Woodhouse and Morley

If the obituary notices in the local press are accepted, it is doubtful whether a formal partnership agreement was ever formed between George Woodhouse and William Morley. According to these accounts, Morley was employed to take over the running of the practice in the weeks leading up to the death of George Woodhouse in 1883. The first record of a partnership being established between George Herbert Woodhouse and William Morley was in 1884. On 5 May of that year a notice appeared in the local press as follows: THE BUSINESS of the late Mr. GEORGE WOODHOUSE, Architect, of Bolton, will future be carried on under the title of Messrs. WOODHOUSE and MORLEY, Bolton and Bradford. [Manchester Courier 5 May 1884 page 1] Based on competition entries recorded in The Builder, W J Morley submitted entries in his sole name in 1884 and again in 1895-99. However, between 1889 and 1892 his competition entries were submitted under the name of Morley and Woodhouse. The directory entries also indicate that the Bolton office operated under the name of Woodhouse and Morley throughout their partnership, while the Bradford office operated under the style Morley and Woodhouse. Following the dissolution of the partnership William Morley opened a branch office in Bolton which continued to operate until at least 1899. Woodhouse and Morley were primarily industrial architects specialising in stylish multi-storey brick and terracotta mills and factories. Address 1887 Woodhouse & Morley 79 St George’s Road Bolton and 269 Swan Arcade, Bradford (Bolton Dir) 1891-92 Woodhouse & Morley, Architects and surveyors, 79 St George’s Road, Bolton 1892 Woodhouse & Morley 79 St George’s Road and 269 Swan Arcade, Bradford