H. E. and A. Bown was an architectural practice in Harrogate, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its two partners were Henry Edwin Bown who started the business and died at the age of 36, and his brother Arthur Bown, who carried on the business until he retired in 1911.
The firm produced designs for many of Harrogate's villas, especially those in the West Park and Victoria Park estates, the Jubilee Memorial, Harrogate, and Queen's Park Lodge and fountain in Heywood, besides The Harrogate Club house, and Harrogate's drill hall. Many of their works are still standing, and the Jubilee Memorial and Queen's Park Lodge and fountain are listed buildings.
Background of the partners The two partners of the architectural practice H. E. and A. Bown of Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire, were brothers who came from an artisanal background, of Northern England and Midlands stock. Their paternal grandparents were jeweller Peter Bown (1791–1872) born in Matlock, Derbyshire, and Mary Fielding (1785 – 18 June 1881), also from Matlock. Their parents were jeweller and china-dealer Edwin Bown (1823–1909), born in Buxton, Derbyshire, and Anne Bown (1823–1891), from Skircoat Green, near Halifax, West Yorkshire. Ann Bown is listed as an architect in the 1861 Census, however Henry Edwin was a 16-year-old apprentice architect by that time but is listed as a scholar, when boys were schooled up to age 14, so that may be a line-slippage error.
Henry Edwin Bown The elder brother was Henry Edwin Bown, who was born in Halifax on 26 March 1845, but spent his professional years in Harrogate. In 1870 at Knaresborough, he married Sarah Margaret Husband (1849–1899), born in Batley, West Yorkshire, whose father was chemist and druggist James Husband of Batley. They had three children: architect Percival "Percy" Bown (1873–1953), Frank (1876 – 8 June 1929) and Kathleen Carr Bown (born 1877), all born in Harrogate. H. E. Bown was a member of the Harrogate Horticultural and Floral Society, and would show his roses at its annual flower show: sometimes under the name of his gardener John Pinkney, sometimes under his own name.
From 1877, during the last four years of his life, H. E. Bown spent much time away from his work, attempting relief from tuberculosis, in Bournemouth and Italy. He died in Harrogate on 27 September 1881 after suffering a "long and trying illness". The funeral took place on 29 September, and he was buried in Grove Road Cemetery, Harrogate, beside the family's vault where his grandfather Peter Bown lay. The funeral cortège was "headed by a number of gentlemen of the town". It travelled via Beech Grove from his home, Harlow View, to the cemetery, where many mourners had gathered with Rev. G. O. Brownrigg, who took the service. "The coffin (which was of polished oak and gilt furniture) was almost covered with wreaths, and bore upon the breastplate the following inscription: 'Henry E. Bown, died Sept. 27th, 1881, aged 36 years'".
Sarah Margaret Bown, left with three young children, did not remarry; she died a widow in Boston Spa on 22 January 1899, aged 49 years. The Pateley Bridge & Nidderdale Herald said: To few men does Harrogate owe more than to the lamented [H. E. Bown]. Talented in his profession, endowed with consummate taste and enterprising spirit, he has devoted his life to the manifest improvement of his town, converting wild waste into cultivated order, and barren plots into beauty and fertility.
Arthur Bown The younger brother was Arthur Bown, who was born on 22 January 1851 in Harrogate. He attended school at Knaresborough. His father-in-law was in a trade complementary to his own, making decorative iron railings among other things. At Hick Lane Welseyan Chapel, Hick Lane, Batley on 29 December 1880 Arthur Bown married Jane "Janie" Bagshaw (1857–1917), whose father was Batley iron founder and engineer John Bagshaw (1828–1897) of Stockwell House, Batley. The couple honeymooned in Torquay. One of their two children was Harrogate architect Harold Linley Bown (1883–1962). who in 1935 designed a cinema with frontages in Cambridge Road and Oxford Street and adjoining St Peter's Church, Harrogate (since demolished).
Between 1891 and 1916, Arthur Bown's residence was "Hillstead", 11 Grove Road, Harrogate, West Yorkshire. Bown died in Harrogate on 3 July 1916. He was buried on 5 July in Grove Road Cemetery, after a service at St Luke's Church, Harrogate. He left £7,092 () gross.
Training, partnership and assistants Training Henry Edwin Bown was articled to architect Richard Dyson of Harrogate. In 1868 he was elected ARIBA, "and early showed marked adaptability for his profession". He was then employed as an assistant to the architect William Hill of Park Square, Leeds. Subsequently, he founded his own practice in Harrogate, "where the high character of his work raised him to a position of importance".
Having been "originally intended for an engineer", Arthur Bown was apprenticed with a Mr Barron, C.E., of Leeds, then with Manning Wardle at Boyne Engine Works in Hunslet, Leeds. After that, he served two years as an improver at the architectural firm of J. Douglas Matthews in London. Thereafter he "erected numerous public and private buildings".
Partnership Henry Edwin Bown started the practice alone under the name H. E. Bown from around 1868, working from Beulah House, Chapel Street, Harrogate (1868–1870), then Victoria Buildings, James Street, Harrogate (1871–1881). In 1877 Arthur Bown joined in partnership with his brother Henry as H. E. and A. Bown. Although the partnership was dissolved in 1881 after Henry died, Arthur Bown continued under the original practice name until he retired in 1911. The firm was still trading out of James Street in 1899.
In 1895 Arthur Bown brought a case against engineer W. H. Baxter of Leeds, in that Baxter had not paid Bown for surveying and architectural work carried out on Baxter's stables and residence in Knapping Mount, Harrogate. Baxter counterclaimed for unskilled and improper services on the part of Bown. The case went to arbitration, both were allowed their monetary claims, and Bown had to pay the difference between the sums claimed.
Assistants One of at least three assistants to Arthur Bown was George R. Bland (b.1866) (fl.1894–1896), who was with the firm between 1885 and 1894. He was later working in partnership as Bland & Bown, with T. Bown, and then H. E. Bown's son Percival Bown. Percival Bown was also articled to Arthur Bown, between 1890 and 1894, and was his assistant until 1897. A third assistant, taken on in 1901, was Walter Clement Barker (1880–1854). (downloadable pdf)
Works: new builds, 1860s – 1881 After H. E. Bown died in 1881, the Pateley Bridge & Nidderdale Herald credited him with the following works (although some may have involved collaboration with his brother): Dunorlan, the Colonnade at the Spa, Duchy House, the Congregational Schools, most of the houses on the Franklin Estate, of which he was the founder, and many of the handsome residences of Victoria Park; besides which he laid out the estate of the West End Park Co.
West End Park and Victoria Park, Harrogate, 1870 According to the Whitby Gazette's article "Progress of Harrogate" in 1870: The West End Park, situate opposite the Prince of Wales Hotel, now forms a formidable rival to the Victoria Park. The premium offered by the company, who bought 69 acres here, for the best plan for laying out the estate with sites and first-class villas, was awarded to [John Henry Hirst (1826–1882)], of Bristol, architect. Either a second premium was awarded to Mr H. E. Bown, or an arrangement was come to whereby it was agreed that Mr Hirst should take the premium, and Mr Bown carry out the design. However, Mr Bown appears to have the principal management of the estate. There are above 300 sites, we believe, including a site for a church. Many of the mansions in Victoria Park have also been designed by Mr Hirst and Mr Bown.
Congregational pastor's manse, West End Park, 1870
This manse in West End Park, adjoining the Leeds Road, was designed by Henry Edwin Bown, at a cost of £1,300 (). The foundation stone was laid on 17 August 1870 by theological writer Rev. Eustace Conder of East Parade Chapel, Leeds. It was designed with "two large bay windows in front, with drawing room, dining room, library etc., with bedrooms and offices ... the house [stood] in its own grounds, and [commanded] extensive views of the Vale of York". The first pastor of the church to inhabit the manse was to be Rev. F. Fox Thomas.
Former detached villa, Station Parade, Harrogate, 1870s
This was a Gothic Revival villa on Station Parade, Harrogate, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, designed for the developer Victoria Park Company, by Henry Edwin Bown. The crosses on the gable suggest that it may have been a priest's house for St Robert's Church, Harrogate (built 1873) across the road. It was demolished in the 1980s to make way for a Safeways supermarket. A Waitrose supermarket occupies the site, as of 2022.
Queen's Park Lodge and fountain, Heywood, Greater Manchester, 1878–1879
This lodge, designed by H. E. and A. Bown in 1878, and opened on 9 August 1879, is a listed building. Queen Victoria donated the money for Queen's Park and its buildings for the benefit of the inhabitants of Heywood, hence the lodge is sometimes described as having been built for the Queen. It was originally designed as the main entrance lodge for the park. It is described by Historic England as follows: A second entrance lying to the north of the main entrance [of Queen's Park] gives access to a timber-framed and tile-hung lodge (1879) designed by Messrs Bown, architects, of Harrogate ... This was intended to be the main entrance but the main access was changed as part of the redesign of the park in the 1930s.
British Architect described the building in 1879 thus: The walls up to the first floor are constructed of pitch faces (sic) delph stones and above that in half-timber and cement. The gables are filled in with tile hanging, and the roof is covered with chocolate-coloured Staffordshire tiles. The interior woodwork and fittings are in pitch pine.
The firm is also credited with the 1878–1879 design of a "grand three-basin ornamental fountain, elaborately decorated with dolphins and swans", at Queen's Park. The fountain is a listed building, included in the same listing as the lodge above, although Historic England has spelled Bown's name incorrectly.
Detached house, Holderness Road, Hull, 1880 This house was designed for Frederick J. Reckitt by H. E. and A. Bown, but since Henry Edwin Bown was ill by this time, the project architect was probably Arthur Bown.
Dunorlan, 2 Park Road, Harrogate, before 1881
This large villa was designed by Henry Edwin Bown, possibly in collaboration with his brother Arthur. As of 2022 it had been converted into flats.
Works: new builds, 1882 – 1911 Note: The following works were designed or completed by Arthur Bown, after his brother died in 1881.
Bradford Old Banking Company building, James Street, Harrogate, 1885
This former building designed by Arthur Bown was a replacement of the bank's previous, less convenient, building on the opposite side of the road. It was built on the former site of Vina Villa, and stood at the junction of James Street and Princes Street, Harrogate. It was demolished in 1938 to make way for a branch of Barclays Bank which still stands as of 2022. The bank's board chose H. E. and A. Bown ...