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One of the most fascinating yet least recorded aspects of Victorian architects is the question of how they obtained commissions. How did Sharpe, Paley and Austin obtain nearly six hundred commissions? How did they superintend building once the design stage was complete?
It is easier in the case of large commissions, like cathedrals, or of work for the aristocracy, to discover how the work was obtained. In the case of much of the routine work done by 19th century firms it is much less easy to answer these questions.
Research so far suggests a number of ways of obtaining commissions both for new building and for restoration work. First of all there were personal contacts and family ties. Edmund Sharpe was able, through his cousin, the vicar of Blackburn, to obtain a number of commissions in the Blackburn area. Once he gained a reputation in an area other commissions would be expected to follow. Work for his father-in-law, Colonel Fletcher, was equally influential.
Secondly, they entered competitions to design and erect new churches. Thus Paley & Austin entered the Carlisle Diocesan Competition for Mountain Churches which led to the building of Torver and Finsthwaite churches. Later they entered the competition for the new Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, to be beaten by Giles Gilbert Scott.
A final category is that of commissions from institutions which knew of their professional importance and wanted their building designed by Paley & Austin. This must have been particularly true of the golden days of the firm, when their reputation extended throughout the North West of England. This accounts for buildings like the churches at Dalton-in-Furness and Atherton and others in South Lancashire and Liverpool. In the late 19th century Lancaster Corporation and Co-operative & Equitable Society looked to Paley & Austin automatically for any prestigious work in Lancaster.
Often the firm was re-engaged when extensions had to be made or further work carried out. Harry Paley was still looking after buildings designed by his father sixty or seventy years before. |
