Benson, William Arthur Smith [often known as W.A.S. Benson] was born in London, England on 17 October 1854. He studied classics and philosophy at New College, Oxford University (1874-77), following which he was articled to the London architect Basil Champneys (1877-80). Nevertheless, he decided not to make a career in architecture, although he did later work on the occasional architectural project for family and friends.
In 1877 he became acquainted with Edward Burne-Jones, through whom he met William Morris, who encouraged Benson to become a craftsman. Early in 1880 he left Champneys and opened a small workshop in North End Road, Fulham, London. Initially the workshop made furniture but following the hiring of John Lovegrove, a skilled brass and copper-worker in 1881, Benson diversified into metalwork. Within two years, such was the success of the workshop that they moved into larger premises at Eyot Gardens in nearby Chiswick. About the same time, Benson also opened a studio and showroom at his house in Kensington.
In 1884 Benson was a founder member of the Art Workers Guild and was instrumental in establishing the Home Arts and Industries Association. Four years later, in 1888, he helped to establish the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, which provided an opportunity for craftsmen like himself to both exhibit and promote their designs. Later, in 1915, Benson was also one of the founder members of the Design and Industries Association.
In 1887 Benson moved his showroom from Kensington to premises at 82 Bond Srteet, London, and in 1889-90 expanded his workshop in Chiswick which was renamed the Eyot Metal Works.
By the 1890s Benson had acquired an international reputation for his metalwork which by then had extended to light fittings and a wide range of appliances and fittings for the home, all in the characteristic Arts and Crafts style, including fire screens and fenders, tableware, kettles, urns, etc.
A catalogue produced by the Benson in 1899-1900 listed over 800 items available from his firm. They also worked on commissions for individual clients such as the solicitor J.S. Beal, whose house, 'Standen' in East Grinstead, designed by Philip Webb, they equipped with electric lighting in the 1890s, making it one of the first houses to be fully electrified in Britain.
In 1899-1900 Benson installed the lighting in St Paul's Cathedral, London. During the 1890s Benson began designing furniture which was made by Morris & Co. and the London cabinetmaker J.S. Henry & Co.
In 1896, following the death of William Morris, Benson took over the directorship of Morris & Co. On 22 December 1900 the W.A.S. Benson Company was registered as a limited company.
During World War One, Benson utilised his company for the production of shells for the Ministry of Munitions and equipment for the launching of torpedoes for the Admiralty.
Benson sold off his company in 1920 and retired to Castle Corner, a house in Manorbier, Wales, which he and his wife and had purchased in 1909 and where he died on 5 July 1924.
Architectural works by W. A. S. Benson:
Alterations to the interior of Aubrey House (later North End House), The Green, Rottingdan, West Sussex, for Mr. Saunders (1880); Crick pavilion, Winchester College, Winchester, Hampshire (1887); Alteration and addions, together with remodelling of interior, 82-83 New Bond Street, london for W. A. S. Benson & Co. (1887); The Hill House, Grand Hill, Chalfont St. Beter, Buckinghamshire, for George Heywood Maoinoir Sumner and Mrs Agnes Mary Sumner (1888); The Eyot Metal Works, Eyot Gardens, Hugbendon Road, Hammersmith, London for W. A. S. Benson & Co. (1889); Stables for Maltman's Green, Maltman's Lane, Gerrard's Cross, Buckinghamshire, for Captain Algernon Heaneage Drummond and Mrs Margaret Elizabeth Drummond, née Benson (1889); Alterations to the interior of W. A. S. Benson's own house, 39 Montagu Square, London (1894); Alterations and addition of stables, The Woodlands, Fairmile Common, Coblam, Surrey, for Theresa Earle (1896); Alterations to 88 Portland Place, London for Sir George and Lady Lewis (1897); Aterations to interior of 2 Aubrey Road, London for Mr. and Mrs Manuel (1897); Additions and alterations to his own house, Castle Corner, Manorbier, Pembrokeshire, Wales (1889); Additions and alterations to The Dene, Rottingdeane, East Sussex, for Sir Edward Aurelian Ridsdale (1899); Alterations to 2 Marlborough Gate, Hyde Park, London, for Mr. and Mrs Manuel (1900); Addition of terrace garden to 2 Wilton Place, London (1900); Pavilion to display products made by W. A. S. Benson & Co., at the Glasgow Exhibition of 1901 (1901); Alterations to 15 Berkeley Square, London (1903); Wilden House, Wilden, Worcestershire (1903); Alterations to 115 Eaton Square, London, for Mr. and Mrs Robert Hunter (1904); Bedburn Hall and cottage and outbuildings on estate, Hamsterley, Wolsingham, Co. Durham, for John Walton Fogg-Elliott (1904); Alterations and additions, Lydstep House, Lydstep, Pembrokeshire, wales (1905); Windlesham, with cottages and coutbuildings, Whithyam, East Sussex, for himself (1906); The he White Cottage, German Street, Winchelsea, East Sussex, for Miss Beatrice vand Miss Maud Bennington (1906); Parish Hall, Manobier, Pembrokeshire, Wales (1906); Minterne House, Minterne Magna, Dorchester, Dorset, for Lord Edward Henry Trafalgar Digby (1907); Ballader's Plat, German Street, Winchesea, East Sussex, for Miss Maud Beddington (1907); Extension to Swallowcliffe Manor, Swallowcliffe, near Tisbuiry, Wiltshire, for Henry Frederick Compton Cavendish (1907); additions and alterations to cottage, Evens, Rectory Lane, Winchesea, East Sussex (1910); Alterations to Morney Cross, Fownhope, Herefordshire, for Alfred P. and Anne C. Maudsley (1910); Cottages for Astley Hall, near Stowport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, for Stanley Baldwin (1911); Addition of arches to 93 Eaton Square, London for Stanley Baldwin (1911); Additions to Batemans, and the addion of an estate cottage, Burwash, East Sussex, and an estate cottage, for Rudyard Kipling (1913); and Additions to The Clochfaen, Llangurig, Powys, Wales, for Harry Lloyd Verney (1913).
For further information about these commissions see: W.A.S. Benson: Arts and Crafts Luminary and Pioneer of Modern Design. Edited by Ian Hamerton. Woodbridge, England: Antique collectors' Club, 2005 pp. 260-282
(A) Writings about W. A. S. Benson:
Andrews, Diana. Review of W.A.S. Benson: Arts and Crafts Luminary and Pioneer of Modern Design, edited by Ian Hamerton (2005). The Journal of William Morris Studies Summer/Winter 2005 pp.132-136
Armstrong, Barrie and Armstrong, Wendy. The Arts and Crafts movement in the North West of England: a handbook. Wetherby, England: Oblong Creative Ltd., 2006
Armstrong, Barrie and Armstrong, Wendy. The Arts and Crafts movement in the North East of England: a handbook. Wetherby, England: Oblong, 2013
Bury, Shirley. 'A craftsman who used the machine: the metalwork of W.A.S. Bensn'. Country Life vol. 27, 18 March 1965 pp. 624-627
Crawford, Alan. ‘W. A. S. Benson, machinery, and the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain’. The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts no.24, 2002 pp.94-117
Denton, Avril. 'W. A. S. Benson: a biography' in W.A.S. Benson: Arts and Crafts Luminary and Pioneer of Modern Design. Edited by Ian Hamerton. Woodbridge, England: Antique collectors' Club, 2005 pp.16-39
Dépas, Rosalind. 'The Bensons: a family in the Arts and Crafts movement'. The Journal of Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic Studies vol. 1, no. 2, Fall 1988 pp. 50-57
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
Golding, Mark. 'The furniture and interior designs of W. A. S. Benson' in W.A.S. Benson: Arts and Crafts Luminary and Pioneer of Modern Design. Edited by Ian Hamerton. Woodbridge, England: Antique collectors' Club, 2005 pp. 154-179
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
Hamerton, Ian. 'The metalwares of 'Mr. Brass Benson'' in W.A.S. Benson: Arts and Crafts Luminary and Pioneer of Modern Design. Edited by Ian Hamerton. Woodbridge, England: Antique collectors' Club, 2005 pp.68-105
Hamerton, Ian. 'W.A.S. Benson: 'Gentleman Architect'' in W.A.S. Benson: Arts and Crafts Luminary and Pioneer of Modern Design. Edited by Ian Hamerton. Woodbridge, England: Antique collectors' Club, 2005 pp. 180-235
Hamerton, Ian and Halim, Salah Ben. 'A 'palpitating modern' approach to lighting design' in W.A.S. Benson: Arts and Crafts Luminary and Pioneer of Modern Design. Edited by Ian Hamerton. Woodbridge, England: Antique collectors' Club, 2005 pp. 106-153
Hamilton, Alec. Arts & Crafts Churches. London: Lund Humphries, 2020
Hampton, Tony. 'W. A. S. Benson: inventor and designer' in W.A.S. Benson: Arts and Crafts Luminary and Pioneer of Modern Design. Edited by Ian Hamerton. Woodbridge, England: Antique collectors' Club, 2005 pp. 236-245
Muthesius, Hermann. 'Benson's Elektrische Beleuchtungskörper'. Dekorative Kunst vol. 5, 1901 pp. 105-110
The Neglected Mr Benson: an exhibition of the lighting and metalwork of W.A.S. Benson, 1854-1924. Henley-on-Thames, England: The Country Seat, 2000
Rose, Peter. 'W. A. S. Benson: a pioneer of light fittings'. The Journal of Decorative and Apploed Arts no. 9, 1985 pp. 50-57
Rose, Peter. 'W. A. S. Benson: a pioneer of modern design rediscovered'. Antiques June 2001 pp. 934-941
Rose, Peter. 'W. A. S. Benson: true pioneer of modern design'. Antique Collecting vol. 36, no. 6, November 2003 pp. 32-37
Stirk, James and Fenn, Roy. 'The development of the new Clochfaen: the Arts and Crafts movement and W. A. S. Benson'. Montgomery Collections. Journal of the Powysland Club vol. 75, 1987 pp. 50-69
Trewin, J. C. Benson and the Bensonians. London: Barrie & Rockcliffe, 1960
W.A.S. Benson: Arts and Crafts Luminary and Pioneer of Modern Design. Edited by Ian Hamerton. Woodbridge, England: Antique collectors' Club, 2005
Whiteway, Michael and Reeves, Paul. W.A.S. Benson, 1854-1924: an exhibition of his metalwork. London, England: Haslam & Whiteway, 1981
_____
(A) Writings by W. A. S. Benson (arranged chronologically):
Benson, W.A.S. 'Metal Work' in Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. Catalogue of the First Exhibition. London; The New Gallery, 121 Regent Street [printed by the Chiswick Press], 1888 pp. 50-59
Benson, W.A.S. 'On the relation of architecture to its constituent arts' in Transactions of the National Association for the Advancement of Art and it Application to Industry, Liverpool Meeting,1888. London: National Association for the Advancement of Art and it Application to Industry, 1888 pp. 381-383
Benson, W.A.S. 'The embossing of metals'. The English Illustrated Magazine vol. 7, 1888-89 pp. 39-46
Benson, W.A.S. 'The use of the lathe'. The English Illustrated Magazine vol. 9, 1891-92 pp. 121-126
Benson, W.A.S. 'William Morris and the Arts and Crafts'. The National Review vol. 34, 1899-1900 pp. 268-271
Benson, W.A.S. 'The early machine tools of Henry Maudslay'. Engineering vol. 71, January-June 1901 pp. 65, 66, 68, 80, 134-136
Benson, W.A.S. 'Back-windows Prospects in London'. The Art Journal 1903 pp. 1-4
Benson, W.A.S. 'Furniture / Ameublement' in Ghent International Exhibition 1913. Catalogue of the British Arts and Crafts Section. London: Board of Trade Exhibitions Branch, 1913 pp. cxii-cxxvii [Text in English and French]
Benson, W.A.S. 'Ameublement' in Arts Décoratifs de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande Exposition Oganisée par le Gouvernement Britannique. Palais du Louvre Pavillon de Marsan, Avril-Octobre MCMXIV. London: H.M.S.O., Board of Trade, Exhibitions Branch. 1914 pp. xcvii-cvii
Benson, W.A.S. 'Agamemnon'. The Cornhill Magazine vol. 46, 1919 pp. 534-546