Fairfax Blomfield Wade-Palmer [also known as Fairfax Blomfield Wade, and as Fairfax B. Wade] was born Fairfax Blomfield Wade in Middlesex, England on 16 July 1851. He changed his surname to Wade-Palmer in 1900. He was articled to Sir Arthur William Blomfield (1829-1899) from 1872 to 1875 and commenced independent practice as an architect in London in 1875.
He was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1882 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1888.
Wade exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1889, 1892, 1893, 1894 and 1889.
In addition to his work as an architect, he was also a decorative designer. He participated in the 3rd exhibition of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society at the New Gallery in London in 1890 at which he exhibited a wrought-iron gate he had designed for R. Crittall & Co.
His address was given as 53 Sloane Street, London in 1874 and 1881; 66 Victoria Street, London in 1889 and 1895; 148 Sloane Street, London in 1905 and 1907; Home Park, Sunning, Berkshire in 1907; and 1 Raymond Buildings, Gray's Inn, London in 1914.
He died in Chelsea, London [or South Africa - sources differ] on 11 January 1919.
A biographical file on Fairfax Blomfield Wade-Palmer is available on request from the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
Early in Wade's career he designed some Gothic-inspired churches, including St. Mary, Overleigh Road, Handbridge, Chester, Cheshire (1885-87). His largest and best-known building was the Royal School of Needlework on the corner of Exhibition Road and Institute Road, Kensington, London (1903, demolished in the 1960s). Other works by him included Compton House, Vicarage Lane, Denton, Northamptonshire (1893); 64 Sloane Street, Knightsbridge, London (1896-97); 64 South Audley Street, Mayfair, London (c.1905); Arborfield Court, near Arborfield, Berkshire (1906); Angrove House, near Crowborough, Sussex (c.1908); and Restoration and additions to Ockwell's Manor House, near Bray, Berkshire (c.1910).
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
Stamp, Gavin. The English House 1860-1914. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs and drawings. London: InternationalArchitect and the Building Centre Trust, 1980 p. 32
‘Mr Fairfax Wade-Palmer’. Bristol Times and Mirror, 18 January 1919, p. 5
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 116, 31 Jan 1919, p 104
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal vol. 26, 1919, p. 95