Henry L. Florence

Henry Louis Florence (9 June 1843 - 17 February 1916[1][2]) was a British architect, arts benefactor and member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)[3], of which he was also vice-president (1897-1899[4]) and Fellow of the Geological Society. He was a member of the Junior Athenaeum and the Arts Club.[5] He also served in the Rifle Volunteers from 1871 to 1892, retiring from it with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.[6]

Life

The son of John Henry Florence of Streatham, Henry Louis Florence was privately educated before being articled to an architect's studio in 1860. He later studied at the Atelier Questel practice in Paris. In 1869 he won RIBA's Soane Medal and the following year the Royal Academy awarded him its gold medal. The Royal Academy also made him its travelling student, granting him the funds that enabled him to visit Italy later in 1870. He began to practice as an architect in 1871 in partnership with Lewis Henry Isaacs - their collaborations included completing the work of Charles J. Phipps on the Carlton Hotel, London and Her Majesty's Theatre after his death.[7] He also later worked in practice with Herbert Arnold Satchell.[8]

Florence's own designs include the Woolland Brothers department store in Knightsbridge;[9] the Victoria Memorial in Kensington;[10], the Stourbridge and Kidderminster Bank, Worcester[11] and the Electric Railway House, previous home of London Transport.[12] His other designs include Holborn station, St James's Park station, the old Holborn Town Hall on Gray's Inn Road, and the Paddington branch of the London Joint-Stock Bank. He also designed several hotels (including the Holborn Viaduct Hotel, the Delahay Street Hotel in Victoria, Australia, the Empire Hotel, Lowestoft and the Coburg Hotel). He worked extensively for Edward Lloyd, building him offices at Salisbury Square in east London as well as a private mansion. At Gray's Inn he not only restored the Hall but created a new pension-room, classrooms and library. He altered and extended the United Services Club, designed the Institute of Journalists and added a library and museum to the Freemasons' Hall in London[13]

He was an art collector and on his death he made monetary bequests to the National Gallery, British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum.[14] These were used to found purchase funds, known at the National Gallery as the Florence Fund and at the British Museum as the H L Florence Fund. The latter was invested, with income from the investments assigned to purchasing prints and drawings from western Europe, providing the Department of Prints and Drawings's main source of purchase funds during the Great Depression.[15] He also bequeathed several objects to the Victoria & Albert Museum, including a vase made by Baccarat,[16] and several paintings to the National Gallery.[17] Florence's will also made provision for the establishment of the Henry L. Florence Studentship's Fund, which is run by The Architectural Association.[18] Research scholars with the fund have included Scottish architect Geoffrey Copcutt.[19] In the 1930s, another bequest by his relation, H. S. E. van der Plant, enabled the construction of the Florence Hall, London after Henry Louis[20] which is owned by RIBA.

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References
  1. James Stevens Curl, Susan Wilson (ed.s), The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2015), page 479
  2. "Henry L. Florence - RIBApix". Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  3. "Directory of British Architects 1834-1914: Vol. 2 (L-Z) pg.754". Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  4. Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Volume 45 (1937), page 908
  5. Dictionary of Scottish Architects - Henry Louis Florence
  6. "Cabinet - V&A". Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  7. "The London Encyclopaedia (3rd Edition) by Christopher Hibbert, Ben Weinreb, John Keay, Julia Keay". p. 131. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  8. "No. 26528". The London Gazette. 3 July 1894. p. 3831.
  9. "Plate 14: Woollands - British History Online". Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  10. "1905 - Victoria Memorial, Kensington - Archiseek". Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  11. "1875 – Stourbridge & Kidderminster Bank, Worcester". Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  12. "Broadway Complex - Pre-Application Heritage Assessment - John McAslan & Partners for Transport for London pg.10" (PDF). Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  13. "Freemasons Hall". British History Online.ac.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  14. National Archives (T & M 496/1916)
  15. British Museum - H L Florence Fund
  16. "Vase - V&A". Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  17. "A Boy with a Mousetrap by Adriaen van der Werff - The National Gallery". Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  18. "HENRY L FLORENCE STUDENTSHIP'S FUND - Open Charities". Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  19. "Geoffrey Copcutt - scottisharchitects.org.uk". Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  20. "Florence Hall - architecture.com". Retrieved 13 February 2017.
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