John B. Sutcliffe

John B. Sutcliffe (March 28, 1853 – October 23, 1913) was an Anglo-American architect.

John Sutcliffe was born in Bacup, in the county of Lancashire, England, on March 28, 1853, the son of John and Martha (Townend) Sutcliffe. His paternal grandfather was a builder in Todmorden, Yorkshire. His paternal great-grandfather was a wool manufacturer; his maternal grandfather, John Townend, was a large colliery owner in Lancashire. John's father was a large contractor, who failed in business as a result of the depression brought about in that part of England by the American Civil War. He subsequently became an architect and civil engineer and in 1864, his son John left school to enter his father's business.

Sutcliffe attended evening classes at the Science and Art School for many years and, as a result of his work outside of business hours, he won the gold medal for architecture from the South Kensington Museum, where he graduated in architecture and art. He also won the bronze medal for descriptive geometry, and numerous other prizes and diplomas. From 1875-77, he was a draughtsman for Robert B. Dixon, of Darlington and from 1877–78, he worked for Osborne & Reading,Birmingham. From 1878-82, he was engaged as an architect at Bacup, and in 1878, he designed the buildings for a school in Crimsworth near Hebden Bridge. From 1882 to 1886, he was chief draughtsman in the British government's dockyard at Portsmouth.

In 1886, he emigrated to America, working first for J.A. Wood in New York City, and then on the staff of The American Architect in Boston, and in December moved to Birmingham, AL, where the following year he founded the Alabama Association of Architects. John Sutcliffe is mentioned in a civil lawsuit with which he was connected while working in Alabama, which was heard by the Supreme Court of Alabama in 1895, regarding an unpaid bill for architectural work of $29.05.

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