W. R. Lethaby

William Richard Lethaby (18 January 1857 – 17 July 1931) was an English architect and architectural historian whose ideas were highly influential on the late Arts and Crafts and early Modern movements in architecture, and in the fields of conservation and art education.

Early life

Lethaby was born in Barnstaple, Devon, the son of a fiercely Liberal craftsman and lay preacher. After studies at Barnstaple Art School he moved to Duffield, Derbyshire, to work in the office of Richard Waite, a local architect, during which time his measured drawings of Wingfield Manor were published in the Building News. He won the Royal Institute of British Architects' Soane Medallion in 1879 and moved to London as Chief Clerk to architect Richard Norman Shaw. Shaw quickly recognized Lethaby's talent as a designer and Lethaby was to contribute significant pieces of work to major Shaw-designed buildings such as Scotland Yard in London and Cragside in Northumberland.

While working for Shaw, Lethaby became involved in the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, which campaigned to preserve the integrity and authenticity of older buildings against the Victorian practice of 'improving' them to the point of almost completely rebuilding and redesigning them. Through this he became a personal friend of Arts and Crafts Movement pioneers William Morris and Philip Webb, becoming a significant and influential member of their circle and acting as co-founder of the Art Workers Guild in 1884, being elected Master in 1911. He was a lifelong socialist.