Francis Thomas Verity [also known as Frank Thomas Verity, and as Frank T. Verity] was born in Kensington, London, England on 3 September 1864 and entered the South Kensington Schools of Art [now Royal College of Art] in London in 1881. From 1883 he was articled to his father, Thomas Verity (1837-1891), and remained with him as his assistant. He also attended classes at the Architectural Association in London and studied at University College, London, and at the Royal Academy Schools in London from 1887 where he was taught by Richard Phene Spiers (1838-1916). During this period he visited Paris where he attended classes given by Jean-Louis Pascal (1837-1920). Following his return to England in 1889 he won the Tite Prize, passed his qualifying exam, and commenced independent practice in London. He also, that year, joined his father's practice as a partner. After his father's death in 1891 he became the sole partner and took over his father's post of Surveyor of Theatres to the Lord Chamberlain, a position he held until 1900 when he became Architect to the Lord Chamberlain's Department.
Verity was known primarily as a theatre and cinema architect, however, he also designed residential buildings, business premises in London and Paris.
In 1930 Verity took Samuel Beverley (1896-1959) into partnership as F. T. Verity & S. Beverley. Beverley was his son-in-law and had worked as his assistant since 1922. They were European advisory architects to the Paramount Cinematograph Company and to the Union Cinema Company.
Verity was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1889 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1896. In 1924 Verity was awarded the London Architecture Medal for Shepherd's Bush Pavilion.
He died in Bournemouth, Hampshire [now Dorset] on 14 August 1937.
A biographical file on Frank T. Verity is available in request from the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
The Pavilion, Lords Cricket Ground, Marylebone, London (1890); Club Building, 96-97 Piccadilly, London, with Thomas Verity (1891); The French Hospital, Shaftesbury Avenue, London (1899); Flats, 12 Hyde Park Place, Bayswater, London (1903); Scala Theatre, Charlotte Street, London (1904); Flats, 25 Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London (1904); Flats, Sudan House, 7 Cleveland Row, St. James's, London (1905); Polytechnic of Central London, Upper Regent Street, London, in collaboration with George Arthur Mitchell (1907-11); 169-1201 Regent Street, London (1908-09); Shepherd's Bush Pavilion, 58 Shepherd's Bush Green, London (1923); Carlton Theatre, 63-65 Haymarket, London (1927); Conversion and alteration of People's Palace, Baldwin Street, Bristol (1928); and Paramount Cinema, Renfield Street, Glasgow, with Beverley (1933).
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Edwards, A. T. ‘The Work of Frank T. Verity’. Architects’ Journal vol. 61, 1925 pp.36-59
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Gray, Richard. ‘The Odeon [built as the Paramount], Birmingham’ [Architects of 1937 cinema Frank Verity and Samuel Beverley] Picture House no. 1, 1982 Spring, pp. 5-8.
Unger, Adam. ‘Verity's survivor: The Carlton’. Picture House no. 38, 2013, pp. 3-9.
Who’s Who in Architecture 1926. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: The Architectural Press, 1926
‘Obituary’ Architect's Journal vol. 86, 26 August 1937, p. 322
‘Obituary’ The Builder vol. 153, 13 Aug 1937, p. 312
‘Obituary’ RIBA Journal vol. 44, 1937, pp. 1008-1009, 1071
10. ‘Obituary’ Architect & Building News vol. 151, 3 no., 10 September 1937, pp. 270, 300
'The Regent Street Polytechie’ A[rchitect: Frank T. Verity]. Architectural Review vol. 31, February 1912 pp. 104-116.
‘The Shepherd’s Bush Pavilion’. Architectural Review vol. 56, 1923 pp. 132-139
Who’s Who in Architecture 1926. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: The Architectural Press, 1926