Willam Harry Longworth

Revised January 2025

• Birth date           1871 at Pennington, Leigh
• Christening         Jan-March 1871 at Middleton
• Marriage             10 December1902 to Frances Annie, daughter of Alfred Faulkner
• Death date          4 June 1949 at Nathan House Christie Hospital Withington Manchester.
• Cremation           8 June 1949 at Manchester Crematorium
• Probate               Manchester 24 June to Thomas Alfred Farrell solicitor and Robert Stuart Mayer artist. Effects £458 15s. 9d.
• Interred              Ashes interred 4 October 1951 at St Catherine’s Church, Barton on Irwell

Born at Pennington, Leigh, Willaim Harry Longworth was the son of John Longworth and his wife (nee Faulkner). His exact date of birth has still to be verified but appears to be December 1870-January 1871. He is included in the 1871 census, aged 0. Details of his education and training have yet to be found but census returns suggest that he remained in Leigh until about 1900 when he moved to Urmston. As a young architect he was employed by Richard Watt to translate his ideas into architectural drawings. Most significant was the scheme for the Gaskell Memorial Tower in King Street, Knutsford. He commenced independent practice in Manchester about 1903.

In 1938 W H Longworth was listed as a Fellow of the Faculty of Architects and Surveyors (FFAS). In 1991 it merged with the Construction Surveyors Institute to form the Architects and Surveyors Institute (ASI) in the UK. .  He was never a member of the RIBA.

The Local Heritage Listing Project, Flixton and Urmston, of 2024 suggests that he was associated with Longford and Taylor of Urmston, developers, estate agents and builders from the late 1920s.  Works by the firm includes a number of housing schemes in Urmston and other districts of south Manchester. However, this link has yet to be verified from other sources.

On 10 December 1902 W H Longworth married Francis Annie, the daughter of Alfred Faulkner of Glenmaye, Crofts Bank Road. The couple had one son, Neville William Faulkner Longworth born 24 May 1904.

Longworth died on 4 June 1949 at Nathan House, Christie Hospital, Withington, Manchester and was cremated four days later at Manchester Crematorium. His wife retained his ashes which were later interred with her at St Catherine’s Church, Barton on Irwell, on 4 October 1951.

Address
1903        William Harry Longworth 22 Cooper Street Manchester
1909        William H Longworth, 4 St Mary’s Parsonage Manchester
1910        W H Longworth, 4 St Mary’s Parsonage Manchester
1928        William. Harry Longworth, 4 St. Mary’s Parsonage
1938        William Longworth FFAS  1 Ridgefield Manchester 2 (Kelly)

Residence
1871        Pennington Leigh
1901        Lyme Grove, Urmston
1903        William Harry Longworth Woodville, Roseneath Road Urmston
1903        William Harry Longworth 95, Roseneath Road Urmston
1938        Glenmaye Crofts Bank Road Urmston
1949        Glenmaye Crofts Bank Road Urmston