Sir James Thomas Knowles (13 October 1831 – 13 February 1908) was an English

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

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

. He was intimate with the poet

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

and the founder of the

Metaphysical Society The Metaphysical Society was a famous British debating society, founded in 1869 by James Knowles, who acted as Secretary. Membership was by invitation only, and was exclusively male. Many of its members were prominent clergymen, philosophers, and ...

to encourage rapprochement between religion and science.

Life

James Knowles was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, the son of the architect

James Thomas Knowles (1806–1884) James Thomas Knowles (1806–1884) was an English architect with an extensive practice, who designed upper-class houses in an Italianate manner more familiar in the work of Sir Charles Barry. The drawings he submitted in the competition for the n ...

, and himself trained in architecture at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

and in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Among the buildings he designed were three churches in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...

, South London, Mark Masons' Hall, London (later the Thatched House Club), Lord Tennyson's house at Aldworth, the

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicest ...

garden (as restored at the expense of Albert Grant), Albert Mansions, Victoria Street in Westminster,James Dodsley (1909), ''The Annual Register'', digitized by Google and an 1882 enlargement of the Royal Sea Bathing Hospital at

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

.Harry Wells, "Mark Masons' Hall, 86 St. James's Street: A brief history of the present building", 28 May 201
(online)
access date 4 July 2015 However, he also developed a literary career. In 1860 he published ''The Story of King Arthur''. In 1866 he was introduced to

Alfred Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

and later agreed to design his new house with the condition that there was not any fee. This resulted in a close friendship, Knowles assisting Tennyson with business matters, and among other things helping to design scenery for the play ''The Cup'', when

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ...

produced it in 1880. Knowles corresponded with a number of the most interesting men of the day, and in 1869, with Tennyson's cooperation, he initiated the

, the object of which was to attempt some intellectual rapprochement between religion and science by inviting major representatives of faith and unfaith to meet and exchange opinions. Members included Tennyson,

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-cons ...

W. K. Clifford William Kingdon Clifford (4 May 18453 March 1879) was an English mathematician and philosopher. Building on the work of Hermann Grassmann, he introduced what is now termed geometric algebra, a special case of the Clifford algebra named in his ...

W. G. Ward William George Ward (21 March 1812 – 6 July 1882) was an English theologian and mathematician. A Roman Catholic convert, his career illustrates the development of religious opinion at a time of crisis in the history of English religious thoug ...

John Morley John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially, a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...

, Cardinal Manning, Archbishop Thomson, T. H. Huxley,

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As foreign secretary in the ...

Leslie Stephen Sir Leslie Stephen (28 November 1832 – 22 February 1904) was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, and mountaineer, and the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. Life Sir Leslie Stephen came from a distinguished intellect ...

, and Sir William Gull. The society included many men who became contributors to magazines edited by Knowles. In 1870 he succeeded

Dean Alford Clarence "Dean" Alford (born July 17, 1953) is a former Republican Party member of the General Assembly and convicted criminal. Alford is the president and chief executive officer of Allied Energy Services, LLC and spokesman for Power4Georgia ...

as editor of the ''

Contemporary Review ''The Contemporary Review'' is a British biannual, formerly quarterly, magazine. It has an uncertain future as of 2013. History The magazine was established in 1866 by Alexander Strahan and a group of intellectuals anxious to promote intelli ...

'', but quit it in 1877 owing to the objection of the proprietors to the inclusion of articles (by W. K. Clifford notably) attacking Theism, and he initiated the ''

Nineteenth Century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolish ...

'' (to the title of which, in 1901, were added the words ''And After''). Both periodicals became influential while he was editor of them, and were the new sort of monthly review which replaced the popularity of the quarterlies. For example, it helped halt the Channel Tunnel project, by publishing a protest signed by many distinguished men in 1882. In 1904 he received a knighthood. He was a considerable collector of works of art. Knowles was married twice, first in 1860 to Jane Borradaile, then in 1865 to Isabel Hewlett. He died in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and was buried at the Brighton Extra Mural Cemetery.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knowles, James 1831 births 1908 deaths Alumni of University College London Burials at West Norwood Cemetery 19th-century English architects English magazine editors Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Architects from London English male non-fiction writers