Edward Graham Paley

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Edward Graham Paley (1823-1895) was an architect based in Lancaster, England. He designed a number of the more notable buildings in that city and in the surrounding counties. A clergyman’s son from Easingwold, Yorkshire, and a grandson of the philosopher William Paley, Edward began training in 1838 as pupil of Edmund Sharpe (1809-1877), a Cambridge graduate who had also studied in France and Germany.

Sharpe had established the practice in Lancaster in 1836. After successfully completed his articles, Edward Paley was promoted in 1845 to become a partner and he was to become head of the firm in 1851. (Sharpe had by that time moved to North Wales, where he became increasingly engaged in schemes for railway construction at home and on the continent.) During that same year Edward Paley had married Fanny Sharpe, a sister of his mentor. They had one son and three daughters.

In 1868 Paley was joined by Hubert James Austin (1841-1915), who succeeded to the headship of the organisation after the former’s death. The practice continued until 1942, latterly being run by Edward’s only son, Henry Anderson Paley (1859-1936) - a member of the firm since 1877.

Edward favoured the gothic revival style of ecclesiastical architecture. Amongst his most important buildings was the Roman Catholic Church of St Peter at Lancaster, which was re-designated as Lancaster Cathedral in 1924. Other significant commissions included Anglican churches; railway stations at Barrow and Grange-over-Sands; hotels, hospitals and villas - together with extensions at Holker Hall near Cartmel.

Between 1836-1942, the business’s title changed several times, reflecting switches in the names and in the seniority of the partners, e.g. Sharpe and Paley, 1845-1851; Paley and Austin, 1868-1886; Austin and Paley, 1895-1914. The main office was initially based in Sun Street, Lancaster, although it was to be re-located on several occasions. However, for the greater part of its existence the firm operated from premises in Castle Park. For about twenty years from the early 1870s there was also a sub-office in Church Street, Barrow-in-Furness – where a number of important new orders had been secured.

By the time of its disappearance in 1942, the firm had been responsible for more than six hundred separate designs. A fuller account of the business is provided in “Sharpe, Paley & Austin: A Lancaster Architectural Practice” by James Price (Centre for North West Regional Studies, University of Lancaster, 1998).