Thomas Cundy (junior)

Thomas Cundy the younger ^[1] (1790 – 15 July 1867) was an English architect, son of another architect of the same name. He joined his father's practice and ultimately succeeded his father as surveyor of the Grosvenor Estate, and held the position during the main phase of the development of Belgravia and Pimlico by the contractor Thomas Cubitt.

Life

Church of St Barnabas, Pimlico.

He was eldest son of Thomas Cundy and his wife Mary Hubert. He worked with his father on many projects, and, following his father's death in 1825 took over his practice, and his position as surveyor to Lord Grosvenor's London estates. He held this position for 41 years, covering the entire period of Thomas Cubitt's speculative developments. ^[2]

The buildings he designed or alterered included Hewell Grange; Tottenham Park; Moor Park, Hertfordshire, (alterations for Earl Grosvenor in 1828 and 1831); Fawsley Park and Grosvenor House.^[2] He also designed St Matthew's Church, Normanton, Rutland (1826).

In later years he worked mostly on building churches on the west side of London, including Holy Trinity Paddington, St Paul's, Knightsbridge, and St Barnabas's, St Michael's, St Saviour's and St Gabriel's in Pimlico.^[2] St Barnabas was built to suit the high church tendency, with a richly decorated interior and a screen separating nave from chancel.^[3] It forms part of a unified scheme,^[4] with schools and a parsonage in the same Early English style: Charles Locke Eastlake commented that the parsonage "was probably the first instance in which a Victorian drawing-room received its light from a lancet window."^[3]

Cundy lived at Bromley in Kent in his later years, and died on 15 July 1867, aged 77. He left three sons and one daughter from his marriage to Arabella Fishlake of Salisbury. His third son, the third Thomas Cundy, took over the business.^[2]

He was buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.^[5]

Works

Houses

• Hewell Grange.
• Tottenham Park.
• Moor Park, Hertfordshire.
• Fawsley Park.
• The picture gallery at Grosvenor House (1826–7), the London residence of the Duke of Westminster. In 1842–3 he added a screen with to front the courtyard towards Upper Grosvenor Street.^[6]

Churches

• St Matthew's Church, Normanton, Rutland (1826).^[2]
• St Michael, Chester Square (1846).^[7]
• St Barnabas, St Barnabas Street, Pimlico (1847-50).^[4]
• Completion of the tower and spire of St Mark, Hamilton Square, London N.W.8;(1864) the remainder of the church (1846-7) was by his father.^[8]
• Holy Trinity Paddington.
• St Paul's, Knightsbridge.
• St Gabriel, Pimlico.
• St Saviour's, Pimlico.

References

1. Listing in Dictionary of National Biography, volume 13
2. Cust, Lionel Henry (1885–1900). "Cundy, Thomas (1790-1867)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
3. Eastlake, Charles Locke (1872). A History of the Gothic Revival. London: Longmans, Green & Co.
4. Historic England. "Details from image database (426263)". Images of England.
6. "The Architecture of the Estate: The Reign of the Cundys'". Survey of London: volume 39: The Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 1 (General History). 1977. pp. 127–140. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
7. Historic England. "Details from image database (209167)". Images of England.
8. Historic England. "Details from image database (210030)". Images of England.

• H.M. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840 (1997) ISBN 0-300-07207-4
• L. H. Cust, ‘Cundy, Thomas, the younger (1790–1867)’, rev. Richard John, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 3 Jan 2008