George Freeth Roper
- Born Walcot Bath Somerset 184
- Died 14 May 189
- Buried Marple, Cheshire
George Freeth Roper was born in 1843 at Bath, the son of William and Tryphena Roper. He was the brother of Frederick W Roper, architect, London while his sister Ellen Victoria (Nelly) Roper married the architect A A Bonella.
He was articled to Charles Phipps of Bath before becoming an assistant to Joseph Clark FSA in 1862 and later to E W Godwin. He also appears to have found employment as a clerk in the War Office in the mid-1860s. In 1865 or 1866 he made an ill-fated attempt to establish himself as an artist and picture dealer in London but by August 1866 had been declared bankrupt. Details of his career over the next ten years are sketchy. He appears to have ghosted competition entries on behalf of other architects, most famously and most controversially, that for St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh in 1872 on behalf of Alexander Ross. About 1876 he joined Asahel Pilkington Bell of Manchester, this partnership being dissolved on 4 April 1879. In 1879-1881 he was living in South Kensington London before setting up in practice in Manchester
On 19 March 1875 George Freeth Roper married Ellen Mills at Surbiton, Surrey. Coincidentally a girl of the same name, aged 17, is listed in the 1871 census being employed as a servant in the Roper household. Their first child Valentine Freath Roper was born July-September 1872. He was followed (after 1875) by Mary Roper, Algernon (Alexander?) F Roper, Dorothy Roper, and Gabriel F Roper.
GEORGE FREETH ROPER - T Raffles Davison British Architect 24 June 1892 Page 459 and illustrations
About twenty years ago a certain controversy as to the authorship of a particular competition design projected into public notice the name of George Freeth Roper. All that we have since learnt of this artist’s work has amply proved his ability to have entirely produced the clever design for the Edinburgh Cathedral, which was the attributed to him, and he has, in fact, done many things of greater merit.
It is one of the ironies of Fate that George Freeth Roper, like his master E W Godwin, has had no adequate opportunities for the display of his talent, and thus another chance has been lost to stem the advancing tide of mediocrity in the profession. It is true Mr Roper in partnership with Mr Asahel P Bell in Manchester, carried out a number of buildings in the provinces, such as Mr Harrison’s house in Bromborough, Cheshire (including the whole of the furniture), at a cost of nearly £30,000; the restoration of St Peter’s Church, Raddington; alterations and additions to the Cheadle Royal Asylum, and numerous out-patients cottages at Colwyn Bay, for Dr Wold, chief physician; a number of stations on the Wirral, Deeside and Hoylake Railway; branch offices for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank; and numerous other cottages, vicarages etc etc, whilst his name has appeared in connection with various competitions.
Since however, his partnership with Mr Bell terminated, Mr Roper’s practice has been comparatively small, we believe. His son, Mr Val Freeth Roper, cannot yet undertake the completion of the works left unfinished, and that task has been entrusted to his uncle, Mr Alfred A Bonella, of Chancery Lane. One of Mr Roper’s latest successes was the winning of the third prize for his design for the Manchester Whitworth institute, which we regret we have been unable to get permission from the authorities to publish, though Mr Roper gave us his consent before his death. Readers who have followed our pages through fifteen years past will have noted many graceful designs by Mr George Freeth Roper therein, including architecture, furniture and decoration, wallpapers, initial letters, etc. He made many admirable wall fabric designs for Mr George Toleman, Messrs Jeffrey & Co. and others.
George Freeth Roper was a native of Bath, in Somersetshire, and was articled to Mr Chas Phipps, who then practised in that city. In 1862 he entered the office of the late Mt Joseph Clark, FSA, and afterwards worked for the late E W Godwin, whose work has evidently influenced him greatly. His artistic taste soon developed, and his designs for decorations, stained glass, wall-papers etc, etc, as well as architecture, are well known. In conjunction with Mr Asahel Pilkington Bell of Manchester, he designed and carried out numerous works, some of which we have referred to above. He was buried at Marple, in or near the little church by J D Sedding, of which we published sketches some years ago. His brother Mr F W Roper, is a practising architect in London.
Mr Roper was an untiring and painstaking worker, and was ever ready to give a helping hand to others. We found that though keenly critical about bad architecture, he was not stinting of praise and appreciation of really good work. (In this he was unlike the generality of his professional brethren, who appear to form two great classes, one - the great bulk - who will tolerate anything and everything, and the other, a few elect, who will tolerate nothing.) He was a great lover of good books and, an accomplished draughtsman himself, appreciative of all good illustrative records. Some examples of Mr Roper’s designs we are enabled by the courtesy of his son, to give today. Three of them are also examples of his drawings, from which they are reduced in facsimile. The “Castle, New Mills” which was the last drawing he made, we have had to have traced, as it was drawn in pale blue ink; however, the tracing gives something of the character of the original. This building is now in course of erection. It shows very clearly the good influence of E W Godwin’s design on the work of the deceased artist.
Whilst we cannot claim for the deceased artist rank as a great architect, we must say he brought a refinement and gracefulness with all he did, such as was peculiarly his own, and he had a genuine intuition of what was architecturally sound and good. In these respects we regret to know he was singular. Unfortunately it does not require much thought to calculate the small percentage of practising architects whose work would bear comparison with his. His facility is shown in the four designs we issue this week - a church, a board school, a row of houses and a detached cottage - and later on we shall give one or two more instances. Meanwhile we are glad to place on record our appreciation for the worth of a clever modern architect and our regret that he has passed off the scene before he was able to do more for the credit of modern architecture. It lacks a good deal that he, with fuller opportunities, could have supplied
Address
1879 22 Chapel-street, Southport, Lancashire, / Royal Exchange, Manchester / No. 4 Garden-court, Temple, London (London Gazette)
1881 George Freeth Roper, architect, Howarth's Buildings, Manchester. (Manchester Guardian)
1886 George Freeth Roper, architect, Winter’s Building 32 St Ann’s Street, Manchester
Residence
1851 Guinea Lane, Walcot, Bath (Census)
1861 Guinea Lane, Walcot, Bath (Census)
1865 1 Langham Chambers, Regent Street, London
1866 38 Red Lion Square London
1871 Brompton Kensington (Census)
1879 South Kensington
1882 George Freeth Roper 140 Cromwell Road South Kensington
1886 Mellor Derbyshire
1891 George Freeth Roper “Spring Mount” Strines, New Mills, Derbyshire (Kelly Derbyshire 1891-1892 Cobden Edge, Marple Bridge, near Stockport (British Architect Obit)
Buildings and Designs
Partnerships
| Name | Designation | Formed | Dissolved | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bell and Roper | Architectural practice | 1877 | 1891 | Manchester |