Marcus Evelyn Collins (1861–1944) was one of the nine sons and two daughters of London architect and

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

District Surveyor Hyman Henry Collins (1833–1905). Noted buildings by H. H. Collins included a number of

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

s, such as the

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#An ...

United Synagogue, the Chatham Memorial Synagogue, and the Park Row Synagogue,

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. H. H. Collins was also a staunch advocate of domestic sanitation for all classes of housing – "He was instrumental in the framing of the first London Building Act and was one of the pioneers of improvements in sanitation of towns." Marcus Collins followed his father into architectural practice, later working on a number of noted London buildings including "London's Wonder Works", the Arcadia Cigarette Factory in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

where, from the late 1920s to the late 1950s,

Black Cat A black cat is a Cat, domestic cat with black fur. They may be a specific Purebred, breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular or mixed breed. Most black cats have golden iris (anatomy), irises due to their high melanin pigment content. Bl ...

and Craven "A" cigarettes were made. One of his younger brothers, Horace Samuel Collins (1875–1964), trained and worked as a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

but subsequently became

Press agent In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization. It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The subj ...

for the

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dru ...

, and was later appointed Secretary of the Theatrical Managers' Association. Their youngest brother Frank Louis Collins (1878–1957) was Charles B. Cochran's general stage director, and another of the Collins brothers was Arthur P. Collins (1864–1932), managing director of

Private life

In 1889, Marcus Collins married Florette Davis, daughter of London portrait photographer Hyman Davis: Marcus Collins was thus brother-in-law of theatre critic and librettist "

Owen Hall Owen Hall (10 April 1853 – 9 April 1907) was the principal pen name of the Irish-born theatre writer, racing correspondent, theatre critic and solicitor, James Davis, when writing for the stage. After his successive careers in law and jour ...

", novelist "Frank Danby", and journalist "Mrs Aria".Mrs Aria, ''My Sentimental Self'', Chapman & Hall 1922 pp7-8

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Marcus Architects from London 1861 births 1944 deaths