Thomas Charles Sorby (1836 – 15 November 1924) was an English-Canadian architect. Born in Wakefield, England, he emigrated to Canada in 1883, where he worked for much of the time in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.
In England, as surveyor of Police Buildings in the Metropolitan District and in the County Courts of England and Wales, Sorby designed police stations and court houses in stone and brick, frequently in the Classical style. When working independently, he designed churches and mansions in the same materials, but often in the Gothic Revival or Arts and Crafts style. However in Canada he was employed for some years by the Canadian Pacific Railway; a client which often required chalet-style hotel and depot designs in wood,
Sorby entered a large number of design competitions for civic buildings and town plans in England and Canada. In England he invented a new type of skylight, and a remotely-controlled sash fastener, which he used in his own building designs.
Background
Sorby was "a member of an old Sheffield family", according to the Sheffield Independent newspaper. However, he and his immediate family were from Wakefield. His parents were Thomas Sorby (1798–1845), a farmer at Brice Hale, Chevet, Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire,1841 England Census, Chevet, West Yorkshire, HO107/1324/11. page 1, schedule 3. and Harriet Ann Rayner (1808–1841), who was baptised at Sandal Magna, Wakefield. Sorby was born in Chevet in 1836,1851 England Census Pudsey HO 107/2313 Folio 342 p 15 and baptised as Thomas Charles Sorby in St Helen's Church, Sandal Magna, on 2 May 1836. He had one surviving brother, William (1837–1915), a steel manufacturer who emigrated to New Zealand.1871 England Census. Longley House, Brightside, Sheffield. RG10/4693. page 36.
Sorby married Elizabeth née Sorby (1829–1907) on 11 October 1857, in Islington, and they had eight children, born in London.1871 England Census 27 Brunswick Square, Bloomsbury. RG10/338. p.10 and 1881 England Census 5 Palace Grove, Penge, Lewisham, London. RG11/822. Page 63. Schedule 111. In 1864, the family was living at 15 Bedford Row, London. By the 1870s the family was living at 27 Brunswick Square, London. Sorby emigrated to Canada in 1883. He died on 15 November 1924, in Victoria, British Columbia, and was interred in Ross, Manitoba, Canada.
Career Training Sorby studied architecture in London. He spent time in France, before becoming a pupil of Charles Reeves, with whom he designed Salford County Court.
United Kingdom In December 1866, Sorby was appointed, by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to the Surveyorships of Police Buildings in the Metropolitan District and in the County Courts of England and Wales, following the death of his mentor Charles Reeves, who had held tenure. While holding that surveyorship "for less than two years", Sorby was involved in the erection of numerous civic buildings, but his lengthy 1867 efforts to negotiate with Merthyr Tydfil corporation to build a town hall came to nothing. By 1871 he was architect to the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury. Sorby was "by some accounts a difficult character, however he was not shy of writing in to building journals to assist on the subject of construction techniques.
Canada Between 1883 and 1887, Sorby was working in Montreal, and Vancouver where "his work [was] well regarded and extensive". From 1887 he was designing commercial buildings and residences in Victoria, British Columbia. "He was also working on plans for the development of Victoria's Inner Harbour and port facilities".
Selected works in the United Kingdom
Former County Court House, Salford, 1860–1865
Charles Reeves and his pupil, Sorby, designed this listed building in "brick with stone-faced rusticated ground storey and dressings", which was completed by 1865. It has a doorway with a fanlight and carved keystone in its archway, and a carved stone relief of the Royal Arms over a window. L. S. Lowry sketched the arch behind the building. It was closed, and has been converted into flats.See Drawing titled, County Court, Salford.
Grove Road Cemetery Chapels, Harrogate, 1863
Grove Road Cemetery, Harrogate, once had two chapels with spires, designed by Sorby, at a cost of £5,000 (). There were 40 entries for the design competition for this job, and Sorby achieved first prize. John Peele Clapham laid the foundation stone for the non-denominational chapel on 23 May 1863. The right hand chapel (as seen in the picture) was nonconformist, and the land in front of it was not consecrated. The left hand chapel was ecclesiastical (Anglican) and was consecrated along with the land in front of it. Having processed from the National School to the cemetery with interested parties including eleven clergymen and various Burial Board members, the Bishop of Ripon consecrated the episcopalian half of the cemetery and the Anglican chapel on 23 April 1864. Although the chapels formed an "attractive feature in the landscape", they were both demolished in 1958 to create more burial space, but the lodge – also designed by Sorby – remains.
Town Hall, Bromley, 1863
Sorby designed Bromley's Town Hall, completed in 1863. It was paid for by Cole-Childs, the local lord of the manor and Deptford coal merchant, who also manufactured the bricks. Bromley's Market Square was redesigned to accommodate it, and the building included at different times a police station, a cell, a fire station, a free library, and a room for the town corporation's meetings. However it was never used as a town hall because Bromley was run by the Vestry, which did not use the building. It was eventually rented by an estate agent, the local paper said it was "monstrous", and it was demolished in 1933, being replaced in 1906 by a new town hall designed by R. Frank Atkinson.
Sorby later designed a villa in Bromley for J. T. Davies, in 1872.
Congregational Church, Ringwood, Hampshire, 1861–1863 According to The Builder in 1863, Sorby originally designed this church, in 1863. However Historic England attributes the design to Thomas Hellyer, in 1866.
Pair of semi-detached villas, Peterborough, 1865 Sorby designed this pair of villas in 1865, and a description, drawing and plan were published in the Building News.
Wyggeston's Hospital and entrance lodge, Leicester, 1864–1868
Sorby won a competition for the design of this building in 1864, and it was completed in 1868. It was demolished and replaced with William House in 1966 or 1967. As of 2014 it had become a retirement home.
Former Court House, Bolton, 1866–1869
This is a listed building in Mawdsley Street, Bolton, Greater Manchester. It was designed by Sorby in 1866, possibly in collaboration with Reeves, who was surveyor of county courts at that time. The exterior is of rusticated ashlar, and it has a slate roof. There are two storeys. The frontage has entrances below, with "paired panelled and studded doors", and a row of ten round-headed and balustraded windows above. "All openings have initials VR, superimposed on foliate key-stones". There are Corinthian capitals, and a "Modillion eaves cornice". The back of the building is of brick, with windows for the court room.
Following closure, the building became a benefit office. From 1996 it was Harvey’s Café Bar, a public house with a restaurant. That business closed in 2017, and the building was reopened in 2018 as a restaurant called The Courthouse.
St Michael and All Angels Church, Neepsend, Sheffield, 1867
St Michael and All Angels, Neepsend, was consecrated in November 1867. It was built for the Church Extension Society, in an area with a background of severe flood, poverty, dirt and smoke, and was "therefore ... very plain in character". The nave was long, and wide, including the aisles, and contained seating for 1,000. The font, the carving and the heating apparatus were gifts from local worthies. The Illustrated London News said:
The nave is divided from the aisles by an arcade of three large arches, and the transept arches, supported upon short, massive piers.The chancel is by and, like the nave, is spanned by a bold, open-timber roof. The east and west windows are large and bold, and filled in with geometric tracery. The transept windows correspond, but are smaller. The principal porch is on the north side, and is an impressive feature. A tower and spire were originally contemplated, but were abandoned – at any rate, for the present. The materials are Burbage, Greenside and Matlock stone, and covered with Taylor's patent tiles ... The architect was Mr. Thomas Charles Sorby of London, and the contractor is Mr. James White, of Sheffield.
St Michael was closed in 1952, when the congregation moved to Holy Trinity, Wicker. It was demolished in 1955.
Former Police Station, Walthamstow, 1867 In 1867, Sorby was calling for tenders for the Metropolitan Police Station, Walthamstow, although historian Bryn Elliott's monograph Walthamstow Police Stations 1841–2000 does not mention a new station build in the 1860s. The job could have been a renovation or extension.
Former Police Station, Poplar, 1867–1868 In 1867, Sorby was calling for tenders for the Metropolitan Police Station, Poplar, London. This was an adaptation of former stables for police use, built to Sorby's design. It was demolished in the 1890s to make way for a new police station.
Former Lambeth Magistrates Court, London, 1868–1869
The former Lambeth Magistrates' Court, was designed by Sorby in 1868, and completed in 1869. It is located in Lambeth's Renfrew Road conservation area, in what was in 1868 called Lower Kennington Lane. It is a listed, Gothic Revival building of one to three storeys, with a cell block on the south side. It is "built of red brick in Flemish bond with stone dressings and slate roof". At the front there is a parapet with "three bands of arched fretted balustrading". Above the north window, which has arched and fanlighted doors with "elaborate hinges" on either side, is the royal coat of arms and the date "18 AD 69". In the entrance hall, the chamfered oak beams, well staircase and panelled doors survive, as do the original wooden courtroom fittings, some 19th-century fireplaces, and some cells with "Victorian sanitary fittings". It is the "earliest surviving example of a Criminal Magistrates' court in the Metropolitan area". Around 1930, the building was extended with an extra storey on the north side. The building was closed for court business, and by 2007 it held the Jam Yang Buddhist Centre.
Former County Court House and High Court, Leeds, 1868–1869
The front elevation of the 1868 building on Albion Place, designed by Sorby, is listed. This listed part formed the combined frontage of the county court and high court, with three porches, basement railings, and a gas light. The left hand range was the county court, which has round-headed windows and two floors. The right hand range with its three storeys was by 1899 the court of bankruptcy, that section being later used as the high court. The exterior ground floor is rusticated ashlar, and the upper floors are red brick. The cornice which runs across them both is dentilled.