John Woody Papworth

John Woody Papworth (4 March 1820 – 6 July 1870) was an English architect, designer and antiquary. He is chiefly remembered for "Papworth's Ordinary" (1874), a reference guide to British and Irish coats of arms arranged systematically according to their design. G.D. Squibb commented in 1961 that "his memory rests more securely upon his Ordinary of British Armorials than upon any building for which he was responsible, though it is but fair to add that his professional achievements were not lightly regarded by his contemporaries".

Papworth was born in London on 4 March 1820, the elder son of the architect John Buonarotti Papworth: his younger brother, Wyatt Angelicus van Sandau Papworth, also became a well known architect. Trained in his father's office, he remained there till 1846, when his father retired. In 1837 he became, on its formation, secretary to the council of the Government School of Design at Somerset House, and assisted his father, the director, in its organisation. In 1838 he was awarded the silver Isis medal, in 1840 the gold Isis medal, and in 1845 the Stock medallion at the Society of Arts, in 1842 the Soane medallion, in 1843 the medal of merit, and in 1847 the silver medal of the Institute of British Architects.

In 1841 Papworth was elected an associate, and in 1846 a fellow of the Institute of British Architects.

Papworth never married. He died, aged 50, on 6 July 1870, from a gangrene which had developed in an injured foot: his death appears to have been hastened by his determination to continue work on his Ordinary. He was buried in Highgate Cemetery.

Although Papworth published widely on architectural matters, and exhibited many architectural designs at the Royal Academy, few of his works were executed. One project that did come to completion was his design for the Albert Institution, opened in 1869 in Gravel Lane, Southwark. Papworth also designed the monument to the radical political reformer Thomas Hardy in Bunhill Fields burial ground.

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