Larger versions of these images are located at the foot of the page. Basic Biographical Details Name: | Horatio Kelson Bromhead | Designation: | Architect | Born: | 1 March 1838 | Died: | 24 January 1934 | Bio Notes: | Horatio Kelson Bromhead was born in Bristol on 1 March 1838, the son of Timothy Bromhead and his wife Ann Brooke. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School and articled to William Bruce Gingell in Bristol c.1853. At the end of his articles he worked as assistant to T Royce Lysaght of Lysaght & Hirst in the same city, and subsequently moved to York as assistant to George Fowler Jones.
In March 1859 Bromhead settled in Glasgow as the partner of Gustavus Hamilton O'Donoghue who was then on the point of establishing an office in London. This partnership was very soon dissolved, Bromhead opening his own office at 152 West George Street later in 1859 or early in 1860.
Bromhead thereafter practised alone until his retirement in 1924-25. His practice was small and his work extremely conservative late neo-classical with some individual touches in the details, his competition designs for Glasgow Municipal Buildings still being in the style of the early 1850s. He was admitted ARIBA on 27 May 1872, his proposers being Professor Robert Kerr, James Edmeston, founder of the Architectural Association and T Roger Smith, later professor at University College, London.
As there is no record of Bromhead having studied at the Architectural Association or at King's or University Colleges, this influential support probably derived from his interest in professional matters. He was effectively the founder of the Glasgow Institute of Architects, serving on its council and as its President 1904-05; and he wrote to the architectural journals in support of Edward Middleton Barry in his dispute with the Government over the ownership of his father's drawings for the Houses of Parliament. He was also a life member of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts from its inception, and served on the Council of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow. He was advanced to FRIBA in 1902 as President of the Glasgow Institute.
Bromhead never married, but was socially active as a member of the New Club and of the Imperial Union Club. He was 'a first-rate musician', a lay reader at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, and a yachtsman, being a life member of the Royal Western Yachting Club and a member of the Royal Canoe Club at Kingston on Thames and of the Clyde Canoe Club, of which he was commodore.
Bromhead died on 24 January 1934 aged ninety-five. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this architect: | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes |  | 152, West George Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1860 | | |  | 79, West Regent Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1862 * | c. 1867 | |  | 159, West George Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1867 or 1868 * | | |  | 194, St Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business(?) | Before 1872 | After 1875 | |  | 245, St Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | Before 1879 | After 1890 | |  | High Windsor Villa, Dowanhill, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | Before 1888 | | , |  | 4, Queen Margaret Crescent, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | 1891 * | | |  | 243, St Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | Before 1894 | 1924 | |  | Fernlee/18, Kirklee Road, Kelvinside, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | Before 1900 | After 1902 | |  | 95, Bath Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business(?) | 1924 | After 1926 | |  | 83, Hill Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | Before 1929 | 1934 | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployersThe following individuals or organisations employed or trained this architect (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes |  | William Bruce Gingell | c. 1853 | c. 1857(?) | Apprentice | |  | Lysaght & Hirst | c. 1857 | c. 1858(?) | Assistant | |  | George Fowler Jones | c. 1858(?) | 1859 | Assistant | |
Employees or Pupils
RIBARIBA ProposersRIBA Proposals
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this architect: | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes |  | Glasgow Contemporaries | 1901 | Glasgow Contemporaries at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century | | | |  | Who's Who in Architecture | 1914 | | | | |  | Who's Who in Architecture | 1926 | | | | |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this architect: | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes |  | Builder | 29 February 1934 | | | p324 - obituary (other sources give 23 February 1934 - possibly death notice?) |  | Building Industries | 16 March 1923 | | | |  | RIBA Journal | 10 March 1934 | v41 | London: Royal Institute of British Architects | p475 - obituary |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this architect: | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes |  | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | A v4 p148 (microfiche 12/F6); Fv14 p37 |
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