George Tunstal Redmayne
- Born: 27th December 1840. at Highgate
- Married: 1870 Katherine Waterhouse, sister of Alfred Waterhouse, at Reading
- Died : Wednesday the 21st, August 1912 at Great Stoatley Haslemere
- Burial : Saturday, 24th August, at Haslemere Parish Church
George Tunstal Redmayne was born on 27 December 1840 at Highgate, London, the youngest of four sons of Giles Redmayne (1892-1857) and Margareta Robey. Like one of his brothers, G T Redmayne was sent to Tonbridge School but remained there for only two years (1852-1854) before going on to several private tutors. The family were originally from the Ingleton district of North Yorkshire but Giles Redmayne had moved to London where he established a highly successful linen drapers and silk mercers business, sufficient to allow a house in Portman Square and the purchase, in 1833, of the Brathay Hall estate at the head of Lake Windermere in the English Lake District. At Brathay, the young Alfred Waterhouse RA, then of Manchester, was commissioned as architect in the mid-1850s and in 1859 George Tunstall Redmayne became his pupil, passing the voluntary examination of the Institute in 1863, and remained with Waterhouse as his assistant. When Alfred Waterhouse opened his London office, the Manchester office continued in operation, run by Redmayne. In 1867 or 1868 G T Redmayne commenced independent practice in Manchester. According to Paul Waterhouse, Redmayne always practised in Manchester (residing latterly at Alderley Edge), except that after transferring his residence to Great Stoatley, Haslemere in 1894 he continued to conduct a voluntarily restricted practice from his new home.
He became an Associate of the RIBA in 1872, proposed by Alfred Waterhouse, Thomas Worthington, and T H. Wyatt and FRIBA in 1877, proposed by A Waterhouse, T Worthington and E Salomons. He was President of Manchester Society of Architects in 1886 and put on the list of Retired Fellows in 1901 or 1902.
Among his most significant commissions were: the Scottish Widows Office, Albert Square; the School of Art, All Saints; and the Racquet Courts, Blackfriars, all in Manchester. Probably his two best country houses were Whitten in Herefordshire for Richard Green and Feldemore in Surrey which he built for his brother in law, the accountant Edwin Waterhouse of Price Waterhouse. His best church, St Chrysostom's, Victoria Park, Manchester, was unfortunately destroyed by fire although subsequently rebuilt almost exactly to the original design. He was also responsible for the Phillipson Memorial Orphanage at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Following his removal to Surrey, he became involved in the scheme for a mortuary chapel in an eclectic mix of Celtic and Byzantine design conceived by Mary Watts, wife of the artist G F Watts. Intended to serve the new cemetery for the village of Crompton it was built by the villagers in 1895 to 1898.
In 1870 George Tunstal Redmayne married Katherine Waterhouse (1836-1898) the sister of Alfred Waterhouse. There were two sons, Martin, born 1871 and Leonard born 1877. The Redmaynes maintained their architectural connections when thirteen years later, George’s nephew, Dr Hugh Redmayne, married Katherine Mary Blomfield, the niece of (Sir) Arthur Blomfield at Brathay Church
G T Redmayne died at Great Stoakley on the morning of 21 August 1912, following several months of illness, and was buried at Haslemere Parish Church, Surrey, leaving moveable estate of £30,210.
Note: In contemporary documentation including RIBA and London Gazette, Redmayne’s name is given as “Tunstal” with a single “L”. Only more recently has the erroneous spelling “Tunstall” appeared.
Address
1869 G T Redmayne. 67 King Street, Manchester (Manchester Guardian 16 Aug 1869)
1871 George T. Redmayne. Royal Insurance Buildings, 67, King Street, Manchester (Slater)
1874 George T. Redmayne. Royal Insurance Buildings, 67, King Street, Manchester (Slater
1876 George T. Redmayne, MSA Royal Insurance Buildings, 67, King Street (Slater)
1883 Royal Insurance Buildings, 67, King Street, Manchester (Slater)
1886 Whalley Chambers 88, King Street, Manchester (Slater)
Residence
1871-2 Park Villas, 68, High Street, Oxford Road, Manchester (Slater’s)
1876 163 High Street, Oxford Road Manchester
1877-78 Park Villas 163 High Street, Oxford Road Manchester, (Hathersage Road)
1879 “Brookside.” Alderley Edge. (Slater’s Directory)
1884 “Brookside,” Alderley Edge. (Slater’s Directory)
1886 “Brookside,” Ryley Lane, Alderley Edge (Slater’s Directory)
1894-1912 Great Stoatley , Haslemere, Surrey (P Waterhouse)