Frederick Marrable
Encyclopedia
Frederick Marrable was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 architect
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 who was notable as the first Chief Architect for the Metropolitan Board of Works
Metropolitan Board of Works
The Metropolitan Board of Works was the principal instrument of London-wide government from 1855 until the establishment of the London County Council in 1889. Its principal responsibility was to provide infrastructure to cope with London's rapid growth, which it successfully accomplished. The MBW...

, responsible for designing its headquarters.

Early career

Marrable was the son of Sir Thomas Smith Marrable, who was Secretary of the Board of Green Cloth
Clerk of the Green Cloth
The Clerk of the Green Cloth was a position in the British Royal Household. The clerk acted as secretary of the Board of Green Cloth, and was therefore responsible for organising royal journeys and assisting in the administration of the Royal Household. From the Restoration, there were four clerks...

 (responsible for organising Royal visits) for King George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...

 and King William IV
William IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...

. He began his architectural career articled to Edward Blore
Edward Blore
Edward Blore was a 19th century British landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland ....

 in 1835, and subsequently studied abroad, which influenced his architectural style. He started his own company when he returned to Britain. In this period he designed St Mary Magdalene's Church
St Mary Magdalene's Church, St Leonards-on-Sea
St Mary Magdalene's Church is a Greek Orthodox place of worship in St Leonards-on-Sea, a town and seaside resort which is part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England...

 in St Leonards-on-Sea
St Leonards-on-Sea
St Leonards-on-Sea is part of Hastings, East Sussex, England, lying immediately to the west of the centre. The original part of the settlement was laid out in the early 19th century as a new town: a place of elegant houses designed for the well-off; it also included a central public garden, a...

 (1852).

Metropolitan Board

He was selected without any great controversy as the first Chief Architect of the Metropolitan Board of Works on 1 February 1856. Marrable was not a particularly well-regarded architect but no greater figure applied for the job, partially because the salary being offered was relatively low, but also because the architect would largely be responsible for building roads and not distinctive buildings. Marrable approached this task with a methodical eye, but often ended up being perceived as boring, as The Elector for 27 June 1857 said that he was "squeezing every word to death almost in a half-closed mouth, so that nobody scarcely knows what he says".

Under his supervision, Garrick Street and Southwark Street
Southwark Street
Southwark Street is a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, in London England, just south of the River Thames. It runs between Blackfriars Road to the west and Borough High Street to the east. It also connects the access routes for London Bridge, Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge...

 were designed. When the Metropolitan Board obtained a site at Spring Gardens to build its headquarters, Marrable was naturally engaged to design it. He produced a three-storey building in the Italianate style, which (after subsequent enlargements) was impressive for Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...

 to regard as the chief interest in the street.

Resignation

By the end of 1860, Marrable was beginning to feel that he was being grossly underpaid and overworked. He referred to having written more than five thousand reports for the Board, and demanded an increase in his £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

800 annual salary. The Board, conscious of the opposition of the Vestries
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....

 to any increase in its demands for money, reluctantly offered a raise to £1,200 (to then go up in stages to £1,500). There was indeed an outcry, with John Nicholay (member for Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....

, a vestry committed to strict economy) describing the proposal as an act of suicide. The proposed new salary was then scaled back to £1,000. Marrable thought this a contemptible offer and resigned in February 1861.

Subsequent career

After his resignation, Marrable designed his most notable surviving building, the Garrick Club
Garrick Club
The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in London.-History:The Garrick Club was founded at a meeting in the Committee Room at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on Wednesday 17 August 1831...

 (1864) which was again in an Italianate palazzo
Palazzo
Palazzo, an Italian word meaning a large building , may refer to:-Buildings:*Palazzo, an Italian type of building**Palazzo style architecture, imitative of Italian palazzi...

 style. The Garrick is fronted in Portland render
Portland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...

 which blackened over the years; proposals to clean it did not receive the support of club members until 2005. Marrable married Madeline Cockburn, a painter, in the same year. He continued to work occasionally on Metropolitan Board of Works compensation matters; an inquiry many years after his death found evidence that he may have been corrupt. Another building designed by Marrable was St Peter's Church in Deptford
Deptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...

 (1866-70).

Death

Marrable died suddenly on a visit to inspect the Bethlehem Hospital for Convalescents in Witley
Witley
Witley, in Surrey, England is a village south west of Godalming. The village lies just east of the A3 that runs from Guildford to Petersfield. Witley together with the neighbouring area of Hambledon have a population of about 4,000. Neighbouring villages include Milford, Chiddingfold and...

. His posthumous reputation tends to concentrate on his work for the Metropolitan Board, rather than his contribution to architecture.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK