Herbert Baker [also known as Sir Herbert Baker] was born in Cobham, Kent, England on 9 June 1862 and was articled to his uncle, Arthur Baker (1842-1897) in September 1881 for three years. He also attended classes at the Architectural Association Schools in London. After working as Clerk of Works for Baker at Llanberis Church in North Wales for 18 months, he was employed as an improver and assistant with Sir Ernest George (1839-1922) and Harold Ainsworth Peto of Ernest George & Peto in London from 1886 to 1890. He also attended the Royal Academy Schools in London. In 1889 Baker qualified as an architect and the following year was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA), He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1900.
In 1891 he moved to South Africa and established architectural practises in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
In 1912 Baker worked with Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) in New Delhi. India, where he designed the Secretariat Building and the Parliament House. For reasons on health he returned to England in 1913. From 1917 he was employed as one of the main architects of the War Graves Commission. During the 1920s he designed several war memorials and acted as consultant in the design of others. Later in his career he worked as an architect to the Governments of Kenya, South Africa and India. He died in Cobham, Kent on 4 February 1946.
New Delhi: the Secretariats; Legislative Buildings. South Africa: Union Buildings, Pretoria; Government House, Pretoria; Railway Station, Pretoria; the Cathedral, Pretoria; the Cathedral, Salisbury, Rhodesia; the Cathedral, Cape Town (with Mr. Masey), and other churches; S. African Institute of Medical Research, Johannesburg [with Mr. H.L.F. Fleming]; Union Club, Johannesburg [with Mr. H.L.F. Fleming]; Groote Schuur, Cape Town; Rhodes Memorial. Table Mountain; 'Villa Arcadia, Johannesburg, and other houses. England: Harrow School War Memorial; Winchester College War Memorial; Kent County War Memorial, Canterbury; Hampshire and Isle of Wight War Memorial; Cubloy Village, Penlstone; [with Mr. E. Wilmott] House at Lympne for Sir Philip Bassoon, Bt. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1923]
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Secretariats and Legislative Buildings, New Delhi ; South African Institute of Medical Research, Johannesburg ; Union Club, Johannesburg ; Groote Schuur, Cape Town ; Rhodes Memorial, Table Mountain ; Villa Arcadia, Johannesburg (all with H. L. F. Fleming) ; Union Buildings, Pretoria ; Government House, Pretoria; Railway Station, Pretoria; Cathedral, Pretoria; Cathedral, Salisbury, Rhodesia ; Cathedral, Cape Town (with Mr. Masey) ; Harrow School War Memorial ; Winchester College War Memorial ; Kent County War Memorial, Canterbury ; W. G. Grace Memorial, Lords ; Sir Philip Sassoon's house at Lympne (with E. Wilmott). [Source: Marriott, Charles. Modern English Architecture. London: Chapman & Hall, 1924 pp. 228-229]
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For additional lists of architectural projects by Baker see:
Artefacts [link below]
Historic England [link below]
Wikipedia [link below]
Aylwin, G. Maxwell. 'An imperial architect'. The Builder vol. 167, 17 November 1944 p. 387
Bagenal, Hope. 'The Acoustics of the Legislative Chamber at Delhi'. Architect & Building News vol. 121, 28 June 1929 pp. 851-853 [Legislative Chamber, Delhi designed by Herbert Baker]
Collingwood, Frances. 'Sir Herbert Baker'. The Builder vol. 202, 8 June 1962 pp. 1181-1182
Dilet, Marc. 'Herbert Baker' Kornwolf, James D. 'M.H. Baillie Scott' in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects Volume 1. Edited by Adolf K. Plakzek. New York and London: Macmillan and Free Press, 1982 pp. 131-132
Duckham, Nicolette. The Evolution of Herbert Baker’s Domestic Style, 1892-1926. PhD thesis, Open University, 2007
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Earle, L. Marriott. 'The work of Herbert Baker'. Architect and Builder [South Africa] vol. 17, October 1967 pp. 22-27
‘The Government Buildings of Pretoria, New Delhi, Rhodesia and Kenya’. RIBA Journal 10 December 1927 pp. 63-77
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
Greig, Doreen E. Herbert Baker in South Africa. Cape Town and London: Purnell, 1970
Greig, Doreen Edith. 'The work of Sir Herbert Baker from 1892 to 1912 and his contribution to South Africa'. South African Architectural Record vol. 48, January 1963 pp. 3-6
Greig, Doreen Edith. 'The work of Sir Herbert Baker from 1892 to 1912 and his contribution to South Africa'. South African Architectural Record vol. 48, February 1963 pp. 3-6
Greig, Doreen Edith. 'The work of Sir Herbert Baker from 1892 to 1912 and his contribution to South Africa'. South African Architectural Record vol. 48, March 1963 pp. 3-6
Greig, Doreen Edith. 'The work of Sir Herbert Baker from 1892 to 1912 and his contribution to South Africa'. South African Architectural Record vol. 48, April 1963 pp. 9-12
eGreig, Doreen Edith. 'The work of Sir Herbert Baker from 1892 to 1912 and his contribution to South Africa'. South African Architectural Record vol. 48, May 1963 pp. 9-11
Greig, Doreen Edith. 'The work of Sir Herbert Baker from 1892 to 1912 and his contribution to South Africa'. South African Architectural Record vol. 48, June 1963 pp. 5-9
Greig, Doreen Edith. 'The work of Sir Herbert Baker from 1892 to 1912 and his contribution to South Africa'. South African Architectural Record vol. 48, July 1963 pp. 11-19
Greig, Doreen Edith. 'The work of Sir Herbert Baker from 1892 to 1912 and his contribution to South Africa'. South African Architectural Record vol. 48, August 1963 pp. 9-11
Greig, Doreen Edith. 'The work of Sir Herbert Baker from 1892 to 1912 and his contribution to South Africa'. South African Architectural Record vol. 48, September 1963 pp. 13-18
Greig, Doreen Edith. 'The work of Sir Herbert Baker from 1892 to 1912 and his contribution to South Africa'. South African Architectural Record vol. 48, October 1963 pp. 17-21
Greig, Doreen Edith. 'The work of Sir Herbert Baker from 1892 to 1912 and his contribution to South Africa'. South African Architectural Record vol. 48, November 1963 pp. 23-26
Greig, Doreen Edith. 'The work of Sir Herbert Baker from 1892 to 1912 and his contribution to South Africa'. South African Architectural Record vol. 48, December 1963 pp. 13-16
Hamilton, Alec. Arts & Crafts Churches. London: Lund Humphries, 2020
‘Herbert Baker’. The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs vol. 36, Issue 142, 1946 pp.107-108
Hussey, Christopher. 'London House: a hall of residence for Dominion students in London'. Country Life vol. 97, 22 June 1945 pp. 1080-1083 [Designed by Herbert Baker in 1930 and completed after World War Two]
Irving, Robert Grant. Indian summer: Lutyens, Baker, and Imperial Delhi. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1981.
Keath, Michael. Herbert Baker : architecture and idealism, 1892-1913 : the South African years. Gibraltar: Ashanti, 1992
Knapp-Fisher, A. B. 'Sir Herbert Baker'. Architects' Journal vol. 65, 16 February 1927 pp. 251-262
Marriott, Charles. Modern English Architecture. London: Chapman & Hall, 1924
'Obituary'. Architect & Building News vol. 185, 15 February 1946 p. 95
'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 170. 15 February 1946 pp. 158-159
'Obituary'. RIBA Journal vol. 53, March 1946 pp. 189-190
'Obituary'. South African Architectural Record vol. 32, July 1947 pp. 161-183
Reilly, C. H. Representative British Architects of the Present Day. London: B. T. Batsford, 1931 [Chapter III. Herbert Baker pp. 40-53]
Stewart, John. Sir Herbert Baker: Architect to the British Empire. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFaland & Co., 2021 [Reviewed by David F. Lewis in C20. The Magazine of the Twentieth Century Sociiety issue1, 2022 pp.64-65]
Thirties: British Art and Design before the War. London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1979 [Catalogue of an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, London, 25 October-13 January 1979]
Wenland, W. 'Architectural drawings and records of Sir Herbert Baker's firm'. South African Architectural Record vol. 52, November 1967 pp. 21-22
Who's Who in Architecture 1923. edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: Architectural Press, 1923