William Henry Romain-Walker [also known as William Henry Romaine Walker; W. H. Romaine-Walker and as W.H. Walker] was born in Bury, Lancashire, England on 27 January 1854 and was articled to George Edmund Street (1824-1881) in London for five years. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1881 and commenced independent practice in London that year.
From 1881 to 1896 he was in partnership with Augustus William Tanner (1843-1923). They worked primarily as ecclesiastical restorers. In 1887 they designed the Pitt-Rivers Museum in Oxford and later a number of buildings on the Pitt-Rivers estate in Tollard Royal, Wiltshire.
From 1896 Romaine-Walker worked alone until 1900 when he formed a partnership with Francis Besant. The practice was known for its versatility. They designed or altered several town houses and a number of large country houses. They were also responsible for decorating or redecorating a number of buildings including Liverpool Old Town Hall, Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, and Beaumont College in Old Windsor, Berkshire. They also designed additions to the Chapels of the Calvary and the English Martyrs at the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, Mayfair.
The partnership was dissolved in 1911 and that year Romaine-Walker formed another partnership, Romaine-Walker & Jenkins, with Gilbert Henry Jenkins (1875-1957) who had been his chief assistant since 1901. This partnership continued until Walker's retirement in 1939. Romain continued to run the practice alone, retaining Romaine-Walker & Jenkins as the title of the firm.
In addition to his activities as an architect. Romaine-Walker was also a garden designer, painter, illustrator and interior decorator. He also designed wallpaper for Jeffrey & Co. and other companies and, in the 1890s, designed a series of window bills promoting Fuller's food products. He designed gardens at Rhineland in Brockenhurst, Hampshire (c,1890); Buckland House in Faringdon, Oxfordshire (c.1910); Luton Hoo in Luton, Bedfordshire (c.1912); and Great Fosters in Egham, Surrey (1918).
Romaine-Walker was a prolific exhibitor at the Walker's Gallery in London, owned by his family. His work was also shown at the Royal Academy in London, and at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. He died in Hastings, Sussex on 10 May 1940.
Notable among Romaine-Walker's architectural projects were an extension to Canford School in Canford Manor, Dorset (1888) with Tanner; restoration and additions to Medmenham Abbey in Medmenham, Buckinghamshire (1898); Stanhope House at Park Lane, London (1899–1901); Danesfield House in Medmenham, Buckinghamshire (1899–1901); the Church of St. Saviour in Newtown, Dorset with Tanner (1892); the interior of Her Majesty's Theatre in London (1897); interior decoration of St Michael's Church, Brighton (c.1900); the Church of St John the Evangelist, Upper Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, with Besant (1902–03); Moreton Hall in Moreton Morrell, Warwickshire (1906); alterations to Knowsley Hall near Liverpool (1908-12); extensions to the Tate Gallery in London (1910, 1926 and 1937); and modifications to the interior of Liverpool Town Hall, with Jenkins (1913).
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Who's Who in Architecture 1926:
Turner Galleries, Modern Foreign Art Galleries, and Sargent Gallery at Tate Gallery; Eton College War Memorial; Emmet Memorial Chapel, Kensal Green; Sir William Harcourt Memorial; Sunderland House, Curzon Street, W.; Stanhope House, Park Lane, W.; 34, Park Street, W.; 1 and 2, Hamilton Place, Park Lane; Moreton Hall, Warwick; Moreton Paddox, Warwick; Danesfield, Bucks; Rhinefield, Hants; Exbury, Hants; convent, Gloucester Road, N.W.; church and schools, Lymington; Heatherlands Church, Hants; villa, Mont Boron, Nice. Gardens of: — Rhinefield, Knowsley, Moreton Paddox, Luton Hoo, Buckland, Great Fosters. Restorations, additions and decorations: — Derby House, W.; 46, Park Street, W.; 66, Grosvenor Street, W.; 2, Seamore Place, W.; 1, Upper Brook Street, W.; Haymarket Theatre; His Majesty's Theatre; Farm Street Church, W. (new aisle and six chapels); Spelsby Church, Oxon; Beaumont College Chapel; Someries Chapel, Luton; Lady Chapel, Church of the Sacred Heart, Bournemouth; Community Chapel, Preston; Hampreston Church, Hants; Knowsley Hall, Lancs; Kingsgate Castle, Kent; Holme Lacy, Hereford; Buckland, Berks; Great Fosters, Surrey; Castle Waterford; Canford Manor: Medmenham Abbey; Chatsworth; Hulton Castle, Berwick; Sedghill Manor; High Elms, Kent; Stanley House, Newmarket; Blenheim Palace, Oxon; Orosvar Castle, Hungary; 986 Fifth Avenue, New York; house at Groton, Conn.; and numerous other works, both in the U.K. and abroad.
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 [Listed under Romaine-Walker, William Henry]
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985 [Listed under Romaine-Walker, William Henry]
'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 158, 17 May 1940 p. 582
'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 158, 21 June 1940 p. 723
'Obituary'. RIBA Journal 20 May 1940 p. 181