Ernest Newton was born in London, England on 2 September 1856. He was articled to Richard Norman Shaw (1831-1912) in London from 1873 to 1876, and remained in his office for three years as his assistant. He commenced independent practice in London in February 1880. Most of his architectural work was in the domestic field, including numerous country houses, some of which he documented in his two books - A Book of Houses (1890) and A Book of Country Houses (1903).
Newton was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy in London from 1905 to 1920. He also exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, and at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.
He was elected a a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1884; Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1888; an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1911, and a Royal Academician (RA) in 1919. He was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (PRIBA) in 1914 and was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1918.
His address was given as Raymond's Buildings, Gray's Inn, London from 1905 to 1920. He died in London on 25 January 1922.
A biographical file on Ernest Newton is available on request at the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
The Firs, Bickley Park Road, Bromley (1882): Sitka, South Wood Hill, Chislehurst (1883); St John's Parish Halls, Freelands Grove, Bromley (1883); Lyndhurst, 8 Bird in Hand Lane, Bickley (1884); Stables and Cottage at Bullers Wood, Chislehurst (1884); Redcourt, 5 Hawthorne Road, Bickley (1885); Beechcroft, 19 Bickley Road, Bickley (1885); Alterations to Sunnydale, Bickley Park Road, Bickley Park Road, Bromley (1886); Alterations to Nutwood, Bickley Park Road, Bromley (1886); Parish Room at St George's Church, Bickley Park Road, Bromley (1887); Mission Church, Widmore, Bromley (1888); Works at Willow Grove, Chislehurst (1888); Alterations to Swallowfield, Southlands Grove, Bickley (1888); Ashton, Mead Road, Chislehurst (1888); Alterations to Lingdale, Oldfield Road, Bickley (1888); Prestbury Vicarage, Prestbury, Cheshire (1888); Remodelling of Bullers Wood, Logs Hill, Chislehurst (1889); Elm Bank, Camden Park Road, Chislehurst (1889); St Swithun's Church, Hither Green, Kent (c.1890-95); Westwood and other houses, Bird in Hand Lane, Bickley, Kent (1891); St Luke's Institute, Raglan Road, Bromley Common (1891); 238 Southlands Road, Bickley (1891); Stables at Beechcroft, 17 Bickley Road, Bickley (1891); Stables and Cowsheds, Bickley Hall, Bickley Park Road, Bickley (1892); Alterations to Bickley Vicarage, Bickley Park Road. Bickey (1893); Alterations to Amesbury House, Page Heath Lane, Bickley (1893); Billiard Room at Camden Wood, Chislehurst (1893); Vickarage, near St. Peter's Church, Prestbury, Cheshire (1893); Several houses on Camden Place Estate, near the Common, Chislehurst, Kent (1893-1910); Alterations to Oakdell, 5 Pageheath Lane, Bickley (1894); Redcourt, Scotland Lane, near Haslemere, Surrey (1894-95); The School House, Longshoot Road, Lower Withington, Cheshire (1896); Glebelands, Glebeland Road, off Rectory Road, Wokingham, Berkshire (1897); 67-79 Bebington Road, Port Sunlight, Cheshire (1897); Vicarage, Shrigley Road, Bollington, Cheshire (1898); Cottage, Hazeley Heath, near Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, for himself (1898); Row of buildings at 181-183 High Street, Market Square, Bromley, Kent comprising Martins Bank, Royal Bell Hotel, and a shop (1898); Alterations to Farrants, Bickley Park Road (1898); Alterations to Calderwood, St Pauls Cray Road, Chislehurst (1898); St John the Baptist Vicarage, Shrigley Road, Bollington, Cheshire (1898); Molescroft, Widmore, Bromley (1899); House in Sutton Coldfield (1899); House in Burley-in-Wharfdale (1899); A House at Cambridge (1899); House in Burley, Yorkshire (1899); Steephill, near St Helier, Jersey (1899-1904); Fremington House, Fremington, Devon (c.1901); Fouracre, near Hartley Wintney, Hampshire (1901); Alterations to Martins Bank, Summer Hill, Chislehurst (1901); Alterations to Elmhurst, Bickley Park Road, Bickley (1901); 21 and 23 Page Heath Lane, Bickley (1902); Alterations to Bickley hall, Chislehurst Rd, Bickley (1902); Newbies, near Baughurst, Hampshire (1902); Little Orchard, Page Heath Lane, Bickley, Kent (1902); Alliance Assurance Building, 88 St. James's Street, London, with Norman Shaw (1903); Alterations to Bromley Palace, Widmore Road, Bromley (1903); 36 Chislehurst Road, Bickley Park Estate (1904); 38 Chislehurst Road, Bickley Park Estate (1904); 23 Garden Road, Sundridge Park, Bromley (1904); Spire, St Georges Church, Bickley Park Road, Bickley (1904); St Mary's Church Buildings, Farwig Lane, Bromley (1904); Alterations to Hawthorne, Hawthorne Road, Bickley (1905); House in Tricombe, Somerset (1905); Spire of St. George's Church, Bickley, Kent (1905); Bickley Court, Chislehurst Road, Bickley, Kent (c.1905); Ardenrun Place, Crowhurst, Surrey (1906); Convent and School of St. Juliana, Begbroke, Oxfordshire (1906); Rebuild of Upton Grey House, near Upton Grey, Hampshire (1907); Luckley, near Lucas Hospital, Wokingham, Berkshire (1907); Dawn House, Romsey Road, Winchester, Hampshire (1908); Scotsman's Field, Burway Hill, Church Stretton, Shropshire (1908); Feathercombe, near Hydestyle, Hambledon, Surrey (1910); Alterations to Avonhurst, 76 Camden Park Road, Chislehurst (1910); Oldcastle, near Dallington, Sussex (1910-12; Four Acres, Harefield, Middlesex (1911); Swimming Bath at Amesbury School, Page Heath Lane, Bickley (1911); Lukyns, near Ewhurst, Surrey (1911); St. Gregory and St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church, 322 Woodstock Road, Oxford (1911); Kettleshulme Vicarage (Glebe House), Macclesfield Road, Kettleshulme, Kettleshulme, Cheshire (1911-12); Houses, East Avenue, Whiteley Village, near Westcitt, Dorking, Surrey (1912); Flint House, near Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (1913); Alterations to Bromley Palace, Widmore Road, Bromley (1920); and, with his son, William Godfrey Newton (1885-1949), Memorial shrine and hall at Uppingham School, Rutland (1921).
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Source of Images
Armstrong, Barrie and Armstrong, Wendy. The Arts and Crafts movement in the North West of England: a handbook. Wetherby, England: Oblong Creative Ltd., 2006
Collingwood, Frances. 'Ernest Newton (1856-1922): a great domestic architect of his day'. The Builder vol. 191, 7 September 1956 p. 400
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
Keen, Arthur. 'An exhibition of some works of the late Ernest Newton'. Architectural Review [London] vol. 53, June 1923 p. 218
Keen, Arthur. 'Ernest Newton - an appreciation'. Architect’s Journal vol. 55, 8 February 1922 pp. 229-231
Lethaby, W. R. 'The late Ernest Newton'. Architectural Review vol. 51, March 1922 p. 79
Levetus, A. S. ‘Architekt Ernest Newton’. Innendekoration vol. 21, 1910 pp. 8-9
Muthesius, Hermann. ‘Architecture anglaise : Ernest Newton’. L'Art décoratif. vol. 2 no. 1, 1899/1900 pp. 260-268
Muthesius, Hermann. ‘Englische Architektur : Ernest Newton’. Kunst vol. 2, 1900 pp. 248+
Newton, Ernest. 'Architects and surveyors'' in Architecture. A Profession or an Art: Thirteen Short Essays on the Qualifications and Training of Architects. Edited by R. Norman Shaw and T. G. Jackson. London: John Murray, 1892 pp. 83-96
Newton, Ernest. A book of country houses. London: B. T. Batsford, 1903.
Newton, William Godfrey. The Work of Ernest Newton. London: The Architectural Press, 1925
'Obituary'. Architect’s Journal vol. 55, 1 February 1922 pp. 187-191
'Obituary'. Builder vol. 122, 3 February 1922 pp. 180-181
'Obituary'. RIBA Journal vol. 29, 1922 pp. 191, 212
Stamp, Gavin. The English House 1860-1914. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs and drawings. London: InternationalArchitect and the Building Centre Trust, 1980 pp. 26-27
‘Steephill, Jersey’ [Architect: Ernest Newton]. Country Life vol. 184, no. 11, 15 March 1990 pp. 64-67
Who's Who in Architecture 1914. London: Technical Journals Ltd., 1914
Worthington, Henry. 'Uppingham: the work of Ernest Newton, R. A. and Sons'. Architectural Review vol. 56, July 1924 pp. 32-36 [Architectural additions made by Ernest Newton to his old School, Uppingham]