Basil Charlton Deacon [also known as Major Basil Charlton Deacon] was born in West Derby, Liverpool, Lancashire, England on 26 April 1878 and was the son of the architect Charles Ernest Deacon (1845-1927). After studying at Liverpool University School of Architecture from 1895 to 1897 he was articled to his father from 1897 to 1900. He then worked as an assistant to Edward Percy Hinde (1864-1952) in 1900-01; to William Edward Willink (1856-1924) and Philip Coldwell Thicknesse (1860-1920) of Willink & Thicknesse from 1901 to 1904; and in the Architects' Department of Liverpool Corporation in 1905.
He commenced independent practice in Swansea, Wales in 1906 but by 1909 had moved to Luton, Bedfordshire where initially he worked as an assistant to Luton Corporation before establishing an architectural practice in the town in 1914. In 1911 he was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1911 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1914. He was a also a member of the Luton Architectural Society and its Chairman, and of the Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire Association of Architects, and its President.
His address was given as 4 Lower Breck Road, West Derby in 1881; 12 Bedford Road, Tranmere, Birkenhead in 1891; Dunstable Road, Lengrave, Luton in 1911; 19, Upper George Street, Luton, 21 Market Hill, Luton, and Woodhey, Priory Road, Dunstable in 1914; 33, King Street, Luton in 1923 and 1935; 85 George Street, Luton in 1939; and 48 Park Avenue, Bedford, Bedfordshire 1958. He died in Bedford on 24 November 1958. His obituary appeared in the Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects vol. 66, 1959 p.332
Coedsaesan Building Club, Swansea (Housing), 1906; Carnegie Public Library, Luton, 1910; Hemel Hempstead Housing Scheme, 1913; Dunstable Cinematograph Theatre, 1910; Toddington Model Farm Buildings, 1919; Toddington Rectory, 1920; public houses at Dunstable, 1021; Dunstable Housing Scheme, 1921; Territorial Headquarters, Luton, 1922; Sunday Schools, Luton, 1922; War Memorials : Kimpton, Haynes Park, Westoning, Eddlesborough, Priory Church, Dunstable, Baptist Church, Luton, Wesleyan Church, Luton, etc., 1920-21; various warehouses and shops; and domestic wor
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