Basic Biographical Details Name: | John Manuel (junior) | Designation: | | Born: | 18 June 1879 | Died: | June 1933 | Bio Notes: | John Manuel junior was born at 25 Bridge Street, Hawick on 18 June 1879, the son of John Manuel who served as Master of Works for Hawick Burgh from 1874. He was articled not to his father but to James Pearson Alison of Hawick in November 1894. After completing his apprenticeship he moved to Edinburgh in 1899 to work as assistant to Hippolyte Jean Blanc, enabling him to study at the School of Applied Art under Professor Frank Worthington Simon. He gave an address of 32 Warrender Park Terrace, Edinburgh when he exhibited designs at the RSA in 1900, but his father took ill early in that year and he returned to Hawick to serve as interim burgh surveyor during his father's illness, living at his former home, Elmbank, Hawick, a house designed by his father. He was still there when he exhibited at the RSA in the following two years (drawings of Jedburgh Abbey in 1901 and of Holyrood Abbey in 1902). In early 1904 he gave an Edinburgh address at 114 Viewforth, but this was the home of his fiancée and may just have been an address of convenience; later in that year when Frank Worthington Simon moved to Liverpool to join Huon Arthur Matear in partnership he took Manuel with him. Manuel remained with the Matear & Simon practice until 1907 when he transferred to that of Robert Weir Schultz in London.
In a United Free Church service at 14 Mayfield Gardens, Edinburgh on 17 April 1908 he married Madeline Brown, daughter of William Brown, hardware merchant and his wife Hannah Logan; but by then Manuel had moved to North Wales to work in the office of Porter & Elcock of Colwyn Bay. He was still at Colwyn Bay when he was admitted LRIBA on 24 June 1912, his proposers being Blanc, Alison and Matear.
At some point after 1912 Manuel emigrated to Canada where he contributed to the design of the provincial legislature in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and became resident architect at the Banff Springs Hotel in Banff National Park. He was also responsible for the design of the Labor Temple in Calgary. Manuel died from a fall from a tenth-storey window in the Palliser Hotel of which he had been making some sketches (now the Fairmont Palliser Hotel) in Calgary, Alberta in June 1933. He is buried in Burnsland Cemetery, Calgary.
He was survived by his wife and his three sisters who had all emigrated to North America and his brother in India. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | Alberta, Canada | Business | | 1933 | | | 32, Warrender Park Terracre, Edinburgh, Scotland | Private | 1900 * | | | | Elm Bank (or Elmbank), Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland | Private | 1900 | After 1902 | Also lived here as a child (parental home, designed by his father) | | 114, Viewforth, Edinburgh, Scotland | Private | 1904 * | | | | 25, York Road, Colwyn Bay, Conwy, Wales | Private | 1908 * | | | | 25, Erskine Road, Colwyn Bay, Wales | Private | 1912 * | | | | The Estate Office, Colwyn Bay, Wales | Business | 1912 * | | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployers* earliest date known from documented sources.
RIBARIBA Proposers
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | RSA | 1901 | | | | 628 & 714 (drawings of Jedburgh Abbey) | | RSA | 1902 | | | | 747 (drawings of west front of Holyrood Abbey) | | RSA | 1904 | | | | 433 (drawing of west towers of York Minster) |
Periodical ReferencesThe following periodicals contain references to this : | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Calgary Albertan | 27 June 1933 | | | | | Calgary Albertan | 28 June 1933 | | | | | Calgary Daily Herald | 26 June 1933 | | | |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | Professor David M Walker personal archive | Professor David M Walker, notes and collection of archive material | | Information from research by Ron H Smith, owner of former Elm Bank, Hawick. Also information from Harry Sanders in Alberta Canada | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | L v25 no2022 |
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