George Fowler Jones

Fowler Jones' monogram on gable end, Castle Oliver, Ireland

George Fowler Jones (25 January 1818 Inverness[1] – 1 March 1905 Malton, North Yorkshire) was an architect and early amateur photographer who was born in Scotland but based for most of his working life in York.

Biography and work

He studied under architect William Wilkins, the designer of the National Gallery, assisting him with the plates for his work on Vitruvius; then under Sydney Smirke. When Smirke undertook repairs to the fire-damaged York Minster in the early 1840s, he sent Jones to take measurements. Jones liked York enough to move there shortly after. Jones was elected Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) on 17 February 1868, proposed by Decimus Burton, Sydney Smirke and Ewan Christian.[2]

He married firstly Anne, in 1848, the 3rd daughter of Dr William Matterson of Minster Yard, York, (Lord Mayor). She died 'of congestion of the lungs' on 29 January 1855 aged 35 at home, Bootham.[3] Then Catherine, in 1857, 4th daughter of Henry Pigeon Esq. of Clapham Common and Southwark.[4] Jones fathered 11 children who survived into their majority. With his 1st wife: Gascoigne Hastings 1850–1911; Fowler Lloyd 1851–1929, settled in Hastings, UK ; Augusta 1853–1935; Annie Eliza Elena 1855–1925. With his 2nd wife: Fanny Katherine 1858–1936; Constance 1860–1930; Harry Mckenzie 1861–1948 (moved to Valparaiso, Chile, descendants now in Santiago; Montague 1864–1935; Robert Colquhoun 1865–1952; Edith 1867–1946; Lucy 1870–1914. Further information welcome, follow Castle Oliver link (see below) and use the Contact form.

According to the daughter of Montague Fowler Jones, none of her aunts ever married, because their father wouldn't let them!

His earliest known commission, in 1843 at the age of 25, was the Gascoigne Almshouses, in Aberford, near Leeds, Yorkshire for the sisters Elizabeth & Mary Isabella Oliver Gascoigne. The building stood near the Gascoignes' family seat, Parlington Hall. Jones was also responsible for various projects at Parlington Hall, including a conservatory and a boat house. He undertook a substantial number of commissions for the sisters throughout his life and clearly had a warm relationship with them.

In 1843 when he began the Aberford Almshouses, Jones lived at 80 Baker Street, London. In 1844 while designing Castle Oliver he lived at 51 or 52 Monkgate, near Monk Bridge, York. In 1846 he started a practice at 8 Lendal, York. Plans and elevations of 3 Counties Asylum, dated 15 September 1856 give Jones' address as 4 New St., York. The Yorkshire Gazette of 15 February 1862 records that Jones moved from New St. to 84 Bootham. Pevsner records that in 1862, Jones designed and built 78 Bootham, York, as his own residence and Jones' RIBA incorporation certificate of 1868 gives this as his address. Presumably therefore 78 Bootham became Jones' offices; Works at 3 Counties Asylum dated 8 July and September 1870 also give 84 Bootham. Plans for 3 Counties Asylum dated 3 May 1877 and 9 March 1878 give his address as 3 Stonegate, York. Further works at 3 Counties dated February 1880 give his address as 100 Micklegate, next to 'The Pack Horse' and he still held the property in 1886. However, since by this time Jones had in all probability retired to Malton, the address is probably that of his practice, then run by his son.

In addition to his architectural activities, Jones was a keen photographer in the very earliest days of the medium. He managed to become a pupil to William Fox Talbot, inventor of the negative/positive process. Some of Jones' photographs of his own buildings and of York city, the earliest dating back to 1851, are to be found in the City of York Libraries and Archives; others at the City Reference Library, Leeds. A vast body of his photographic work, dating from the very earliest days of photography, now resides at the National Media Museum, Bradford. 2,100 negatives, along with some prints, have been meticulously catalogued in a 340-page index. Scenes include some of his earliest commissions, at Castle Oliver, Parlington Hall, Garforth Church and Aberford Almshouses. The collection spans Jones' entire career and includes considerable numbers of images shot in Scotland, Ireland, Corsica, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and even New Zealand. Clearly Jones had a fondness for travel. Within the collection are several large negatives which Jones' records as being Fox Talbot's work, although this has been disputed by Larry Schaaf, author & expert on Fox Talbot.

Jones was also a proficient watercolorist, exhibiting at the Fine Art Exhibitions of 1880 (St Mary's Abbey) and 1885 (2 views of Norway & the Church of St John, Exmouth), probably other years also. An auction in 1923 at Castle Oliver, in Ireland included 2 Views of Corsica by G.Fowler Jones and his son bequeathed another, Ajaccio Bay, Corsica.

Jones contributed to Productions of the Leeds Photographic Society (1852), a book of photography by York residents.[5]

He died at home, Quarry Bank, Malton, North Yorkshire. Obituaries in The Builder Journal and 'RIBA' Journal, are both dated 11 March 1905. An obituary appeared in the Yorkshire Herald on 3 March 1905 and in The Yorkshire Gazette of 4/3/1905. This latter says -on Wednesday, after a short illness, at the age of 85 years. He had lived at Malton for many years, but worked in York.

Apprentices and assistants

One account in The Yorks Gazette mentions that Jones was assisted in his practice 'by both sons' and that following Gascoigne Jones' death 'his younger brother carried on the practice, taking on as partner a Mr Munby, but the firm ceased after probably a year or two'.[7] It is not known which son this refers to.

List of works

Castle Oliver, Ireland

References

  1. ↑ Date and place given by Palmer Jones, a descendent
  2. ↑ Directory of British Architects 1834–1900 RIBA 1993, p. 508
  3. ↑ Yorkshire Gazette 3/2/1855
  4. ↑ Yorkshire Gazette 22 August 1857
  5. ↑ Description of the book on the website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
  6. ↑ Dictionary of Scottish Architects
  7. ↑ Knowles Artists Vol. 1 p. 240
  8. ↑ Bedfordshire Hospital Records. There is also a whole website decicated to the Three Counties Asylum which contains a portrait and biography of Jones

External links

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