George Corson (1829–1910) was a Scottish architect active in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Background

He was born in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from t ...

, where he was articled to Walter Newall before moving to Leeds in 1849 to work with his brother William Reid Corson who was working there with

Edward La Trobe Bateman Edward La Trobe Bateman (8 January 1816 – 30 December 1897) was a Pre-Raphaelite watercolour painter, book illuminator, draughtsman and garden designer. Life Bateman was probably born in Lower Wyke, Yorkshire, the son of John Bateman, a ma ...

. His brother left Leeds in 1860, leaving Corson in charge of the practice. In Leeds he was president of the Leeds and Yorkshire Architectural Association by 1898.

Works

Corson was responsible for many buildings in Leeds including: * the Grand Theatre (1877–78), with his assistant James Robinson Watson - Grade II*

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

* the municipal buildings (1878–84) - Grade II* listed, now housing the

Leeds Central Library Leeds Central Library is a public library in Leeds. Situated in the city centre, on Calverley Street, it houses the city library service's single largest general lending and reference collection and hosts the Leeds Art Gallery. Services avai ...

. * an extension (1891–92) to

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

's Grade I listed

Leeds General Infirmary Leeds General Infirmary, also known as the LGI, is a large teaching hospital based in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and is part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Its previous name The General Infirmary at Leeds is stil ...

* Apsley House (formerly Concourse House) (1903) - originally a drapers and haberdashery warehouse for Crowe & Co and now occupied by

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

* many large houses in

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

including the Grade II* listed ''Spenfield'' * St Edmund's Church, Roundhay, Leeds, designed 1873. * Bewerley Street School, Bewerley Street, Dewsbury Road, Leeds, designed 1872. * St Silas National School, Goodman Street, Hunslet, designed 1872. * Additions and alterations to Ripon Grammar School, designed 1875. * Leeds School of Medicine, Park Street, inaugurated 1865. * the warehouse (1859) at the textile manufacturing premises of Francis Lupton in Wellington Street Leeds, the plans (June 1870) for the Lupton family's Newton Hall/Newton Park Estate in Potternewton, and the 1860 Victorian wing of the Lupton family's Beechwood Estate, Roundhay; known as Corson House. Leeds School Board blue plaque

Roundhay Park and Lawnswood Cemetery

Corson won a competition for the landscaping of

Roundhay Park Roundhay Park in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is one of the biggest city parks in Europe.Only Richmond Park (London), Phoenix Park (Dublin) and Silesian Culture and Recreation Park ( Chorzów, Poland) are larger. It covers more than of par ...

in 1873, and in 1874 designed the layout and many of the buildings of Lawnswood cemetery, where he himself was buried in 1910. His gravestone, a celtic cross with five bosses, is grade II listed, one of only four listed memorials at Lawnswood. File:Spenfield.jpg, Spenfield House, 1875–77 File:Grand Theatre, Leeds 001.jpg, Leeds Grand Theatre

References

External links

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Scottish Architects: George Corson
Biography and career 19th-century Scottish architects People from Dumfries 1829 births 1910 deaths Leeds Blue Plaques {{Scotland-architect-stub