English architect, designer, illustrator and historian
C. H. B. Quennell |
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 C. H. B. Quennell |
| Born | Charles Henry Bourne Quennell
1872 (1872) |
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| Died | 1935 (aged 62–63) |
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| Nationality | British |
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| Spouse |
Marjorie Quennell
( m. 1904–1935) |
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Charles Henry Bourne Quennell (1872–1935), was an English architect, designer, illustrator and historian. According to the heritage architect Cath Layton, "his great influence [as an architect and urban planner] can be felt in the houses and streets of London’s suburbs and across the country."[1] His obituary in Nature noted that his books for children and young people had "strongly stimulated interest in the cultural background of the more formal study of history".[2]
Life and career
Quennell was the son of Henry Quennell, a builder, and his wife Emma Rebecca (née Hobbs),[3] and grew up in a house at Cowley Road on the Holland Town Estate, Kennington, London.
He was articled to Newman and Newman, and worked in the offices of J. McK. Brydon and of J. D. Sedding and Henry Wilson. He obtained the National Gold medal for Architecture, and RIBA Medal of Merit and £5 in the Soane Medallion competition in 1895.[4] He began practice in 1896 working with his brother William developing houses at Hampstead Garden Suburb and then with developer George Washington Hart.[5]
He designed a house for Francis Crittall window manufacturer at Braintree, Essex in 1908.[6]
He designed a house for Walter Crittall son of window manufacturer Francis Crittall at Braintree, Essex in 1912.[7]
He co-designed a 'show house' with Walter Crittall at 156-158 Cressing Road, Braintree, Essex. the house incorporated many modernist features such as a drying yard for clothes, a scullery, a larder, fuel store, outside lavatory, living room, parlour, three bedrooms and an inside bathroom and hot press.
Discussing the leading English furniture designs of the time, Herman Muthesius[8] wrote in his book The English House (1904):
'... that inspired artist Henry Wilson and the excellent designer C. H. B. Quennell far outshine the rest of the group and produce work of high artistic sensibility.' In that book Muthesius discussed certain features of Quennell's illustrations and designs: fireplaces,[9][10] garden furniture[11] and garden gates.[12]
Personal life
He was the husband of Marjorie Quennell whom he met in 1903 at the Junior Art Worker's Guild and father of Peter Quennell. With his wife, he wrote extensively on social history.
Quennell died in December 1935.
His brother, Walter, a builder and property developer, was father of Joan Quennell, a Conservative M.P.[14][15][16]
