Alfred Gelder
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Sir William Alfred Gelder (12 May 1855 – 26 August 1941) 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
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...
politician.


Family and education

Gelder was born in the village of
North Cave North Cave is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated to the west of Hull city centre on the B1230 road. South Cave is approximately to the south-east. The civil parish is formed by the village of ...
in the
East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...
, the son of William Gelder, a
joiner Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, ...
and
wheelwright A wheelwright is a Artisan, craftsman who builds or repairs wooden wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the word "wright" (which comes from the Old English word "''wryhta''", meaning a worker - as also in shipbuilding, shipwright ...
who later became a
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
merchant. Although christened William after his father, Gelder was known by his middle name, Alfred. It is not clear how much formal schooling Gelder received and at the age of 15 he was apprenticed to his father. However he changed his mind about following his father's trade and later became an architect. In 1877 he married Elizabeth Parker from
Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...
. They had two sons and a daughter. Elizabeth Gelder died in 1934 and Alfred did not remarry.''Who was Who'', OUP 2007


Career

Gelder wanted to be an architect and he went to Hull to seek out opportunities. He must have acquired some qualifications because in the year after his marriage to Elizabeth Parker he established an architectural practice. It is known that he gained a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree and he later became a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
as well as being a
Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...
. In 1892 he formed an association with Llewellyn Kitchen, the son of a commercial traveller from
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
and set up the firm of Gelder and Kitchen in which he was the senior partner. Gelder had entered the architectural profession at the time of the
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
development of Hull. According to one source it was largely thanks to Gelder's ability and energy that Hull was a city transformed – with old buildings removed, new wide streets introduced and attractive shops and public offices erected. Under Gelder's supervision, Hull was being hailed as one of the country's finest cities with the slums and disorder of the Victorian city giving way to broad, straight thoroughfares. During Gelder's time the city centre was reconstructed and a new bridge, the Drypool Bridge, was built across the
River Hull The River Hull is a navigable river in the East Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. It rises from a series of springs to the west of Driffield, and enters the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. Following a period when the Archbishops o ...
. In recognition of Gelder's contributions, the new road built through the city centre to link with this bridge was named Alfred Gelder Street. In the 1930s Gelder was associated with the works to transform Queen's Dock into Queen's Gardens. One of Gelder and Kitchen's specialisms was the design of
flour mills A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...
and
oilseed Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed ...
crushing mills at a time when Hull was a major European centre for the industry. One of the firm's most famous clients for its revolutionary roller mill was
Joseph Rank Joseph Rank (28 March 1854 – 13 November 1943) was the founder of Joseph Rank Limited, once one of Britain's largest flour milling and bakery companies. He built his company into a leader in all aspects of the industry including the operat ...
who, like Gelder, was a noted
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
and Gelder also did architectural work for Joseph Rank's son, the industrialist and film producer, J Arthur Rank. His devout attachment to Methodism caused Gelder to design numerous chapels, including the Brunswick Chapel on Holderness Road in 1890 and the Princes Avenue Chapel in 1904. As well as in Hull, there were commissions for chapels and flour mills, from all over the country.


Politics

Like many self-made men of non-conformist religion in Victorian and
Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...
England, Gelder gravitated to Liberal politics. In 1892 he became a member of the Hull
School Board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...
and three years later joined the
City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
. From 1899–1903 Gelder was Liberal
Mayor of Hull The position of Mayor of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England was established in 1332, by Edward III with the first mayor being William de la Pole. On 26 June 1914, it was declared that the Chief Magistrate and Officer of the City would be ...
and in all was a member of the council, later in the office of
Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...
, for 43 years. In 1930 he received the Honorary Freedom of the City. In 1910, Gelder was selected as Liberal candidate for
Brigg Brigg (Wikipedia:IPA for English#Key, /'brɪg/) is a market town in North Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 5,076 in the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 UK census, the population increased to 5,626 at the 2011 census. The town lies ...
in north
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...
. Since its creation in 1885, Brigg had been mostly a Liberal seat but it had been lost to the
Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
in a
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
in 1907 when the Liberal candidate was
Frederick Guest Frederick Edward Guest, (14 June 1875 – 28 April 1937) was a British politician best known for being Chief Whip of Prime Minister David Lloyd George's Coalition Liberal Party, 1917–1921. He was also Secretary of State for Air between 192 ...
. Guest was then selected to fight
East Dorset East Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. Its council met in Wimborne Minster between 2016 and 2019. The district (as Wimborne) was formed on 1 April 1974 by merging Wimborne Minster Urban District with Wimborne an ...
and the Brigg constituency Liberals turned to Gelder as their candidate. He won the seat back from the
Tories A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The T ...
at the January 1910 general election, held it in December 1910 and represented the constituency until
1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...
when he stood again as an Asquithian Independent Liberal and was beaten into third place behind the winning
Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...
Conservative and the Labour candidate. Gelder had resigned from Hull Council in 1912 but he was later elected an Alderman. By 1935 he was sitting as a member of the Independent Group and was the only one of the Independent Aldermen not to be voted off the Council by the incoming Labour administration.


Honours and appointments

Gelder was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
in the King's birthday honours list of 1903 for his services to architecture and to the City of Hull. This followed the visit to Hull during May 1903, when Gelder was Mayor of the city, by the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...
, accompanied by the
Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (; ) is a title used since the 14th century by the wife of the Prince of Wales. The Princess is the apparent future queen consort, as "Prince of Wales" is a title reserved by custom for the heir apparent to the Monarchy of the ...
to unveil a memorial statue of
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
, a commemoration tablet at the
Royal Infirmary Royal Infirmary may refer to a number of hospitals in the United Kingdom: *England **Blackburn Royal Infirmary ** Bradford Royal Infirmary **Bolton Royal Infirmary **Bristol Royal Infirmary ** Chester Royal Infirmary **Derbyshire Royal Infirmary ** ...
and to lay the foundation stone of the new
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
.''The Times'', 11 April 1903 p10


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gelder, Alfred 1855 births 1941 deaths English Methodists Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1910–1918 Mayors of Kingston upon Hull Architects from Kingston upon Hull Knights Bachelor Politicians from Kingston upon Hull