John Francis Watkins was born in Tettenhall, Staffordshire on 23 April 1883. By 1901 he had moved to Bournemouth, Hampshire [now Dorset] where he was working as a draughtsman. By 1911 he had moved to Hendon, Middlesex and was employed as an architect's assistant.
It is not known where or with whom he trained as an architect. He was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA). Throughout the 1930s he was employed by the architectural firm Collcutt & Hamp, 126 Wigmore Street, Portman Square, London.
A design for a house by Watkins was entered in The "Daily Mail" Ideal Houses Competition for Architects, 1927.
His address was given as 33 Cobridge Walk Hendon NW, Hendon, Middlesex in 1911 Architect's Assistant; “Millfield,” Stratton Chase, Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire in 1927 and 1932; and Hellcorner Farm, Ibstone, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire in 1939.
He died in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on 30 December 1967.
We would like to thank Geoff Hassell of Artist Biographies for additional information on this architect