Page:Dictionary of Artists of the English School (1878).djvu/180



FOWKE, Captain, R.E., architect. Was born at Ballysinnin, near Belfast, July 7, 1823. When about 12 years of age he was sent to Dungannon College, where he gained a gold medal for mathematics in a competition open to the whole school. In 1839, at the age of 16, he entered the Woolwich Academy, and passed his probationary examination in 1840, his theoretical in 1841, and his practical examination, coming out sixth, in 1842. The great ability he had shown, added to his talent in drawing, secured him the third out of the four engineer commissions only which were given in that year, and he was at once sent to Chatham. In December 1843 he returned to Woolwich, and in the following April was quartered at Limerick, from whence, in April 1845, he sailed for Bermuda, and was stationed at Ireland Island, and was soon after employed in designing the Bermuda Barracks in St. Georges Island. In 1849 he returned to England, and, quartered at Devonport, he designed the Raglan Barracks there, in the construction of which great regard was paid to the health and comfort of the men. In 1853 he was attached to the South Kensington Museum, as inspector of science and art; and in the following year was charged with the machinery of the English department at the Paris Exhibition of 1855, and subsequently appointed secretary to the British Commission. He was made chevalier of the Legion of Honour in recognition of his services. He wrote two able reports in connection with this duty—one on Civil Construction, the other on the Strength of Materials, including the results of valuable experiments upon colonial woods. He was afterwards appointed the architect of the South Kensington Museum, and built the fine picture galleries, which are admirably constructed with regard to light and convenience; the great north court, whose wide-spread roof is suspended without support from the floor; and the south court, with its elegant metal galleries. He was also the architect of the National Gallery of Ireland (interior), a work most pure and unpretentious in its style, and of the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art.

In 1858 he was appointed a member of the International Technical Commission, and made a separate report on the scheme for the navigation of the Danube. He planned the arcades and conservatory of the Horticultural Gardens, the latter highly decorative and original in its design; and the Prince Consort's Library at Aldershot. The building for the International Exhibition of 1862, a work of great constructive power, was also designed by him, the permanent galleries connected with which were admirably adapted for the exhibition of paintings. One of his last designs was for a Natural History Museum, ana was unanimously adopted, in an open court competition, by the judges appointed by the Government; but, from changes with regard to the intended site, has not been carried out. He was charged with the original design for the Albert Hall, but did not live to complete his plans.

He was a man of great invention and constructive power. He invented the collapsing pontoons, made improvements in drawbridges and conical shot and shell, and in gun-carriages. He constructed on a metal framework the large canvas tent used in the Horticultural Gardens; introduced with great skill terra cotta in his architecture, and other new material, with many other useful inventions. After a short illness, he died suddenly, December 4, 1865, and was buried in the Brompton Cemetery. He wrote in the 'Cornhill Magazine,' No. 3, 'The National Gallery Difficulty solved,' and No. 6, 'London the Stronghold of England.'

FOWLER,, architect. He was born in May 1792, at Collumpton, Devon, where his family had lived for many generations, and was apprenticed for five years to a surveyor and Guilder at Exeter. On the completion of his apprenticeship in 1814 he came to London, and was employed in the office of Mr. D. Laing, where he remained three or four years, and then commenced practice for himself. His first work was the Court of Bankruptcy in Basinghall Street, finished 1821. In the following year he competed in the designs for the new London Bridge, and gained the first premium, but was not employed to carry out his design. He afterwards made some designs for other bridges, and in 1826 was the architect of the bridge over the Dart, at Totnes. He built Covent Garden Market, 1830, and Hungerford Market, 1831; a work of great skill, both in design and in the arrangement of the plan on two levels, but since pulled down; also Exeter Lower Market, 1835, and in the same year Charmouth Church and Honiton Church, and in 1838, Brickley Church; also the Devon Lunatic Asylum, 1848, and the London Fever Hospital, 1852. He was for many years honorary secretary of the Institute of British Architects, and afterwards vice-president. In 1862, his health 159