Joseph Hirst

Joseph Henry Hirst (1863–1945) was a leading English architect of the post-Victorian era based in Kingston upon Hull.

Life Hirst was born in 1863 in South Milford, Yorkshire, the son of William Hirst (1833–1918) and Mary Ann Carr (1839–1883). He married Hannah Whitehead (1852-1951) in 1890 in St Charles Catholic Church, Hull. They had the following children:

Captain Joseph Francis Xavier Hirst MC (1891-1978) William Leo Hirst (1896-1983) Irene Mary Hirst (1900-1973)

During the Second World War his home in Hymers Avenue, Hull was damaged in an air raid. He moved to Selby where he died aged 82.

Career He started his career as a surveyor under Colonel William H. Wellsted.

Hirst was appointed first City Architect for Kingston upon Hull on 1 January 1900, and he retained this until retirement on 1 July 1926 and was "the man who more than any other designed the face of the modern city". He was responsible for some of Hull's best-known buildings, among them the City Hall, swimming baths, schools and housing estates.

Buildings designed by Joseph Hirst

East Hull Baths, Holderness Road, Hull 1897-98 Crematorium, Hedon Road Cemetery, Hull 1899-1901 Council Houses, Steynburg Street and Rustenburg Street, Hull 1902-03 Bob Carvers Fish and Chip Restaurant and Trinity Market Hall, North Church Side, Hull 1902-04 Police Station, 20 Parliament Street, Hull 1902-04 Empress Hotel, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull 1903 Lodge, East Park, Hull 1903 Fountain House, Fountain Road, Hull 1904 Public Baths, Beverley Road, Hull 1905 Carnegie Library, Anlaby Road, Hull 1905 City Hall, Hull 1903-09 Pickering Almshouses, Hessle Road, Hull 1909 Sewage Pumping Station, Hessle Road, Hull 1909 Lodge, West Park, Hull 1910 Southcoates Lane School, Hull 1910-11 Sidmouth Street School, Hull 1911-12 Chapel, Northern Cemetery, Hull 1912 Museum of Fisheries and Shipping, Hull 1912 School for Fishermen, Boulevard, Hull 1914 Newland School for Girls, Cottingham Road, Hull 1914 Central Fire Station, Worship Street, Hull 1927 Residences on Hymers Avenue, Hull, near Hymers College

Publications (1913) The block houses of Kingston-upon-Hull and who went there: A glimpse of catholic life in the penal times and a missing page of local history. Hull: A. Brown & Sons. (1916) The Armorial Bearings of Kingston Upon Hull. Hull: A. Brown & Sons.