the new building, won that commission over Wren's head.

Works

Talman's principal work is recognised to be

Chatsworth House Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales, north-east of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield, England. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has belonged to the House of Cavendish, Cavendish family sin ...

, considered to be the first

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

private house in Britain, and he was possibly the architect of

St Anne's Church, Soho Saint Anne's Church serves in the Church of England the Soho section of London. It was consecrated on 21 March 1686 by Bishop Henry Compton as the parish church of the new civil and ecclesiastical parish of St Anne, created from part of the par ...

. Talman was held by many to be surly, rude and difficult to get on with. One of those who felt so was

Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, PC (c. 1669 – 1 May 1738) was a British nobleman, peer, and statesman. Charles Howard was the eldest son of Edward Howard, 2nd Earl of Carlisle, and inherited his title on the death of his father in 1692 ...

, who chose

John Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restora ...

, not Talman, as his architect for

Castle Howard Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, within the civil parish of Henderskelfe, located north of York. It is a private residence and has been the home of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for more than 300 years. ...

(Vanburgh had also been Talman's replacement as Comptroller of the Royal Works in May 1702.) During his long career, Talman worked on many of England's country houses. These include: *

Cannons A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during ...

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

(1713) *

Dyrham Park Dyrham Park () is a baroque English country house in an ancient deer park near the village of Dyrham in South Gloucestershire, England. The house, attached orangery, stable block, and accompanying parish church are Grade I listed buildings, wh ...

, Gloucestershire (1698) *

Fetcham Park House Fetcham Park House is a Queen Anne mansion designed by the English architect William Talman with internal murals by the renowned artist Louis Laguerre and grounds originally landscaped by George London. It is located in the parish of Fetcham ...

, Surrey (1699) *

Hanbury Hall Hanbury Hall is a large 18th-century stately home standing in parkland at Hanbury, Worcestershire. The main range has two storeys and is built of red brick in the Queen Anne style. It is a Grade I listed building, and the associated Orangery a ...

, Worcestershire *

Herriard Park Herriard is a village and civil parish in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Basingstoke, which lies north. The village is situated mainly on the A339 road between Alton, and Basingstoke. At the 2001 ...

, Hampshire (c.1700) *

Kimberley Hall Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

, Norfolk (c.1700) *

Lowther Castle Lowther Castle is a country house in the historic county of Westmorland, which now forms part of the modern county of Cumbria, England. It has belonged to the Lowther family, latterly the Earls of Lonsdale, since the Middle Ages. It is a fu ...

, Cumbria (1692) *

Milton Hall Milton Hall near Peterborough, is the largest private house in Cambridgeshire, England.This Milton Hall should not be confused with the other Milton Hall just to the north of Cambridge in the village of Milton. The Milton Hall near Cambridge is ...

, Peterborough (UA)Not listed in Harris 1982. *

Swallowfield Park Swallowfield Park is a Grade II* listed stately home and estate in the English county of Berkshire. The house is near the village of Swallowfield, some 4 miles south of the town of Reading. The House Swallowfield Park was the home of the Bac ...

, Berkshire (1689) *

Uppark Uppark is a 17th-century house in South Harting, West Sussex, England. It is a Grade I listed building and a National Trust property. History The house, set high on the South Downs, was built for Ford Grey (1655—1701), the first Earl of ...

, West Sussex (c.1690, UA) * Waldershare Park, Kent (1705, attributed).

Gallery of architectural works

File:Chatsworth House 04.jpg, Chatsworth House, south & east fronts File:Chatsworth House 032.jpg, Chatsworth House, south front File:Chatsworth main hallway.jpg, Chatsworth, Painted Hall File:Chatsworth bedroom.jpg, Chatsworth, State Bedroom File:Dyrham Park house, east side.jpg, Dyrham House, east front File:Uppark-Sfront-02.jpg, Uppark, south front File:St annes soho 1.jpg, St. Anne's Soho File:Petworth House, Geograph.jpg, Petworth House, West Sussex

References

Bibliography

* Harris, John, ''The Hampton Court Trianon Designs of William and John Talman'', in ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'', xxiii, 1960. * Harris, John, ''William Talman: Maverick Architect''. London, Allen and Unwin. 1982. ''Studies in Architecture, 2.'' * Saunders, Edward, ''Bretby Hall'', in ''Derbyshire Life'', August 1975. * Whinney, M.D., ''William Talman'', in ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'', xviii, 1955.

External links

Talman, William
at the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''.
The Talman Family Group at the National Portrait Gallery
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Talman, William 1650 births 1719 deaths English Baroque architects English landscape and garden designers Hampton Court Palace