Armitage, George Faulkner 1849 - 1937

George Faulkner Armitage [also known as G. Faulkner Armitage] was born in Longsight, Cheshire, England on 24 September 1849.

Little is known about his training. By his own account he studied wood carving in Switzerland, France, Italy and England but specifically where and with whom has not been traced.  

By 1878 he had formed a partnership with his brother, Joseph Frederick Armitage, and his cousin, John Rigby. They acquired a studio and workshops in Altringham, Cheshire which they ran according to the craft principles espoused by John Ruskin and William Morris.  Among the craftsmen he employed was Arthur Simpson (1857-1922), who was later to work with C. F. A. Voysey (1857-1941).

By the mid-1880s Armitage had began practising as an architect and interior decorator. He subsequently designed and furnished several country houses.  These included Bramhall Hall and its East and West Lodges in Bramhall, Stockport (1880s and early 1890s); Normanby in Bonville Road, Bowdon, Cheshire, with John Brooke (1888); Spenfield in Leeds (1888); Pullwyke, at Pullwood Bay, Ambleside, Westmorland (1891); Brockhampton Court near Hereford, Herefordshire (1892-94); West Down in Hindhead, Surrey (1892-96); and Pendrell Hall in Codsall,  Staffordshire (1909-10).

He also designed the main interior decorations for the Manchester Fine Art and Industrial Exhibition (1882); the Oxford Union Society Rooms in Oxford, Oxfordshire (1889); the Council Chamber for the British Section of the Exposition Universelle in Paris (1889), which was awarded a Gold Medal; a drinking fountain for Whitworth Park in Manchester (1908); a Congregational Church Warrington, Cheshire (1890); and the Scott House Memorial Home for Crippled Children in Rochdale, Lancashire (1913). He showed three furnished rooms at the Manchester Arts and Crafts Exhibition in 1895.

In addition to his work as an architect and interior decorator, Armitage designed furniture, wallpaper, textiles and metalwork.  An exhibition of house furnishing designed by him was held in the Lancashire Insurance Buildings, Manchester in 1895. He designed patterns for woven textiles for the manufacturers J. O. Nicholson of Macclesfield and A. H. Lee & Sons of Warrington. He also produced designs for Macclesfield School of Embroidery and the Royal School of Art Embroidery in London.  For a period he taught art at Macclesfield School of Art.

From 1887 to 1892 Barry Parker(1867-1947)  was articled to Armitage at his Altringham office and remained with him as Clerk of Works until 1894 when he left to set up his own practice in Buxton, Derbyshire.

From 1899 to 1910 Armitage had a showroom in London at 18 Clifford Street run by John Rigby, and his nephew, John Basil (Jack) Armitage (1876-1917).  In c.1911 Armitage retired retired from full-time involvement in his business , although it continued for some years as Armitage & Wolff, with showrooms at 31 Stamford Street, Altrincham and 44 John Dalton Street, Manchester.

From 1914 to 1918 Armitage was Mayor of Altrigham. He died in Altrincham on 10 November 1937.