John Belcher

John Belcher (10 July 1841 – 8 November 1913) was an English architect, and president of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

He designed Chartered Accountants Hall (1890), one of the first neo-baroque buildings in London, and many of his later commissions are prime examples of lavish Edwardian municipal architecture. He was also known as a singer, cello player and conductor.

Early life Belcher was born in Southwark, London on 10 July 1841. His father (1816–1890) of the same name was an established architect. They lived at 60 Trinity Church Square from 1849 to 1852. They had previously lived nearby at 3 Montague Terrace (now 8 Brockham Street), where Belcher was born in 1841. The son was articled with his father, spending two years in France from 1862, where he studied contemporary architecture, apparently more concerned with that promoted by Baron Haussman and Emperor Napoleon III than historic buildings. Wimereux, France, 1897 (Belcher's only known building on the continent); Birmingham Daily Post Building, Fleet St, London 1902; Guildown Grange, Guildford, Surrey, 1902; Tapeley Park, Devon, reconstruction 1902; Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, extension, 1902–3; Royal London Friendly Society, Finsbury Square, London, 1904–5.

From 1905, John James Joass took over more of the design in the practice and together they built Royal Insurance, St. James's Street & Piccadilly, London, 1907–9; Headquarters of the Royal Zoological Society, Regent's Park, London, 1910–11; Holy Trinity, Kingsway, London 1910–12; Royal Society of Medicine, Henrietta Street, London, 1910–12; Tatmore Place, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, 1910;

Belcher was also chief architect for the 1908 Franco-British exhibition at White City, London. He was elected Royal Academician in 1909. Russia, Belgium, Germany, Spain and the United States elected him a member of their several architectural societies. In 1907, he published Essentials in Architecture: An Analysis of the Principles & Qualities to be Looked for in Architecture.

Architects associated with Belcher's practice include Arthur Beresford Pite and Philip Mainwaring Johnston.

Personal life A deeply religious man, he was a prominent member of the Catholic Apostolic Church and wrote The History of the Ecclesiastical Movement (1872) and A Report on the Position of Organs in Churches (1892). He was an Angel (priest) at the Southwark Church in Camberwell from 1908 until his death. He was known to the public as an accomplished solo bass singer, cello player and conductor.

Death and legacy Belcher died at Champion Hill, Dulwich on 8 November 1913 and is buried at West Norwood Cemetery. After his death, the practice was taken over by John James Joass, his partner since 1905.

Gallery of work