Hubert Lidbetter was born in the Dublin, Ireland in 25 July 1885. He was articled to the architect Henry Higginson (1862-1912) in Carlisle, England from 1902 and 1906. He then worked in the offices of Fred Rowntree (1860-1927), Arthur Heron Ryan-Tenison (1861-1930), Henry Victor Ashley (1872-1945) and Francis Winton Newman (1878-1953). From 1919 he was in partnership with Gerald Warren (1881-1936).
A bungalow at Cloughton, near Scarborough in Yorkshire, and 'Hydecroft', a houser at Lowfield Heath in Surrey, designed by Lidbetter, are illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1924 (pp.16, 17), a watercolour drawing of 'The Ridgeway' in Cuffley, Hertfordshire and a drawing and ground-floor plan of the courtyard at Gerbeston Manor in Somerset, designed by him are illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1926 (frontispiece, p.23), two photographs of Lidbetter's own house in Hampstead Garden suburb, London, are illustrated in 'Decorative Art' 1927 (pp.39, 65), a drawing of a house in Hampstead, London, designed by him is illustrated in 'Decorative Art' 1928 (p.45), and two drawings and a ground-floor plan of a house at Walton, Surrey, designed by him are illustrated in 'Decorative Art' (p.95).
Lidbetter was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1918 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1927. He played an active role in the activities of the RIBA and was its Vice-President in 1942-43. He was also chairman of the Board of Architectural Education in 1938-41.
Lidbetter exhibited several times at the Royal Academy in London from 1923 onwards. In 1950 his son, Hubert Martin Lidbetter (1914-1992), usually known as Martin Lidbetter, joined him in his practice. Hubert Lidbetter died on 6 February 1966.
Lidbetter became known primarily for his work as an architect of Meeting Houses for the Society of Friends (Quakers). Between 1925 and 1962 he not only designed some 15 Meeting Houses, but carried out numerous alterations and additions to existing ones.
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See: Historic England for 31 architectural projects by Hubert Lidbetter [link below]
Gawne Eleanor. 'Buildings of endearing simplicity: the Friends Meeting Houses of Hubert Lidbetter'. Twentieth Century Architecture. The Journal of the Twentieth Century Society [The Twentieth Century Church special issue] no.3, 1998 pp. 87-92, 117
Lidbetter, Hubert. The Friends Meeting House. York: William Sessions, 1961
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 210, 11 February 1966 p. 292