Arthur Heygate MackMurdo
Born 12 December 1851
Died 15 March 1942
Active: 1872 - 1906
Country of birth and death: England
Architect, designer, social reformer
Born in in Edmonton, Middlesex. He was the son of Edward Mackmurdo, chemical manufacturer. Mackmurdo was first apprenticed to the architect T. Chatfield Clarke, and he then moved to the offices of James Brooks in 1873. He was greatly influenced by John Ruskin, particularly 'Fors Clavigera' (1871–4).
Mackmurdo set up his own architectural practice in 1875. He was an associate of the RIBA from 1882 to 1885. However, Mackmurdo's reputation rests principally upon the foundation and achievements of the Century Guild. This organisation was short-lived but highly influential partly due to its participation in important exhibitions and also through its journal, The Hobby Horse (single issue in 1884, then 1886-92).
During the 1880s and 1890s Mackmurdo was also involved with the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings, the Home Arts and Industries Association, and the Art for Schools Association. He retired from architectural practice in 1906 and for the remainder of his life focused on schemes for social and economic reform. He died at Beacon Hill, Great Totham, Essex.
An article by Aymer Vallance, 'Mr. Arthur H. Mackmurdo and the Century Guild', 'The Studio', 16 (1899): 183-92 is available online athttp://www.victorianweb.org/art/design/mackmurdo/vallance.html (accessed 12 October 2010)
Wealth at death: £415 14s. 2d.
Probate date: 11 June 1942
Works
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Designed Buffet
1886 (Presumed)
Personal and Professional Connections
Collaborated with Benjamin Creswick
Through the Century Guild and on specific projects such as a buffet designed by Mackmurdo with sculpture by Creswick in 1886
Sources
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
Peyton Skipwith, ‘Mackmurdo, Arthur Heygate (1851–1942)’, rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37715, accessed 12 Oct 2010]
Citing this record
'Arthur Heygate MackMurdo', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=ann_1286912207, accessed 22 Jan 2021]
