| James William Wild | |
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Wild at the start of the Lepsius expedition in Egypt, 1842. Drawing by J.J. Frey. |
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| Born | 9 March 1814 Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England |
| Died | 7 November 1892 (aged 78) Sir John Soane's Museum, London |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Architect |
James William Wild (9 March 1814–7 November 1892) was an architect who acted as decorative architect to the Great Exhibition of 1851, and designed the Grimsby Dock Tower completed in 1852.[1] Wild was the son of watercolourist Charles Wild, and the brother-in-law of architect Owen Jones.
Wild had been articled to George Basevi from 1830. After his apprenticeship, he concentrated on Gothic design, and was entrusted with the design of a country church. He was subsequently engaged on many other church projects, and six churches had been built to his design before 1840. He then turned away from Gothic design to create Christ Church in Streatham, London, in Lombardic style in 1840–1,[2] which he worked on with Owen Jones.
He assisted Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius with his work in Egypt from 1842, before returning to Britain in 1848,[3] whereupon he received his larger commissions. After 1853 he designed amongst other buildings the Bethnal Green Museum, and the east and west galleries of the Horticultural Gardens. He was curator of the Sir John Soane's Museum in London from 1878 to his death in 1892.