Stephen Geary (31 August 1797 – 28 August 1854) 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 ...

, inventor,

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

, and, from 1850, Temperance activist.

Early life

Geary was born in

Dean's Yard Dean's Yard, Westminster, comprises most of the remaining precincts of the historically greater scope of the monastery or abbey of Westminster, not occupied by its buildings. It is known to members of Westminster School as Green (referred t ...

, Westminster, London, on 31 August 1797. At the age of 13 he was apprenticed to the architect Thomas Leverton. In 1817 he joined the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

architecture schools. He exhibited drawings and models at the Royal Academy on six occasions.

Cemetery work

His best known work was

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

, opened in 1839, and later to be his resting place, where he designed the Egyptian Avenue and the Terrace Catacombs: he was also founder of the London Cemetery Company, established by Act of Parliament in 1836, which owned Highgate Cemetery and

Nunhead Cemetery Nunhead Cemetery is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries in London, England. It is perhaps the least famous and celebrated of them. The cemetery is located in Nunhead in the London Borough of Southwark and was originally known as All Saint ...

. He is also associated with Gravesend, Nunhead and Brompton Cemeteries and produced a design for a Brighton cemetery that was never built.

Other works

* St Pancras Collegiate School, London. Designed but not built. * A short-lived monument, consisting of a

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

, with a statue of King

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

on top (it was erected in 1836, the statue was demolished in 1842, the building in 1845), that gave its name to Kings Cross. *

Gin palace A gin palace (also gin house and gin shop) is an English name originally for a lavish bar selling gin, later transferred by association to late Victorian pubs designed in a similar style. Architecture In the 18th century, gin shops or 'dram s ...

s. Geary was noted in his day for designing gin palaces. Only one is known to survive, The Bell in

Pentonville Pentonville is an area in North London, located in the London Borough of Islington. It is located north-northeast of Charing Cross on the London Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road. Pentonville developed in the northwestern edge of the ancient p ...

Road. He is reputed to have designed the first gin palace in London (around 1829), although that accolade is usually given to the gin palace built for wine merchants Thompson & Fearon in

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

(1829-1832) and was designed by

John Buonarotti Papworth John Buonarotti Papworth (24 January 1775 – 16 June 1847) was a British architect, artist and a founder member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He adopted the middle name "Buonarotti" in around 1815. As well as being active in ...

(the building no longer exists).

Legacy

Geary's grave in Highgate Cemetery (west side), is located to the east of the main path between Comforts Corner and the Egyptian Avenue. The small headstone is 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 ...

object.Object 1403435
on the website of

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

Gallery

File:Egyptian_Avenue_Highgate_Cemetery.jpg, The Egyptian Avenue in

(west side) designed by Stephen Geary File:High-cemetery-circle.jpg, Part of the Circle of Lebanon in

(west side) designed by Stephen Geary File:Carl_Rosa.png, View of the Circle of Lebanon in

(west side) taken from above the Egyptian Avenue File:Grave memorial designed by Stephen Geary, Architect.jpg, A grave memorial in

(west side) designed by Stephen Geary, Architect File:St George's Cross, Elevation of Kings Cross. Circa 1830 An00784441.jpg, Design for the Kings Cross monument to King George IV

Bibliography

* ''Cemetery Designs for Tombs and Cenotaphs'' ; London: Tilt & Bogue; 1840 * ''Exhibition Tracts No. 1: How to reward all the exhibitors.'' London: W.J. Adams.1851. * ‘The British Temperance Banner, an anthem' in BUCKINGHAM, J.S.(Ed.). 1853. ''The Temperance Offering''. London: W. Tweedie. 1853.

References

* H.M. Colvin, ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840'' (1997)

External links

* 1797 births 1854 deaths Architects from London 19th-century English architects Burials at Highgate Cemetery {{UK-architect-stub