John Cunningham (1799 – 2 October 1873) was a Scottish

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 ...

. He designed Lime Street

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

and the original Philharmonic Hall in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Life

Born in 1799 in the Scottish village of Leitholm,

Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...

, he was the son of a builder to whom he was initially apprenticed. His talent came to the attention of Sir William Purves-Hume-Campbell, 6th Baronet. He designed his first building aged 17, a lodge for the

Marchmont Estate Marchmont Estate lies near the village of Greenlaw in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, circa south east of Edinburgh. It is situated in the Merse (Scotland), Merse, an area between the Lammermuirs to the north and the Che ...

. In 1819, Cunningham was apprenticed to Thomas Brown,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

's Superintendent of Works, and remained in that city for 10 years. In 1829 he designed

Greenlaw Town Hall Greenlaw Town Hall is a municipal building in The Square, Greenlaw, Scottish Borders, Scotland. The structure, which served as the county headquarters of Berwickshire in the 19th century, is a Category A listed building. History As the then cou ...

in the

Greek Revival style Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

, using money supplied by Sir William Purves-Hume-Campbell, 6th Baronet. In 1832/3 he is noted as living at 15 Buccleuch Place, a flat in the south side of

. In 1833, he married Agnes Usher. That same year, his

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

, Purves-Hume-Campbell, 6th Baronet, died, and Cunningham and his wife moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, possibly to find work. However, the climate there had a detrimental effect on his health, and he returned to Edinburgh in 1834. On his return he was commissioned to design the Castle Inn Hotel in Greenlaw, which was situated directly across from Greenlaw Town Hall. Later that year, he was invited to Liverpool by Samuel Holme, a politician and builder. In Liverpool Cunningham formed an informal partnership with Holme's brother

Arthur Hill Holme Arthur Hill Holme (1814–1857) was a Liverpool architect and brother of builder Samuel Holme, who served as Mayor of Liverpool in 1852–1853. Life and career Holme trained with Thomas Rickman in Birmingham and won the design competition for t ...

, which lasted until 1840. During that time the two men collaborated to design the

Liverpool Lime Street railway station Liverpool Lime Street is a railway station complex located on Lime Street, Liverpool, Lime Street in Liverpool city centre. Although publicly a single, unified station, it is operationally divided into two official railway stations: Liv ...

. Cunningham was elected as a fellow of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

on 6 February 1839. He had a lifelong interest in geology and

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s, traveling to see the

fossil tracks A fossil track or ichnite (Greek "''ιχνιον''" (''ichnion'') – a track, trace or footstep) is a fossilized footprint. This is a type of trace fossil. A fossil trackway is a sequence of fossil tracks left by a single organism. Over the year ...

Storeton Storeton is a small village and former civil parish in the Wirral district, in the county of Merseyside, England, on the Wirral Peninsula. It is west of the town of Bebington and is made up of Great Storeton and Little Storeton, which is classi ...

as well as being a regular contributor to the ''

Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society A magazine is a periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content forms. Magazines are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, ...

''. In 1842, Cunningham took a trip through

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

with Samuel Holme. During the trip he contracted

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

, but managed to recuperate. A building of his design, the

Jacobethan The Jacobethan ( ) architectural style, also known as Jacobean Revival, is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the Engli ...

Sailors' Home, opened in Liverpool in 1850. In 1860 he formed a partnership with the brothers

George Ashdown Audsley George Ashdown Audsley (September 6, 1838 – June 21, 1925) was an accomplished architect, artist, illustrator, writer, decorator and Organ building, pipe organ designer who excelled in many artistic fields but is perhaps best known today for ...

and

William Audsley William James Audsley (1833–1907) was an architect and a medical doctor of Scottish descent. Life William James Audsley was born in 1833 in Dufftown, Scotland. William James Audsley and his business partner (and brother) George Ashdown Audsle ...

of W. & G. Audsley. The partnership was terminated when the brothers opted to become independent in 1863. Cunningham retired and left Liverpool in the summer of 1873, returning to Edinburgh and settling in the

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

district, in order to live closer to his family and friends. There, he began a design for the St Andrews Public Halls, assisted by

Campbell Douglas Archibald Campbell Douglas (usually simply referred to as Campbell Douglas) (14 June 1828 – 14 April 1910) was a Scottish architect based primarily in Glasgow. He designed many churches in Glasgow and Edinburgh, especially those for the Free ...

and

James Sellars James Sellars (2 December 1843 – 9 October 1888) was a Scotland, Scottish architect who was heavily influenced by the work of Alexander Greek Thomson. Life Sellars was born in the Gorbals in Glasgow, son of James Sellars, house factor a ...

. However, before the building could be completed, he died at Laverockbank Terrace in Trinity on 2 October 1873 at the age of 73. His obituary ran in '' The Builder'' on 18 October. He is buried in

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in List of graveyards and cemeteries in Edinburgh, Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and o ...

close to his final home. The grave lies on the main west path on its east side at the transition between the upper and lower sections. His last project was finished posthumously by

and

in 1875.

Family

In 1833 he married Agnes Usher (d.1896). His son, John Usher Cunningham, was born on 16 February 1839. Other sons included George Playfair Cunningham (1837-1867) and William Russell Cunningham (1835-1878).Grave of John Cunningham, Warriston Cemetery

Works

A number of the buildings he designed in Liverpool have since been demolished, but many in Scotland still stand. Some of his works include: * Marchmont House (1816) *

(1829) – featured in the 2006

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television series '' Restoration'' * Arrowe Hall (1835) *

(1836) * Court Hey Hall (1836) *

Crewe railway station Crewe railway station serves the railway town of Crewe, in Cheshire, England. It opened in 1837 and is one of the most historically significant railway stations in the world. * Christ Church (1843) * Philharmonic Hall (1844) According to his obituary, Cunningham was exceedingly proud of this building, reportedly saying: "Well the fact is that for a concert-hall, it is joost perfect!" *

Liverpool Sailors' Home Liverpool Sailors' Home, was open for business in Canning Place, Liverpool, England, from December 1850 to July 1969. The home was designed to provide safe, inexpensive lodging for sailors, and to offer educational and recreational opportunitie ...

(1846) * Backford Hall (1863) * St Andrews Public Halls (1875)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, John 1799 births 1873 deaths Scottish emigrants to the United States Fellows of the Geological Society of London People from Berwickshire People associated with Edinburgh Architects from Liverpool Architects from Edinburgh