Basic Biographical Details

Name: Henry Thomas Sandy
Designation:  
Born: 1868
Died: 16 January 1922
Bio Notes: Henry T Sandy practised in Stafford from 1891 and was a partner of Ernest Bower Norris from 1920.

Henry Thomas Sandy was born in 1868, the eldest of the eight sons of Henry Sandy, estate agent and seedsman, of Stafford. He was educated at St. Wilfrid's College, Cotton Hall, near Cheadle, Staffordshire. Here he was followed by five of his brothers, two of whom, Frederick and Hubert, went on to train for the priesthood at St Mary’s College, Oscott. Henry Thomas Sandy trained as an architect, serving his articles with Nicholas Joyce of Stafford, and remaining with him until 1889. For wider experience and responsibility, he went to the London office of Basil C Champneys, architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, where he remained for 18 months and then for six months was assistant to Elijah Jones. In 1891 he returned to Stafford to commence independent practice and about 1900 he acquired the practice of Nicholas Joyce in Stafford. By 1914 he had established a second office in Birmingham.

Some of his best known works included St Edward's Church and St Paul's Convent Chapel, Selly Park; St. Edward's Home and St. Gerard's Hospital, Coleshill; St. Paul's Schools, Vernon Road, Edgbaston; St. Chad's Girls' School, Brearley Street; and the Home for Mentally Deficient Children at Besford Court. For many years he also acted as architect to St Mary’s College, Oscott, Sutton Coldfield, the Roman Catholic seminary previously attended by two of his brothers.

In 1918, he acquired the offices and whatever remained of the architectural practice of Henry Oswald Hill, of Manchester, who had been killed in action, shot down over enemy trenches in October 1917. Initially Sandy was in partnership with Herbert Cecil Powell under the style “Hill Sandy and Powell,” but this was dissolved on 14 October 1919. Sandy made a second attempt to form a partnership with J H or WC Mangan of Preston which was also unsuccessful, although the practice was listed as “Hill Sandy and Mangan” in the 1920 edition of the Manchester Street Directory.

In 1920 Sandy finally took into partnership Ernest Bower Norris, ARIBA, but this partnership too proved short-lived, cut short by Henry Sandy’s unexpected death in January 1922 at the age of 53.

By the death of HT Sandy and within two years of entering the partnership Ernest Bower Norris found himself sole principal of two practices. He continued to run the Stafford office under the style of “Sandy and Norris,” until his death in 1969. Similarly in Manchester, the office at 9 Albert Square was run under the style of “Hill Sandy and Norris,” although here Norris later took F M Reynolds into partnership, a partnership dissolved in 1946.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 222, Greengate, Stafford, Staffordshire, EnglandBusinessBefore 19117 January 1922 
Item 2 of 2Birmingham, EnglandBusiness19141922This office subsequently closed by E B Norris

Employment and Training

Employers

The following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate fromDate toPositionNotes
Item 1 of 5Nicholas Joyce18841888Apprentice 
Item 2 of 5Nicholas Joyce18881889Assistant 
Item 3 of 5Basil Champneys18891891Assistant 
Item 4 of 5Hill Sandy and Norris19201922Partnerpartnership terminated by Sandy's death
Item 5 of 5Sandy & Norris192016 January 1922PartnerPartnership ended by death of Sandy

Employees or Pupils

The following individuals were employed or trained by this (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate fromDate toPositionNotes
Item 1 of 1William RossAfter 1913Before 1920Assistant 

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 1British Architectural Library, RIBA2001Directory of British Architects 1834-1914