William Henry Crossland (Yorkshire, 1835 – London, 14 November 1908), known professionally as W.H. Crossland, was a 19th-century English architect and a pupil of George Gilbert Scott. His architectural works included the design of three buildings that are now Grade I listed – Rochdale Town Hall, Holloway Sanatorium and Royal Holloway College.

Early life and education

Crossland was born in 1835 to a family living in Huddersfield. He was the younger son of Henry Crossland, who is recorded in the 1851 census as being a farmer and quarry owner, and his wife, Ellen (née Wilkinson). He had an elder brother, James, born in 1833. Crossland enrolled at Huddersfield College, where he excelled in writing and drawing. In the early 1850s Crossland became a pupil of George Gilbert Scott at his architectural practice in London. He worked with Scott on the design of the model village Akroydon, near Halifax, West Yorkshire, commissioned by the worsted manufacturer, Edward Akroyd.

Principal works

Crossland, who was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867, developed his own architectural practice, with offices in Halifax and Leeds, before moving to London and then, in 1879, opening an office in Egham, Surrey. More than 25 of the buildings he designed are listed by Historic England. Crossland's three most important commissions, all now Grade I listed, were: The Holloway Sanatorium and Royal Holloway College were inspired by the Cloth Hall of Ypres in Belgium and the Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley, France, respectively and are considered by some to be among the most remarkable buildings in the south of England.

Other significant works

In her biography of Crossland, published in 2020, Sheila Binns provides the most complete list yet of his architectural commissions, drawing on and supplementing earlier work by John Elliott, itself based on a compilation by Edward Law. Those that are listed by Historic England, many of them in Yorkshire, are included here.

Berkshire

Greater Manchester

North Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

West Yorkshire

Later life

Crossland's last entry in the RIBA's records was in 1894–95. There is no record of him undertaking any work after 1900, when he ceased to be architectural adviser to Royal Holloway.

Personal and family life

On 1 October 1859, Crossland married Lavinia Cardwell Pigot (who died in Boulogne, France on 17 January 1876). They had one child – a daughter, Maud, who was born on 10 July 1860 and died on 8 March 1900. Crossland also had an illegitimate son, Cecil Henry Crossland Hatt (born 1877), with his second (common-law) wife, (Eliza) Ruth Hatt (née Tilley; 1853–1892). She became a well-known actress, using the stage name Ruth Rutland, and they lived together in a bungalow on the Royal Holloway site, designed by Crossland and built in 1878 as a home for himself and his family while he oversaw Holloway College's construction. Crossland died at 57 Albert Street, Camden, London on 14 November 1908 following a stroke. His wife Lavinia, his brother James Crossland, his common-law wife Eliza Ruth Hatt, his daughter Maud Lart, his parents-in-law and his stepson Benjamin Tilley Hatt are buried in a family vault at Highgate Cemetery. Although Crossland's will specifically stated that he and his son should be interred there, neither of them is in the family vault. Crossland's place of burial is unknown. Crossland was survived by his son Cecil (by then known as Cecil Hatt Crossland) and two granddaughters – Maud and her husband William Lart's daughter Dorothea Maud (born 1881), and Cecil and his wife Lucy's daughter Beryl Joan (born 1905).

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