William Arthur Lofthouse

• Birth date            April-June 1847 at Kirby Malzeard near Ripon
• Christening         4 July 1847 at Dillowgill, Yorkshire
• Marriage              31 May 1873 to Anne Sutcliffe at Manchester Cathedral
• Death date          27 March 1887 at Knaresborough, Yorkshire

One of at  least eight children, William Arthur Lofthouse was born in 1847 at Kirby Malzead, nine miles from Ripon, Yorkshire, the son of Michael Lofthouse and his wife Ann. Michael Lofthouse had originally been the local schoolmaster, but had moved to Manchester by 1861 to take up employment as the manager of the Earl of Derby’s building works, Manchester Road, Redvales, Bury. By 1881 he was Steward of the Longford estate, residing at Garden Place, Longford Hall.

It is assumed that William Arthur Lofthouse received his training with a Manchester architect or builder. He worked in partnership with William Pollard, and in 1874 had commenced independent practice in Manchester. His major commission, the Stretford Town Hall on Chester Road, which opened in 1879, was built at the expense of John Rylands, the textile magnate. His father’s role as Steward of the Longford estate may well have been instrumental in his receiving this commission. By the time of the 1881 census he had moved to Huddersfield while still practising as an architect. However, by the time of his death in 1887 he had become landlord of an old coaching inn, the “World’s End” at Knaresborough.

Address
1875        3 York Street, Manchester (Lofthouse and Pollard)
1876        Market Place Chambers 22 Market Place, Manchester (Slater’s Directory)

Residence
1861        Elizabeth Street, Cheetham (census)
1868        Elizabeth Street, Cheetham
1875        44 Smedley Lane, Cheetham
1881        Huddersfield (census)
1887        25 March 1887 at “Worlds End” Inn, Knaresborough