Leslie Patrick Abercrombie [commonly known as Patrick Abercrombie, and as Sir Patrick Abercrombie] was born in Green Bank, Sale, Altrincham, Lancashire, England on 6 June 1879. From 1897 to 1901 he was articled to Charles Henry Heathcote (1851-1938) in Manchester. On completion of his articles he worked for three years in the office of Sir Arnold Thornely (1870-1953) in Liverpool. In 1906-07 he worked for the architect Philip Henry Lockwood (1865-1939) in Chester. In 1907 Charles Herbert Reilly (1874-1948), head of the Liverpool University School of Architecture appointed Abercrombie junior lecturer and studio instructor. This was a defining event in his career and sparked his long involvement with civic design and town planning. From 1909 to c.1914 Abercrombie was research fellow in town planning at Liverpool University. In 1915 he became Professor of Civic Design at the university, a post he held until 1935 when he succeeded Stanley Davenport Adshead (1868-1946) as Chair of Town Planning at University College, London.
In 1916, with Arthur A. Kelly and Sidney J. Kelly, Abercrombie won an international competition to design a new city plan for Dublin.
Abercrombie was closely involved in plans for the post-war reconstruction of London. He was the co-author, with John Henry Forshaw (1895-1973), of the County of London Plan (1943), and author of the Greater London Plan (1944). He retired from the Chair of Town Planning in 1946.
Abercrombie was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1915, and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1925. He was knighted in 1945 and was awarded the Royal Gold Medal in 1946. He was President of the Town Planning Institute and founder editor of the Town Planning Review. He died at his home, the Red House, in Aston, Berkshire on 23 March 1957.
Hownhall, near Ross-on-Wye; Donnanstown: new village — lay-out and houses (in partnership with Adshead and Ramsey); Wrexham: housing scheme for Corporation (in partnership with P. H. Lockwood and C. F. Saxon); Kirk Sandall: new village — lay-out and houses (in partnership with T. H. Johnson). [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1923]
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Zger, Mirjam. The Potato Plan Collection - 40 Cities Through The Lens Of Patrick Abercrombie. Rotterdam: nai010 publishers, 2018