Barry Sir Charles

Barry, Sir Charles, Knt., was born at Westminster in 1795, and after receiving the ordinary training of an architect, travelled from 1817 to 1820 in Italy, Greece, Egypt, and Palestine. He then speedily attained high professional reputation. Though his first important work, St. Peter's at Brighton, was in the Perpendicular Gothic style, he shewed a marked preference at first for the Italian school, as may be inferred from such examples as the Travellers' Club, the Reform Club, Bridgewater House, the Manchester Athenaeum, and the Halifax Town Hall. His adoption of Tudor methods in King Edward's School at Birmingham proved an attractive success. After the destruction of the Houses of Parliament, in 1834, his designs were selected for the new buildings, which were begun in 1840 and completed in 1860, though occupied earlier. Barry, who died suddenly in the year his great task was achieved, had been elected R.A. and F.R.S., besides receiving many foreign distinctions, and he was knighted in 1852.