Kirby

Life

Edmund Kirby (8 April 1838 – 24 April 1920) was an English architect. He was born in Liverpool, and educated at at Sedgeley Park School and Oscott College in Birmingham. He was articled to E. W. Pugin in London, then worked for Hardman & Co., then became an assistant to John Douglas in Chester. He travelled abroad in France and Belgium, and had started to practice independently in Liverpool by 1867, initially having offices in Derby Buildings, Fenwick Street. Between 1880 and 1914, his offices were in Union Buildings, Cook Street, Liverpool. He was a Roman Catholic and he designed many churches for that denomination. Most of his work was in Liverpool, the northwest of England, and North Wales. He designed 14 churches for the Diocese of Shrewsbury and built 15 Roman Catholic schools. In 1905 Kirkby took his two sons, Francis Joseph and Edmund Bertram, into partnership. He retired in 1917, and died in 1920. His practice continued after his death, until it merged with Matthews and Goodman in 2011.

Works in Chester

• 1867: Dee House, St John Street;
• 1873-75: St Werburgh's Church, Grosvenor Park Road;