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, 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, organization, a ...

. 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 ...

and the founder of the Metaphysical Society to encourage rapprochement between religion and science.

Life

James Knowles was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the son of the architect James Thomas Knowles (1806–1884), 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 f ...

and in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Among the buildings he designed were three churches in

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

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

Aldworth Aldworth is a village and mainly farmland civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, near the boundary with Oxfordshire. Orthography and slight change of name Aldworth was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 by scribes whose orthogra ...

, the

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...

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 resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

.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 ...

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 Metaphysical Society, 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 politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

, W. K. Clifford, W. G. Ward,

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 Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist who specialized in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stor ...

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...

Leslie Stephen Sir Leslie Stephen (28 November 1832 – 22 February 1904) was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, mountaineer, and an Ethical Culture, Ethical movement activist. He was also the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell and the ...

, 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 Georgia General Assembly and convicted criminal. Alford is the president and chief executive officer of Allied Energy Services, LLC and spokesman for Power ...

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 intent on promoting their v ...

'', 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'' (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 in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

and was buried at the Brighton Extra Mural Cemetery.

Notes

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