E. J. May

Edward John May (1853–1941) was an English architect.

Career

E.J. May was the last pupil of Decimus Burton. He then went to the assist Eden Nesfield who was at the time working in partnership with Richard Norman Shaw. He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1873, and won the RIBA Pugin Prize in 1876.

Shaw commended May as Estate Architect at Bedford Park, London in 1880 and May held that post until 1885. He lived at 6 Queen Anne's Grove, Bedford Park from 1881 to 1890.

He was architect to the Church of England Waifs and Strays Society and to the Governesses' Benevolent Institution. His office was at Hart Street, Bloomsbury, London. He retired in 1932.

From the 1890s he was a resident of Chislehurst, Kent, where he was responsible for a wide range of houses. He lived firstly on Willow Grove, before moving to a house of his own design in 1913. At Chislehurst, he was a Church Warden at the Church of the Annunciation, Chislehurst High Street as well as Secretary of the Parish Nurse Fund.

He died at Chislehurst on 16 March 1941.

"To know E. J. May was an exhilarating tonic, the serious and yet lighthearted activity of thought and action, the quick movement to keep an appointment or to see you on your homeward way was characteristic." 1882 Nos 21 – 39 Marlborough Crescent, Bedford Park (attrib) 1882 Nos 15 – 33 Queen Anne's Grove, Bedford Park 1882 Nos 24 – 28 Queen Anne's Grove, Bedford Parkga 1882 Nos 2 – 10 Newton Grove, Bedford Park 1882 No 1 Newton Grove, Bedford Park 1882 No 11 South Parade, Bedford Park (attrib) 1882 Master's House, The School, Derby 1883 nos 15 – 25 Queen Anne's Grove, London 1883 New Hotel Bush Hill Park, Enfield 1883 nos 3 – 4 Gainsborough Gardens, Hampstead, London 1883 House for Dr Hogg, Priory Gardens, Bedford Park, London 1884–85 St Margaret's Terrace, Cromer, Norfolk 1884 Swarland Hall, Northumberland 1884 Stables, Swarland Hall 1884 No 5 The Orchard, Bedford Park 1885 House at Wimbledon, London 1885 Club Room, Bedford Park 1887 House at Elstree 1889 No 2 The Grange, Wimbledon 1889 Folkton Manor House 1890 Barnsdale Hall, near Oakham, Rutland 1891 House at Hampstead 1892 Kirklevington Grange, North Riding 1892 House in Connecticut, USA 1895 Stables at Shaw Hill, Wiltshire 1895 Houses at Gainsborough Gardens, Hampstead, London 1894-8 Jardine Hall, Drumfrieshire, Scotland 1898 Saxby's St Paul's Cray Road, Chislehurst (alts)

Works 1900 – 1930 1900 Homeside, no 4 South Side, Wimbledon 1901 Norman Cottage, Morley Road, Chislehurst 1902 Falconhurst, no 19 Parkside, Wimbledon 1900–05 Branksome Place (formerly Hilders, then Branksome Hilders), Hindhead Rd, Haselmere, Surrey, for Sir Charles McLaren, bt. (later 1st Baron Aberconway) 1900–05 Honeyhanger, Haselmere, Surrey, for Sir Charles McLaren, bt. (later 1st Baron Aberconway) 1900–05 10 Palace Green, Kensington, London 1904 Nos 165 – 169 Lower Camden, Chislehurst 1904 New Entrance Lodges, Toddington, Gloucestershire 1905 Ballindune, Weydown Road, Haslemere 1906–07 Saxby's St Paul's Cray Road, Chislehurst (further alts) 1907 Nos 1, 2 and 4 Shepherd's Green, Chislehurst 1907 Dunoran, Park Farm Road, Bickley. 1908 Nos 3 and 5 Shepherd's Green, Chislehurst 1908 House at Webbington, Somerset 1908 Three Firs, Hindhead, Surrey 1909 Western Motor Works, Perry Street, Chislehurst 1909 The Homestead, 9 Holbrook Lane, Chislehurst 1910 Waifs and Strays' Home, Pyford, Surrey 1910 Working Men's Club (British Legion), 76 Green Lane, Chislehurst 1910 Nos 1 – 5 Beaverwood Road, Chislehurst 1910 – 11 Guild hall, Sandwich, Kent (alts) 1910 White Riggs, Mead Road, Chislehurst 1910 Sweet Meadows, Mead Road, Chislehurst 1910 Nos 1 5 Beaverwood Road, Chislehurst (attrib) 1911 House at Boyne Park, Tunbridge Wells 1911 No 48 Parkway, Gidea Park, Essex 1911 No 10 Reed Pond Walk, Gidea Park, Essex 1911 House at Toddington, Gloucestershire 1911 Lych Gate at Church of the Annunciation, High Street, Chislehurst 1912 Antokol (formerly Oak House), Holbrook Lane, Chislehurst 1913 Wallings (formerly Lyneham), Heathfield Lane, Chislehurst (own house) 1913 South Chapel, St Peter, Ealing 1914 Millfield, Cricketground Road, Chislehurst (demolished) 1915 Red Hatch, 55 Elmstead Lane, Chislehurst (erected 1920) 1920s Elmstead Spinney, no 5 Wood Drive, Chislehurst 1922 Mainstay Lodge, Holbrook Lane, Chislehurst (demolished) 1924 St Anne's Cottage, no 6 The Meadow, Chislehurst 1925 Ada Lewis Governesses' Homes, Southend Road, Beckenham, Kent 1926 Quatre Fils (formerly Harwood), 41 Holbrook Lane, Chislehurst 1927 Lockers, Holbrook Lane, Chislehurst 1928 Archway Cottages, Scadbury Estate, Chislehurst 1930 Moorcroft (formerly Exbourne), Wilderness Road, Chislehurst 1930 Tower at Church of the Annunciation, High Street, Chislehurst Lychgate to St Mary's Church, Perivale, Middlesex

Other work

Sketch of a Queen Anne Interior (Orchard House) Royal Academy Exhibitor annually from 1881 to 1892 and also 1894, 1898 and 1900.