Ambrose Macdonald Poynter [also known as Sir Ambrose Macdonald Poynter] was born in London, England on 26 September 1867. His father was the painter Edward John Poynter (1836-1919) and his grandfather was the architect and painter Ambrose Poynter (1796-1886). He studied at the South Kensington Art Schools [now the Royal College of Art] in in London 1886 and at the Royal Academy Schools in London from 1889. He was articled to George Aitchison (1825-1910) in London from 1887 to 1892. He was then an improver with George Frederick Bodley (1827-1907) until 1893 when he established his own architectural firm in London.
Apart from brief partnerships with Ernest Wilmott (1871-1916) and with George Harry Wenyon (1878-1946), Poynter worked as an independent architect.
Poyter was elected a member of the Art Workers Guild (AWG) and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1906.
In addition to his work as an architect, he was also a painter. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and the New Gallery in London. A watercolour by him entitled "Rottingdean from Churchyard - 1887" is in the permanent collection of the National Trust property Bateman's in Sussex.
Poynter was awarded the RIBA Silver Medal (Essays) in 1889. Poynter lived in London, Buenos Aires (c.1910-1912), and in Botley, Hampshire, England. During his time in Argentina, Poyter designed the British Memorial Clock in Buenos Aires, was a juror and British local representative for the International Fine Art Exhibition and for the Exhibition of Hygiene in Buenos Aires in 1910. He died in London on 31 May 1923.
Architectural projects included alterations to the Manor House, Mount Grace Priory in Northallerton, Yorkshire (c.1904); alterations to Vernon House at Park Place, St. James's, London (1906-08); additions to Polesden Lacey, near Dorking in Surrey (c.1907); the Comptair National d'Escompte Pavilion at the Franco-British Exhibition in London (1908); the design of the Village Hall in Ingleby Arncliffe, Yorkshire (1910). With Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912), he also designed the marble balustrade around the Atheneum Club in London.
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See also British Listed Buildings; Historic England [links below]
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. 124, 8 June 1923 p. 928
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal 16 June 1923 p. 504