Alfred Bossom

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

John Wells
Personal details
Born(1881-10-06)6 October 1881
Died4 September 1965(1965-09-04) (aged 83)
Political partyConservative
ProfessionArchitect
Politician
Dallas, Texas
, 1922

Alfred Charles Bossom, Baron Bossom

GCStJ FRIBA (6 October 1881 – 4 September 1965) was an architect in the United States who returned to his native England and became a Conservative Party politician
. He also wrote books on architecture.

Architectural career

Bossom was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He worked on the restoration of Fort Ticonderoga
from 1908.

In 1910, he married Emily, daughter of New York City banker, Samuel Bayne, and they had three sons. As an architect with offices at 680 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, Bossom specialized in the efficient construction of skyscrapers. While based in New York City he designed a number of major works in Texas, including the American Exchange National Bank (1918). Bossom's Dallas work on the Maple Terrace Apartments (1924–1925), and the expansion and renovation of the Adolphus Hotel, were done with local architects Thomson and Swaine. After traveling into Mexico, Bossom became a proponent of Mayan Revival architecture, clearly reflected in the stepped-back tower and ornament of his 1927 Petroleum Building in Houston.

Bossom also designed a number of large houses. Examples include the Henry Devereux Whiton house in

Round Hill, Massachusetts
.

He also invented a device for protecting people from suffocating if they accidentally got locked in a bank vault.[2]

A number of architects began their careers in his offices.

DePace and Juster; DePace went from Bossom's skyscraper work to become project manager at Cass Gilbert's offices, project managing the New York Life Building
.

Return to England

Liberty Building, Buffalo, New York

At the height of his career in 1926, Bossom returned to

British Home Guard.[citation needed] In 1931, Bossom and Mansfield Forbes bought Bourn Windmill, Cambridgeshire. They had the mill repaired, and presented it to the Cambridge Preservation Society in 1932.[3][4] Later that year, Bossom's wife had died in an aircrash,[5]
and he was remarried to another American, Elinor Dittenhofer in 1934, but they were divorced in 1947.

In 1951 he held the reception of Margaret Roberts after her marriage to Denis Thatcher at his Chelsea home; later she became Britain's first female prime minister (1979–1990).

In 1952, he was made an honorary

life peerage, it became extinct upon his death, although his hereditary baronetcy passed to his only surviving child, Clive (his eldest and youngest sons had died in 1932 and 1959 respectively).[5]

Bossom was also president of the Anglo-Baltic Society. Winston Churchill joked of him, "Bossom, Bossom, that's an odd name! Neither one thing nor the other", in reference to the words "buxom" and "bottom".

Architectural designs

  • Fort Ticonderoga, architect of the first stages of the reconstruction of the French fortress for Col. Robert M Thompson and Mr & Mrs Stephen HP Pell, 1908-
  • Covington Saving Bank Building, 1910
  • First National Bank Building, as designer for Clinton and Russell, Richmond, Virginia, 1912-1913
  • American Exchange National Bank (1918)
  • Virginia Mutual Building, with local architects Carneal and Johnston, Richmond, Virginia, 1919
  • Virginia Trust Company Building in Richmond
  • Lynchburg National Bank and Trust at Ninth and Main in Lynchburg[8]
  • Round Hill, Massachusetts
    , 1921
  • Magnolia Hotel, with local architects Lang & Witchell, Dallas, Texas, 1922
  • Maple Terrace Apartments (Dallas, Texas) (1924–25),
  • United States National Bank, Galveston, Texas, 1924
  • Liberty Building, Buffalo, New York, 1925
  • Petroleum Building, Houston, Texas, 1925–26
  • Federal-American National Bank, Washington, D.C., 1925–1926
  • First National Bank Building, Jersey City, New Jersey, 1920
  • Prestwould Apartments, Richmond, Virginia 1929 [9]

Selected works

He authored books on architecture including:

  • An Architectural Pilgrimage in Old Mexico, Charles Scribner's, 1924.
  • Building to the Skies: The Romance of the Skyscraper, 1934.

Notes

  1. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40778. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ "Science: Vault Safety". Time. 3 September 1923.
  3. ISBN 0-7091-5641-3
    .
  4. ^ "Bourn Windmill". The Times. No. 46151. London. 4 June 1932. col D, p. 12.
  5. ^ a b "English: Memorial to Bruce Bayne Bossom. The memorials relate to the crash of a DH.80A Puss Moth aircraft (G-ABDH) on Wednesday 27th July 1932 at 5.45 pm, after suffering structural failure during a thunderstorm". 9 March 2003 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  6. ^ "No. 39911". The London Gazette. 14 July 1953. p. 3871.
  7. ^ "No. 41945". The London Gazette. 2 February 1960. p. 858.
  8. ^ Smith, Rachael. "Historic Lynchburg building eyed for downtown redevelopment". NewsAdvance.com.
  9. ^ "The Prestwould: 'A true Richmond treasure' has three condos, including the penthouse unit, on the market".

References

  • Dennis Sharp, ed., Alfred C. Bossom's American Architecture, 1903-1926, London: Book Art, 1984.
  • Robert B. MacKay, Long Island Country Houses and Their Architects, 1860-1940, W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
    ISBN 0-393-03856-4
    .
  • The Handbook of Texas Online

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Maidstone
1931 – 1959 		Succeeded by
John Wells
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Maidstone)
1953 – 1965 		Succeeded by
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