George Henry Walton [commonly known as George Walton] was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 3 June 1867. In 1881 he began working as a clerk with the British Linen Bank in Glasgow. He also took classes at Glasgow School of Art and at the Glasgow Atelier of Fine Arts. Evidently by the late 1880s, Walton's talents as a designer were beginning to be noticed as in 1888, Miss Catherine Cranston commissioned him to re-design the interiors of her tea rooms at 114 Argyle Street, Glasgow.
Walton subsequently gave up his job at the bank and established George Walton & Co, Ecclesiastical and House Decorators, which had showrooms at 152 Wellington Street, Glasgow. The business proved to be a success and expanded rapidly, diversifying into stained glass, textile design, furniture and decorative woodwork. In 1897 he opened premises in London and in 1898 in York. Among his early commissions were the decoration of the dining room of C.F.A. Voysey's house, The Orchard in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire (1903); the interiors of Kodak shops in London, Brussels, Milan, Vienna and Glasgow; a stand at the Glasgow Exhibition of 1901; offices of the advertising agency Walter Judd on Queen Victoria Street, London; shop fronts and interiors for Wellington & Ward, suppliers of photographic materials; and the chancel of St. Nicholas's Church in Elstree, Hertfordshire
In 1905 he resigned from George Walton & Co, and in 1907 established a private architectural and design practice which he ran until 1914.
From 1916 to 1921, with C.F.A. Voysey, Walton was architect to the Central Liquor Traffic Contral Board; and from 1926 to 1930 worked as a designer for Morton Sundour Fabrics.
Walton was elected a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1901 and a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1911. In 1931 he moved with his wife to Hythe in Kent. He died in London on 10 December 1933
A biographical file on George Walton is available on request from the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
Architectural projects by Walton included The Leys, Elstree, Hertfordshire (1901); The Log Hut in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire (1903); Additions to Finnart House, Weybridge, Surrey (1905; Wern Fawr, Harlech, Marioneth, Wales for George Davison (1907-10); The White House, Shiplake-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (1908); and St. David's Hotel in Harlech, Merioneth, Wales (1910-11).
See also
Dictionary of Scottish Architects 1660-1980
Source of Images
Carr, Richard. ‘Another unsung Scottish hero’. [George Walton] Building Design nos. 1138/1139, 28 August 1993 p. 2.
Cumming, Elizabeth. Hand, heart and soul: the Arts and Crafts movement in Scotland Edinburgh: Berlinn Limited, 2006
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
Euler, Laura. The Glasgow style Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2008
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
Hall, Margaret. ‘The ‘remarkable encounter’ between George Walton and James Morton: designs for Morton Sundour Fabrics Ltd.’ Journal of the Decorative Arts Society 1850 to the Present vol. 30, 2006 pp. 92-115
Hall, Michael. ‘Eloquence of line’. [George Walton] Country Life vol. 187, no. 33, 19 August 1993 pp. 54-55.
Moon, Karen. George Walton: designer and architect Oxford, England: White Cockade Publishing, 1993
Moon, Karen. ‘George Walton & Co: work for commercial organisations. The Rowntree firms’. The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society 1890-1940 No. 5, 1981, pp. 12-22
Moon, Karen. ‘George Walton reconsidered’. Antique Collecting vol. 29, no. 1, May 1994, pp. 26-30.
Pevsner, Nikolaus. ‘George Walton, his life and work’. RIBA Journal 3 April 1939 p. 537
Stamp, Gavin. The English House 1860-1914. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs and drawings. London: InternationalArchitect and the Building Centre Trust, 1980 pp. 41-42
The Glasgow style 1890-1920 Glasgow: Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries, 1984
Trowles, Peter. ‘Unity in design’. [George Walton] RSA Journal vol. 141, no. 5443, October 1993 p p. 744-745.
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 145, 22 December 1933 p. 985
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 145, 15 December 1933 p. 958