Talk:John Loughborough Pearson

Wauldby chapel

Several sources give build date of 1835 eg [1] , and 1891 directory, whilst more modern sources including Pevsner and English Heritage say 1844 and attribute it to Pearson eg

In http://www.archive.org/stream/archaeologicalj13unkngoog#page/n112/mode/2up/search/wauldby Pearson seems to state clearly that he built (not altered?) a building in Wauldby (no date)..

Can anyone sort this out ?Mddkpp (talk) 00:44, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

In 1835, Pearson was aged 18 and working in Bonomi's practice in Durham. It seems extremely unlikely that he would have built Wauldby chapel at that age. According to Colvin, Pearson left Bonomi's practice in 1841. Pevsner says that Ellerker (1843-4 according to Pevsner) was Pearson's first church. Wauldby (1844) is not far from Ellerker. It seems possible that, if there really was an 1835 chapel at Wauldby erected by Mrs Raikes, the Mr Raikes (perhaps her son?) mentioned by Pearson in the Archaeological Journal may have known the church at Ellerker and asked him in 1844 to rebuild the chapel. (He also rebuilt the church at Elloughton, also not far from Ellerker, in 1844-5, according to Pevsner.) Interestingly, in the intro to Yorkshire:Y& the ER, Pevsner says (pp 93-4) that "The [Wauldby] chapel was built at the expense of Mrs Anne Raikes of Welton House"! It does seem unlikely that she had a church built in 1835 and then replaced it with another in 1844. --GuillaumeTell 11:37, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. So Pearson cannot have built it in 1835.

The sources appear to be describing the same thing eg http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3cEHAAAAQAAJ p.542 says "a new chapel built, in 1835 .. It is in the early english style, and consists of a nave, chancel porch, and bell turret containing two bells .. " etc This seems to be the same thing as in Pevsner. I would guess either the early sources have a bad date, or maybe JL Pearson did some very simple work in 1844 and the original building isn't his design - the problem is deciding which...Mddkpp (talk) 14:32, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

Is there anything relevant in Anthony Quiney's book (to which I don't have any immediate access)? --GuillaumeTell 17:59, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

I'll bear that in mind - the East Riding archives and library http://www2.eastriding.gov.uk/leisure/the-treasure-house/ has a copy - and is probably the most likely place to find any original reference to the building. It's within reach of me though historical research is not really my thing. I'll try the book first.Mddkpp (talk) 19:43, 25 February 2012 (UTC)