Sir Henry Tanner (1849–1935) was a prominent British architect during the late 19th and early 20th century, working for HM Office of Works.

History

Tanner was born in

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in North London. It was originally a medieval Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the are ...

1849 to Robert Tanner, a master carpenter and Elizabeth Selby. He attended the Royal Academy before gaining work experience on building sites in Wiltshire and Surrey. He joined the practice of architect Anthony Salvin, before moving in 1871 to HM Office of Works as a Clerk of District B. In 1872, he married his first wife Lucy Gardner, with whom he had five sons and two daughters, one of whom was the renowned architect Henry Tanner. In 1873, he was promoted from Clerk to First Assistant. In 1877, he had moved to the London District Office of Works, but this did not last long and in 1882 he moved to Leeds where he took up the position of Surveyor, second class. This was a short move, and Tanner returned to London two years later to take up the position of Surveyor, First Class, with responsibility for the Post & Telegraph services. Unfortunately in 1889 his wife Lucy died, and in 1894 he married Emily Sophia Leal. In 1891 he became a fellow of

RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130

, and listed numerous buildings he had designed including York Post Office (1885), Birmingham Post Office (1889-91) and Central Post Office, Nottingham (1894-98). He was also awarded the RIBA Tite prize for Classical Architecture in 1878. His designs were normally French Renaissance in style. In 1898, he took over as the Principal Surveyor of the London Office of Works. In 1899 he started one of his biggest projects, Post Office Savings Bank in West

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

. Other projects completed under his guidance were the Land Registry in Lincoln's Inn Fields and the West Extension (now known as the West Green Building) at the

Law Courts A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts genera ...

The Strand, London The Strand (commonly referred to with a leading "The", but formally without) is a major street in the City of Westminster, Central London. The street, which is part of London's West End theatreland, runs just over from Trafalgar Square eas ...

. In 1904, Tanner was knighted by

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

, and also chaired a RIBA committee on the use of reinforced concrete, a substance that he used extensively in his last big project the King Edward Post Office Building (1907–10). He served in 1910–12 as President of the

Concrete Institute The Institution of Structural Engineers is a British professional body for structural engineers. In 2021, it had 29,900 members operating in 112 countries. It provides professional accreditation and publishes a magazine, '' The Structural Engi ...

(later to become the

Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers is a British professional body for structural engineers. In 2021, it had 29,900 members operating in 112 countries. It provides professional accreditation and publishes a magazine, '' The Structural Eng ...

). In 1913, Tanner retired from the office of works but joined the practice of his son, Henry Tanner, where he worked until his death in 1935. Works completed after the office of works include the

Dickins and Jones Dickins & Jones was a high-quality department store in London, England, which traded between 1835 and 2007, although tracing its origins to 1790. From 1835, the main store was in London's Regent Street. In its final years the store had branches a ...

department store in Regent Street. His son Henry Tanner was famous for the design of the Park Lane Hotel in London, and the redevelopment of Oxford Circus.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanner, Henry Architects from London 1849 births 1935 deaths Companions of the Imperial Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath People from St Pancras, London