Basic Biographical Details

Name:	Simpson & Allen
Designation:
Born:	1887
Died:	Before 1912
Bio Notes:	John William Simpson was born in Scotland in 1858, the son of Thomas Simpson, architect, but was brought up in Brighton. He was articled to his father in 1875 but by 1878 had moved to 144 Finborough Road, London, to study at the RA Schools under R Phené Spiers, with, in the words of his fellow student Walter Millard, the object of making 'his own way in the world as quickly as possible', and found 'a market … for his powers as an able and hard working draughtsman'. In 1881 he was taken into partnership by the much older Michael Prendergast Manning, a dissenting United Reform Church architect with an office at 6 Mitre Court Chambers, Temple, and while there he passed the qualifying exam. He was admitted ARIBA on 6 November of that year, his proposers being Spiers, Joseph Douglass Matthews and Thomas Henry Watson, with whom he may have found some employment while at the Schools. By that date he had travelled in France and Belgium. In 1884 the partnership with Manning was dissolved and in 1887 Simpson formed another partnership with a fellow student at the RA Schools, Edmund John Milner Allen, who was slightly younger, born 1859 or 1860, and the son of the painter John Milner Allen. He had won the Schools' Silver Medal in 1880, and had been articled to William Warlow Gwyther 1876-80. Thereafter he had been assistant to Thomas William Cutler. The purpose of this partnership appears to have been to enter major competitions in which they had a fair degree of success, coming third in the Edinburgh Municipal Buildings Competition and first in that for the City Hospital in Liverpool, both in 1887, followed by firsts for the Victoria Institute, Worcester, 1890; Glasgow Art Gallery, 1891; and Manchester Royal Infirmary, 1896. Milner Allen's health failed and he died in 1912. Some years prior to that event, in 1905, Simpson had taken into partnership Ormrod Maxwell Ayrton - it is unclear whether the partnership with Milner Allen had been dissolved by that time.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	10 New Inn, Strand, London, England	Business	Before 1894	1899 or 1900
	3 Verulam Buildings, Gray's Inn, London, England	Business	1899 or 1900	After 1914

Employment and Training

Employees or Pupils

The following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details):
	Name	Date from	Date to	Position	Notes
	(Sir) John William Simpson	1887	Before 1912	Partner
	Edmund John Milner Allen	1887	Before 1912	Partner
	Alfred Herbert Foster	After 1895	Before 1902	Assistant
	Colvin Tyler Armstrong	1901	Before 1910	Assistant

Buildings and Designs

This was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):
	Date started	Building name	Town, district or village	Island	City or county	Country	Notes
	1887	City Hospital			Liverpool	England	First premiated competition design
	1890	Victoria Institute	Worcester		Worcestershire	England	Won competition and secured job
	1891	Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum	Kelvingrove		Glasgow	Scotland	Won competition - appointed as architects in 1892
	1896	Manchester Royal Infirmary: Piccadilly site			Manchester	England	Won competition
	1897	Town Hall			Cardiff	Wales	Unsuccessful competition design
	1898	Roedean School	Brighton		East Sussex	England	Main building, chapel, sanatorium, art school and library
	1899	Cartwright Memorial Hall	Bradford		Yorkshire	England	Won design competition (£150 premium)
	1904 or 1905	Victoria Institute	Worcester		Worcestershire	England	Alterations? - unclear whether under firm of Simpson & Allen or Simpson & Ayrton

References

Currently, there are no references for this . The information has been derived from: the British Architectural Library / RIBA Directory of British Architects 1834-1914; Post Office Directories; and/or any sources listed under this individual's works.