Voysey Society : jubilee certificate of 1927

In 1927, a dinner was given in honour of Voysey's 70th birthday by the President and Council of the RIBA. At the same time, a certificate signed by his friends was awarded to Voysey and subsequently published in the RIBA journal (vol.35, 26th November 1927, pp.52-3).

Many of the names are transcribed below. Not all are decipherable, and we welcome additions and corrections.

“We, the friends of Charles Annesley Voysey wish, in the Jubilee year of his practice as an architect & craftsman, to record our admiration of his devotion to his art.

“Throughout a long life, a pioneer in his prime, he has always been governed by the highest artistic impulses. By his teaching, his example and his character he has won the esteem of his critics and the affection of his friends.”

Voysey jubilee certificate

First column

Walter Cave ^1,2,4 – Robert Anning Bell ^2,4 – R. Walter Essex ⁵ – J.H. Elder Duncan ¹⁰ – Theo. B. Hyslop ⁴ – W.H. Ansell ^1,2 – E. Canziani ⁴ – And. N. Prentice ^1,4 – C. Harrison Townsend ^1,2,4 – Geo. Steele Perkins ⁴ – C.R. Ashbee ^{1, 2} – Francis Buckley ⁶ – Maurice E. Webb ^1,4 – Francis Newbolt ² – Henry Perrin ⁷ – W. Bainbridge Reynolds ² – Sidney H. Turner ⁸ – Tho. Wallis ¹ – C.D. St Leger ^1,2 – Edward Warren ^1,2

Second column

Walter Tapper ^1,2 – E. Guy Dawber ^1,2,4 – W. Aumonier ² – H.D. Searles-Wood ¹ – Selwyn Image ² – A.H. Mackmurdo ² – Arthur Keen ¹ – G. Spencer Watson ^2,4 – Joseph Armitage ² – Frank Spenlove Spenlove ⁴ – Alfred Elias ^4,5 – Walter Donne ^2,4 – Cecil Thomas ² – Gilbert H. Jenkins ^1,2,3 – W.T. Plume ⁹ – George Hubbard ^1,4 – J.S. Risien Russell ⁴ – Edwin L. Lutyens ^1,2,4 – H. Raymond ⁵

Third column

P. Heffer ⁵ – ? J. Whalton Bradshaw or Prichard – E. Whit. Wallis – Stanley Hamp ^1,2,4 – Winton Newman ¹ – H.V. Ashley ^1,2 – name unclear – Richard R. Goulden ^2,4 – J. Ernest Franck ¹ – J.A. Gotch ^1,2,4 – Laurence A. Turner ² – W.E. Vernon Crompton ^1,2 – Mario Grixoni ¹¹ – name unclear – J.C. Squire ² – Banister Fletcher ^1,4 – L.H. Bucknell ¹ – F.R. Yerbury ³ – Ian MacAlister ¹

Fourth column

E.F. Jackson (Master Painters Co) ¹³ – David Murray ^2,4 – Rudolf Dircks ^1,4 – C.A. Hindley ⁵ – C.J. Tait ^1,2 – H.P. Cart de Lafontaine ^1,12 – Gerald Unsworth ^1,4 – G.A. Fred Rogers ^2,4 – Basil Oliver ^1,2 – W.S. Barclay ^5,4 – Philip A. Barendt ⁵ – Alfred Sutro ^4,5 – E.J. Horniman ⁵ – name unclear – A.E. Gibson ⁴ – ? J. Potts – name unclear – Robert Atkinson ¹

Transcription notes

¹ Members of or connected with RIBA, including the following officers:

Rudolf Dircks was Librarian
George Ian MacAlister was Secretary from 1908
John Alfred Gotch was President, 1923-25
Edward Guy Dawber was President, 1925-27
Sir Walter John Tapper was President, 1927-29
Banister Flight Fletcher was President, 1929-31
William Henry Ansell was Secretary, 1938-40, and President, 1940-43
Maurice Everett Webb and George Hubbard were both Vice-President on two occasions.

² Members of The Art Workers Guild, including the following who served as Master:

Selwyn Image (1900)
Charles Harrison Townsend (1903)
Edward Prioleau Warren (1913)
Robert Anning Bell (1921)
Laurence Arthur Turner (1922)
Francis George Newbolt (1927)
Charles Robert Ashbee (1929)
Basil Oliver (1932)
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1933)
William Henry Ansell (1944)
Cecil Thomas (1946)

³ Officers of The Architectural Association.

F.R. Yerbury was Secretary during the 1920s and 1930s
Gilbert H. Jenkins was President in 1927

⁴ Members of The Arts Club (not necessarily when the certificate was signed).

⁵ Voysey clients; H. Raymond presumed to be Colonel Raymond.

⁶ Possibly Voysey's pupil E.F.C. Buckley.

⁷ The Perrin family seems to have had a connection with Voysey's client Edith Somers in Bushey.

⁸ Possibly Sidney Hyde Turner, solicitor, died 1930. Not in Voysey's address book & no other connection found.

⁹ W.T. Plume noted in Voysey's address book as editor of The Builder.

¹⁰ J.H. Elder Duncan was the author of several architecture-related books and Secretary of The Architecture Club. Listed in Voysey's address book.

¹¹ Count Mario Grixoni listed in Voysey's address book. No other connection found.

¹² H.P. Cart de Lafontaine was President of the Town Planning Institute, 1950-1951.

¹³ The certificate was awarded at a dinner in Painters' Hall, home of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers. The Master of the Company at the time was Edward Francis Jackson.

Photograph of the certificate supplied by RIBA Library Books & Periodicals Collection.

View larger image of the certificate

See also "My work was never popular ..." : Voysey's speech of thanks on receipt of the certificate.

The jubilee certificate of 1927

First column

Second column

Third column

Fourth column

Transcription notes

Principal sources