Charles Henry Heathcote was born in Manchester, England on 2 April 1850. He was articled to Charles Francis Hansom (1817-1888) in Bristol from 1865 to 1869 and was awarded the RIBA Medal of Merit 1867/68. After completing his articles he worked in the offices of Henry Francis Hirst (1825?-1882) and Richard Mawsom (1834-1904); and Edward Salomons (1828-1906).
He commenced independent practice in Manchester in 1872. From 1875 to 1880 he was partnership with Sidney Smith (1852-?) in the architectural firm Heathcote & Smith in Manchester. During this period Heathcote and Smith were also briefly in partnership with Herbert Watson Lockwood (1852-?). In 1888 he formed a partnership with William Henry Rawle (1855-1904) as Heathcote & Rawle. The partnership was dissolved in 1897 and in c.1900 Heathcote took his sons Charles Harold Heathcote (1876-1960) and Ernest Grigg Heathcote (1877-1947) into partnership as Charles Heathcote & Sons. A third son, Edgar Horace Heathcote (1882-1929), joined the partnership in c.1919. The firm was initially based in Manchester but by 1910 had relocated to London.
During World War One Charles Henry Heathcote was commissioned by the Ministry of Munitions to design a number of warehouses for the storage of supplies in South Lancashire.
Charles Henry Heathcote was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1871 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1884. He was Vice-President of the Royal Institute of British architects in 1922-23.
Charles Henry Heathcote's address was given as 6 Princess Street, Manchester in 1883; 37, Princess Street, Manchester and 110, Cannon Street, London in 1914; Lloyds Bank Buildings, King Street. Manchester and 38, Parliament. Street, London in 1923 and 1926; and Mansfield Chambers, St. Anne's Square, Manchester and 19 Uddlesleigh House, Caxton Street, Westminster, London in 1930 in 1936. He died in Bournemouth, Dorset on 16 January 1938.
Banks: Parr's Bank: L. and Y. Bank and Lloyds Bank, Manchester, and National Provincial Bank, Worcester; Insurance offices for Alliance, Commercial Union, Eagle, Royal London Friendly, Scottish Amicable, Vulcan, Economic, Norwich Union, Manchester; warehouses and blocks of offices: Horrockses, Crewdson & Co., Geo. Peak, Joshua Hoyle, Hall A Higham, &c, Manchester; nine storage warehouses for Manchester Ship Canal Co.; hospitals, &c.: Incurables at Manchester and Sommerseat, Blind Asylum at Old Trafford, Lunatic Asylum Annexe, Cheadle; Blind Institute, Manchester; Friends' Institute, Manchester; works: Glover's Cable works. Union Cable Works, Cold Storage. Building, Salford, Baxondale's lead mills, Togo Spinning Mill, Patricroft, National Radiator Works, Hull; English Textilose Works, Carborundum Works, nine cotton storage warehouses, and other works in Manchester. Joint architect for Westinghouse Works, Old Trafford. [Source: Who's Who in Architecture 1914]
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Lloyds Bank, Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank, and Westminster Bank, Manchester; insurance offices for Alliance, Eagle, Economic, Royal Friendly Society, Scottish Equitable, Royal London Friendly, Commercial Union, Cheshire Union, Norwich Union, Employers' Liability and others, Manchester; warehouses for Horrockses, Crewdson and Co., Hall and Higham, Joshua Hoyle and Co., and twenty others; Westinghouse Works, Carborundum factory, British Radiator Co.'s works. Ford's Motor Works at Manchester and Hammersmith, Cotton Storage, and several cold stores; Blind Asylum; Hospital for Incurables; many private houses; 500 Workmen's Dwellings and 30 storage warehouses; and many other works in different parts of England, and a few abroad. [Source: Wh'os Who in Architecure 1923]
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See also Architects of Greater Manchester 1800-1940; British Listed Buildings; and Historic England [links 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’. Architect & Building News vol. 153, 4 February 1938 p. 152
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 154, 4 February 1938 p. 263
‘Obituary’. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 45, 21 February 1938 p. 410
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