Henry Philip Burke Downing [also known as Henry Philip Burke-Downing] was born in Camberwell, Surrey [now London] on 5 November 1865 and was articled to Alfred Hessell Tiltman (1854-1910) in 1882. He also studied at the Architectural Association Schools in London in 1883, and the Royal Academy Schools in London from 1884 to 1887. He worked as an assistant to Henry Shaw and Joseph Clarke (1819?-1888) in 1886.
In 1887 he commenced independent practice as an architect and was Diocesan Architect for Chichester in 1918. He was later Diocesan Surveyor for Chelmsford; Hon Consulting Architect to the Incorporated Church Building Society, the London Diocesan Fund, and Architect to Mitcham School Board.
Downing was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1890, and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1896. He died in Surrey on 26 March 1947
Reparations and additions to Beddington Church, Surrey; Hockerill Church, Herts, &c.; new Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham Common; St. Barnabas Church, Mitcham; Pelham School, Wimbledon; County School for Boys. Bromley; schools at Bexhill, Selhurst, and Merton Abbey; houses at Kingswood, Surrey, &c. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1914]
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St. Barnabas Church, Mitcham, Surrey; Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham Common; St. John's Church, Walthamstow, Essex. Among other works of preservation, repair and addition, those at Beddington Church, Surrey; Winchelsea Church, Heathfield Church, and Catsfield Church, Sussex; Ardley Church, Oxon; Hockerlll Church, Herts. War memorials at Aldington, Northants; Crawley Down, Bury, and Stopham, Sussex; Hildenborough, Kent; etc., etc. Schools: — Merton Abbey, Pelham School, Wimbledon; Bromley Boys Secondary Schools; Bexhill, etc. Houses at Kingswood, Surrey, etc. Factory at Brimswood, Middlesex. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1923]
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
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 172, 4 April 1947 p. 315
'Obituary'. RIBA Journal vol. 54, June 1947 p. 442
Who's Who in Architecture 1914. London: Technical Journals Ltd., 1914
Who's Who in Architecture 1923. Edited by Frederick Chatterton: London: The Architectural Press, 1923