America's Architect
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America's Architect
Barwicker No. 127
Summer 2018
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| Benjamin Henry Latrobe |
Anyone who attended the society's recent visit to the Moravian
Settlement at Fulneck could not t-ail to be impressed by this little gem
of a village which overlooks the Tong valley, or be fascinated by the
history of its community. Two days after our visit, the Bradford
Telegraph and Argus published a poll taken by the pupils and masters
of Fulneck School on who they felt was the school's 'greatest ever
pupil'; the winner was architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. The runners
up were Dame Diana Rigg, and joint third were Herbert Asquith and
social reformer Richard Oastler. so who was Latrobe, who beat a star
of the Avengers and a former Prime minister and what connection has
he to our part of the world?
Benjamin Henry Latrobe was born on May lst 1764 at the Moravian
Settlement in Fulneck near Leeds. His parents were the Reverend
Benjamin Latrobe, a leader in the Moravian Church and Anna
Margaretta Antes the daughter of a wealthy Pennsylvania landowner.
Spending his early years attending Fulneck school. Latrobe, at the age
of twelve, was sent to the Moravian school in Niesky Germany (a town
founded in 1742 by Moravian immigrants) to further his education. At
the age of eighteen Latrobe joined the Prussian army and served briefly
in the Austrian army where he suffered some sort of malady. Upon his
recovery he embarked on a tour of Europe. taking in the cities of
France and Italy, being fluent in multiple languages and possessing a
classical education, Latrobe returned home in l784 to take up an
apprenticeship with civil engineer John Smeaton.
It is hard to ascertain whether Latrobe spent any time at Austhorpe, or
worked with Smeaton on one of his engineering projects. However he
stayed about three years with Smeaton before taking up a position with
neoclassical designer Samuel Pepys Cockerell (a distant relation to the
diarist). In 1790 at the age of twenty six Benjamin Latrobe was
appointed Surveyor of Public offices in London. Earlier that year he
had also married Lydia Sellon. Starting his own private practice the
following year, he soon received his first major commission: the
design of Hammerwood Park in Sussex, followed by nearby Ashdown
House. In 1793 Latrobe re-joined John Smeaton on the construction of
the Basingstoke Canal.
That same year two things occurred that were to change Latrobe's life.
First his wife died in childbirth leaving him with two children and he
was hired to plan improvements to the River Blackwater, a two year
project that brought him close to bankruptcy. (He flirted with
insolvency the rest of his life). He suffered a breakdown and drawn t
his mother's stories of growing up in Pennsylvania he decided
emigrate to the United States.
Latrobe landed in Virginia in mid-March 1796, initially spending time
in Norfolk where he designed the William Pennock House before
moving to Richmond where he got his first major commission, the
State Penitentiary. Other work followed: The Green Spring Mansion
near Williamsburg and Virginia's Fort Nelson. After spending a year
in Virginia Benjamin moved to Philadelphia making influential friends
with the city's financial and business families, and members of The
American Philosophical Society. Philadelphia would be the city to
relaunch his reputation in America by giving him the commission to
design the Bank of Pennsylvania. He also designed the Centre Square
Waterworks, and he worked as an engineer on the Chesapeake and
Delaware Canal. It was while in Philadelphia that Benjamin married
Mary Elizabeth Hazelhurst in 1800, the couple had several children
together.
Benjamin Latrobe's work in Washington is what he is best known for.
In 1803 Thomas Jefferson hired him as Surveyor of Public Buildings
and to oversee the construction of the Capitol Building (The White
House) which was already underway. He wanted to make changes
the original design by Scottish architect Dr William Thornton but
Jefferson insisted on the original plans being followed. However
during the war with the British in l812 the unfinished building was
burnt down. After the war, Latrobe was appointed Architect of the
Capitol with the responsibility for rebuilding the Capitol Building. He
now implemented his own ideas on the project. Other surviving structures
in Washington attributed to Latrobe include the Washington
Navy Yard, the National Statuary Hall, the Old Senate Chamber, the
Old Supreme Court Chamber and he was chief surveyor on the Washington
Canal constructed to improve navigation around the city.
ln l8l0 after being plagued by outbreaks of yellow fever, the city
council of New Orleans asked him to design a waterworks system to
pipe fresh water to the city. Latrobe sent his son Henry Sellon Boneval
Latrobe to submit his plans, to which they agreed. He was ready to
start immediately but had financial problems finding enough investors,
however the project was finally completed in 1819. The following year
Latrobe died in New Orleans, ironically of yellow fever the disease he
had done so much to try and eradicate. He is buried in the Protestant
section of the city's Saint Louis cemetery next to his son who had died
of the same disease three years earlier.
Benjamin Latrobe moved seamlessly from architecture to engineering,
and what can't be underestimated is the influence John Smeaton had
on his work, particularly his canal and waterway construction.
Latrobe's works are too numerous to list here but his major projects
apart from The white House include Baltimore Basilica, princeton
University Nassau Hall, and The Bank of Louisiana. Hardly known in
the place of his birth, Latrobe is recognized in the united states as the
father of American architecture, and in the little museum at Fulneck
there is a photograph taken in the Map Room of the white House of
Benjamin's portrait hanging above the fireplace.
RAY MEDD
Sources:
Bradford Telegraph and Argus;
Wikipedia;
Fulneck Museum;
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Beniamin Henry Latrobe
Bradford Telegraph and Argus; Wikipedia.
Fulneck museum; The American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
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