Basic Biographical Details

Name: Jonas James Bradshaw
Designation:  
Born: 1837
Died: 28 April 1912
Bio Notes: Jonas James Bradshaw was born in 1837. He came from a liberal non-Conformist family. He was articled to the little-known Joseph Marsden in 1855 and remained with him for seven and a half years as his managing clerk before setting up on his own at 16 Nelson Street, Bolton. Living nearby was William Hesketh Lever, later to be an important client.

Bradshaw’s earliest major commissions were town workhouses, Clitheroe and Eaves Lane, Chorley, built 1868-72, the latter in association with Leigh Hall. The Clitheroe example is decent north country Italianate, Chorley much larger and French-roofed. Bradshaw’s practice was otherwise predominantly industrial but included villas and a couple of gothic country houses, Greenthorne and Watermillock, built in 1880-86, and the Spinners’ Hall in Bolton of 1880. Because of the industrial nature of the practice it was multidisciplinary from the beginning with its own structural engineer and measurer, an arrangement which was to remain a feature of the practice and which had much to do with its success. Among Bradshaw’s apprentice engineers was Joseph Parkinson (1861-1935) later to practice as an architect of skyscrapers in the USA. Bradshaw’s chief assistant for most of his career was James William Wallace (1850-1926) who formed a socialist and literary group known as the Eagle Street College at his home. It had links with Walt Whitman with whom they corresponded and with the socialist Edward Carpenter who influenced Raymond Unwin in his formative years. Wallace must have been well-paid as he visited Whitman in 1891 but he never became a partner.

By 1871 Bradshaw’s practice had outgrown the Nelson Street office and moved to 19 Silverwell Street where it still remains. In that year he was joined by his nephew John Bradshaw Gass, born in 1855 at Annan, Dumfriesshire, the son of George Pool Gass and his wife Alice who was Bradshaw’s sister. In 1902 Arthur John Hope became a partner, the practice becoming Bradshaw, Gass and Hope.

Bradshaw was admitted FRIBA on 18 January 1886, his proposers being Edward Graham Paley, Richard Knill Freeman and Ernest George.

Bradshaw died at Greenmount, Heaton on 28 April 1912, the practice title being amended to Bradshaw Gass & Hope by omitting the comma. It is unlikely that Bradshaw had designed much for the previous quarter century.

Private and Business Addresses

The following private or business addresses are associated with this :
 AddressTypeDate fromDate toNotes
Item 1 of 316, Nelson Street, Bolton, Lancashire, EnglandBusiness1866  
Item 2 of 319 , Silverwell Street, Bolton, Lancashire, EnglandBusiness1871  
Item 3 of 3London, EnglandBusiness1903 *  

* earliest date known from documented sources.


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 2Bradshaw & Gass18811902Partner 
Item 2 of 2Bradshaw Gass & Hope19021912Partner 

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 2John Bradshaw Gassc. 1870(?)1874(?)Apprentice 
Item 2 of 2John Bradshaw Gass1875(?)1878(?)Managing Assistant 

RIBA

RIBA Proposers

The following individuals proposed this for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate proposedNotes
Item 1 of 3Richard Knill Freeman18 January 1886 
Item 2 of 3Ernest George18 January 1885 
Item 3 of 3Edward Graham Paley18 January 1886Fellowship

RIBA Proposals

This proposed the following individuals for RIBA membership (click on an item to view details):
 NameDate proposedNotes
Item 1 of 2John Bradshaw Gass11 March 1889for Fellowship
Item 2 of 2Arthur John Hope20 July 1911for Licentiateship

References

Bibliographic References

The following books contain references to this :
 Author(s)DateTitlePartPublisherNotes
Item 1 of 3British Architectural Library, RIBA2001Directory of British Architects 1834-1914   
Item 2 of 3Lingard, Jane and Timothy2007Bradshaw Gass & Hope: the Story of an Architectural Practice London, Gallery Lingard 
Item 3 of 3Redman, Austen2007Bolton Civic Centre and the Classical Revival Style of Bradshaw Gass & Hope From Clara Hartwell and Terry Wyke (eds): Making Manchester: essays in honour of H G Archer