Walter Scott

• Birth date            30 August 1815
• Christening         19 September 1815 at Oldham Street Presbyterian, Liverpool
• Marriage              1 April 1845 to Sarah Hutton at St Mary’s Church, Birkenhead
• Death date          26 March 1884 at Claremont, Trull, Taunton

Walter Scott was born in Liverpool, the son of Thomas and Jane Scott in August 1815. He was articled to George Smith in Edinburgh, before returning to Liverpool to commence independent practice. Scott was known to have been a prolific designer in the Birkenhead district, although few buildings can be definitively attributed to him. The Market Cross (near the tunnel entrance on Cross and Market Streets) in Birkenhead, General Hospital (1862 3), Park Road North and the main building of Birkenhead School (1871) are examples of his larger buildings. His churches include Christ Church, Kings Road, Higher Bebington (1857-59) and an octagonal Methodist church (1861) on the site of the Methodist Church in Tranmere. Other works include Wroxhall Abbey, Irwell Bank, and Hart Hill for James Dugdale and Broughton Hall. West Derby (1858-59). Walter Scott is also thought to have designed a large number of the earlier private houses in Birkenhead Park.

He married on 1 April 1845 - "On Tuesday last at St Mary's Church Birkenhead, Walter Scott Esq Architect, to Sarah, daughter of Robert Hutton Esq, of Clifton Park, Tranmere" [Liverpool Mercury 4 April 1845]. By 1881 he had retired and was living with his wife Sarah and four servants at Milligan Hall, Bishops Hull, Taunton Somerset.  Sarah died suddenly in January 1884, Walter surviving her by only two months.

 His pupils included:

Thomas Seaton Scott -  His younger brother Thomas Seaton Scott, born in 1826, emigrated to Montreal about 1854 and became first Chief Architect of the Department of Public Works in Canada. Details of Thomas's training are not yet known with certainty, but he was working with Walter in Liverpool in 1853.

Charles Harrison Townsend - Charles Harrison Townsend was born in Birkenhead on 13 May 1851 and died in Northwood, Middlesex on 26 December 1928. He was educated at Birkenhead School and articled to the Liverpool architect Walter Scott (c1811 75) in 1870. With his family Townsend moved to London in 1880 and was initially associated with William Eden Nesfield but by 1883 he was working for Thomas Lewis Banks (c1842 1920) with whom he entered partnership in 1884. He was practising on his own account in 1888 and in the same year he was elected a Fellow of the RIBA and a member of the Art Workers’ Guild . He was to maintain ties with both throughout his career. He arranged Guild trips to northern Europe and northern Italy, gathering information on mosaics on which he lectured and wrote extensively. As an architect, Townsend is best known for the Horniman Museum and the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London.

Address
1853    Thomas Scott and Thomas Seaton Scott, architects, Barned Buildings, 3 Sweating Street, Liverpool
1868    3, Sweeting Street, Liverpool
1868    3, Sweeting Street, Liverpool

Residence
1841    Bridge Street, Birkenhead (census)
1851    136 Clifton Park Birkenhead
1871    “The Gables,” 78 Slatey Road.
1881    Milligan Hall, Bishops Hull, Taunton Somerset.
1884    Claremont, Trull, Taunton, Somerset (probate)

Reference  :  Donald Insall Associates 2004, in Birkenhead Park Appraisal Wirral Borough Council, 2009
Reference  :  Dictionary of Scottish Architects.

NOTE - This entry extensively revised and expanded June 2019 following extensive research by Beryl Patten.