Basic Biographical Details Name: | Fredric Berkeley-Miller | Designation: | | Born: | 30 January 1911 | Died: | | Bio Notes: | Fredric Berkeley-Miller was born in 1854 and was articled to John Young of Perth in 1870 (to whom he refers mistakenly as 'Geo Young, City Architect, Perth' in his RIBA nomination papers). In 1875 he moved to Edinburgh to join John Dick Peddie of Peddie & Kinnear as assistant, moving two years later to the office of Robert Rowand Anderson, whom he assisted in the design of Edinburgh University. He left in 1879 and went to London, where he worked first as assistant to Richard Norman Shaw for two years, working on the Albert Hall Mansions, and then to George Edmund Street, assisting with the Royal Courts of Justice. Street died in the same year, and it appears that Berkeley-Miller remained with his son Arthur Edmund Street who continued the firm thereafter. During his early London years Berkeley-Miller studied at the RA Schools and gained several awards, including an RA medal for a drawing of a tomb in Westminster Abbey in 1879, another for a drawing of Somerset House vestibule in 1880, and the RIBA Grissell Gold Medal for a design for a tower and spire in 1881.
In 1890 he took up a position as superintendent in the War Office Design Branch in London, where he remained until he commenced practice on his own account in 1905 at Birkbeck Bank Chambers, moving in 1908 to 7 New Court, Lincoln's Inn, where he shared an office with Francis H Fowler. Despite being based in London, his work appears to have been exclusively in Nigeria, including an industrial institute, church and grammar schools in Abeokuta, a church and a sailors' institute in Lagos, and two prisons, constructed from concrete blocks with iron doors, windows and roofs shipped out from England.
He was elected FRIBA on 30 January 1911, by which time he had moved home and office to 2 Lawn Crescent, Kew. Fowler was his only proposer; the lack of additional proposers is explained by Berkeley-Miller in an accompanying letter which mentions that although he knew several other members of the Institute - including Leonard Aloysius Scott Stokes from his time at the RA Schools, Mervyn Edmund Macartney from his time with Shaw and Walter John Nash Millard from the period he spent with Street - none of them was acquainted with his recent work as principal. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | Birkbeck Bank Chambers, London, England | Business | 1905 | 1908 | | | 7, New Court, Lincoln's Inn, London, England | Business | 1908 | 1910 | | | 2, Lawn Crescent, Kew Gardens, London, England | Private/business | 1910 | | |
Employment and TrainingEmployers
RIBARIBA ProposersThe following individuals proposed this for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date proposed | Notes | | Francis H Fowler | 30 January 1911 | for Licentiateship |
Buildings and DesignsThis 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 | | 1877 | University of Edinburgh, Medical School and McEwan Hall | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Medical School - as assistant to Robert Rowand Anderson | | 1879 | Albert Hall Mansions | Kensington | | London | England | As assistant to Richard Norman Shaw | | 1881 | Royal Courts of Justice | Westminster | | London | England | As assistant to George Edmund Street |
ReferencesArchive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | L no474 (microfilm reel 32) |
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