Catalogue description Miscellaneous Records of Usher & Anthony of Bedford, architects

Records of Usher and Anthony of Bedford, Architects

Deposited 6th July 1988

Further Reading

Richard Wildman, "The Houses of Usher" in Architectural Association Quarterly Vol. 2 No. 1 (January 1970) pp.70 - 74

[Copy in County Record Office - class CRT 180/98]

Chris Pickford, "The Origins of the Architectural Profession in Bedfordshire" (County Record Office exhibition leaflet - 1984)

Biographical notes and pedigrees of Usher and Anthony families - CRO class CRT 180/73

Obituaries of John Usher in Beds. Times and Beds. Mercury 11 November 1904

Obituary of Alfred Ernest Anthony in Beds.Times 26 March 1920 p.8.

CDE - plans and architectural drawings from the offices of John Usher, Usher & Anthony and their successors (originals in County Record Office - see catalogue)

John Usher (1822 - 1904), the founder of the architectural practice, was born at Blunham. He moved to Bedford between 1847 and 1850, setting up as a surveyor and architect in St. Peter's Green. Some time after 1854 he moved to No. 30 Mill Street, although his business address appears in directories for 1861 to 1864 under Duke Street and Mill Street as his property had a frontage on both streets. In about 1866 he took an office at No. 44 High Street, a property which he shared with a wine merchant, T.T. Gray, who occupied the ground floor.

It was in 1867 that John Usher designed "Ivel Cottage", or "Hiawatha" as it was to be called, in Goldington Road (see Bor. B.P. 113). This house was built for his own occupation. He was living there by 1871, and it was at "Hiawatha" that he died in 1904. The building was an eyecatching example of the architect's High Victorian style, and it is regrettable that it was demolished, unloved, in 1968.

In about 1875 (the plan Bor. B.P. 519 is undated) John Usher designed new business premises at 9 St. Paul's Square for T.T. Gray, the wine merchant with whom he shared offices in the High Street. The building was apparently completed in 1876, and by 1877 both Usher and Gray had moved in to their new shared accommodation. The architectural practice was to remain at 9 St. Paul's Square for almost ninety years, from 1877 until 1964-5.

In the 1870s, John Usher took his nephew Alfred Ernest Anthony (c.1853 - 1920) into his practice. A.E. Anthony was the son of John's sister Susan, who had married Alfred Anthony. Initially Anthony was employed as an assistant, but he was later taken into partnership and from January 1880 the title of the firm was changed to Usher & Anthony. John Usher gradually withdrew from the business, and at the time of his death in 1904 it was reported that he had been a virtual recluse towards the end of his life. Thus A.E. Anthony effectively ran the practice from the mid 1880s. The partnership was finally dissolved two or three years before Usher's death, but the firm retained the name Usher and Anthony until after the second world war. A.E. Anthony died on 18th March 1920, and he was succeeded by Charles Gude, his son-in-law.

After the second World War, the name of the firm was changed first to Deacon & Gude, and by 1949 to Deacon & Laing. In about 1964-5 the practice moved from St. Paul's Square to 65 Goldington Road, and in about 1973 the firm was absorbed in the Charter Building Design Partnership. At the time of the merger, (in November 1973) a large quantity of old architectural drawings and plans accumulated by the firm were deposited in the County Record Office (ref. CDE)

Throughout the period from 1850 to 1973 the firm was primarily engaged in architectural work, designing new buildings, preparing schemes for repairs and alterations to existing buildings, and supervising construction and repair work. This is not the place for a discussion of the firm's architectural work and achievements, but it is nevertheless true to say that John Usher and Usher & Anthony were the leading Bedford architects in the second half of the nineteenth century. As the directory entries on the following pages show, however, John Usher and his successors also operated as auctioneers and appraisers, and as insurance agents.

The records found at No. 9 St. Paul's Square include out-letter books from 1851 to 1922, architects' notebooks (mainly A.E. Anthony) c.1877 - 1900, and various miscellaneous records. The latter include a property sale register 1861 - 1894, a rent book for Bedford arcade 1908 - 1915, and some further letterbooks. In all, these records add significantly to the Usher/Usher & Anthony material already held in the Record Office, making the firm very well documented.

USHER & ANTHONY (later DEACON & GUDE, DEACON & LAING) - BEDFORD (Architects) Directory extracts 1850 - 1975

1847 No entry for Usher in Bedford

1850 John Usher, surveyor and architect, St. Peter's Green

1853 Usher, John, architect, surveyor, auctioneer and appraiser, St. Peter's Green.

1854 Usher, John, architect, surveyor, auctioneer and appraiser, St. Peter's Green.

1861 Usher, John, architect, surveyor, and auctioneer, Duke Street

1862 Usher, John, architect, auctioneer, and appraiser, Mill Street

1864 Usher, John, auctioneer & appraiser, architect & surveyor, and agent to Lancashire Fire & Life Assurance Company & to the Temperance Permanent Building Society, Duke St., Mill St.

1869 Usher, John, auctioneer, appraiser, architect & surveyor, house, land and estate agent, and agent to the Lancashire Fire & Life Insurance Company and to the Temperance Permanent Building Society, 44 High Street.

1871 Usher, John, architect, surveyor and estate agent, office of the Bedford Building Company, (Limited)r. Hiawatha, Goldington Road.

1877 Usher, John, auctioneer, surveyor, house, land and estate agent; agent to the Lancashire Fire & Life Insurance Co. & to the Temperance Permanent Building Society, 9 St. Paul's Square.

[N.B. not described as architect]

1883 Usher & Anthony, architects, surveyors, auctioneers, appraisers & estate agents; & agents to the Lancashire Insurance Co. 9 St. Paul's Square

1890 Usher & Anthony, architects, surveyors, auctioneers, appraisers & estate agents; & agents to the Lancashire Insurance Co. 9 St. Paul's Square [as 1885 exactly]

1892 Usher & Anthony, architects, 9 St. Paul's Square

1894 Usher & Anthony, architects, 9 St. Paul's Square [i.e. as 1890]

1898 Usher & Anthony, architects, 9 St. Paul's Square [i.e. as 1890]

1903 Usher & Anthony, architects, 9 St. Paul's Square [i.e. as 1890]

1906 Usher & Anthony, architects, 9 St. Paul's Square [i.e. as 1890]

1910 Usher & Anthony, architects, surveyors, auctioneers, appraisers and estate agents, & agents to the Royal Insurance Co. 9 St. Paul's Sq.

1914 Usher & Anthony, architects, surveyors, auctioneers, appraisers and estate agents, & agents to the Royal Insurance Co. 9 St. Paul's Sq.

1920 Usher & Anthony, architects, surveyors, auctioneers, appraisers and estate agents, & agents to the Royal Insurance Co. 9 St. Paul's Sq.

1924 Usher & Anthony, architects, surveyors, auctioneers, appraisers and estate agents, & agents to the Royal Insurance Co. 9 St. Paul's Sq. TN 383

1928 Usher & Anthony, architects, surveyors, auctioneers, appraisers and estate agents, & agents to the Royal Insurance Co. 9 St. Paul's Sq. TN 3383

1936 Usher & Anthony, architects, [9] St. Paul's Square, TN 3383

1940 Usher & Anthony, architects, [9] St. Paul's Square, TN 3383

1947 Deacon & Gude, architects & surveyors, 9 St. Paul's Square, tel. Bedford 3383

1949 Deacon & Laing, architects & surveyors, 9 St. Paul's Square, tel. 3383

1952 Deacon & Laing (late Usher & Anthony), architects & surveyors, 9 St. Paul's Square, tel. Bedford 3383

1955 Deacon & Laing (late Usher & Anthony) chartered architects; surveyors. 9 St. Paul's Square. tel Bedford 5413/4

1957 Deacon & Laing (late Usher & Anthony) chartered architects; surveyors. 9 St. Paul's Square. tel Bedford 5413/4

1959 Deacon & Laing (late Usher & Anthony), chartered architects; surveyors, 65 Goldington Road, tel Bedford 5413/4/5

1963 Deacon & Laing (late Usher & Anthony), chartered architects; surveyors, 65 Goldington Road, tel Bedford 5413/4/5

1965 Deacon & Laing (late Usher & Anthony), chartered architects; surveyors, 65 Goldington Road, tel Bedford 5413/4/5

1968 Deacon & Laing, chartered architects, 65 Goldington Road, Tel. 59413

1973-4 Deacon & Laing, chartered architects, 65 Goldington Road, Tel. 59413

1975 Deacon & Laing, chartered architects, 65 Goldington Road, Tel. 59413

• View Record