William C. Brocklesby (1847-1910) was an American architect practicing in Hartford, Connecticut.
Life and career William Claiborne Brocklesby was born May 28, 1847, in Hartford, Connecticut."John Brocklesby," in Biographical and Historical Record of the Class of 1835 in Yale College (New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, printers, 1881): 35-38. He attended the public schools of Hartford before entering Trinity College, where his father, John Brocklesby, was a professor. After his graduation in 1869, he studied in the office of New York architect Richard Upjohn."William C. Brocklesby, A. A. I. A.," Quarterly Bulletin of the American Institute of Architects 11, no. 4 (January 1911): 294. In 1878, he established his own practice in Hartford. He practiced alone until 1904, when he established a partnership with H. Hilliard Smith,"In General," Brickbuilder 13, no. 9 (September 1904): 196. an employee of several years. Brocklesby & Smith was active until Brocklesby's death in late 1910. The following year, Smith would reorganize the office as Smith & Bassette.
Brocklesby was elected an associate of the American Institute of Architects in 1901. He died in Hartford on October 9, 1910.
Personal life Brocklesby was married in 1876 to Grace Chetwood Stuart, daughter of Isaac William Stuart, a local author and historian.Walter Frederic Brooks, History of the Fanning Family 1 (Worcester: Walter Frederic Brooks, 1905): 257.
Legacy Several of Brocklesby's works have been individually listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, and others contribute to listed historic districts. In addition to his projects in and around Hartford, Brocklesby built extensively on the campus of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and on others in Massachusetts.
Architectural works St. James Episcopal Church (former), New Bedford, Massachusetts (1878)History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, ed. D. Hamilton Hurd (Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Company, 1883) St. Mark Episcopal Church (former), Adams, Massachusetts (1881)"Saint Mark's Church, Adams, Mass.," American Architect and Building News 9, no. 270 (February 26, 1881): 103. Congregational Church of Great Barrington, Great Barrington, Massachusetts (1882–83, NRHP-listed 1992)Society of the Congregational Church of Great Barrington NRHP Registration Form (1992) Adams Town Hall, Adams, Massachusetts (1885, altered 1949)"ADA.4", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. South College, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts (1885)Paul F. Norton, Amherst: A Guide to its Architecture (Amherst: Amherst Historical Society, 1975) Gymnasium and Alumni Hall, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut (1886–87, demolished)Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Trinity College, 1887-88 (Hartford: Trinity College, 1887) Lilly Hall, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts (1886)Margaret Birney Vickery, Smith College: An Architectural Tour (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007) Raymond Library, East Hartford, Connecticut (1889)Central Avenue-Center Cemetery Historic District NRHP Registration Form (1993) Academy of Music, Northampton, Massachusetts (1890–91)"NTH.794", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Alumnae Gymnasium, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts (1891, NRHP-listed 1976) Forbes Library (host of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum), Northampton, Massachusetts (1891–94)"NTH.759", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Lawrence and Morris Houses, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts (1891)"NTH.744", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d."NTH.2447", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. National Fire Insurance Company Building, Hartford, Connecticut (1893, demolished)"National Fire Insurance Building, Hartford, Conn.," American Architect and Building News 41, no. 927 (September 30, 1893): 198. New Britain High School, New Britain, Connecticut (1896, NRHP-listed 2015) Brigham Hall, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts (1897)"SOH.75", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Catlin Building, Hartford, Connecticut (1897, demolished 1911)"Building Intelligence," Engineering Record 35, no. 8 (January 23, 1897): 174. Tyler House, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts (1898) Blanchard Hall, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts (1899)"SOH.69", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. St. Philip Episcopal Church, Putnam, Connecticut (1899)Journal of the Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Connecticut (Hartford: Diocese of Connecticut, 1899) Albright House, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts (1900) Boardman Hall of Natural History, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut (1900, demolished 1971)Tomas J. Nenortas, Victorian Hartford Revisited (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2007) Alumni House, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts (1901)Paul V. Turner, "The Campus as Palimpsest," in Academy Hill: The Andover Campus, 1778 to the Present, ed. Addison Gallery of American Art (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000): 24. Noah Webster School, Hartford, Connecticut (1901) Universalist Church of the Redeemer, Hartford, Connecticut (1906, demolished)
Gallery of architectural works
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