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Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon BUCK, William Henry Born: 1880 Died: ? Architect Was born in England and was articled to his father, William Buck in Horsham, Surrey in 1899. On completion of articles Buck remained in his father's office until 1907, when he entered Alfred Saxon Snell's office in London for a few months as an assistant, helping to prepare drawings for the London County Council Hall competition. Buck left for Canada in 1908, working as assistant in the Building Department, Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, Montreal, Canada. He left for America in 1909 to study tall building construction and hotel planning, returning to Canada to work as an assistant in Mitchell & Creighton's office in 1909, before moving the same year to a position as chief draughtsman to RE Dunlop in Montreal. From 1911 to 1912 he was employed as a designer with Rose & Macfarlane, architects in Montreal. Buck left Canada for Australia to work as a designer with Robertson & Darks, architects in Sydney, from 1913 to 1915. From 1916 to 1918 he worked for the Department of Education of New South Wales and was appointed Honorary Architect on Housing Schemes for returning soldiers. He was also architect with one Colonel Wells for the Newtown Soldiers' Memorial. In 1919 he was chief draughtsman to Donald Esplin, FAI, architect, Sydney, and from 1919 to 1920 worked in Melbourne with Sydney Smith & Ogg, architects, allowed to execute private work. He left Smith & Ogg for health reasons which obliged him to return to England in 1920, where he worked in Manchester for Mills & Murgatroyd as a chief assistant until 1922. In 1922 he returned to Melbourne, Australia, where he set up in private practice, associate architect with Godfrey & Spowers, Melbourne, working on several large buildings. In he was appointed architect in charge of the Drawing Office, Public Works Department in Perth, by the Western Australian Government in 1928. Buck arrived in South Africa in 1929, and registered as a member of the Institute of South African Architects in 1930. He worked, 1930-1931, in Cape Town before moving to Johannesburg in 1931 where he worked with PR COOKE until 1932. In 1933 he returned to England as senior architectural assistant to Stavers H Tiltman, Brighton, Sussex. He had returned to Cape Town by 1933 and stayed for a few years before returning to Perth where he was in 1938/1939. Nothing further is yet known of his career. Buck's career was unusually full of moves, he rarely remained anywhere for more than two years and it is not surprising that no work by him has yet been identified. LRIBA Canada 1911; ISAA 1930. (ISAA mem list; LRIBA nom papers (1911) 1154; RIBA Kals 1903/31, 1938/9) All truncated references not fully cited in 'References' are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon.