John Harper (1809–1842) was an English architect.
Life
Harper was born at Dunkenhalgh Hall, near
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and nort ...
, Lancashire, on 11 November 1809. He studied architecture under
Benjamin and
Philip Wyatt, and when with them prepared the designs for
Apsley House
Apsley House is the London townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing south towards the busy traffic roundabout in the centre of which stands the Wellington Arch. It ...
,
York House, and the
Duke of York's Column
The Duke of York Column is a monument in London, England, to Prince Frederick, Duke of York, the second eldest son of King George III. The designer was Benjamin Dean Wyatt. It is sited where Regent Street meets The Mall, a purposefully wide end ...
.
Harper went into practice as an architect at
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...
. When travelling in Italy to studying art, he caught a malarial fever in Rome. While still in a weak state he went on to Naples, where he died on 18 October 1842.
William Etty
William Etty (10 March 1787 – 13 November 1849) was an English artist best known for his history paintings containing nude figures. He was the first significant British painter of nudes and still lifes. Born in York, he left scho ...
,
David Roberts and
Clarkson Stanfield
Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (3 December 179318 May 1867) was a prominent English painter (often inaccurately credited as William Clarkson Stanfield) who was best known for his large-scale paintings of dramatic marine subjects and landscapes. H ...
were among his friends.
Works

Harper was employed by the
Duke of Devonshire
Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has ...
at
Bolton Abbey
Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, takes its name from the ruins of the 12th-century Augustinian monastery now known as Bolton Priory. The priory, closed in the 1539 Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by King H ...
, by
Lord Londesborough, and others. Some of his best-known works were
St Peter's School, York
St Peter's School is a co-educational independent boarding and day school (also referred to as a public school), in the English City of York, with extensive grounds on the banks of the River Ouse. Founded by St Paulinus of York in AD 627, ...
, the Roman Catholic church at
Bury, Lancashire
Bury ( ) is a market town on the River Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. Metropolitan Borough of Bury is administered from the town, which had an estimated population of 78,723 in 2015.
The town is within the historic county boundaries ...
, and Elton church in the same town.
Notes
External links
Victorian Web, ''John Harper (1809-1842)''.
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, John
1809 births
1842 deaths
Architects from Lancashire
People from Blackburn
Deaths from malaria
19th-century English architects