Architects

Name:

Robert William Billings

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Year Only

Exact DOB:

04/04/1926

Year of Birth :

1813

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Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

14/11/1874

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Bio Notes :

Robert William Billings was born in London in 1813 and became a pupil of John Britton at the age of 13. He early became a fine architectural draughtsman, and although he had no formal training as an architect was admitted ARIBA on 27 July 1835, his proposers being Peter Frederick Robinson, Henry Rhodes and Henry Edward Kendall. At that date he was based in Bath where he lived from 1834 until 1837, but both Robinson's nomination and his subsequent succession to Robinson as architect to Robert and Anna Gordon’s Kemble estate in Gloucestershire suggest that he may have had some practical training in Robinson's office. While in Bath he married Antoinette Clarkson on 21 April 1836. She had some skill in drawing and assisted him in his publications.

In 1837 Billings drew the illustrations for George Godwin's 'History and Description of St Paul's', followed by 'The Churches of London' with another Britton protégé, Frederick Mackenzie. Concurrently with these publications he assisted Sir Jeffry Wyatville with the later stages of the reconstruction of Windsor Castle, his connection with the project lasting until at least 1845, and made drawings of the ruins of the Palace of Westminster after the fire of 1834.

Billings's other publications of the 1830s and early 1840s comprise 'Temple Church' (1838); 'Gothic panelling in Brancepeth Church' (1841); 'Kettering Church' (1843); 'Carlisle Cathedral' (1840); 'Durham Cathedral' (1843) and 'The Architectural Antiquities of the County of Durham' (1846). At that date he was living at 4A Lower Belgrave, London.

In the early 1840s Billings became acquainted with the Edinburgh architect William Burn. How this came about is unclear as it appears to have preceded Burn’s work on Raby Castle in County Durham. Initially Billings seems to have been drafted in on a short-term contract to help with the major projects Burn and his partner David Bryce then had in hand as it is known that he designed a carpet for the royal visit to Dalkeith Palace in 1842, but by that date Burn already had been planning a book on Scottish architecture. A volume of Bryce drawings of Heriot’s Hospital and the tombs in Greyfriars Churchyard, now in George Washington University, St Louis, Missouri, may relate to it. When Burn moved to London in 1844 leaving Bryce in charge of the Edinburgh office, he again sought out Billings with the proposal that he should undertake ‘The Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland’ to be published by William Blackwood’s sons Robert and John Blackwood. The concept was finalised in October 1845 and once Billings’s existing commitments in Durham and at Windsor had been cleared, work began in earnest in February 1846, the year in which the prospectus was issued and subscriptions raised. The project cost was largely provided by the Blackwoods who found Billings ‘a very rum customer’ but were reassured by his enthusiasm and the excellence of his draughtsmanship.

Blackwood published the book in sixty parts, each with four plates retailing at two shillings and sixpence. The area surveyed extended as far as Orkney, Antoinette travelling with her husband and ‘studying drawing most confoundedly hard so as to be useful as well as ornamental’. In the north-east Billings was greatly assisted by Thomas Mackenzie, the Elgin and Aberdeen architect, who remained a particular friend until his premature death in 1854. At the Blackwoods’ insistence ‘Historical Notice’ sections in the text were provided by the historian John Hill Burton, both Burn and Billings having initially resisted his involvement.

When the publication was first issued the authors were named on the pictorial title pages as Billings and Burn. In the summer of 1850 Burn sought to withdraw his capital. While this coincided with the closure of his partnership with David Bryce in July, his letter as quoted by Billings indicates a need to raise capital which probably related to one of his sons running into serious financial difficulty although the date of that mishap is not precisely known. In August 1850 Billings and the Blackwoods each bought out half of Burn’s £1000 share, these half shares being valued at £566 and eleven shillings. Burn’s name was then removed from the title page. On completion of the project the book was re-issued as a complete four volume set in 1852. However in that year Robert Blackwood died and Billings’s relationship with John had begun to sour as a result of financial disagreements over Billings’ publications on gothic tracery. These had begun with ‘An attempt to define the geometric proportions of Gothic architecture as illustrated by the Cathedrals of Carlisle and Worcester’ (1840) and ‘Illustrations of Geometric tracery from the panelling belonging to Carlisle Cathedral’ (1842) and were continued in ‘The Infinity of Geometric Design Exemplified’ (1849) and ‘The Power of Form Applied to geometric Tracery’ (1851) both probably undertaken as winter work and published by Blackwoods. The disagreements over these appear to have subsequently extended to their partnership in ‘The Baronial and Eccelsiastical Antiquities’ as the 1855 re-issue was undertaken by Edmonston & Douglas. This included a prefatory note by Billings setting out the story of Burn’s withdrawal of his capital presumably with the object of justifying the change of authorship. Commercially the book was ultimately a success as it became the source book for every Scottish practice undertaking work in the baronial idiom until MacGibbon & Ross's 'Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland' began to appear from 1887 onwards. Billings's 'Studies in gothic geometry and tracery', also had a considerable influence on contemporary architectural practice.

Billings career as an architect in independent practice rather than as Author seems to have begun with work on Kemble House from 1848 and Kemble vicarage built in 1840. Although based at 3 St Mary's Road, Canonbury, London, his business was predominantly Scottish, much of it for the Royal Engineers on the castles of Edinburgh and Stirling. His practice was peripatetic in nature, emulating the master builders of the Middle Ages in that he executed much of the sculpture with his own hands. As a designer he had a marked predilection for angular forms, plate tracery and trapezoidal and multi-angular arches.

In later years Billings was a Director of the Crystal Palace Board, his main duties being its ongoing maintenance although his unfinished panoramic view of London from the dome of St Pauls’ Cathedral was presumably intended for it. His most important client was Sir George Burns for whom he massively extended Wemyss Castle following the latter's retirement in 1860. In 1865 he bought The Moulinière, once the home of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, where he died on 14 November 1874, leaving moveable estate of 'under £2,000'. He was survived by his wife who died in 1884. The panoramic view of London was given to St Paul’s Cathedral that year.

Bio Notes continued...

Additional Notes

The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:

Private Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From Char	Date From Type	Date To Char	Date To Type	Notes
Manor House Kentish Town London England	Private
Moulinere Putney London England	Private					Moulinere was a former home of the Duchess of Marlborough

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date To
44 Lower Belgrave Place London Scotland	Business	1845
96 Lower Belgrave Place London England	Business	1848
3 St Mary\'s Road Canonbury London England	Business	1855	1861

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This person was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):

Buildings and Designs2 classic

Building Name	Date Started	Town, District or Village	City or County	Country	Notes
Great Malvern Priory screen	In year 1845	Great Malvern	Worcestershire	England	Design exhibited (also in 1853)
Cawdor Castle	c. 1845		Nairnshire	Scotland	Sketch of panelling in drawing room
Kemble House and estate buildings	In year 1848		Wiltshire/Gloucestershire	England	Remodelling with bay windows; also hall screen
Vicarage at Kemble	In year 1850	Kemble	Gloucestershire	England
100 Brunswick Street	c. 1850		Glasgow	Scotland	Possible attribution (HS)
Bank of Scotland Headquarters, The Mound	c. 1851		Edinburgh	Scotland	Suggested remodelling
Edinburgh Castle, St Margaret's Chapel	In year 1853		Edinburgh	Scotland	Scheme
Wemyss Bay House	In year 1853	Wemyss Bay	Renfrewshire	Scotland
Sir James Campbell's Warehouse, Ingram Street and Brunswick Street	In year 1854		Glasgow	Scotland	FaÃ§ade
North London Waterworks Pumping Station	In year 1854	Stoke Newington	London	England	With William Chadwell Mylne, engineer
Gosford House, north and west lodges	In year 1854		East Lothian	Scotland	North and west lodges
Crosby Church	In year 1854	Crosby-on-Eden	Cumberland	England
Carlisle Cemetery, Monument to Peter Nicholson	In year 1855	Spital Moor, Carlisle	Cumberland	England
Kemble House and estate buildings	In year 1855		Wiltshire/Gloucestershire	England	Gateway
Cardell	c. 1855	Weymss Bay	Renfrewshire	Scotland	Original house

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part	Notes
Colvin, H M	A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840	1995	New Haven and London: Yale University Press	3rd edition
New DNB	New Dictionary of National Biography
MacLehose, James	Memoirs and portraits of one hundred Glasgow Men who have died during the last thirty years â¦	1886	Glasgow: James MacLehose & Sons		Volume 1 - memoirs of John Baird
Gow, Ian	Introduction to The Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland	2009	Birlinn

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
RIBA Journal	1874-75	p35
Builder	1874/11/28		p982
Sessional Papers of the RIBA	1876-1877

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The following archives hold material relating to this person:

Arc ref classic

Archive Name	Source	Source Cat No	Building Id	Item Name	Notes
RIBA Nomination Papers	RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum	100005			A v1 p28

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

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Periodical References

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Archive References

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