Name

George Tunstal Redmayne

Designation
Architect
Born
1840
Place of Birth
Highgate London
Location
Manchester
Died
1912

  • Born:     27th December 1840.  at Highgate
  • Married:  1870 Katherine Waterhouse, sister of Alfred Waterhouse, at Reading
  • Died :    Wednesday the 21st, August 1912 at Great Stoatley Haslemere
  • Burial :  Saturday, 24th August, at Haslemere Parish Church         

George Tunstal Redmayne was born on 27 December 1840 at Highgate, London, the youngest of four sons of Giles Redmayne (1892-1857) and Margareta Robey. Like one of his brothers, G T Redmayne was sent to Tonbridge School but remained there for only two years (1852-1854) before going on to several private tutors. The family were originally from the Ingleton district of North Yorkshire but Giles Redmayne had moved to London where he established a highly successful linen drapers and silk mercers business, sufficient to allow a house in Portman Square and the purchase, in 1833, of the Brathay Hall estate at the head of Lake Windermere in the English Lake District. At Brathay, the young Alfred Waterhouse RA, then of Manchester, was commissioned as architect in the mid-1850s and in 1859 George Tunstall Redmayne became his pupil, passing the voluntary examination of the Institute in 1863, and remained with Waterhouse as his assistant.  When Alfred Waterhouse opened his London office, the Manchester office continued in operation, run by Redmayne. In 1867 or 1868 G T Redmayne commenced independent practice in Manchester. According to Paul Waterhouse, Redmayne always practised in Manchester (residing latterly at Alderley Edge), except that after transferring his residence to Great Stoatley, Haslemere in 1894 he continued to conduct a voluntarily restricted practice from his new home.

He became an Associate of the RIBA in 1872, proposed by Alfred Waterhouse, Thomas Worthington, and T H. Wyatt and FRIBA in 1877, proposed by A Waterhouse, T Worthington and E Salomons. He was President of Manchester Society of Architects in 1886 and put on the list of Retired Fellows in 1901 or 1902.

Among his most significant commissions were: the Scottish Widows Office, Albert Square; the School of Art, All Saints; and the Racquet Courts, Blackfriars, all in Manchester.  Probably his two best country houses were Whitten in Herefordshire for Richard Green and Feldemore in Surrey which he built for his brother in law, the accountant Edwin Waterhouse of Price Waterhouse.  His best church, St Chrysostom's, Victoria Park, Manchester, was unfortunately destroyed by fire although subsequently rebuilt almost exactly to the original design. He was also responsible for the Phillipson Memorial Orphanage at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Following his removal to Surrey, he became involved in the scheme for a mortuary chapel in an eclectic mix of Celtic and Byzantine design conceived by Mary Watts, wife of the artist G F Watts. Intended to serve the new cemetery for the village of Crompton it was built by the villagers in 1895 to 1898.

In 1870 George Tunstal Redmayne married Katherine Waterhouse (1836-1898) the sister of Alfred Waterhouse. There were two sons, Martin, born 1871 and Leonard born 1877. The Redmaynes maintained their architectural connections  when thirteen years later, George’s nephew, Dr Hugh Redmayne, married Katherine Mary Blomfield, the niece of (Sir) Arthur Blomfield at Brathay Church

G T Redmayne  died at Great Stoakley on the morning of 21 August 1912, following several months of illness, and was buried at Haslemere Parish Church, Surrey, leaving moveable estate of £30,210.

Note: In contemporary documentation including RIBA and London Gazette, Redmayne’s name is given as “Tunstal” with a single “L”. Only more recently has the erroneous spelling “Tunstall” appeared.

Address    
1869        G T Redmayne. 67 King Street, Manchester (Manchester Guardian 16 Aug 1869)
1871        George T. Redmayne. Royal Insurance Buildings, 67, King Street, Manchester (Slater)
1874        George T. Redmayne. Royal Insurance Buildings, 67, King Street, Manchester (Slater
1876        George T. Redmayne, MSA Royal Insurance Buildings, 67, King Street (Slater)
1883        Royal Insurance Buildings, 67, King Street, Manchester (Slater)   
1886        Whalley Chambers 88, King Street, Manchester (Slater)

Residence
1871-2        Park Villas, 68, High Street, Oxford Road, Manchester (Slater’s)
1876        163 High Street, Oxford Road Manchester
1877-78    Park Villas 163 High Street, Oxford Road Manchester,  (Hathersage Road)
1879        “Brookside.” Alderley Edge. (Slater’s Directory)
1884        “Brookside,” Alderley Edge. (Slater’s Directory)
1886        “Brookside,” Ryley Lane, Alderley Edge  (Slater’s Directory)
1894-1912    Great Stoatley , Haslemere, Surrey (P Waterhouse)

Buildings and Designs

Building Name District Town/City County Country
School and School House, Brathay, Cumbria   Brathay  Cumbria  England
Workshops for the Outdoor Blind of Liverpool, Cornwallis Street, Liverpool   Liverpool  Merseyside  England
Church of St Philip : St Philip's Close, High Elswick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne High Elswick  Newcastle-upon-Tyne  Tyne and Wear  England
St Philip's Parsonage, Newcastle-upon-Tyne   Newcastle-upon-Tyne  Tyne and Wear  England
St Mary's Church Droylsden Droylsden  Tameside  GMCA  England
Sunday School, Tintwistle   Tintwistle  Derbyshire  England
St Andrew’s Chambers, 20-21 Albert Square, Manchester   Manchester  GMCA  England
Phillipson Memorial Orphanage for Boys. Newcastle-upon-Tyne   Newcastle-upon-Tyne  Tyne and Wear  England
St. John Chrysostom’s Church, Oxford Place, Victoria Park Victoria Park  Manchester  GMCA  England
Manchester Rackets Club (1), Miller Street, Salford   Salford  GMCA  England
Manchester Tennis and Rackets Courts (2), Blackfriars Road, Salford   Salford  GMCA  England
New Buildings 20, Cross Street for the Imperial Fire Assurance Company   Manchester  GMCA  England
Feldemore, Pasture Wood Road, Holmbury St Mary Surrey   Holmbury St Mary  Surrey  England
Manchester School of Art, Cavendish Street, All Saints All Saints  Manchester  GMCA  England
A College Building, Manchester (Unidentified)   Mamchester  GMCA  England
Dalton Halls of Residence Upper Park Road, Victoria Park Victoria Park  Manchester  GMCA  England
Church of St Stephen, Bolton Road, Elton near Bury Elton  Bury  GMCA  England
All Saints Mission Church and Infant Schools Cyprus Street, Stretford   Stretford  GMCA  England
All Saints, Stretford,   Stretford  GMCA  England
Knutsford Grammar School. The Heath, Knutsford, Cheshire   Knutsford  Cheshire  England
Cherrytree House, Macclesfield Road, Alderley Edge   Alderley Edge  Cheshire  England
Extension to “Thornfield,” Macclesfield Road, Alderley Edge   Alderley Edge  Cheshire  England
House at St Leonards-on-Sea for Miss Waterhouse   St Leonards-on-Sea  GMCA  England
Watts Chapel, Down Lane, Compton, Surrey   Crompton  Surrey  England
Country house for Mr. Richard Green Whitte, Herefordshire   Whitten  Herefordshire  England
House for Joseph Simpson Mayfield, Staffordshire   Mayfield  Staffordshire  Egypt