Williams, Robert 1848 - 1918

Robert Williams was born in Ystradowen, Glamorgan, Wales on 27 January 1848. He wasn't articled but trained in his father's office, workshops, and buildings. From 1873 he studied at the South Kensington Museum School in London and Reading School of Art. He was Clerk of Works to James Piers St. Aubyn (1815-1895), and at Blickling Hall under Maurice Bingham Adams (1849-1933). He gained further experience working in the office of Frederick Sandham Waller (1822-1905), Frederick William Waller (1846-1933) and Walter Bryan Wood 1852-1926) of Waller, Son & Wood in Gloucester.

Williams qualified as an architect in 1887 and commenced practice in London that year.  He had a particular interest in working class housing and was the author of London Rookeries and Collier's Slums: a Plea for More Breathing Room (1893), More Light and Air for Londoners (1894), and, with Fred Knee, The Labourer and His Cottage (1905).

In 1914 he moved Egypt and established a practice in Cairo. He sometimes served as a consultant to the Egyptian Government.  He participated in the Yale and Harvard expedition to explore Upper Egypt in 1916-17.

Williams was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1887 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1896.  His address was given as Holly Bank, Haslemere, Surrey in 1887; 17 Effingham Road in 1896; 10 Cliffods Inn, Fleet Street, London in 1905 and 1915; St. David's Buildings, 9, Cherif Pasha Street, Alexandria, Egypt in 1914 and 1915; and "Clydfa," Hook, Hants in 1914. He died in Cairo, Egypt on 16 October 1918.