Culpin, Ewart Gladstone 1887 - 1946

Ewart Gladstone Culpin [also known as Ewart Culpin] was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England on 3 December 1877. He began his career as a journalist in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, noted for being the first garden city where he became interest in the Garden City movement. This led to his appointment as Secretary of the Garden City Association in 1906, a position he held until 1918, and in 1907 founded the International Garden Cities and Town Planning Association in 1907. He also went on to train as an architect and town planner. It is not known where or with whom he trained.

In c.1918, with Robert Steuart Bowers (1887?-1943), he formed the architectural partnership Culpin & Bowers, which was best known for its public housing projects. The partnership was dissolved in 1935 and Culpin formed a new partnership, Ewart Culpin & Son, with his son, Clifford Ewart Culpin (1904-1988).

In 1913 Culpin toured the USA giving talks about the Garden City movement and his theories on town planning. He was the author of The Garden City Movement Up-to-Date (London: Garden Cities and Town Planning Association, 1913).

Following World War One he was President of the Belgian Society for the Reconstruction of Belgium for which he was awarded the Belgian Order of the Crown.

In 1930 he was appointed President of the Incorporated Association of Architects and Surveyors and in 1937-38 served as President of the Town Planning Institute. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1931. He was Vice Chairman of the London County Council from 1934 to 1937, and Chairman in 1938-39.

In 1940, with the architect Alfred Edward Kelsey (1904-1988), Culpin designed flats on Garratt Lane, Wandsworth, London in 1940.

His address was given as 21 Ebury Street, Grosvenor Gardens, London in 1938. He died in in London on 1 December 1946

A biographical file on Ewart Gladstone Culpin is available on request at the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London.