John Loughborough Pearson was born in Brussels, Belgium on 15 July 1817 and was the son William Pearson, an artist. In c.1831 he moved to Durham, England where he trained as an architect with Ignatius Bonomi (1787-1870) from 1831 to 1841. After working briefly as an assistant to George Pickering, he went to London where he was employed as an assistant in the offices of Anthony Salvin (1799-1881) and Philip Hardwick (1792-1870), he established his own practice in London in 1843, specialising almost exclusively on the design and restoration of churches.
In 1870 Pearson was appointed architect to Lincoln Cathedral. He was also Diocesan architect for Rochester, Bristol and Peterborough.
From 1890 to 1897 he was in partnership with his son, Frank Loughborough Pearson (1864-1947).
He registered with the newly founded Institute of British Architects [subsequently Royal Institute of British Architects] in 1834 but was not elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) until 1860. He was awarded the RIBA Queen's Gold Medal in 1880. He was also elected a Royal Academician (RA) in 1880. Pearson died at his home, 13 Mansfield Street, Marylebone, London, on 11 December 1897. Following his death much of his unfinished work was completed by Frank Loughborough Pearson.
Pearson's first commission was the rebuilding of Ellerker Chapel, at Brantingham, Yorkshire (1843-44). Subsequent works by Pearson included church of All Saints, North Ferriby, Yorkshire (1846-47); Church, Treberfydd House and new school at Llangasty-tal-y-llyn, Brecknockshire, Wales (1848-52); Holy Trinity in Bessborough Gardens, London (1848-50); New school and Treberfydd House (1848–52); Restoration of the Norman vault at Stow in Lindsay, Lincolnshire (1850-56); St Mary's Church, Catherston Leweston, near Carmouth, Dorset (1857-58); St Mary's, Dalton Holme, Yorkshire (1858-61); Dt. Peter, and adjoining vicarage, Vauxhall, London (1860-65); St Mary's church, parsonage and schools, Freeland, Oxfordshire (1868-73); St. Augustine, Kilburn, London (1870-c.1877); church, Braddan, Isle of Man (1873); St. John, Red Lion Square, London (1874-78); St. John, Norwood, London (1875-87); St. Michael, Croydon, Surrey (1876-85); St. Margaret, Horsforth, near Leeds, Yorkshire (1877-83); Restoration at Lastington, Yorkshire (1879); St. Alban, Birmingham (1879 onwards); Restorations at Westminster Abbey and Westminster Hall, London (1870s and 1880s); Truro Cathedral (1880), completed by his son, Frank Loughborough Pearson in 1910; St. Stephen, Bournemouth, Hampshire (1881-98); St. Agnes, Sefton Park, Liverpool (1882-85); Work on Bristol Cathedral (1882-98); St. Michael, Headingley, Leeds, Yorkshire (1883-90); St. Matthew's Church, Silverhill, East Sussex (1884); All Saints Church, Torquay, Devon (1884); St. Bartholomew, Thurstaston, Cheshire (1885-87); Restoration of Abbey church of Saint Peter, Shrewsbury, Shropshire (1886-87); Restoration of Lord Mayor's Chapel, Bristol (1887-89); Work on Rochester Cathedral in Rochester, Kent (1888 onwards); Alterations to the Church of St. John the Evangelist, including spire, Redhill, Surrey (1889); Rebuilding of St Swithun's, Cheswardine, Shropshire (1889); Catholic apostolic Church, Maida Avenue, Little Venice, London (1889-91); All Saints, Hove, Sussex (1889-1901); St. John, Friern Barnet, London (1889-1902); Additions to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (1890); Work on Norwich Cathedral(1890-95); Restoration of St. Helen's church, Bishopsgate, London (1891); Lady Rachel Hamilton-Gordon Memorial Chapel, Malta (1893-94); St Theodore's Church, Port Talbot (1895); St. Paul's Church, Daybrook, Nottinghamshire (1895); St Tydfil's church, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales (1895); St Patrick's Church, Bordesley, Birmingham (1895); Incorporated Accountants Hall, Victoria Embankment, London (1895); St. Matthew's Church, Douglas, Isle of Man (1895-1902), completed by Frank Loughborough Pearson; Chichester Cathedral, Chichester, Sussex (1897-1901), completed by Frank Loughborough Pearson.; and Brisbane Cathedral, Queensland, Australia (completed 1901).
See also:
Source of Images
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