Philip Charles Hardwick

Philip Charles Hardwick (1822-1892) was a notable English architect of the 19th century who was once described as "a careful and industrious student of mediaeval art". He was born in Westminster and was the son of the architect Philip Hardwick (1792-1870), grandson of Thomas Hardwick (junior) (1752-1825) and great grandson of Thomas Hardwick Senior (1725-1825); the Hardwicks' architectural work spanned over 100 years, making them one of the most successful architectural families in British history.

Hardwick's mother was also from an eminent architectural family: the Shaws. His maternal grandfather was John Shaw Senior (1776-1832) and his uncle was John Shaw Jr (1803-1870) - both architects known for their work at Christ's Hospital and at Ramsgate harbour. Philip Charles trained under his father and also in Edward Blore's office during which time he visited Belgium and Germany. Hardwick exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy between 1848 and 1854.

Like his father, Philip Charles was employed in the 'Square Mile' of the City of London, where he became the leading architect of grandiose banking offices, mainly in an Italianate manner, setting the pattern for suburban and provincial designs for almost three decades. He designed five City banks, including Drummond's in Trafalgar Square (1879-81), and was architect to the Bank of England from 1855 to 1883. However, he was more employed outside London, designing branch offices at Hull (1856) and Leeds (1862-65).

). The Great Hall was demolished in 1962 to make way for construction of the current Euston Station building. Philip Charles was the last Hardwick Surveyor to St Bartholomew's Hospital in London and was a major benefactor of the hospital. The position of surveyor had been held since the late 18th century by his grandfather, Thomas Hardwick Junior. He was also an adviser in the new War Office and Admiralty competition of 1884.

Arthur William Blomfield was Hardwick's pupil in 1852-1855. Philip Charles had been a favourite architect of Queen Victoria to design the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens but his design fell short with the advisory committee.

Family history

Hardwick retired to Wimbledon and married in Bath in the early 1870s. Two of his sons went into the military and served in South Africa during the Boer War; one of them, Lieutenant Stephen Thomas Hardwick, was killed in gunfire during the battle of Tweefontein in 1901. Hardwick's daughter, Helen, married Sir Henry George Lyons (1864-1944), later a director of the Science Museum in London.

Philip Charles Hardwick is buried alongside his father, Philip, and the Shaw family in Kensal Green Cemetery, London.

Other projects

*parts of Lincoln's Inn (with his father, 1843-1845)
*restoration of St Nicholas church, Durweston, Dorset (1847)
*Durham indoor market, guildhall, town hall and market tavern (1849-1851)
*Adare Manor, Adare, County Limerick, Ireland (1850-1862)
*Rooms for the fourth Earl Spencer at Althorp (1851)
*restoration of St Mary's Church, Lambeth (1851-1852, now the Museum of Garden History)
*Great Western Royal Hotel at Paddington station (1851-54)
*Chapel of Ease of St Saviour, Shotton, County Durham (1852-1854)
*St John's Church, Deptford (1855)
*Alterations on Uxbridge House, London (1855)
*parts of the Titsey Estate in Surrey (1856)
*Sompting House (now Sompting Abbotts), Sompting, Sussex (1856)
*redevelopment of Heslington Hall, near York (1850s)
*St John's Cathedral, Limerick, Ireland (constructed 1856-1861)
*Adhurst St Mary house, Petersfield, Hampshire (1858)
*new wings at the Greenwich Hospital School (now part of the National Maritime Museum) (1861-1862)
*For Sir Francis Henry Goldsmid, Rendcomb House, Rendcomb, Gloucestershire (1863)
*Rebuilt Madresfield Court for the 5th Earl of Beauchamp (1863)
*All Saints Church, Aldershot (1863)
*Sovereign House (former Bank of England building), Park Row, Leeds (1864)
*46-48 Lombard Street, London (1866)
*Charterhouse School, near Godalming, Surrey (1872)
*St Edmund's School in Canterbury, Kent

External links

* [http://www.shaw-hardwick.co.uk website in memory of the Hardwicks]