Harry Edward Clifford

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Henry Edward Clifford FRIBA (12 September 1852 – 14 October 1932) was a Scottish architect, prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[1] His design genre was wide, from churches to schools to golf clubhouses, but he was focussed in the Glasgow area and the west coast of Scotland.[2]

Harry Edward Clifford
Clifford circa 1900
Born
Henry Edward Clifford

12 September 1852
North Naparima, Trinidad
Died14 October 1932(1932-10-14) (aged 80)
Campbeltown, Scotland
NationalityScottish
OccupationArchitect
AwardsFRIBA

Early life

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Clifford's family was originally from Wexford, Ireland, but settled in Trinidad not long after its capture in 1797.[1]

Clifford was born on 12 September 1852 at Woodbrook estate in North Naparima, Trinidad, into a Scots-Irish family. He was the second son and fourth child of F. Henry Clifford, a sugar planter, and Rebecca Anderson. He and his siblings were raised in Glasgow by their single mother after the death of their father in 1859.[2][1]

Career

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In 1867, Clifford was articled to John Burnet for five years. He remained with him for an additional five years as draughtsman.[1]

Clifford began his own practice, firstly at 113 West Regent Street in Glasgow, then at 196 St Vincent Street.[1]

He achieved national fame in 1901, when he won he Glasgow Royal Infirmary competition, but an internal disagreement led to its commission instead being given to James Miller.[1]

In 1909, Clifford began a partnership with his principal assistant Thomas Lunan, who was connected in the golfing world;[1] however, Lunan fought in the Great War and returned with post-traumatic stress disorder and found himself unable to work. Clifford bought him out and continued alone.[1]

Clifford retired on medical advice in December 1923. His practice was merged with that of Watson & Salmond.[1]

Selected notable works

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Perth City Hall, Clifford's design with Thomas Melville Lunan, pictured in 2024

Personal life

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Clifford's mother was from Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, and it was there that he met his wife, Alice Gibson, who was twenty years his junior. They married on 7 December 1904 at Longrow Free Church in Campbeltown. Their only child, William Henry Morton Clifford, was born in 1909.[2][1]

In the early 1890s, Clifford built himself a weekend house, namely Redclyffe in Troon, but he lived with his mother and sisters in Pollokshields during the week.[1]

Upon retiring in 1923, he bought a two-acre plot in the English town of Reigate, Surrey, on which he built a "substantial house" which he also named Woodbrook.[1]

He came out of retirement to design Crosshill, at Wendover, for friends from Campbeltown.[1]

Clifford's health improved somewhat, but his fortune was diminished by the 1929 Wall Street Crash and the subsequent impact on the London Stock Exchange.[1] He suffered a severe heart attack in July 1930, and his wife endured phlebitis the following year.[1]

Death

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Due to nursing costs, Clifford put Woodbrook on the market, but before it could be sold he died of a stroke on 14 October 1932, aged 80.[2] Alice died the following summer.[1]

Clifford was buried in Kilkerran Cemetery in Campbeltown.[1]

References

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