Basic Biographical Details

Name:	Simpson & Ayrton
Designation:
Born:	1905
Died:	1928
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 Simpson's partnership with Milner Allen had been dissolved by that time, but it was an astute move: although Simpson's domestic work had become decent Arts and Crafts, it brought the practice's somewhat dated 1890s free baroque instantly up-to-date. Ayrton was born in 1874. His career had begun inauspiciously as an articled apprentice to Harry Beswick of Chester in 1890. He remained with him as an assistant until 1897 when he moved to London as assistant first to William Eden Nesfield's former chief clerk, Richard Creed, then William Alfred Pite and finally Edwin Landseer Lutyens from 1897 to 1899. These posts enabled him to study at the South Kensington Schools and pass the qualifying exam in 1903, his proposers being Simpson, Pite and Lacy William Ridge. He was briefly in independent practice from 1899 until he joined Simpson in 1905. From 1905 onwards Ayrton was responsible for most of the design work, his best known work in these years being the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924-25 which brought Simpson a knighthood. The exhibition put Ayrton in contact with its civil engineer Owen Williams, resulting in their subsequent collaboration on the design of Williams's Scottish bridges. By the time Ayrton formed the practice Simpson had begun to become deeply involved in the work of the RIBA and in particular in its European contacts, having developed a wider interest in the architecture of the Renaissance 'and the byways of architectural history (especially in France)'; he encouraged and helped W H Ward to write 'The Architecture of the Renaissance in France' (1911) after the publisher, Batsford, found W J Anderson's text too incomplete. In 1904 Simpson became Honorary Secretary of the British section fo the Permanent International Committee of Architects, a role in which he became Sir John Burnet's closest friend within the profession in London. As a result he became a corresponding member of the Institut (Académie des Beaux-Arts), The Société Centrale des Architectes, the Société des Architectes diplômés par le Gouvernement de France, the Central Vereinegung der Arckitekten, Vienna and the Sociedad Central de Arquitectos, Buenos Aires, and was one of the principal founders of the Franco British Union of Architects. In 1908-09 he was responsible for drawing up the code for international competitions, and in 1910 he became Secretary General of the RIBA Town Planning Conference and Exhibition in the RA galleries at Burlington House. Sir Raymond Unwin recalled his 'untiring energy' and 'unfailing courage in the face of difficulties' in 'trying to reduce to order material … which was coming in from all parts of the world, much of it late, and some having to be found and fetched from the docks'. Simpson was President of the RIBA 1919-21 and the prime mover of the Allied Societies Conference which took place during his presidency. He was Vice-President of the International Committee from 1927 until his death. In 1928 the partnership of Simpson and Ayrton was dissolved. Although now seventy years old, Simpson did not retire, taking into partnership Frank W Knight and Henley Cornford. Ayrton continued in independent practice.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
	Address	Type	Date from	Date to	Notes
	3 Verulam Buildings, Gray's Inn, London, England	Business	1905	After 1926

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
	Bailey Scott Murphy	1905	1905	Assistant
	Ormrod Maxwell Ayrton	1905	1928	Partner
	(Sir) John William Simpson	1905	1928	Partner
	George Grey Wornum	1909	1910	Assistant
	John Robert Moore	After 1923	Before 1925	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
	1904 or 1905	Victoria Institute	Worcester		Worcestershire	England	Alterations? - unclear whether under firm of Simpson & Allen or Simpson & Ayrton
	1905	Haileybury College			Hertfordshire	England	Additions - Form Rooms, Lodge and Big School (New Hall)
	1905	Roedean School	Brighton		East Sussex	England	Chapel, sanatorium, art school and library
	1912	Gresham's School Chapel	Holt		Norfolk	England
	1913	Fields House, Gibbs' House and Masters' Tower at Lancing College			West Sussex	England	Additions
	1924	British Empire Exhibition	Wembley		London	England	Design work carried out by Ayrton; Simpson mainly involved in organisation
	1925	Findhorn Bridge	Tomatin		Inverness-shire	Scotland
	1925	Spey Bridge	Newtonmore		Inverness-shire	Scotland

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.