William Wallen (architect and surveyor)

During the ninetieth century, the Wallen family was linked to British architecture. William Wallen (1790–1863) and his son, William Wallen Junior (1817–1891) were both architects and surveyors in London.

Biographies

William Wallen Senior (1790–1873), was born in Southwark, Surrey, the son of William Wallen and probably Frances Wallen née Smith. William married Amy Elizabeth Willcocks (1790 – C 1865) at Guildhall, Blackfriars in 1814.[1] They lived in Hoxton, London, producing four sons and five daughters.[2] William died at Hackney in 1873, aged 83.[3]

William Wallen Junior (1816–1891) also became an architect and surveyor. Professionally, he remained William Wallen ( Junior), no doubt to distinguish himself from his father and his cousin, William Wallen (1807–1888) , a fellow architect in Huddersfield. William Jnr. was born in Hoxton and married Mary Ann Sydney (1828–1899) at Guildhall in 1848.[4] They produced four sons and one daughter.[5] William died in Greenwich aged 74 Years.[6]

Career of William Wallen (Senior)

William Wallen Senior practised as an architect and surveyor, however; he appears to have favoured surveying commissions. His career was somewhat overshadowed by his older brother, John Wallen (1783–1865) who was an architect and the principal surveyor to London during the 1830s.[7] Nevertheless, William is credited with at least two architectural projects between 1822 and 1823.[8] They were non-conformist chapels in Newbury, Berkshire and Newark, Nottinghamshire. It is also suggested that he was the “Mr Wallen” who received a substantial fee for the survey and probably the design of Claremont Chapel in New Road, Pentonville.[9]

During the 1830s, William’s professional office was at 1 Circus Place, Finsbury. Here he designed the British School in Wood Street, Spitalfields,[10] and the Abbey Street British School in Bethnal Green.[11] He briefly employed Owen Jones, a pupil of architect, Lewis Vulliamy. This was probably an arrangement between Vulliamy and Wallen to equip Jones with essential surveying skills before he undertook a Grand Tour of Europe and the Middle East in 1832.[12]

Wallen family correspondence, dating from the 1800s, indicates that one, or both, the Wallen brothers were involved in the surveying of the London to Birmingham railway. Apparently, a ‘mistake’ caused the Wallens major financial hardship.[13] Notably, William was declared bankrupt in February 1839.[14] Undaunted, William returned to the Court in the same year. In Wallen v. Smith he successfully appealed costs exceeding £40 previously awarded against him. His case became legal precedent referred to during the 1800s.[15] By 1848, William had opened an office at 17 King St, London City and through the 1850s, he and his son, William (Jnr), operated from 25 Bassinghall Street, London.[16] In 1950, Henry Jones Lanchester (1834–1914) was articled to William Wallen and also worked in John Wallen's office.[17] Lanchester is noted for laying out part of Hove [18] and also the design of Palmeira Mansions, Hove.

Career of William Wallen (Junior)

William (jnr) designed the first school in the Isle of Dogs. Millwall British School was built by James and Jonathan Coleman of Bermondsey in 1846–47.[19] He also designed a Lecture Hall for the Deptford Literary Institution. It was built by Joseph Lester in 1852.[20] William won an allegedly corrupt competition to design the Vestry Hall at the Greenwich Public Offices. The hall was built in 1876–77 by W. W. Allen.[21]

William Wallen the younger of Lawrence Pountney Lane, in the City of London, Architect, Surveyor, Builder, Dealer and Chapman was declared bankrupt on 25 March 1854.[22] William (jnr) was again declared bankrupt on 29 September 1869, but an Order of Discharge was granted on 10 December 1869.[23] Francis Hodgson Nixon (1832–83) became a pupil of William (jnr) in 1846. By mutual consent, Nixon and Wallen annulled the indenture agreement in 1849.[24] Nixon moved to Australia to pursue a career in architecture before turning to journalism.

References

  1. ↑ Parish record,Guildhall, St Ann Blackfriars.
  2. ↑ England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JQBQ-YQ3 : accessed 21 March 2015).
  3. ↑ London Volume: 1b Page: 381
  4. ↑ Guildhall, St Andrew by the Wardrobe, Register of marriages, 1837 - 1852,
  5. ↑ England Censuses 1851 & 1861
  6. ↑ Greenwich, London Volume: 1d Page: 760
  7. ↑ Colvin H.M. 1954. A Biographical Dictionary of English Architects, 1660–1840. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780719502545
  8. ↑ Colvin 1954.
  9. ↑ 'Pentonville Road', in Survey of London: Volume 47, Northern Clerkenwell and Pentonville, ed. Philip Temple (London, 2008), pp. 339-372 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol47/pp339-372 [accessed 22 April 2015].
  10. ↑ Metropolitan Archives, Y/SP/093/02/A ; Y/SP/093/02/B
  11. ↑ Cherry B., O'Brien C. & Pevsner N. 2005, the Buildings of England, London East, New Haven: Yale University Press.
  12. ↑ Flores C.A.H. 1996, Owen Jones, Architect, A Dissertation, Atlanta: Georgia Institute of Technology.
  13. ↑ Munro D. 2015, Holds Wallen family correspondence.
  14. ↑ Eliwick G. 1843, The Bankruptcy Directory,London: Simpkin, 428
  15. ↑ Meeson R. & Weslby W.N. 1838, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Courts of Exchequer, Vol. 3, London:Sweet,136.
  16. ↑ Post Office Directories, 1843 to 1856
  17. ↑ Brodie, A. 2001,Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. London: Continuum,8.
  18. ↑ Obituary. 'ONE OF THE "SIX-FOOT" GUARDS, The Times, Wednesday, Jan 07, 1914.
  19. ↑ 'Southern Millwall: The Mellish Estate in Southern Millwall', in Survey of London: Volumes 43 and 44, Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs, ed. Hermione Hobhouse (London, 1994), pp. 480-489 https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols43-4/pp480-489 [accessed 25 April 2015].
  20. ↑ MBO/PLANS/452
  21. ↑ Edith Streets London, http://edithsstreets.blogspot.com.au/2010/03/thames-tributary-ravensbourne_16.html
  22. ↑ London Gazette 28/03/1854 , 993.
  23. ↑ The London Gazette, 1 Oct 1869 & 14 July 1871, 3222.
  24. ↑ Rockhampton Bulletin 1881; Nixon’s Indenture Papers, available ancestry.com.


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