Sydney Smirke (20 December 1797 – 8 December 1877) was a British architect.

Smirke was born in London, England, as the fifth son of painter Robert Smirke and his wife, Elizabeth Russell. He was the younger brother of Sir Robert Smirke and Sir Edward Smirke, who was also an architect. Their sister Mary Smirke was a noted painter and translator.

Among Smirke's numerous apprentices was the successful York architect George Fowler Jones.

Smirke's works

Sydney Smirke's works include:

  • Customs House, High Street, Shoreham-by-Sea (1830)
  • Customs House (refronting), Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne (1833)
  • The Orangery in Gunnersbury Park (1836)
  • The Custom House, Queen Square, Bristol (1835–57)
  • Wellington Pit Surface Buildings (Whitehaven) (1840)
  • The nave roof of York Minster (1840–44)
  • Holy Trinity Church, Bickerstaffe, Lancashire (1843)
  • The Carlton Club in Pall Mall, London (1845)
  • The Custom House, Commercial Road, Gloucester (1845)
  • The dome chapel of the Bethlem Royal Hospital, St George's Fields, Southwark (now housing the Imperial War Museum) (1846)
  • The Frewen Mausoleum at St Mary's Church, Northiam, East Sussex (1846)
  • St. James' Church, Westhead, Lancashire (1850)
  • St Mary the Virgin Church, Theydon Bois (1850)
  • The Derby Hall, Derby Hotel and Athenaeum in Bury (1849–52; the latter two now demolished)
  • The circular reading room at the British Museum (1857)
  • King Edward's School, Witley, Surrey (1865)
  • Exhibition galleries at Burlington House, home of the Royal Academy (1868)
  • Barkham Street, Wainfleet All Saints

References

Further reading

  • Fawcett, Jane (Editor), Seven Victorian Architects, Thames and Hudson, 1976.
  • Gentleman's Magazine, 1841, Part 1, p91
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  • Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections