William Mitcheson Timlin

William Mitcheson Timlin (11 April 1892 – 7 June 1943) was a British architect and artist.

Biography William Mitcheson Timlin was born in Ashington, Northumberland, the son of Peter Timlin, a colliery fireman, and his wife Margaret Mitcheson. His talent for drawing at Morpeth Grammar School earned him a scholarship to the Armstrong College of Art in Newcastle. In 1912, he accompanied his parents to Kimberley, South Africa where he was apprenticed to the British architect D.W. Greatbatch. In 1914, he passed the South Kensington Board of Education Art examinations with Honours and, that year, founded the Art section of the Kimberley Athenaeum Club, and was the club's chairman until it disbanded in the 1940s.

In 1920, Timlin joined Greatbatch as a partner in the firm Greatbatch & Timlin; the following year, Greatbatch left South Africa and Timlin continued the practice without changing the firm's name. The firm completed a large number of buildings in Kimberley, but Timlin's skill as an artist are most evident in the interiors of two theatres: the Colosseum in Johannesburg and the Alhambra Theatre in Cape Town. . He designed the first cover of The Outspan and did many illustrations for that magazine. His work can also be found in many South African travel books from that era. In March 1934, he designed the illuminated address presented by the Municipality of Kimberley to HRH Prince George on his visit there. Timlin also wrote music and had a significant toy collection. The film rights were purchased by an American producer, who was going to call it "Get Off the Earth", but the film was not made.

Timlin illustrated another book, The Building of a Fairy City, but it was not published; he died of pneumonia, at age 51, before it was completed. His original drawings are now highly valued.

Timlin outlived his wife, Marjorie Salonika (1893-1937), who died in a car crash; they were survived by one son, William, born in 1929. He is also remembered at Johannesburg's Kingsmead College, where a house is named after him.

Known Works Kimberley Girls' High School, 1913 (as apprentice), Gate Kimberley Boys' High School, 1914 (as apprentice) Kimberley Hospital, 1915 (as apprentice), Memorial Window Tucker's Hotel, Heilbron, c 1925 Plaza Kinema, Kimberley, 1928 (interior) Great War Memorial - The Cenotaph, Kimberley, 1928 Vryburg High School, Vryburg, 1928 The Consolidated Building, Diamond Corporation Ltd., Kimberley, 1928 (attrib.) Anglican Church, Sydney on Vaal, 1930 Memorial to Colonel Sir David Harris, Kimberley, 1930 The Playhouse, Durban The Alhambra Theatre, Capetown, 1931 (interior) Kimberley Golf Club, Clubhouse Editions, 1932 The Colosseum, Johannesburg, 1933 (interior) Old Boys' War Memorial at St. Patrick's Christian Brothers' College, Kimberley, 1933 Memorial to Major General Sir Henry Lukin, Kimberley, 1934 Queen's Hotel, Bloemfontein, 1938