James Pigott Pritchett

James Pigott Pritchett (14 October 1789 – 23 May 1868) was an English architect. He lived in London and York and his practice stretched from Lincolnshire to the Scottish borders.

James Pigott Pritchett
Born	14 October 1789
Died	23 May 1868(1868-05-23) (aged 78) York, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Architect

This article is about the York architect (1789–1868). For his son, the Darlington architect (1830–1911), see James Pigott Pritchett Jr.

Personal life

Pritchett was born on 14 October 1789 to Charles Pigott Pritchett and Anne née Rogers, and christened 4 January 1790 at St Petrox, Pembrokeshire.

He lived for a time in London, and around 1813 moved to York, where he is recorded as a Congregationalist deacon, and, together with William Ellerby, wrote A History of the Nonconformist Churches of York.

He married Peggy Maria Terry on 22 December 1813 at Beckenham, Kent. They had three sons and a daughter. The eldest son, Richard, became a Congregationalist minister; the second, Charles Pigott Pritchett (1818–1891) was an architect;^[1] and in 1844 his daughter, Maria Margaret, married John Middleton (1820–1885), whose only child was the archaeologist and art historian John Henry Middleton (1846–1896), later a director of the Victoria and Albert Museum.^[2]

Pritchett's second marriage was to Caroline Benson on 6 January 1829 at Belton, Lincolnshire. They had three sons and two daughters. His eldest son, James Pigott Pritchett Jr (1830–1910), was trained by him as an architect and later set up a practice in Darlington in 1854. Another son, John Benson Pritchett, became a surgeon,

Pritchett died in York on 23 May 1868, aged 78, and was buried in York Cemetery, whose buildings he had designed, on 27 May 1868.

His nephew, George (1824–1912) was also an architect, who was active mainly in Hertfordshire and Essex.^[3]

As of January 2021 a project to celebrate the work of James Pigott Pritchett was begun with a website at www.jppritchett.org.uk.

Practice

Pritchett’s practice extended from Lincolnshire to the Scottish borders, with offices in York.

Known work includes:

Pritchett's Savings Bank, St Helen's Square, York

• 1825 – Saltmarshe Hall, East Riding of Yorkshire
• 1828 – Facade of the York Assembly Rooms in Blake Street
• 1829–30 – York County Savings Bank Building, St Helen's Square, York
• 1834–35 – St Peter's Church, Huddersfield
• 1836 – St John's Church Brearton
• 1836–37 – York Cemetery, York
• 1837 – Holy Trinity church Thorpe Hesley
• c.1838 – 1 Precentor's Court (including today's 24–36 High Petergate)^[4]
• 1838 – St James's Church Meltham Mills
• 1839 – St Mary's Church Rawmarsh
• 1840 – Lady Hewley's Almshouses, St Saviourgate, York^[5]
• 1840 – Salem Chapel and schoolroom, Burley in Wharfedale^[6]
• c.1840 – Gate Helmsley Lunatic Asylum ("Extensions and improvements" for James Martin)
• 1847–48 – Huddersfield railway station
• 1851 – Ebenezer Chapel, York (Primitive Methodist)

Other examples are said to be found in York Minster, Rawmarsh, Brotherton and Meltham Mills.

References

1. Colvin, Howard (2008) [1954]. A Biographical Dictionary of English Architects 1660-1840 (4th ed.). New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-12508-5.
2. Oxford Dictionary of Architects [© Oxford University Press 2004–7 http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18676?docPos=27]accessed 16 December 2006
3. "George Edward Pritchett". Church Plans Online. Archived from the original on 19 September 2004. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
4. "Closed York Arms at centre of High Court action" – The Press, 19 February 2020
5. An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in City of York, Volume 5, Central. London: HMSO. 1981. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
6. "Salem Chapel: our history". salem-church.org.uk. The United Reformed Church. 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.

• A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 (3rd ed) by H. M. Colvin, New Haven & London 1995.
• A History of the Nonconformist Churches of York by William Ellerby and James Pigott Pritchett ed. from the original manuscript by Edward Royle, The Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York.