Skip to Main Content

Architects

Basic Biographic Details

Edwin Landseer Lutyens
Architect
Exact Date
Exact Date
01/01/1944
Edwin Landseer Lutyens was born in London on 29 March 1869, eleventh of the fourteen children of Captain Charles Henry Augustus Lutyens of the XX Foot (Lancashire Fusiliers) who had retired early to become a landscape and sporting painter; his mother, Mary Galloway, born an Irish Catholic, was also of a military family. His forenames commemorated his father's friendship with Sir Edwin Landseer.

As a child Landseer suffered from poor health and was partly educated by his mother at Thursley, Surrey. His father, his elder brother Fred and another of this father's artist friends, Randolph Caldecott, all taught him drawing, and like Lorimer he learned about traditional crafts by observing builders at work in his home village. In 1885 he entered the South Kensington Schools to study architecture, and in 1887 he obtained a place in the office of Ernest George & Peto, working under their assistant, Herbert Baker: E Guy Dauber was also in the office at the time, and either in twos or threes they went on sketching trips in Surrey, Sussex and Wales. Early in 1889 he received the commission for a large house at Crooksbury and set up his own practice, based at Farnham at the age of twenty, and early became acquainted with the gardener Gertrude Jekyll for whom he built Munstead Wood in 1896. She developed his ideas on the relationship of house and garden and introduced him to many of his early clients and to Lady Emily Lytton, daughter of a former Viceroy to India. Her mother was a lady in waiting at The Court, and it was through her that he was introduced to HRH Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, who commissioned the Inn in her estate at Roseneath in 1896.

Further commissions from within the Jekyll and Lytton circles enabled him to marry Lady Emily in 1897 and his work attracted the attention of 'Country Life,' building Deanery Garden for its proprietor Edward Hudson in 199-1902, and its offices in Covent Garden in 1904. Lutyens neither had the time nor the inclination to take the qualifying exam. He was admitted FRIBA on 8 January 1906, his proposers being the leaders of the profession, John Belcher, Aston Webb and Sir John Taylor.

Lutyens's practice assumed a monumental Imperil dimension when he was commissioned to design the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 1910 and the Rand Regents Memorial in 1911. In the following year he was appointed architect to the Delhi Planning Commission, an appointment that caused John Begg Counselling Architect to the Government of India, considerable disappointment and led to a difficult relationship between them. For this he worked in collaboration with Herbert Baker.

Lutyens was elected ARA a year later in 1913, and Knighted in 1918. Election to the RA followed after the war in 1920; the Royal Gold Medal in 1921; the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 1924; the Presidency of the Royal Academy in 1938; and the OM in 1942. Lutyens died of cancer on 1 January 1944.

(Select bibliography only included here.)

Addresses

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

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

AddressClassDate From CharDate From TypeDate To CharDate To TypeNotes
16 Onslow Street London EnglandPrivate
29 Bloomsbury Square London EnglandPrivate

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

AddressClassDate From Date From TypeDate ToDate To TypeNotes
28 Craven Street Charing Cross London EnglandBusiness1890
17 Queen Anne's Gate Westminster London EnglandBusiness1914

Employment and Training

The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this person (click on an item to view details):

Employers2 classic

NameName LinkDate FromDate ToPositionNotes
Ernest George & Peto100285In year 1887c. 1889ApprenticeUnder Herbert Baker
(Sir) Herbert Baker200106In year 1887c. 1889ApprenticeLutyens worked under Baker, chief assistant to George & Peto
Lutyens & Baker203985In year 1912In year 1913Partner

Employees or Pupils

The following individuals were employed or trained by this person (click on an item to view details):

Employees or Pupils2 classic

NameName LinkDate FromDate ToPositionNotes
James Mollison Wilson2035731912 or 1913In year 1915Assistant
Eric Alexander Hector MacDonald2051631924/111929/05Assistant
Kenneth Ogilvie Thoms4010391937/091938/07Assistant
Ormrod Maxwell Ayrton200099After 1897In year 1899Assistant
Frederick Bayliss Nightingale202311After 1909In year 1914Assistant
Paul Phipps202834In year 1901In year 1904Apprentice
Albert John Thomas205164In year 1902In year 1932Assistant
Sydney George Follett203477In year 1908In year 1910Draughtsman
Verner Owen Rees204578In year 1911In year 1912Assistant
George Stewart404048In year 1911In year 1944Chief Assistant
Garnet Alexander Farmer206584In year 1911c. 1915Assistant
John Hubert Worthington204946In year 1912In year 1914Assistant
James Macgregor202192In year 1914In year 1915Draughtsman
Garnet Alexander Farmer206584In year 1919In year 1921Assistant
(Sir) William Hardie Kininmonth 202942In year 1929In year 1931Assistant

RIBA Proposers

The following individuals proposed this person for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):

RIBA PROPOSERS2 classic

ProposerProposer LinkDate ProposedNotes
Aston Webb2009721906/01/08for Fellowship
John Belcher2016571906/01/08for Fellowship
(Sir) John Taylor2024511906/01/08for Fellowship

RIBA Proposals

This person proposed the following individuals for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):

RIBA PROPOSALS2 classic

PersonDate ProposedNotes
(Sir) Robert Stodart Lorimer1906/06/11for Fellowship
Paul PhippsIn year 1911for Licentiateship
James MacgregorLate 1914sfor Associateship
Robert Hunter Cameron1919/03/03for Associateship
Ormrod Maxwell AyrtonIn year 1920for Fellowship
William Bryce Binnie (Major)1925/11/30for Fellowship
Eric Alexander Hector MacDonaldEarly 1930sfor Associateship

Buildings and Designs

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 NameDate StartedTown, District or VillageIslandCity or CountyCountryNotes
The HirselIn year 1886ColdstreamBerwickshireScotlandScheme drawn up for remodelling the entire house
Holy Trinity Parish Church, reredosIn year 1893Berwick-upon-TweedNorthumberlandEngland
Rosneath InnIn year 1896Rosneath / RoseneathDunbartonshireScotlandExtension
Ferry Inn, Rosneath PointIn year 1896RosneathDunbartonshireScotlandExtension
High WallsIn year 1901GullaneEast LothianScotlandWith Gertrude Jekyll
Theosophical Society HeadquartersIn year 1910LondonEngland
High WallsIn year 1911GullaneEast LothianScotlandAdditions (Kitchen and dining room on north since burnt out) with Lorimer
Lews Castle, hotel in groundsc. 1920StornowayLewisRoss & CromartyScotlandDesigns drawn up
Glasgow CenotaphIn year 1921GlasgowScotlandInvited to submit design in limited competition - unsuccessful
Grosvenor HouseIn year 1926Park LaneLondonEnglandas consultant architect to Wimperis, Simpson & Guthrie
Rosehaugh Estate, new Fletcher burial enclosureIn year 1928AvochRoss and CromartyScotland
Villa for David McKenna SoutarIn year 1935Hampstead Garden SuburbLondonEnglandLutyens designed facade, J C S Soutar designed house
City Plan, HullIn year 1942Yorkshire East RidingEngland
Dunrobin, Sutherland family burial ground, gravestone to Eileen, 5th DucchessIn year 1943DunrobinSutherlandScotland
Corgarff Cemetery, gravestones to the Tennants of EdinglassieMid 1900sCorgarffAberdeenshireScotland

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

AuthorTitleDatePublisherPartNotes
Butler, A S GThe Architecture of Sir Edwin Lutyens
Irving, Robert GrantIndian summer: Lutyens Baker and Imperial Delhi1981
Weaver, LawrenceLutyens Houses and Gardens1921
Hussey, ChristopherThe Life of Sir Edwin Lutyens
Arts CouncilLutyens: The Work of the English Architect Sir Edwin Lutyens1981Arts Council Catalogue, 1981
Brown, JaneLutyens and the Edwardians: an English Architect and his Clients
Brown, JaneGarden of a Golden Afternoon: The Story of a Partnership: Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll
Lutyens, Edwin (check)The Letters of Edwin Lutyens to his wife Lady Emily