Charles Cowles-Voysey


Charles Cowles-Voysey was a 20th-century English architect. He was born into a dynasty of architects, his father being C. F. A. Voysey.
Voysey designed a number of municipal buildings for local authorities in the south of England, among them Bognor Regis Town Hall and Watford Town Hall.

Early life

Charles Cowles-Voysey was born Charles Voysey in London on 24 June 1889, the son of the architect and designer C. F. A. Voysey.

Education and career

Voysey studied architecture at the Architectural Association School in 1906 and then at University College London Bartlett School of Architecture from 1907 to 1909. Between 1909 and 1912 he was articled to Horace Field and Frederick Moore Simpson, and worked as an assistant to John James Burnet and to Horace Farquharson. In 1911, he briefly worked as an assistant to his father.
Voysey qualified as an architect in 1911 and established his own architectural practice in London in 1912. John Brandon-Jones joined the partnership as an assistant for Cowles-Voysey, later becoming a partner, and he finally took over the firm.

Family

Charles Cowles-Voysey was the third in a dynasty of architects. His father, C. F. A. Voysey, was a renowned Arts and Crafts movement architect and designer, was recognized by the noted magazine The Studio. His great-grandfather was Annesley Voysey, an engineer and architect who had built lighthouses and churches, and has been credited with the design of the first purpose-built office block in London in 1823. Cowles-Voysey was a direct descendent of Samuel and Susanna Wesley of the noted Methodist family.
In 1912, Charles married Dorothea Denise Cowles and amended his surname to Cowles-Voysey.

Architectural works

Awards

In 1912, Cowles-Voysey was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and became a Fellow in 1927. In 1908-09, he was a Donaldson Medallist, and in 1932, he was awarded the RIBA Architecture Bronze Medal for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxford.