Sir James Knowles

The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights . Sir James Knowles

Sir James Thomas Knowles (1831 - 13 February 1908) was an English architect and editor. James Knowles was born in London, the son of the architect James Thomas Knowles (1806-1884), and himself trained in architecture at University College and in Italy. Among the buildings he designed were three churches in Clapham, South London, Mark Masons' Hall, London (later the Thatched House Club), Lord Tennyson's house at Aldworth, the Leicester Square garden (as restored at the expense of Albert Grant), Albert Mansions, Victoria Street in Westminster, and an 1882 enlargement of the Royal Sea Bathing Hospital at Margate in Kent. However, his preferences led him simultaneously into a literary career. In 1860 he published The Story of King Arthur. In 1866 he was introduced to Alfred Lord Tennyson and later agreed to design his new house on condition there was no fee. This led to a close friendship, Knowles assisting Tennyson in business matters, and among other things helping to design scenery for the play The Cup, when Henry Irving produced it in 1880.