Architects

Name:

(Sir) Martyn Gervase Beckett

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

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Exact DOB:

11/06/1918

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08/05/2001

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Bio Notes :

Martyn Gervase Beckett was born on 6 November 1918, the son of Sir Gervase Beckett, a Conservative MP and a wealthy Yorkshire banker who was created a baronet in 1921. There were Beckett banks all over the country until they were taken over by the National Westminster Bank. The family also owned the Yorkshire Post.

Beckett was educated at Eton and studied at the University of Cambridge where he read history and graduated MA. He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1937. At the outbreak of the Second World War he enlisted in the Green Howards and in 1940 he was commissioned in the Welsh Guards. Having converted from infantry to tanks, his regiment landed in Normandy in June 1944. The following year he was involved in a confrontation with the German 3rd Parachute Division near Wesel and more than once showed exceptional and vigorous leadership under fire for which he was awarded the Military Cross.

In 1941 he had married the Hon Priscilla Brett. After leaving the army Beckett was unsure what career to follow. His wife's brother, the architect Lord Esher, suggested architecture. Beckett accordingly went to work for A S F Butler, a follower of Lutyens where he remained until 1949. From 1950 he studied at the Hammersmith School of Architecture and set up private practice in 1952 in London, the year in which he was elected ARIBA. He was committed to neo-Georgian architecture and was one of a group of architects with similar inclinations which included Philip Jebb, Claud Phillimore and Raymond Erith.

Beckett had good connections and carried out work for several aristocratic clients, including the Marquess of Lansdowne who had demolished the old house and wished to convert the stables into a house. In 1956 he designed his first major country house at Chawton in Hampshire. He went on to build, renovate of make additions to more than seventy country houses. He also took on a number of more public roles and was consultant to Chatsworth, Gordonstoun School and Eton College and a trustee of the Wallace Collection. He served as chairman of the Council for the Protection of Rural England's trust. He looked after more than one hundred listed buildings, many in the care of the National Trust.

Beckett only occasionally produced designs which showed originality and flair. One such of these was the design for the circular courtyard house for Earl Granville at Callernish in North Uist in 1962. The site, at the most northerly point of the island where an ordinary structure could be blown off the ground by the gales, dictated the design. The walls were built of two feet thick concrete and on a curve, so gales blew past. It was inspired by the Round Square at Gordonstoun.

Outwith his profession, Beckett was a fine pianist with a particular interest in jazz and ragtime. He could also play a range of other instruments and for a time ran his own band in aid of charities in Ryedale. In later life he was also a fine watercolourist as well as a good angler and a good shot.

Beckett died on 5 August 2001. He was predeceased by his wife but survived by two sons and a daughter.

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
3 St Albyn\'s Grove London England	Private

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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
Arthur Stanley George Butler	404645	In year 1949		Assistant

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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	Island	City or County	Country	Notes
Inchyra House	In year 1956	Glencarse		Perthshire	Scotland	Alterations
Callernish House	In year 1962			Inverness-shire	Scotland

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Publisher	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
The Times		2001/08/09		Obituary

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Employment and Training

Employers2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Periodical References

Period ref classic