Walter Butler Stonebridge FRIBA (8 September 1879 – 1 November 1962) was an architect, Diocesan Surveyor for Ely and St Albans and afterwards Surveyor for the Archdeaconry of Bedford. He was president of the Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire Society of Architects in 1932.
Early life Stonebridge was born on 8 September 1879 at Oakley, Bedfordshire, and christened Walter Charles Butler Stonebridge. He was the son of Charles Stonebridge, a Carpenter and Surveyor of Works, and his wife Emily.1881 England Census Stonebridge was educated at Bedford Modern School and then articled to the architectural practice of Messrs Highton and Ardron of Bedford and Westminster between 1895 and 1899.
Career After Highton and Ardron, Stonebridge was an Assistant in the Duke of Bedford's Estate Office, to H. Ban of Maidstone and to John E. Kingham of Aldershot. He commenced independent practice in 1903 in Woburn Sands and Bedford. Following the outbreak of World War I, Stonebridge served with the 1/7 West Yorkshire Regiment leaving at the end of the war as a Lance-Corporal.UK, WW1 Service Medal and Award Rolls, 1914–20.
After the war, Stonebridge became Ecclesiastical Surveyor for the Dioceses of Ely and St Albans and was thereafter Diocesan Surveyor for Bedford. In the latter years of his career in private practice, he worked in partnership with H.A. Harris.
Stonebridge was elected LRIBA on 9 January 1911, and FRIBA in 1925. He was president of the Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire Society of Architects in 1932.
Family life Stonebridge married Jane Winslade on 11 January 1905 at the Church of St John the Evangelist in Hale, Surrey.Surrey, England, Church of England Marriages, 1754–1937 They had a son, Bernard Butler Stonebridge, and a daughter, Mary Julia Stonebridge.1911 England CensusEngland & Wales, Free BMD Birth Index, 1837–1915 His wife predeceased him on 24 December 1961 and Stonebridge died on 1 November 1962 at Barton on Sea in Hampshire.England and Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1965
Selected works
Restoration of the Tower of Hockliffe Church, Bedfordshire, 1910 Replacement of the Powage Press after fire, Aspley Guise, 1912 Woburn Sands War Memorial, Bedfordshire, 1919 Elstow Lodge, Bedfordshire, 1926 Alterations to Campton Manor, Bedfordshire, 1927–28 Alterations to the Vicarage, Harrold, Bedfordshire, 1928 Extension to Gastlings House, Bedfordshire, 1929 Rectory, Pertenhall, Bedfordshire, 1937. With H.A. Harris
References