William de Lacy Aherne

William de Lacy Aherne (17 April 1867 – 4 December 1945) was an English architect, notable for designing many Arts and Crafts houses in the Moseley area of Birmingham.[1]

Court Hey, Moseley

Family

Born in Cheam, Surrey to William Aherne (b. 1841) and Emma Paterson (b. 1842), de Lacy Aherne came from a family of devout Plymouth Brethren, a faith that he ceased to share in early adulthood.[2]

He married Annie Louise Thomas (1872 – 1942), daughter of William Thomas (1841 - 1901) and Mary Louise Wright (1847 - 1912) in 1898 and they had two sons- the actors Pat Aherne and *Brian Aherne- and a daughter, Elana Aherne.[2] When he died on 4 December 1945 he was living at 25 Ladbrooke Road, London.[3]

Career

In 1886 or 1887 he took a job as an architect's apprentice in Birmingham, where he worked for the King's Norton and Northfield Sanitary Authority.[4] His earliest recorded private commissions were in the King's Norton area and date from 1889, and in 1890 he was elected to the Birmingham Architectural Association.[5]

In 1898 de Lacy Aherne was commissioned to build a series of houses by his father-in-law, whose local contacts in the Moseley area were helpful to the rising young architect; his work quickly became fashionable among the rapidly growing and wealthy professional middle class of the area.[6] From 1903 onwards he designed a large number of speculative houses in high-status Moseley roads such as Russell Road, Salisbury Road, Amesbury Road, Reddings Road and Oxford Road, financed either by himself or in conjunction with local building firms.[7] Several of these houses, including 9 St Agnes Road and 110 and 112 Oxford Road are now listed buildings.[8] He was probably also the architect of Blackhill, the home of Birmingham Repertory Theatre founder Barry Jackson in the Malvern Hills.[9]

Selected works
  • Ford House, Castle Road, Kenilworth 1896
  • Court Hey, 25 Chantry Road, Moseley, Birmingham ca. 1901[10]
  • House, 9 St Agnes Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1906-07[11]
  • Two houses, 110 and 112 Oxford Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1906-07[12]
  • Two houses, 37-39 Poplar Avenue, Bearwood, Birmingham 1908
  • House, 40 Reddings Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1908
  • The Grey House, 28 Amesbury Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1908
  • Three houses, 30-34 Amesbury Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1908
  • Five houses, 42-50 Reddings Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1908
  • House, 40 Sommerville Road, Sutton Coldfield 1910
  • Three houses, 189-193 Russell Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1911
  • Three houses, 42-46 Wake Green Road, Moseley Birmingham 1911
  • House, 54 Sommerville Road, Sutton Coldfield 1911
  • Inverblair, 52 Sommerville Road, Sutton Coldfield 1911
  • Richmond, 50 Sommerville Road, Sutton Coldfield 1911
  • Siviter House, 17 Ludgate Hill, Birmingham 1912[13]
  • Five houses, 78-86 Eastern Road, Wylde Green, Birmingham 1914
  • House, 187 Russel Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1914
  • House, 179 Russell Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1915
  • House, 55 Russell Road, Moseley, Birmingham 1915

References
  1. Wood 2009, p. 567.
  2. Wood 2009, p. 568.
  3. "Deaths". Birmingham Daily Post. England. 7 December 1945. Retrieved 12 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. Wood 2009, pp. 568–569.
  5. Wood 2009, p. 569.
  6. Wood 2009, pp. 570–571.
  7. Wood 2009, pp. 572–573.
  8. Wood 2009, pp. 573–576.
  9. Wood 2009, p. 578.
  10. "An attractive modern residence known as Court Hey, Chantry Road, Moseley". Birmingham Daily Gazette. England. 7 July 1906. Retrieved 12 May 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. Historic England, "9 St Anges Road B13 (1220717)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 24 May 2020
  12. Historic England, "110 and 112 Oxford Road B13 (1343117)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 24 May 2020
  13. Foster, Andy (2005). Birmingham. Pevsner Architectural Guides. p. 164. ISBN 0-300-10731-5.
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Bibliography
  • Wood, Christine (2009), "William de Lacey Aherne", in Ballard, Phillada (ed.), Birmingham's Victorian and Edwardian Architects, Wetherby: Oblong Creative, pp. 567–583, ISBN 978-0955657627


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