John Christopher Derham [also known as John Christopher Derham, Jnr.; and as J. C. Derham] was born in Preston, Lanashire, England in 1882. He was the son of John Christopher Derham (1846-1911), who at the time of his birth was a Police Sergeant in the Lancashire Constabulary. Nothing is known about John Christopher Derham, Jnr.'s training as an architect. His occupation is given as Architects Assistant in the 1901 and 1911 England and Wales census.
By 1901 he had moved to Blackpool where he spent most of the rest of his career as an architect. By the 1920s he was in practice as an independent architect with an office in Blackpool. In the late 1920s and early 1930s he responsible for designing additions to the Blackpool Winter Gardens, where he was appointed Chief Architect: Olympia Hall (1930); and the Baronial Hall, the Galleon Bar, the Renaissance Restaurant, the Windsor Bar, and the Spanish Congress Hall (all completed in 1931). He collaborated with French-born British art director Andrew Mazzei on the projects. Derham was also appointed to Blackpool Tower Co. Ltd. In 1932 Charles Hamilton MacKeith (1898-?) joined the practice which subsequently operated as Derham, MacKeith & Partners.
In 1931 Derham was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA).
His address was given as 133 Albert Road, Blackpool in 1901; and 147 Widdenham Road, Holloway, London in 1911. During World War One, he served in the Army and rose to the rank of major, a title he was still using in the 1930s. Following the war he returned to Blackpool.
Derham died on 5 July 1936. His address at the time of his death was The Mount, 46 Forest Gate, Blackpool, Lancashire. Following his death, MacKeith continued the practice.
A biographical file on J. C. Derham is available on request from the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 151, 1936 p. 12