Edward William Mountford [also known as E.W. Mountford] was born in Shipston-on-Stour, Worcestershire, England on 22 September 1855 and was articled to William Gilbee Habershon (1818?-1891) and Alfred Robert Pite (1832-1911) in London from 1870 to 1874. In 1875-76 he was Clerk of Works to St. Stephen's Church in Houslow. He then worked in the offices George Elkington (1823?-1897) and and George Elkington (1851-1939) from 1876; and John Giles (?-1900) and Albert Edward Gough (1842?-1908) from 1879.
Mountford commenced independent practice as an architect in London in 1880. In c.1890 he formed a partnership with Herbert Duncan Appleton [also known as Herbert Duncan Searles-Wood] (1853-1936). Between the late 1890s and c.1907 he was in partnership with Thomas Geoffry Lucas (1872-1947) in the London-based architectural firm E.W. Mountford and Geoffry Lucas. From April 1907 he was in partnership with Frederick Dare Clapham (1873-1914). The partnership was short-lived as Mountford died less than a year later.
Mountford was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1881 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1890. He was President of the Architectural Association in 1893-95. He died in London on 7 February 1908. His address at the time of his death was 11 Craven Hill, Bayswater, Middlesex [now London].
A biographical file on Edward William Mountford is available on request from the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
St Paul's Church, Forest Hill, London, with Appleton (1882); Hospital in Stratford-on-Avon (1883); Baptist Chapel, Battersea, London (1884); Cottage Hospital, Whitchurch, Shropshire (1885); Ellen Badger Hospital, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire (1886); a clubhouse in Shipston-on-Stour (1888); St Andrew, Wandsworth, 1888); Battersea Central Library (1889–90); Public Library, off Lavender Hill, Battersea, London (1890); Sheffield Town Hall (1890-99); St Andrew's, Earlsfield, London 1890-1902); Battersea Polytechnic Institute, London (1890-91); Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield, Yorkshire (1890-97); Town Hall, Lavender Hill, Battersea, London (1892-93); St Olave’s School, Tooley Street, Bermondsey, London (1893); City Polytechnic in Clerkenwell (1893); Northampton Institute, St. John Street, Clerkenwell, London (1896); Extension to The William Brown Library and Museum, Liverpool (1896-1901); St. Michael, Smithfield, London (c.1898); Technical Schools, William Brown Street, Liverpool (1898-1902); Hall d'attente, Guernsey (c.1899); Town Hall, Hitchin, Hertfordshire (1900-01); Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey in London (1900-07); Booth's Distillery office building, Cow Cross Street and Clerkenwell Green, London (1901); New Sessions House for the Corporation of London (1901); Church of St. Michael, Wandsworth, London (1901); Munstead Grange and Munstead Lodge, Godalming, Surrey (c.1902-04); Willett's office building and flats, 34 Sloane Square, Chelsea, London (c.1905); Northern Insurance Company, 1 Moorgate, City of London (1906); and Town Hall, Dalton Square, Lancaster (1906-09).
Source of Images
Clapham, F. Dare. ‘The Late Edward W. Mountford, F.R.I.B.A.’. Architectural Review vol. 23, no. 136, March 1908 pp. 161-162
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. 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. 94, 15 February 1908 pp. 170, 190
'Obituary'. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 15, 22 February 1908 pp. 274-275
‘The new Sessions House for the City of London’. [Architect: Edward W. Mountford] Architectural Reviww vol. 21, 1907, pp. 136-152.
‘The new Sessions House for the City of London: winning design: Edward W. Mountford’. Architectural Review vol. 8, July 1900 pp. 2-14
‘Northampton Institute, Clerkenwell’ [Architect: E. W. Mountford]. The Builder 5 April 1893 p. 288 + plates