William Mawson

William Mawson (17 May 1828 – 25 April 1889) was an English architect best known for his work in and around Bradford.

Mawson was born in Leeds on 17 May 1828 to parents William and Mary Mawson. His father was a prominent paper manufacturer and councilor in Leeds.

William Mawson moved from Leeds to Bradford, after he finished his articles in late 1840s. At that time he was aged 21 and in 1849 he became a partner of the older Henry Francis Lockwood. Initially Mawson lived with his eldest brother Henry and his family at 27 Hanover Square, Bradford. Henry Mawson was a bookseller and printer with a business in Kirkgate Bradford. Also living in this house was their sister, Mary Ann Mawson, whose son Francis Mawson Rattenbury was articled to Mawson and who was to become a famous architect in Canada and who was subsequently murdered by his wife and young chauffeur in the famous case of 1935.

Mawson died in 1889 and spent the last twenty years of his life living at 3 Clifton Villas, Bradford with his mother - until she died in 1881 - and his brother Richard. William and Richard never married.

William Mawson, along with his brother Richard and his mother Mary Mawson, is buried in Undercliffe Cemetery where the imposing Egyptian obelisk with a bronze portrait of William is situated on the main terrace. It is a Grade II listed monument.