Francis Rattenbury

Francis Rattenbury

Houses of Parliament in Victoria

Hotel "The Empress"

Francis Mawson Rattenbury ( [ˈfrɑːnsɪs ˈmɔːsʌn ˈrætˌnbriː] , born October 1867 in Leeds , † 1935 ) was an architect who designed remarkable buildings, especially in British Columbia .

Career as an architect

Rattenbury was born in Leeds in October 1867 . He began his training as an architect in 1884 at "Lockwood and Mawson", where he worked until he moved to Canada. In 1891 he came to Vancouver in the young Canadian province of British Columbia.

Rattenbury, who was just 25 years old, won the tender for the construction of the new parliament building in Victoria in 1892 under a pseudonym . He built the parliament in a neo-Romanesque, Victorian style, which he himself described as a "free classical style". The building opened in 1898, although it exceeded the estimated construction cost of $ 600,000 Canadian dollars by nearly $ 400,000. The success with this building brought him numerous other orders in Victoria and British Columbia. In addition to the Parliament, one of his most famous buildings is the Empress Hotel in Victoria.

Private life and murder

As quickly as his career began, his fame faded just as quickly. He also participated in financial speculation, over which he got into a dispute with his business partners. In addition, he got personal problems. In 1923 he left his first wife Florence, whom he had married in 1898, and his two children because of the 27-year-old Alma Pakenham. The divorce from Florence turned into a scandal, as a result of which he had to temporarily leave Victoria. In 1925 he married Alma, and after having a son they moved to Bournemouth , England , in 1929 . In England his financial problems led to the breakdown of the marriage. His wife began an affair with George Percy Stoner, their 18-year-old chauffeur.

In 1935 Rattenbury was slain with a mallet in his living room. His wife and Stoner were charged with murder. Stoner was sentenced to death for murder, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Alma Rattenbury was acquitted, but committed suicide a few days later.

Although Rattenbury was a notable architect, he was buried in an unnamed grave in a Bournemouth cemetery. It wasn't until 2007 that a family friend erected a tombstone as a permanent memorial.

Buildings (selection)

• Parliament in Victoria (1893–1898, extensions 1913–1915)
• Vancouver Court House , 1906
• Court House, Nelson (Designed 1903, completed 1908)
• Empress Hotel , Victoria (1904–1908), extensions 1909–1914
• Canadian Pacific Railway Steamship Terminal, Victoria (1923–1924; now the Royal London Wax Museum)

literature

• Terry Reksten: Rattenbury . Sono Nis Press, Victoria, British Columbia, 1998, ISBN 1-55039-090-2
• Anthony Barrett and Rhodri W. Liscombe: Francis Rattenbury and British Columbia - Architecture and Challenge in the Imperial Age. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver 1983, ISBN 0-7748-0178-6

Web links

Commons : Francis Rattenbury  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files