Checkley, George 1893 - 1963

George Checkley was born in Akaroa, New Zealand, on 19 December 1893.  After studying architecture at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, he was articled to  Cecil Walter Wood in Christchurch. However, his training was cut short after a year by the outbreak of World War One in which he served for three years in the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces.  In 1918 he moved to England and from 1919 to 1922 studied Liverpool University's School of Architecture.  He was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1922 and that year was awarded the RIBA Henry Jarvis Studentship which granted him funding for a year's residence at the British School in Rome.

Following his return to England, Checkley began lecturing in the School of Architecture at the University of Cambridge in 1928.  In 1934 he was appointed Master of the School of Architecture at Regent Street Polytechnic [now University of Westminster], and from 1937 to 1948 was Head of the School of Architecture at Nottingham University.

Checkley's teaching commitments appears not to allowed him much time for practical architectural work.  He was an avowed Modernist and the buildings he did design were in the International Style. Notable among his work were houses within the Conduit Head Road Conservation Area of Cambridge - The White House (1930-31), which he built for himself, and Thurso House [now Willow House] (1932) for fellow Cambridge academic Hamilton McCombie.   

A photograph and three plans of 'Thurso House' at Conduit Head in Cambridge designed by Checkley are illustrated in Decorative Art vol.30, 1935 (p.23), and a photograph and three plans of 'The White House' in Cambridge designed by him are illustrated in Decorative Art vol.30, 1935 (p.24).. Checkley died in Nottingham, England on 7 November 1962