Henry Boddington (III)

• Born: 6 July 1881, 35 New Bridge Street, Strangeways, Manchester
• Baptism : 29 July 1881, Manchester Cathedral
• Death: 25 July 1964, Kingcausie, Milltimber, Maryculter, Aberdeen, Scotland Age: 83

Henry Boddington III was born on 6 July 1881 the son of Henry Boddington II of the Manchester brewing family and his wife Emily Butterworth. He was educated abroad, at Eastbourne and at Hertford College, Oxford (M.A. 1906). He was articled to Charles Heathcote & Sons in Manchester, attending Manchester School of Architecture from 1904 to 1907. In 1908 he was an assistant with John Belcher in London from whose office he passed the qualifying exam in 1909. He was admitted ARIBA on 29 November 1909, his proposers being Charles Heathcote, Belcher and A Mitchell.

In 1910 he was taken into partnership by Frank Worthington Simon in Edinburgh, apparently for the purpose of entering competitions. They were unplaced in the Edinburgh Usher Hall competition of that year, but in 1912 they won the competition for the Manitoba Parliament Buildings. The Manitoba project proved slow to get off the ground and Simon formed a further association with Briggs Wolstenholme & Thornley to design the Arts Building of Liverpool University in 1913. Initially Simon commuted between his Liverpool practice and his office at 261 Fort Street, Winnipeg, while Boddington was in permanent residence in Winnipeg with his sister from 1914 to look after the project. There he formed the partnership of Boddington Inman & Skelton, probably to acquire local experience and hopefully further commissions. There were however serious difficulties between both architects and the clients: the Government refused to allow Simon and Boddington to supervise the project, preferring to use their provincial architect. A Royal Commission inquiry in 1915 found that this had been to enable funds for the building to be diverted to party funds and vote rigging and the Conservative Rublin government had to resign. Simon then became supervising architect and after Boddington enlisted in the Canadian army in 1917 he had to take up full time residence in Winnipeg until the building was completed and dedicated in July 1920. By 1825 Boddington was back in London where he married on 4 June 1925, Alice Christine (died 21 March, 1937), the widow of Alan Graham Thomson, W.S., of Edinburgh, and daughter of Robert Weir, D.L. Edinburgh.

Henry Boddington III died on 25 July 1964, Kingcausie, Milltimber, Maryculter, Aberdeen, Scotland, aged 83.

Reference: British Architectural Library, RIBA 2001   Directory of British Architects 1834 1914