Watson Fothergill
Watson Fothergill (12 July 1841 – 6 March 1928) was a British architect who designed over 100 unique buildings in Nottingham in the East Midlands of England, his influences were mainly from the Gothic Revival and Old English vernacular architecture styles. His work dates from 1864 (when he set himself up in practice) to around 1912. His earliest surviving known building dates from 1866. Early life. Born Fothergill Watson in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire in 1841, he was the son of wealthy Nottingham Lace merchant Robert Watson and Mary Ann Fothergill. He changed his name to Watson Fothergill in 1892 to  continue his maternal family name. Family. He married Anne Hage in 1867 at St. John's Church, Mansfield. They had the following children: His father-in-law was Samuel Hage, one of the founding partners of Mansfield Brewery. His half-brother was Robert Mackie Watson, chairman of the Mansfield Improvement Commission and the Brunts' Charity. Career. In 1856, he entered the St Peter’s Gate office of Frederick Jackson, an architect and surveyor in Nottingham. In mid 1860 he moved as assistant to Isaac Charles Gilbert who was based in Clinton Street, Nottingham. After spending around 18 months with Gilbert , he moved in early 1862 to join the office of Arthur William Blomfield in London. In 1864 he was working with John Middleton in Cheltenham, but in the same year, left to set up his own office at 6 Clinton Street, Nottingham. He remained at Clinton Street until it was demolished by the works in connection with the arrival of the Great Central Railway in 1894. He moved to a new temporary office at 18 George Street, and arranged to rebuild 15 George Street opposite which he completed the next year and moved in on 12 December 1895. He was  in partnership with Lawrence George Summers from 1880 and he retired in 1912. He is credited as having had a great impact on the architecture of the major British industrial city of Nottingham, and designed over a hundred buildings in the city, from offices, banks and warehouses, to churches and private dwelling houses. His easily recognisable style includes the use of contrasting horizontal bands of red and blue brick, dark timber eaves and balconies, and elaborate turrets and stone carving. On his death in 1928, he left an estate valued at £73,908 5"s" 11"d" (). List of major works All  Nottinghamshire unless otherwise stated. 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s