Peter Pons
- Born April 1827 - April 1828
- Died March 1890
- Burial 7 March 1890 at Bowdon Church
Born in Odessa, Russia in 1827-8, Peter Pons’s, subsequent emigration to England, together with his education and training remain obscure. He established independent practice in Manchester between 1863 and 1865 when he opened an office at 11, John Dalton Street. At the same time, he appears to have taken up residence at 52 New Street in Altrincham, a town undergoing considerable expansion, following the arrival of the railway in 1849. The town was now within practical commuting distance of Manchester for those with sufficient means to escape the horrors of the Victorian city. Already, new mansions for some of Manchester’s leading industrialists were under construction at Bowdon and Dunham Massey. However, New Street was not of this category. Not subject to the strict building laws that Lord Stamford applied to houses constructed on his land, it was one of the most densely populated areas of the town, where small cottages housed many of the working-class population.
Although Pons’s only known architectural work of the 1860s is the draper’s shop in Kingsway, he achieved some degree of financial success. By 1871 he had moved his office to Dalton Chambers at 41 John Dalton Street and had moved home to Lyme Grove, Altrincham. Built about 1870, Lyme Grove comprised a small development of substantial houses and undoubtedly represented a distinct improvement on conditions in New Street. However, it is unclear whether Peter Pons acted primarily an architect or estate agent. Except for his involvement with the development on the Isle of Man, Peter Pons known works are generally small-scale commercial and residential developments where the architect was rarely recorded. It would also appear that some Manchester architects were involved in the speculative development of the Dunham Massey area of Altrincham during this period. These architects bought building plots from Lord Stamford, and prepared designs for substantial mansions, although they seem never to have occupied these houses.
For Peter Pons, the next dozen or so years followed a similar pattern. Before 1881, he had moved again, this time to a house in Hale Road, on the outskirts of Altrincham. Here he lived with his family and one servant, his eldest son already apprenticed to his father according to the census return. However, this middle-class existence of the Victorian self-made man was not to last. The 1886 Directory records that he was living at 63, Fairlawn Street, in the far from fashionable Greenheys district of Manchester. It must be assumed, therefore, that a major change in financial circumstances caused this reversal of the usual move of the affluent away from Manchester to the outer suburbs and dormitory towns.
During the 1880s Pons made his only known applications for bye-law approval to Manchester City Council. Both projects were in Greenheys and both were essentially residential schemes. In 1881 he submitted plans for a typical terrace of houses and shops in Greenheys Lane and four years later a scheme for houses on Oxford Road. In 1890, Pons was still in Greenheys, now residing at 48, Lloyd Street. Although he had maintained his office in John Dalton Street for a short time after moving to Manchester, the 1887 and subsequent Directories give the one address in Greenheys as both his home and business address.
Peter Pons died in 1890. The funeral taking place at Bowdon Parish Church.
Address
1865-1868 : Peter Pons, architect, 11, John Dalton Street Manchester (Slater)
1871-1886 : Peter Pons, architect, 41, John Dalton Street, Manchester (Slater)
Residence:
1865-1869 : 52, New Street, Altrincham.
1871 : Lyme Grove, Altrincham
1878 : 9, Lyme Grove, Altrincham
1881 : Hale Road, Altrincham
1883 :“The Laurels”, Hale Road, Altrincham
1886 - 1888 : Peter Pons Architect, 63 Fairlawn Street, Greenheys
1889-1890 : Peter Pons Architect, 48 Lloyd Street, Greenheys