William Niven (1921)

Niven’s family originated from Perthshire but his father, David, trained as a surgeon and settled in Worcestershire, where William was born in 1846.

William trained as an architect and worked with Sir George Gilbert Scott on the restoration of the Chapter House at Westminster Abbey. The legacy of this work can be clearly seen in the parish church of St. Alban at Teddington, which Niven designed in the 1880s in the French gothic style. He himself lived at Udny House, Teddington from 1882 to 1890. Udny House was a fine 18th century country house; a picture gallery had been added around 1790, designed by Robert Adam, but was demolished around 1825 after the death of the owner led to the sale of the art collection. Niven subsequently acquired Marlow Place in Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire, a splendid example of early Georgian architecture.

Niven was very interested in the the architecture of the country house and published several books on the subject, illustrated with etchings which he himself had made. He edited Records of Buckinghamshire, the journal of the Architectural and Archaeological Society for the County of Buckingham, from 1906 until 1920. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA). Niven had acquired a considerable collection of art works and antiquarian books – many of which were sold by auction after his death in 1921.

Niven’s daughter was the artist Margaret Niven (1906-1997) and his grandson was the well-known actor David Niven (1910-1983).