Jameson, Frederick 1839 - 1916

Frederick Jameson was born at Grove Hill Terrace, St Giles, Camberwell, [now London], England on 15 February 1839. His father, William Jameson,  was a merchant and sent him to Germany to study the language with the intention that he should pursue a career in business. Instead he decided to become an architect. He was articled to Frederick John Francis (1818-1896) and Horace Francis (1821-1894) in London from 1859 to 1862.  He then worked as an assistant in the office of John Prichard (c.1817-1886) and John Pollard Seddon (1827-1906) in Llandaff, Wales and London for nearly two years.  He commenced independent practice in London in c.1864.

Jameson was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1866. His proposers were Frederick John Francis and John Pollard Seddon. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) sixteen years later, in 1882. His proposers were Seddon, William Burges (1827-1881), William Emerson(1843-1924) and George Aitchison (1825-1910).

During his years in London, Jameson moved in theatrical, musical and artistic circles. From 1865 to 1895 he was a member of the Arts Club. In addition to his work as an architect, he was an accomplished musician and translated the libretti of Richard Wagner. He was a friend of the painter James McNeill Whistler who stayed at his rooms at 62 Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury, London and in the 1860s Jameson purchased Whistler's painting 'Crepuscule in Opal: Trouville'.  Jameson held soirées and theatrical events at his rooms at which the architect-designer Edward William Godwin and the art critic Joseph Comyns Carr and his wife, Alice, would attend.

Jameson's address was given as Champion Hill, Lambeth, Surrey [now London in 1861;  6 Adam Street, Strand, Loindon in 1865 and 1868; 62 Great Russell Street, London in 1869 and 1884; 8 Adelphi Terrace, London in 1886 and 1889. By 1901 he had retired as an architect and had moved to "Saxonbury Lodge", Frant, near Ticehurst,  Sussex where he died on 26 March 1916.

A biographical file on Frederick Jameson is available on request at the Enquiry Desk of the RIBA Library in London.