BARRY, SIR CHARLES (1795-186o), English architect, was born in London on May the son of a stationer. He was articled to a firm of architects till 1817, when he set out on a three years' tour in Greece and Italy, Egypt and Palestine to study architecture. In 1820 he settled in London. One of his first works was the church of St. Peter at Brighton, in 1826. In 1831 he completed the Travellers' club in Pall Mall, a splendid work in the Italian style and the first of its kind built in London. In the same style and on a grander scale he built in 1837 the Reform club. He was also engaged on numerous private man sions in London, the finest being Bridgewater house (1847). Birmingham possesses one of his best works in King Edward's school which he built in the Tudor style between 1833 and 1836. For Manchester he designed the Royal Institution of Fine Arts (1824) and the Athenaeum (1836), and for Halifax the town hall. He was engaged for some years in reconstructing the Treasury buildings, Whitehall. But his masterpiece, notwith standing all unfavourable criticism, is the houses of parliament at Westminster (184o-6o). Barry was elected A.R.A. in 184o and R.A. in the following year, and received many foreign honours. He was knighted in 1852. He died suddenly at Clapham, London, on May 12 186o, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. In 1867 appeared a life of him by his son Bishop Alfred Barry (1826 191o). See H. H. Statham, The Architectural Genius of Sir C. Barry (1901) .
His son, EDWARD MIDDLETON BARRY (1830-1880), was also an architect, and was professor of architecture at the Royal Academy from 1873 until his death. He completed his father's work on the houses of parliament at Westminster, and Halifax town hall. Other buildings designed by him were Covent Garden theatre, Charing Cross and Cannon Street hotels, the Birmingham and Midland Institute, new galleries for the National Gallery and new chambers for the Inner Temple.
The youngest son, SIR JOHN WOLFE WOLFE-BARRY (1836- 1918 ), civil engineer, who assumed the additional name of Wolfe in 1898, was educated at Glenalmond, and articled as engineering pupil to Sir John Hawkshaw, with whom he built the railway bridges across the Thames at Charing Cross and Cannon street. In 1867 he worked on his own account. Among the works on which he was engaged were extensions of the Metropolitan District rail way, the St. Paul's station and bridge of the London, Chatham and Dover railway, the Barry Docks of the Barry railway company near Cardiff, the lock entrance, dock and graving dock at Imming ham, Grimsby, the extensions of the Surrey Commercial docks on the Thames, the Tower and new Kew bridges over the Thames. On the completion of the Tower bridge, in 1894, he was made a C.B., becoming K.C.B. three years later. Wolfe-Barry served on a number of important royal commissions, notably on that on London Traffic (r9o3–o5), and 1892-1906 was one of the two British representatives on the International Suez commission. He led in promoting (19oI–o2) the Engineering Standards committee for the standardization of certain engineering products. He died at Chelsea on Jan. 29 1918.