J. A. Hansom

Joseph Aloysius Hansom
Joseph Aloysius Hansom
Born	26 October 1803 York
Died	29 June 1882 Fulham
Nationality	English
Occupation	Architect
Buildings	Birmingham Town Hall, 1831
Projects	inventor of the Hansom Cab, 1834

Joseph Aloysius Hansom (26 October 1803 – 29 June 1882) was a prolific English architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal, The Builder, in 1843.

Hansom was born at 114 Micklegate, York (now the Brigantes pub) to a Roman Catholic family and baptised as Josephus Aloysius Handsom(e). He was the brother of the architect Charles Francis Hansom and the uncle of Edward J. Hansom. He was apprenticed to his father as a joiner, but showing an early aptitude for draughtsmanship and construction, he was permitted to transfer his apprenticeship to a local architect named Mr Philips.

About 1825 he settled in Halifax, Yorkshire, and in the same year he married Hannah Glover at St Michael le Belfrey in York. He took a post as assistant to John Oates and there befriended Edward Welch, with whom he formed his first architectural partnership in 1828. Together they designed several churches in Yorkshire and Liverpool, and also worked on the renovation of Bodelwyddan Castle in Denbighshire and King William's College in the Isle of Man. In 1831 their designs for Birmingham Town Hall were accepted; however, the contract led to their bankruptcy, as they had stood surety for the builders. The disaster led to the dissolution of the partnership and may have contributed to Hansom becoming a radical socialist.

On 23 December 1834 he registered the design of a 'Patent Safety Cab' on the suggestion of his employer. Distinctive safety features included a suspended axle, while the larger wheels and lower position of the cab led to less wear and tear and fewer accidents. He went on to sell the patent to a company for £10,000; however, as a result of the purchaser's financial difficulties, the sum was never paid. The first Hansom Cab travelled down Hinckley's Coventry Road in 1835. The Hansom cab was improved by subsequent modifications and exported worldwide to become a ubiquitous feature of the 19th-century street scene.