Architect and surveyor. Churchwarden of St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe. He and his sons, Banister Flight Fletcher and Herbert Phillips Fletcher, formed the architectural practice: Banister Fletcher & Sons. Banister Fletcher's wikipedia page gives much details of his life.
Banister Fletcher was born on 11 August 1833 the son of Thomas Fletcher and Amelia Fletcher née Bannister. Census returns in 1851 claim he was born in Richmond, Surrey, but in 1871 they state it was Brighton, Sussex, in 1881 it was in Overdean, Sussex and in 1891 in just Sussex. The 1851 census shows that he was an architectural pupil living at 2 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, the home of the architect Charles James Richardson (1806-1871) who was also residing there with two female general domestic servants.
On 2 January 1855 he applied to be admitted to the Freedom of the City of London, by redemption, in the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, giving his addresses as Bond Court House, Walbrook, London and Darowen Villa, Silchester Road, Kensington Gardens, London. This was approved and upon payment of £2-6s-8d, he took the oath of allegiance and was admitted on 17 May 1855.
On 23 April 1864 he married Eliza Jane Phillips (1847-1933) at St Pancras Church, where the the marriage register shows him to be an architect residing in St Pancras whilst his wife was described as a spinster of St James, Paddington. They were to have thirteen children and when their eldest child, Isabel Bessie Fletcher (1865-1944), was baptised on 2 May 1865 the baptismal register shows the family at 7 Guilford Street, St Pancras. This address remained the same when their son Banister Flight Fletcher (1866-1953) was baptised on 27 June 1866 and their daughter Ada Elizabeth Fletcher (1867-1932) was baptised on 27 February 1868.
The London Gazette dated 3 December 1967 shows him promoted from Lieutenant to Captain in the 6th Tower Hamlet Rifle Volunteer Corps.
When their next two children were baptised, Maud Maria Fletcher (1868-1925) on 12 July 1869 and Thomas Charles Fletcher (b.1870) on 18 August 1870, the baptismal register showed the family address as Bedford Square. The 1871 census lists him as an architect and surveyor living at 24 Bedford Square, Bloomsbury, with his wife and four of their children: Isabel, Ada, Maud and Thomas, together with three female domestic servants. Their eldest son, Banister Flight Fletcher was recorded as living at The Street, Acle, Norfolk, with his paternal aunt Maria Cufaude née Fletcher and her husband William Henry Cufaude.
The Bedford Square address was shown on the baptismal record of their son Herbert Phillips Fletcher (1872-1916) on 30 March 1872, but when their son Harold Edward Fletcher (1874-1943) was baptised on 13 August 1874 their address was 46 Wellington Road, St John's Wood. This address is also given in the baptismal registers that were dated 18 May 1876 for their daughter Edith Mary Fletcher (1876-1967), 20 February 1878 for their son Percy Nono Fletcher (1877-1946) and 13 June 1879 for their daughter Mabel Florence Fletcher (b.1879).
The 1881 census shows him as an architect and surveyor residing at 'Anglebay', Woodchurch Road, Hampstead, with his wife, four children: Harold, Edith, Percy and Mary, his sister Mary Maclean, four female domestic servants together with a coachman and his wife and child.
In the 1891 census he is described as a Professor of Architecture and Building Construction at King's College, London, architect & surveyor, Justice of the Peace and Colonel in the Volunteer Rifles, living at 21 Woodchurch Road, Hampstead, with his wife, nine children: Isabel, Ada, Maud, Herbert, Harold, Mabel, Hugh Undecimus Fletcher (1881-1948), Eric Duodecimus Fletcher (1886-1900), Ernest Tertius Decimus Fletcher (1890-1961), together with a nurse, a cook, a parlour-maid and a housemaid.
Probate records confirm that he died, aged 65 years, on 5 July 1899 at 'Anglebay', Woodchurch Road, Hampstead. He was buried on 10 July 1899 in Hampstead Cemetery, Fortune Green Road, London NW6 1DR. Probate was granted to his widow on 22 August 1899 and his effects totalled £75,813-15s-5d.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan
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