Architecture
The Duke of Norfolk paid for the Church of Our Lady and St Philip Neri at Arundel in Sussex
Joseph Aloysius Hansom, Architect, Inventor and Publisher Paul Waddington reviews the architectural output of one of the most prolific Catholic architects of the nineteenth century
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Joseph Aloysius Hansom: he believed every architect should also be a competent joiner, mason and surveyor 24
oseph Aloysius Hansom was born in 1803 into a Catholic family living at York. His father was a builder, and the young Joseph joined the family business at the age of 13 as an apprentice joiner. However, Joseph’s ambitions lay elsewhere, and he persuaded his reluctant father that he should train to be an architect. An apprenticeship was arranged with Matthew Philips who had an architectural practice in York at the time. On completing his apprenticeship, Joseph found employment with John Oates, a Halifax architect, where he spent three years gaining valuable experience. Not content to be a mere employee, at the age of 25 Joseph formed a partnership with Edward Welsh, who was also working for Oates. The two of them set up in practice back in York, finding work in and around the city, as well as in Welsh’s native North Wales. However, Hansom, who was the driving force behind the partnership, hankered after more prestigious
commissions, and in 1831 submitted an entry for a competition to design the new Town Hall at Birmingham. There were 67 entries, including some from the most distinguished architects of the time, so it came as a great surprise that the winner was the unknown J. A. Hansom. Hansom’s proposal was inspired by the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Roman Forum, and met with great acclaim. It was a huge project for a relatively inexperienced architect to take on, and, unfortunately for Hansom, he mismanaged the financial side of the undertaking. The procurement and transport of the massive blocks of stone required for the external columns, proved particularly difficult, resulting in delays and additional costs that Hansom had to bear. The result was the bankruptcy of both the contractor and Hansom, his dismissal from the job and the dissolution of the partnership. Although the project was within an ace of completion, Hansom
WINTER 2019
