Architects

Name:

George Wittet

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Exact Date

Exact DOB:

26/11/1878

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Date of Death:

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Exact DOD:

09/11/1926

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Bio Notes :

George Wittet was born on 26 November 1878 in Blair Atholl (various online sources) or Perth (Census records); he was a cousin of John Wittet (born 1868 at Bridge of Earn). He was articled to Andrew Granger Heiton of Perth in 1894 and left at the end of his articles to become assistant to John More Dick Peddie and George Washington Browne in Edinburgh from 1898 and later to Walter Henry Brierley of York from 1902 to 1904. In 1901 he was awarded the Honorary President's Prize of £10 for three designs: 'A Town House', A Market Cross', and 'A Reredos and Altar'. In the autumn of 1904 he was one of the candidates for the post of assistant to John Begg, consulting architect to the Government of Bombay, and was interviewed by Begg on the station platform at York. Against his wife's advice ('whatever you do, don't have that fellow: he will boss you') Begg appointed him. He succeeded Begg as consulting architect to the Government of Bombay in 1907.

Wittet was initially unwilling to adopt the modernised Indo-Saracenic style adopted by Begg and was sent on a two-week study tour to Bijapur. His first major independent work was the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India in Bombay, for which James Miller had won the competition assessed by John Begg. Wittet was placed second, but was appointed as he was based in Bombay. His design was subsequently revised to match Begg's General Post Office, in a scholarly Muslim Deccan manner, and Begg praised the building in his proposer's statement for Wittet's admittance as LRIBA, for which he was elected on 8 January 1912. Wittet soon reverted to his own preferred classical and Renaissance manner as at the Institute of Science (completed 1916), The Custom House, The Small Causes Court, The Edward VII Memorial Hospital, all in Bombay and the Central Government Offices at Poona, the last in collaboration with Begg who had prepared the original scheme.

On 12 May 1917, Wittet was unanimously elected as the first President of The Indian Institute of Architects.

Wittet resigned as consulting architect in 1919 to go into private practice as architect for Messrs Tata & Company for which he undertook forty-four projects but returned to his old post to complete the Gateway of India Arch at Apollo Bunder, Bombay, built to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary for the 1911 Durbar. Wittet had designed the temporary structures for that event, and it had been decided to re-erect the Gateway in a permanent form.

Wittet died in Bombay on 11 September 1926 at the early age of 48.

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
Byculla Club Bombay India	Private

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date From Type	Date To	Date To Type	Notes
Public Works Secretariat Bombay India	Business	Before 1911		After 1915

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

Employers2 classic

Name	Name Link	Date From	Date To	Position	Notes
Andrew Granger Heiton (or Andrew H Heiton Granger)	201032	In year 1894	In year 1898	Apprentice
Peddie & Washington Browne	200363	In year 1898	In year 1902	Assistant
Walter Henry Brierley	202997	In year 1902	In year 1904	Assistant
John Begg	200375	In year 1904	In year 1907	Assistant	In the Public Works Secretariat, Bombay
Public Works Secretariat, Bombay	205131	In year 1904	In year 1907	Assistant	Working under John Begg, Government Architect
Public Works Secretariat, Bombay	205131	In year 1907	In year 1919	Architect	Consulting Architect to the Government of Bombay

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

RIBA PROPOSERS2 classic

Proposer	Proposer Link	Date Proposed	Notes
John Begg	200375	1912/01/08	for Licentiateship
John Begg	200375	Late 1915s	for Fellowship
Henry Arthur Crouch	204286	Late 1915s	for Fellowship
Ernest Montague Thomas	205392	Late 1915s	for Fellowship

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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	City or County	Country	Notes
Princes Dock Customs House	In year 1904	Bombay	India	Assisted Begg in design
Ballard Estate Scheme, northern part of the Central Business District	In year 1908	Bombay	India
Prince of Wales Museum of Western India	In year 1908	Bombay	India	Second premium in competition, but won commission as he was based in Bombay
Gateway to India	Before 1926	Bombay	India
College of Science	Before 1926	Bombay	India
Agricultural College	Before 1926	Poona	India	In conjunction with John Begg
Central Government Offices	Before 1926	Poona	India	In conjunction with John Begg

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part	Notes
Davies, Philip	Splendours of the Raj: British architecture in India 1660-1947
British Architectural Library, RIBA	Directory of British Architects 1834-1914	2001
Grove Dictionary of Art	Grove Dictionary of Art				Article by P Davies
Stamp, Gavin	British architecture in India 1857-1947	1981	Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, cxxix (1981) pp358-79
Begg, John	The work of George Wittet: an appreciation	1933	EAA Transactions	v10, pp72-82	CHECK for further info

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
RIBA Journal	1926/09/18	v33	p576 - death notice
RIBA Journal	1926/10/16	v33	p618 - obituary
RIBA Journal	1926/11/06	v34	p31
RIBA Journal	1929	v36	p539 - article by John Begg
Elgin Courant and Courier	1926/09/17	*	p4/1-2 - death notice and obituary
Northern Scot	1926/09/18	*	p618 - death notice
Builder	1926/09/17	v131	p438 - obituary
British Architect	1901/05/03		p308

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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			L v22 no1768; F v22 no1592 (microfilm reel 13)
RIBA Photographs Collection	RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum	100036

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Employment and Training

Employers2 classic

RIBA Proposers

RIBA PROPOSERS2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

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