Basic Biographical Details

Name: Percy Benjamin French Freeman
Designation:  
Born: 1859
Died:  
Bio Notes: Percy Benjamin French Freeman was born in 1859 and articled to Robert Henry Burden in London from 1879 until 1883. Thereafter he obtained an appointment as clerk to George Gilbert Scott, Junior, and together with Temple Moore coped with Scott's mental breakdown in 1883-84. When Scott's practice closed he became assistant to Bodley & Garner, setting up his own practice at 3 Staple Inn, London c.1885. The arrangements there were highly unusual as a large part of his business was acting as office manager for Temple Moore. As Giles Gilbert Scott later wrote, 'Moore did not have an office in the ordinary sense as he always worked in his private office at his own home in Well Walk, Hampstead. I did not therefore work under his immediate supervision, but in an office in Staple Inn under the rule of Mr P B Freeman, who was associated with five other architects, all carrying on their own practices.'

In or about 1898 Freeman took Gilbert Francis Molyneux Ogilvy into partnership. Ogilvy was born in 1868, the fourth son of Sir Reginald Ogilvy, 10th Baronet of Inverquharity and Baldovan and his wife the Hon Olivia, daughter of the 9th Baron Kinnaird. He was educated at Glenalmond and at University College, Oxford, before being articled to Hippolyte Blanc in Edinburgh: his nomination paper does not give dates, but the connection presumably came through All Souls Church at Invergowrie, built in 1890-93 for Lady Frances Kinnaird.

Ogilvy's practice consisted principally of estate work and private houses. The estates on which he worked comprised Baldovan, which his elder brother, Sir Herbert Kinnaird Ogilvy 12th Bt WS of the Dundee legal firm of Shiell & Small inherited from their nephew in 1914; the Guthrie estate of Craigie, Angus now Dundee) for which Sir Herbert was factor; Winton, East Lothian which was owned by his aunt Mrs Nisbet Hamilton Ogilvy; Landguard, Isle of Wight; Sudbury, Derbyshire; Langford, Oxfordshire; Greystoke Castle, Cumberland; Hatherop Castle, Gloucestershire; and the Duchy of Lancaster.

In 1902, whilst the Freeman & Ogilvy partnership was still practising, Freeman entered into a separate partnership with Francis Charles Eden and Victor Tylston Hodgson.

Freeman and Ogilvy were both admitted LRIBA in 1911, Freeman on 27 February and Ogilvy on 20 July. Freeman's proposers were Temple Moore, William Dunn and William Bonner Hopkins, also from Bodley's office; Ogilvy's were Henry Martineau Fletcher, Godfrey Pinkerton and William Dunn, all of London. By that date, some time after 1904, the firm had moved to 6 Gray's Inn Square. The Freeman & Ogilvy practice closed in the early years of the First World War, and Ogilvy returned to Dundee in 1919 to develop the Baldovan estate, setting up practice within his brother Herbert's office at 5 Bank Street.

The practice of Freeman & Ogilvy returned to business after the war and was still active in the mid-1920s; it is not clear whether Ogilvy retained an interest in it or whether it was only the practice title itself that was continued.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 23, Staple Inn, London, EnglandBusinessc. 1885After 1904 
Item 2 of 26, Gray's Inn Square, London, EnglandBusinessBefore 1911c. 1915 

Employment and Training

Employers

The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate fromDate toPositionNotes
Item 1 of 5Robert Henry Burden18791883Apprentice 
Item 2 of 5George Gilbert Scott (junior)18831884Clerk 
Item 3 of 5Bodley & Garner18841885Assistant 
Item 4 of 5Freeman & Ogilvyc. 1898c. 1915Partner 
Item 5 of 5Freeman, Eden & Hodgson1902 Partner 

RIBA

RIBA Proposers

The following individuals proposed this for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate proposedNotes
Item 1 of 3William Dunn27 February 1911for Licentiateship
Item 2 of 3William Bonner Hopkins27 February 1911for Licentiateship
Item 3 of 3Temple Lushington Moore27 February 1911for Licentiateship

Buildings and Designs

This was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):
 Date startedBuilding nameTown, district or villageIslandCity or countyCountryNotes
Item 1 of 21After 1898House(s)Welwyn HertfordshireEngland 
Item 2 of 21After 1898HousesKingswood  England 
Item 3 of 21After 1898Landguard ManorShanklinIsle of WightHampshireEnglandAdditions
Item 4 of 21After 1898Langford Manor  GloucestershireEnglandAlterations
Item 5 of 21After 1898Sudbury HallSudbury DerbyshireEnglandRepairs and minor alterations
Item 6 of 21After 1898The Deanery, MallingLewes SussexEnglandAdditions
Item 7 of 211901St Luke's Episcopal Church and RectoryStrathmartine DundeeScotland 
Item 8 of 211902Church of St ThomasWarlies/Upshire EssexEngland 
Item 9 of 211904Pair of houses   England 
Item 10 of 211904Vicarage  EssexEngland 
Item 11 of 2119081 and 2 Croft TerraceErrol PerthshireScotlandHS - 'probably Ogilvy & Freeman'
Item 12 of 21Before 1908The WyckStannergate DundeeScotland 
Item 13 of 211909Donnington HallLedbury HerefordshireEnglandExtensive additions and alterations
Item 14 of 211909Stirling House  DundeeScotlandConversion from Craigie Stables to house
Item 15 of 211911St Adamnan's Episcopal ChurchDuror ArgyllScotlandAddition of chancel and decoration of interior?
Item 16 of 21c. 1911Gardener's House, 62 Old Craigie Road  DundeeScotland 
Item 17 of 21c. 1911Semi-detached cottages, East Haddon Road  DundeeScotland 
Item 18 of 211912All Souls Episcopal ChurchInvergowrie Perthshire/AngusScotlandChoir stalls, side screens and organ case
Item 19 of 211913Chapel at Girls' SchoolBognor SussexEnglandProposed - design exhibited
Item 20 of 211917Chapel at Girls' SchoolBognor SussexEngland 
Item 21 of 211926All Saints ChurchGobowen ShropshireEngland 

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 3Brandwood, Geoffrey K1997Temple Moore: an architect of the late Gothic revival   
Item 2 of 3Stamp, Gavin2002An Architect of Promise: George Gilbert Scott Junior (1839-1897) and the Late Gothic Revival   
Item 3 of 3Who's Who in Architecture1914