William de Lacy Aherne
William de Lacy Aherne FRIBA (17 April 1867 – 4 December 1945) was an English architect, notable for designing many Arts and Crafts houses in the Moseley area of Birmingham.[1]
Family
[edit]Born in Cheam, Surrey to William Aherne (b. 1841) and Emma Paterson (b. 1842), de Lacy Aherne came from a family of devout Plymouth Brethren, a faith that he ceased to share in early adulthood.[2]
He married Annie Louise Thomas (1872 – 1942), daughter of William Thomas (1841 - 1901) and Mary Louise Wright (1847 - 1912) in 1898 and they had two sons- the actors Pat Aherne and *Brian Aherne- and a daughter, Elana Aherne.[2] When he died on 4 December 1945 he was living at 25 Ladbrooke Road, London.[3]
Career
[edit]In 1886 or 1887 he took a job as an architect's apprentice in Birmingham, where he worked for the King's Norton and Northfield Sanitary Authority.[4] His earliest recorded private commissions were in the King's Norton area and date from 1889, and in 1890 he was elected to the Birmingham Architectural Association.[5]
In 1898 de Lacy Aherne was commissioned to build a series of houses by his father-in-law, whose local contacts in the Moseley area were helpful to the rising young architect; his work quickly became fashionable among the rapidly growing and wealthy professional middle class of the area.[6] From 1903 onwards he designed a large number of speculative houses in high-status Moseley roads such as Russell Road, Salisbury Road, Amesbury Road, Reddings Road and Oxford Road, financed either by himself or in conjunction with local building firms.[7] Several of these houses, including 9 St Agnes Road and 110 and 112 Oxford Road are now listed buildings.[8] He was probably also the architect of Blackhill, the home of Birmingham Repertory Theatre founder Barry Jackson in the Malvern Hills.[9]
He was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1926 and became a Fellow in 1931.[10]
Selected works
[edit]- House and post office, 100 The Green, Kings Norton 1889
- 30 and 32 Bell's Lane, Walker's Heath 1891
- 1, 2 and 3 The Fordrough, West Heath 1895
- 64 Redditch Road, Kings Norton 1895
- Ford House, Castle Road, Kenilworth 1896
- Court Hey, 25 Chantry Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1896[11]
- 63 Salisbury Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1897
- 60 Salisbury Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1897
- 2 and 2a The Green, King's Norton, Birmingham 1897
- 17 Grove Avenue, Moseley, Birmingham 1897
- 67 and 69 Pershore Road South, Kings Norton 1898
- 71, 73, 75 and 77 Cotton Lane, Moseley, Birmingham 1898
- 112 Salisbury Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1898
- The Pleasance, Monyhull Hall Road, Kings Norton 1898 (now Barbara Hart House)
- 207 and 209 Ancestor Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1899
- Twenty two houses, 3-25 Baldwin Road, Kings Norton 1899
- Twenty two houses, 4-24 Parson's Hill, Kings Norton 1899
- 67 Cotton Lane, Moseley, Birmingham 1899
- 183 and 185, Alcester Road, Moseley 1899
- 13 St Agnes Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1900
- 45 Greenhill Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1900
- 41 Dyott Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1900
- 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 St Albans Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1900-01
- 9 St Agnes Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1906-07[12]
- Two houses, 110 and 112 Oxford Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1906-07[13]
- Two houses, 37-39 Poplar Avenue, Bearwood, Birmingham 1908
- House, 40 Reddings Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1908
- The Grey House, 28 Amesbury Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1908
- Three houses, 30-34 Amesbury Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1908
- Five houses, 42-50 Reddings Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1908
- House, 40 Sommerville Road, Sutton Coldfield 1910
- Three houses, 189-193 Russell Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1911
- Three houses, 42-46 Wake Green Road, Moseley Birmingham 1911
- House, 54 Sommerville Road, Sutton Coldfield 1911
- Inverblair, 52 Sommerville Road, Sutton Coldfield 1911
- Richmond, 50 Sommerville Road, Sutton Coldfield 1911
- Siviter House, 17 Ludgate Hill, Birmingham 1912[14]
- Five houses, 78-86 Eastern Road, Wylde Green, Birmingham 1914
- House, 187 Russel Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1914
- House, 179 Russell Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1915
- House, 55 Russell Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1915
References
[edit]- ^ Wood 2009, p. 567.
- ^ a b Wood 2009, p. 568.
- ^ "Deaths". Birmingham Daily Post. England. 7 December 1945. Retrieved 12 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Wood 2009, pp. 568–569.
- ^ Wood 2009, p. 569.
- ^ Wood 2009, pp. 570–571.
- ^ Wood 2009, pp. 572–573.
- ^ Wood 2009, pp. 573–576.
- ^ Wood 2009, p. 578.
- ^ Ballard, Phillada (2009). Birmingham's Victorian and Edwardian Architects. Oblong Creative Limited. p. 569. ISBN 978-0-9556576-2-7.
- ^ "An attractive modern residence known as Court Hey, Chantry Road, Moseley". Birmingham Daily Gazette. England. 7 July 1906. Retrieved 12 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Historic England, "9 St Anges Road B13 (1220717)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 24 May 2020
- ^ Historic England, "110 and 112 Oxford Road B13 (1343117)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 24 May 2020
- ^ Foster, Andy (2005). Birmingham. Pevsner Architectural Guides. p. 164. ISBN 0-300-10731-5.
Bibliography
[edit]- Wood, Christine (2009), "William de Lacey Aherne", in Ballard, Phillada (ed.), Birmingham's Victorian and Edwardian Architects, Wetherby: Oblong Creative, pp. 567–583, ISBN 978-0955657627
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