John Bilson (architect)
{{Short description|English architect}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
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| name = John Bilson
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| birth_date = 1856
| birth_place = Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England
| death_date = 1943
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| occupation = Architect
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| known_for = Medieval architectural research
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John Bilson (1856–1943) was an English architect trained under William Botterill, later working as a partner in Botterill and Bilson. Bilson is best known for his architectural research on the medieval period.
Biography
{{see also|Botterill and Bilson}}
John Bilson was born on 23 September 1856 in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire{{Cite web|url=http://search.findmypast.co.uk/results/world-records/england-and-wales-births-1837-2006?firstname=john%20&lastname=bilson&eventyear=1856&eventyear_offset=0|title = Search Results for England & Wales Births 1837-2006}} and educated at Wesley College, Sheffield.{{cite ODNB|id=109617|first=David|last=Neave|title=Bilson, John}} He trained in architecture under William Botterill from 1873 to 1877, and joined the practice as a partner in 1881.{{citation| url = http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=207209| title = John Bilson| work =www.scottisharchitects.org.uk|access-date=21 June 2014}}
After Botterill's son's early death in 1879 Bilson became the main partner in the practice, and took over the business completely when Botterill retired in 1899.
Bilson received a D.Litt. from Durham University in 1925 for his work on dating the architecture of Durham Cathedral. he was also honoured by the Société française d'archéologie (French) in 1926.
John had two children, John Seymour Craven Bilson (born 1903) and Joan Bilson (born 1906).
=Legacy=
Bilson is well regarded for his historical work on medieval architecture;{{citation| title=A Companion to Medieval Art: Romanesque and Gothic in Northern Europe| editor-first = Conrad|editor-last= Rudolph|chapter = 27. Cistercian Architecture}}{{citation| title = The Early Thirteenth-Century Architecture of Beverley Minster: Cathedral Splendours and Cistercian Austerities| first = Christopher| last = Wilson|pages = 181–|work = Proceedings of the Newcastle Upon Tyne Conference 1989 : Thirteenth Century England III |year= 1991| editor-first = P.R. |editor-last = Coss| editor-first2=S.D.|editor-last2=Lloyd}} on his work at Durham it has been written "The chronology of the works [..] of construction have been established by John Bilson on such solid bases that there is nothing significant to be added."{{citation| work= Medieval Architecture and Its Intellectual Context |editor-first = Eric|editor-last = Fernie|editor-first2= Paul|editor-last2= Crossley|first = Jean |last=Bony| title = The Stonework Planning of the First Durham Master| pages = 19–| year = 1990| publisher = The Hambledon Press}} John Bilson also wrote an article for the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica on Romanesque and Gothic Architecture in England.{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Contributors |volume= 29 | pages = 948–974 |short=x}}{{cite wikisource|title=Author:John Bilson}}{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Architecture |volume= 02 | pages = 401–404 |short=x}} Photographs attributed to Bilson are held by The Courtauld in the Conway Library of art and architecture, and are currently being digitised.{{Cite web|date=2020-06-30|title=Who made the Conway Library?|url=http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2020/06/30/who-made-the-conway-library/|access-date=2021-04-14|website=Digital Media|archive-date=3 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703211341/http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2020/06/30/who-made-the-conway-library/|url-status=dead}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
=Further reading=
- {{citation| title =John Bilson and Anglo-Norman Architectural Studies | last = Buchanan| first = A.C.| year = 2013| work = Proceedings of the Battle Conference for 2012}}
External links
{{Commons category|John Bilson (architect)}}
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Category:English architectural historians