Harry Smith Fairhurst was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, on 3 April 1868 and was articled to James Maxwell (1838-1893) and William Charles Tuke (1843-1893) of Maxwell & Tuke. He then worked as an assistant to William Frame (?-1906) in Cardiff.
Fairhurst qualified as an architect in 1891 and commenced independent practice in Blackburn, Lancashire in 1895. He moved to Manchester in 1901 and formed a partnership with James Harold France (1873-1925?) as Fairhurst & France. The partnership was dissolved in 1905. He then practised alone as Harry S. Fairhurst until 1929 when he formed a partnership, Fairhurst & Son, with his son, Philip Garland Fairhurst (1900-1987) who subsequently took over the practice in 1941.
Harry Smith Fairhurst was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1891 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1926). He was also a member of the Manchester Society of Architects and its President in 1926–27.
In addition to his work as an architect, Smith was also a painter and etcher. Between 1926 and 1929 he exhibited at the Royal Academy in London; Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts; and at Manchester City Art Gallery. He died in Wilmslow, Cheshire, on 31 March 1945.
Notable architectural projects by Harry Smith Fairhurst included India House, Whitworth in Street, Manchester (1905-07); Council Schools in Royds Street, Accrington (1905-08); Asia House, 82 Princess Street, Manchester (1906-09); Bridgewater House, 58-60 Whitworth Street, Manchester (1912-13); Ship Canal House, King Street, Manchester (1924); Manchester Ship Canal Company Dock Offices, Trafford Road, Salford (1925-27); Guardian Assurance Building, 25 Cross Street/Chapel Walk, Manchester (1927); Ladies and Members Stand, Cricket Ground, Old Trafford, Manchester (1927); 158 houses for the Sutton Estate, Wembley Road, Gorton, Manchester (1927); bank and offices, Chapel Street and Ford Street, Salford (1929).
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For an additional list of work by Harry Smith Fairhurst see also Architects of Greater Manchester 1800-1940 [link below]
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. 168, 13 April 1945 p. 287
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal vol. 52, May 1945 p. 208