Peter Walker
gone but not forgotten
Anyone ever heard of Thomas Henry Nowell Parr, who was born in Handsworth in 1864? He trained as an architect, working for Walsall Corporation from 1890 to 1894, when he moved to Brentford, Middlesex to work for the Urban District Council, where he became Architect, Engineer and Surveyor to the Council from 1897 to 1907. He couldn't have been overstretched at work, as he had time to set up his own private practice in 1900, and designed the Brentford Library (opened 1904) in his own name. That same year he designed and built the Boatmen's Institute on the Grand Union Canal at Brentford, for the London City Mission. He subsequently did private work for breweries, which is how I came across his name in the current issue of "The London Drinker", a beer enthusiasts' mag.
He won himself a good reputation for his pubs, which include the Devonshire House (formerly Manor Tavern), the Duke of York, the Hole in the Wall and the Old Pack Horse, in Chiswick, the Three Horseshoes, Southall and the Forester, West Ealing, built in the 1920s.He died in 1933, but his son John Nowell Parr continued the practice for some years. He died in 1975.
I have looked through the 1873 and 1880 directories and have found only a Mrs Jane Parr of 16 St Peters Road, Handsworth, and a Miss Parr of Finch Road. Does anybody have any further clues?
Peter
He won himself a good reputation for his pubs, which include the Devonshire House (formerly Manor Tavern), the Duke of York, the Hole in the Wall and the Old Pack Horse, in Chiswick, the Three Horseshoes, Southall and the Forester, West Ealing, built in the 1920s.He died in 1933, but his son John Nowell Parr continued the practice for some years. He died in 1975.
I have looked through the 1873 and 1880 directories and have found only a Mrs Jane Parr of 16 St Peters Road, Handsworth, and a Miss Parr of Finch Road. Does anybody have any further clues?
Peter
