Arthur Wakerley

Arthur Wakerley (1862-1932) was a British architect. Born in Melton Mowbray, he was articled to James Bird. He was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and sometime President of the Leicester Society of Architects. He was President of the Leicester Liberal Association and in 1886 was elected as a council for Middle St Margaret's Ward and was mayor in 1897, the youngest mayor since the reforms of 1835. He used the role of Mayor to support a wide range of charitable and religious works and attempted to position the role of Mayor as a non-party political one. [James Moore, The Transformation of Urban Liberalism (Ashgate:2006),p.162.] His year of office was marred by two local disasters - the railway accident at Wellingborough and the Whitwick Colliery explosion that claimed 35 lives. He twice (unsuccessfully) contested the Melton Division for a seat in Parliament. [Welford Road Cemetery, http://uk.geocities.com/welford_road_cemetery/wrc-w.htm]

Outside work and politics Arthur Wakerley was an enthusistic Wesleyan lay preacher and ardent temperance worker as well as being interested in archaeology and poetry.

Examples of his architectural work in Leicester include the Turkey Cafe, Granby Street (1901), the Synagogue on Highfield Street, the Coronation Buildings, High Street (1901-03) and the Wycliffe Cottage homes for the Blind. [JEAN FARQUAR, Arthur Wakerley 1862-1931 (London, Sedgebrook Press: 1984).]

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