Leonard Atkinson Shuffrey [also known as L.A. Shuffrey] was born in Witney, Oxfordshire, England on 31 March 1852 and was the brother of the painter James Allen Shuffrey (1858-1939). He was articled to the architect Banister Fletcher, Snr. (1833-1899) in London and subsequently worked as an architect. He also worked as a decorative designer, specialising in the design of fireplaces. Among buildings for which he designed fireplaces were the Bank of England, Victoria & Albert Museum, and Imperial College in London.
In 1880, with the architect George Campbell Sherrin (1843-1909) Shuffrey established Shuffrey & Co. in London, a firm that produced wallpaper, fireplace surrounds, tiles and decorative plasterwork. A drawing of a wood mantel made by Shuffrey & Co. is illustrated in The Cabinet Maker & Art Furnisher November 1882 (p.84). A chimney piece in painted pine designed by L.A. Shuffrey and made by Shuffrey & Co. was shown at the 1st exhibition of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society held at the New Gallery in London in 1888 and is illustrated in The Cabinet Maker & Art Furnisher December 1888 (p.146). The firm had premies at 3 Broad Street Buildings, Liverpool Street, London.
For many years, Shuffrey collaborated with the architect Aston Webb (1849-1930) on projects including the interior decoration of buildings designed by Webb, such as Birmingham University in 1909.
Shuffrey was the author of 'The English fireplace : a history of the development of the chimney, chimney-piece, and firegrate with their accessories, from the earliest times to the beginning of the XIXth century' (London: B.T. Batsford, 1912)
He participated in the exhibitions of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society at the New Gallery in London in 1888, 1890 and 1893. He exhibited once at the Royal Academy in London in 1889. He was a member of the Architectural Association.
His address was given as 33, Welbeck Street, London in 1888 and 1893. He also lived at Thorncote, a house he had designed for himself on Edgehill Road, Ealing, Middlesex and where he died on 27 December 1926.
A Biographical File available on Leonard Atkinson Shuffrey on request from the Enquiry Desk at the Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
‘Leonard Shuffrey’. Architecture: A Magazine of Architecture & the Allied Arts & Crafts 1926 pp. 276-279