Francis Chambers (26 December 1828 – 1 December 1900) 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 ...

, active in London. Chambers was born in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, the son of Francis Chambers, a

gentleman ''Gentleman'' (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man; abbreviated ''gent.'') is a term for a chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire ...

, and his wife, Margaret Warlters. He was educated at

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The s ...

, and was then

articled Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulate ...

Sydney Smirke Sydney Smirke (20 December 1797 – 8 December 1877) was a British architect. Smirke who was born in London, England as the fifth son of painter Robert Smirke and his wife, Elizabeth Russell. He was the younger brother of Sir Robert Smirke ...

alongside Arthur Cates and Thomas Chatfield Clarke. Other buildings Chambers designed included the Central London District School at

Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing. It is about west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post town. Hanwell is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. St ...

; of St. Anne's Church, Norwood; of Christ Church, Norwood; and of several buildings in

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

, including the Market at

Saint Peter Port St. Peter Port () is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2019 was 18,958. St. Peter Port is a small tow ...

and the Ladies' College. He also designed many mansions, schools and private houses around England, but was best known as a designer of warehouses, stores and other business premises in London. Chambers is perhaps best known as the architect of the Dog and Duck, a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

at 18 Bateman Street,

Soho, London SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall (SoHo), and ha ...

, built in 1897 for Cannon Brewery. The pub is reportedly where

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

had a celebratory drink after ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' (originally ''Animal Farm: A Fairy Story'') is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic far ...

'' was picked as the American Book of the Month Club. Chambers died 1 December 1900 in

Broadstairs Broadstairs () is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 ...

, Kent, aged 71. The cause of death was reported as "cardiac affection" lasting several months. His only son, Frank Job Chambers, was also an architect, who was trained by his father, then became his partner and had a long career.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Francis 1828 births 1900 deaths Architects from London 19th-century English architects People from the London Borough of Islington Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects People educated at King's College School, London