William Alexander Harvey was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England on 11 April 1874 and was the son of John Harvey (1848-1923) a stained glass designer. He was articled to David Smith & Son in Birmingham from 1890 to 1894. He also studied architecture at Birmingham Municipal School of Art where he was taught architectural history and design by William Henry Bidlake (1861-1938).
In 1895 he was appointed by George Cadbury, founder of the chocolate and cocoa company Cadbury's, to design quality and affordable homes for his workers in Bournville. Over the next five years he designed numerous cottages for Bournville Village. Many of the houses show the influence of the prevailing Arts and Crafts style. In 1900 the Bournville Village Trust took over responsibility for the development of the village, although Harvey continued to work for the Trust until 1904 when he set up his own architectural practice.
In addition to his work for the Bournville Village Trust, Harvey was Architect to Newburn District Council, and to West Bromwich Corporation; Consulting Architect to Oldham and District Councils, including Chadderton, Crompton, Royton, Lees and Springhead; Consulting Architect in connection with the Kettering and several other housing schemes.
From 1912 until at least the mid-1930s, Harvey was in partnership with Herbert Graham Wicks (1887-1965) as Harvey & Wicks [W.A. Harvey & H.G. Wicks]. Their office was located at 5 Bennetts Hill, Birmingham.
Harvey 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 1918. He was awarded the RIBA Architecture Bronze Medal for Warwickshire, South Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire in 1934, and the RIBA Distinction in Town Planning in 1936.
Harvey's address was given as 26 Linden Road, Bournville, Birmingham in 1901 and 1911; 5, Bennett's Hill, Birmingham in 1911 and 1939; and 58 Hagley Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham in 1951. He died in Edgbaston, Birmingham on 6 February 1951.
Numerous houses and other buildings at Bournville, near Birmingham for George Cadbury, Bournville Tenants and Cadbury Bros. (1896-1914); Meeting Hall, classrooms and caretaker's house, Watford Road, Cotteridge, Birmingham for George Cadbury (1900); Public Hall, Linden Road, Birmingham for The Ruskin Society (1902); Friends' Meeting House, Lindon Road, for George Cadbury (1904); Boy's and Girl's Elementary School, Linden Road, for George Cadbury and others (1904); Infants' School, Charlotte Road, Stirchley, Birmingham for King's Norton and Northfield Urban District Council (1909); Infants' School, Linden Road, Birmingham for George Cadbury (1909); Men's Hostel and Warden's House, Griffins Hill, Birmingham for Friends' Foreign Missionary Society (1911); and Church Hall, The Green, Linden Road for Rev. Hartland (1912).
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See also: List of Architectural Works by William Alexander Harvey (1874-1951) in Harrison, Michael. ‘William Alexander Harrison’ pp. 546-550 [Bibliography below]
Birmingham Victorian and Edwardian Architects. Edited by Phillada Ballard. Wetherby: Oblong Press, 2009 pp. 401-422
Button, Roger. Arts and Crafts Churches of Great Britain: Architects, Craftsmen and Patrons.. Settle, North Yorkshire: 2QT Ltd. (Publishing) Ltd., 2020
By Hammer and Hand: the Arts and Crafts movement in Birmingham. Edited by Alan C. Crawford. Birmingham, England: Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, 1984
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
Hamilton, Alec. Arts & Crafts Churches. London: Lund Humphries, 2020
Harrison, Michael. ‘William Alexander Harrison’ in Birmingham's Victorian and Edwardian Architects, edited by Phillada Ballard. Wetherby: Oblong Creative Ltd. for the Birmingham and West Midlands Group of the Victorian Society, 2009, pp. 527-553
Harvey, W. A. ‘Cottage Homes’. The Builder 13 February 1904, pp. 159-163
Harvey, W. Alexander. The Model Village and its Cottages: Bournville. London: B. T. Batsford, 1906
Hoffman, Joel L. Imaging the Industrial Village: Architecture, Art and Visual Culture in the Garden Community of Bournville, England. Phd thesis, Yale University, 1993
‘The Late W. Alexander Harvey, F.R.I.B.A’. Bournville Works Magazine March 1951 pp. 83-84
Marriott, Charles. Modern English Architecture. London: Chapman & Hall, 1924
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 180, 16 February 1951 p.250
Who's Who in Architecture 1926. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: The Architectural Press, 1926
‘William Alexander Harvey’. Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects April 1951 pp. 247-248