George Henry Walton

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George Henry Walton (1923) by Sir William Oliphant Hutchison
Miss Cranston
's Argyle Street Tea Rooms
Painted panel by George Henry Walton used for Miss Cranston's Argyle Street Tea rooms
Button used by Walton on his furniture designs

George Henry Walton (3 June 1867 Glasgow – 10 December 1933 London), was a noted Scottish architect and designer of remarkable diversity.

Biography

George Walton was born in Glasgow in 1862. He was the youngest of twelve talented children of Jackson Walton, a Manchester commission agent and himself an accomplished painter and photographer, by his second wife, the Aberdeen-born

Quaker Eliza Ann Nicholson. George was a brother of the painter Edward Arthur Walton of the Glasgow School.[1]

Work in Glasgow and Scarborough

His father's death in 1873 left the family in straitened circumstances, and at the age of thirteen George started work as a clerk with the

James Whistler[5]

His work ventured into almost every avenue of decorative art, helping to pioneer the distinctive

Glasgow Style. In 1890 he employed Robert Graham, the future manager of the company in 1903–05, and met the Quaker architect Fred Rowntree (1860–1927)[6] at an amateur dramatic performance. On 3 June 1891 Walton married Kate Gall, a London girl from an affluent family, and moved into Charing Cross Mansions. Their daughter was born in 1892.[7]

In the 1890s he was responsible for decorating St Peter’s Episcopal Church in Braid Street, Glasgow.[8] The company became known for its stained glass, exhibiting at the Glasgow Institute in 1889 [9] He was one of the pioneers in the use of domestic stained glass in Glasgow.[10] In 1892 he worked on the house of the shipping magnate William Burrell and in 1893 he decorated ‘Drumalis’ the mansion owned by Sir Hugh Houston Smiley, 1st Baronet located in Larne, Northern Ireland and this remains his most complete extant company job.[11]

Walton's firm rapidly diversified, winning commissions in woodwork, furniture making and stained glass. From 1896 Walton partnered with Fred Rowntree, in Rowntree family projects in their home town of Scarborough. In 1896, this led to his first commission in England [12] for John Rowntree, who owned a cafe in the town.[13] This project saw Walton’s first significant foray into furniture design, including the distinctive ‘Abingwood’ chair. Walton’s style by this stage was developing restrained ornament set off against plain surfaces.[14]

In the same year he decorated and furnished Miss Cranston's Buchanan Street tea room, originally designed by George Washington Browne where Walton continued to develop his stencilling technique having abandoned wallpaper in favour of this more versatile technique. A review by Joseph Gleeson White commented on the elegant simplicity of Walton’s design despite the involvement of Washington Brown, whose work was considered heavy-handed.[15] Walton also designed the furniture which was noted for its ‘sinuous verticality’ and accorded with the Glasgow Style aesthetic.[16]

Work in London and with photographers

In 1896 Walton converted his company into a limited

Post Office Directory, instead of a painter and decorator.[18]

In London his work came from personal connections with photographers. Through his friendship with the Glasgow photographer

burnt sienna canvas.[19]

In London he met

product packaging.[23]

Further work in Glasgow and Yorkshire

Walton worked on Ledcameroch, Bearsden near Glasgow for J B Gow, in 1897 where there was a lightness of touch reflecting his recent experience in exhibition design. In 1898 he worked on William Seaton’s tea room chain in Glasgow and in Yorkshire. A major commission from 1898 was the redecorating and furnishing of Elm Bank, York, for Sidney Leetham which included Japanese elements. Elm Bank is now a hotel and his work here reflected a new assurance in his approach.[24]

His company opened a showroom in

arts and crafts in style, large and unpretentious using vernacular materials and detailing with a triple-height hall containing one of his finest fireplace designs. The building has plain interiors and a simplicity of design reflecting a leaner and more sophisticated Walton [25] His increasing reputation among photographers also led to more commissions for exhibitions.[26]

Increasing prosperity and focus on work in England

As Walton increased his activity and prosperity in 1901 he moved to a more fashionable address at 44 Holland Park Road in

classical style.[28]

Work at Harlech

Photographic panorama showing Harlech Castle, Coleg Harlech and St David's Hotel, taken from the course of The Royal St David's Golf Club

In 1906 George Davison decided to build a house at

Lord Winchelsea, whose brother established the St David's golf course in 1894. While developing his idea for a house he also proposed a hotel for golfers using the new golf course, on the recommendation of his English acquaintances in Harlech. By 1907 Walton completed his first designs for the hotel and the ‘Harlech Hotel and Land Development Syndicate Ltd’ was established. The hotel was known as the St David's Hotel
.

Davison had expressed a desire for his own castle at Harlech and this defined the brief for the design of his house, which became known as Wern Fawr (now part of

Georgian style, made of stone blocks and set on the edge of a cliff, mirroring Harlech Castle itself. Wern Fawr, built 1907–1908, reflected the developing vogue at this time for English Classicism.[29]

Admission as an architect and later life

Walton was admitted as Licentiate of the

Carlisle and between 1916 and 1921, working under Harry Redfern
, he produced designs for pubs and canteens for the Central Control Board, established to manage the drinks trade and public houses in many munitions production areas.

Walton married a colleague, Dorothy (Daphne) Jeram, daughter of a

Morton Sundour Fabrics of Carlisle, but this work also ceased due to the recession and a falling-off in demand for Art Nouveau
designs. In March 1931 the Waltons moved to 70 Seabrook Road in Hythe to cut down on living expenses.

A despondent Walton died on 10 December 1933.

civil list pension for his widow. Walton's drawings and photographs relating to his later practice are in the British Architectural Library Collection.[30][31]

Bibliography

References

  1. ISBN 1-873487-01-0
  2. ^ Moon, page 23
  3. ^ Moon, page 34
  4. ^ Moon, page 23-25
  5. ^ Moon, pages 28–29
  6. ^ David Goold. "Dictionary of Scottish Architects – DSA Architect Biography Report (February 19, 2010, 7:51 pm)". Scottisharchitects.org.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  7. ^ Moon, page 26
  8. ^ Moon, page 24
  9. ^ Moon, page 27
  10. ^ Moon, page 96
  11. ^ Moon, page 34
  12. ^ Moon, page 41
  13. ^ Moon, page 45
  14. ^ Moon, pages 46–48
  15. ^ Moon, page 51
  16. ^ Moon, page 53
  17. ^ Moon, pages 57–58
  18. ^ Moon, pages 59–60
  19. ^ Moon, pages 59–60
  20. ^ Moon, page 61
  21. ^ Moon, page 62
  22. ^ Moon, page 71-74
  23. ^ Moon, page 80-82
  24. ^ Moon, pages 64–70
  25. ^ Moon, pages 83–91
  26. ^ Moon, pages 76–78
  27. ^ Moon, page 116
  28. ^ Moon, page 117-123
  29. ^ Moon, page 137-138
  30. ^ "Brussels armchair". TheGlasgowStory. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  31. ^ David Goold. "Dictionary of Scottish Architects – DSA Architect Biography Report (February 19, 2010, 7:51 pm)". Scottisharchitects.org.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  32. ISBN 1873487010
    .
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