Williamson, Frederick 1890 - 1945

Frederick Williamson was born in England in 1890 and was articled to James Lindsay Grant (1866-1938) in Manchester from 1908 to 1911. He also attended classes in design and construction at  Manchester School of Technology and Manchester School of Architecture. From 1912 to 1914 he studied part-time at the University of Liverpool School of Architecture. He then worked briefly in the office of W. J. Collins in Liverpool. With the outbreak of World War One in 1914, he enlisted in the Royal Navy and served on Minesweepers until 1918.

After the war he spent a period travelling in Continental Europe before returning to the University of Liverpool School of Architecture in 1919. In 1920 he gained work experience in the office of McKim, Mead & White in New York City.  Later that year [or in 1921 - sources differ] he moved to South Africa and, with the Johannesburg architect Frank Emley (1861-1938), formed the architectural partnership Emily & Williamson. Emley had won the competition to design the the main buildings of the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in 1920 and the pair subsequently worked together on the ongoing project for the next two decades.

From 1921 to 1925 Williamson lectured part-time on architectural design in the School of Architecture at the University of Witwatersrand.   He was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1920 and a member of the Institute of South African Architects (ISAA) in 1927. In 1933-34 he was Vice-President-in-Chief of the ISAA.   His address was given as 15th Floor, Annan House, Commissioner Street, Johannesburg in 1939. He died in 1945.