Fred Rowntree

Who was Fred Rowntree?

Fred Rowntree, a Scottish Arts and Crafts architect, was the son of John Rowntree, a master grocer and Ann Webster. His brother, John Rowntree, traded in tea and coffee. The Rowntree family were Quakers and related to Rowntree's, the well-known confectioners.

Fred was a scholar at Bootham School in York, and was articled to Charles Augustus Bury of Scarborough from 1876 to 1880. He became an assistant to Edward Burgess in London and was appointed a clerk of works in Leicestershire, ending in 1885 when joined Charles Edeson of Scarborough, the company name changing to Edeson & Rowntree. On 6 October 1886 Rowntree married Mary Anna Gray, a daughter of William Gray of the biscuit manufacturers Gray, Dunn & Company, who were also Quakers. They raised a family of 5 children.

He located to London in 1890, and also entered into partnership with Malcolm Stark in Glasgow. The partnership of Stark & Rowntree dissolved in 1900, partly as a result of failing to win contracts in national competitions - the Govan District Asylum being their only significant award. Stark had consequently succumbed to alcoholism and Rowntree relocated his practice to Hammersmith.