John Raphael Rodrigues Brandon (5 April 1817 in London – 8 October 1877 at his chambers at 17 Clement's Inn,

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

, London) was a British

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and architectural writer.

Life

Training

He was the second child of the six children of Joshua de Isaac Moses Rodrigues Brandon and his wife, Sarah. He learned architecture under J. Dédeau in Alençon, France and then under Joseph T. Parkinson (to whom he was apprenticed in 1836).

Publications

Both he and his brother Joshua Arthur Rodrigues Brandon were keen adherents of the

Neo Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style and, as well as going into private practice together between 1841 and 1847 at Beaufort Buildings,

, they jointly produced a series of three works on Early English ecclesiastical architecture that became and remained architectural pattern books for the whole 19th century – *''Analysis of Gothic Architecture'' (1847) – more than 700 examples of windows, doors, windows, and other architectural details, with measurements observed at first hand, collected from parish churches *''Parish Churches'' (1848) – 63 churches from across England, each with perspective views, a short description in text and a plan (to the same scale for all the churches) *''Open Timber Roofs of the Middle Ages'' (1849) – perspective, geometric and detail drawings of 35 timber roofs from parish churches in 11 different English counties, showing their form and principle of each example, with an introduction on the topic in general. ''

The Builder ''Building'' is one of the United Kingdom's oldest business-to-business magazines, launched as ''The Builder'' in 1843 by Joseph Aloysius Hansom – architect of Birmingham Town Hall and designer of the Hansom Cab. The journal was renamed ''Bu ...

'' commented that the work:

serves the one useful and necessary purpose of showing practically and constructively what the builders of the middle ages really did with the materials they had at hand, and how all those materials, whatever they were, were made to harmonise.

Buildings

In the 1840s John and Joshua designed several stations and engine-houses in the style of medieval

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

s on the

London and Croydon Railway The London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) was an early railway in England. It opened in 1839 and in February 1846 merged with other railways to form the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR). Origins The Croydon line and other railways Th ...

, disguising chimneys as early Gothic church bell-towers. Joshua's own exhibited designs at the Royal Academy between 1838 and 1874 included a design for Colchester town hall (1843, in his and Blore's name – built in 1845) and in 1853, together with Robert Ritchie, a design for the interior of the Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury of the

Catholic Apostolic Church The Catholic Apostolic Church (CAC), also known as the Irvingian Church, is a Christian denomination and Protestant sect which originated in Scotland around 1831 and later spread to Germany and the United States.Miller General Hospital) in Greenwich High Road is also attributed to Brandon & Ritchie. John was architect of the restoration of St Martin's Church, Leicester (now Leicester Cathdedral.) This included the building of the tower and spire. The tower was completed in 1862 and the spire in 1867. The work on this was in the correct Early English style,although his work elsewhere in the church was in the perpendicular style. The tower and spire are, according to Pevsner, "intentionally impressive" and loosely based on Ketton Church in Rutland. Among the many churches Joshua built independently were the small church of St Peter's in

Great Windmill Street Great Windmill Street is a thoroughfare running north–south in Soho, London, crossed by Shaftesbury Avenue. The street has had a long association with music and entertainment, most notably the Windmill Theatre, and is now home to the Ripley ...

, London (1848) and Holy Trinity Church, Knightsbridge (1861), both of which have since been demolished. He also built, altered, and restored many other churches. However, even Brandon's becoming a fellow of the Institute of British Architects in 1860 failed to bring him the same success as an active architect as he had had as an author and this, the early death of his brother Joshua, and the death of his wife and child, all drove him to suicide by shooting himself in the head. Thomas Hardy, who worked briefly for Brandon, based his description of Henry Knight's chambers in his novel '' A Pair of Blue Eyes'' on his office at Clement's Inn. Brandon also employed

James Rawson Carroll James Rawson Carroll (1830 – November 30, 1911) was an Irish architect who was involved in many projects throughout Ireland during the Victorian Era. He was a founding partner of the Carroll & Batchelor architectural firm in 1892, alongside ...

, architect of the

Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital The Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital (also known as The Eye and Ear) ( ga, Ospidéal Ríoga Victoria Súl agus Cluas) is a public teaching hospital in Dublin, Ireland. The Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin was founded in 1895 and ...

, Dublin, Ireland.

References

External links

from

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from

Sources

* * s:Brandon, John Raphael (DNB00), Dictionary of National Biography *A. Felstead, J. Franklin, and L. Pinfield, eds., ''Directory of British architects, 1834–1900'' (1993); 2nd edn, ed. A.Brodie and others, 2 vols.(2001) *L. D. Barnett and others, eds., ''Bevis Marks records: being contributions to the history of the Spanish and Portuguese Congregation in London'', 5 vols. (1940–93) *''The Builder'', 35 (1877), 1041, 1051–2 *''The Builder'', 5 (1847), 603 *E. Jamilly, ‘Anglo-Jewish architects, and architecture in the 18th and 19th centuries’, Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England, 18 (1953–55), 127–41, esp. 135–6 * Algernon Graves, ''The Royal Academy of Arts: a complete dictionary of contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904'', 8 vols.(1905–06), (1970), (1972) *G. Stamp and C. Amery, ''Victorian buildings of London, 1837–1887: an illustrated guide'' (1980), 40–41 · *''The architect's, engineer's, and building-trades' directory'' (1868) *Catalogue of the drawings collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Royal Institute of British Architects, 20 vols. (1969–89) *C. Barry, ''Sessional Papers of the Royal Institute of British Architects'' (1877–78), 10 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandon, Raphael 1817 births 1877 deaths 19th-century English architects Architects from London English expatriates in France English people of Portuguese-Jewish descent Suicides by firearm in England