William Buckland, 1734-1774

WILLIAM BUCKLAND 1734-1774 . Architect of Virginia and Maryland by ROSAMOND RANDALL IBEIRNE f, and JOHN HENRY SCARFF, F. A. I. A. Baltimore - THE MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY - 1958 WILLIAM BUCKLAND Portrait by Charles Willson Peale, begun 1774 3 completed 1787. Imaginative symbolic background displays the base of a monumental column and an uncommon five column portico. Dedicated to osc Who in the 17th and 18th Centuries Planted in America the Seeds oj English Culture Preface So LITTLE is known about any of our colonial archi tects that it seems not too presumptuous to attempt to frame this unfinished sketch of a man who deserves recognition. The urge to develop the biography of William Buckland was an inherited one. It was stimulated by the study of a few family papers and a close association of one of the authors for many years with Buck lands Annapolis houses. Every family has its traditions but most lack a member with time and energy to put these traditions in some sort of permanent form. A professional knowledge of the byways and ancient mores of London and Oxford, as well as of the finer points of eighteenth century architecture., was needed to round out the story of Bucklands career. Therefore, the two authors became associated in an effort to recreate the life of one of the few pre-Revolutionary craftsmen whose buildings still stand today, serene and authenticated. His is typical of the traditional American success story the poor young mans progress and rise in the world. Though his opportunities lay more in the domestic field than in public works, they are unrivaled in his time and place. We have many acknowledgments to make, some of which fall more naturally into the notes.Chiefly are the authors grateful to the late Daniel R. Randall for his pioneering in William Bucklands cause. To encouraging friends, particularly to Francis C. Haber, who patiently read and condensed the manuscript, and to Edith Rossiter Bevan to the courteous staffs of the British Museum, The Public Record Office, the libraries of the Guildhall and of the Royal Institute of British Archi tects, the manuscript room of the Bodleian Library, the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, the Peabody Institute, the Mary land Historical Society, the late Roger Thomas of the Maryland Hall of Records, the Virginia State Library, the Virginia Historical Society, the library of the College of William and Mary, and the Alderman Library of the University of Virginia, we offer our sincere thanks, R. R. B. J. H. S. vii Contents PAGE Preface vli I English Background I II Virginia and the Masons 12 III Gunston Hall 22 TV Richmond County 34 V Maryland 67 VI Bucklands Annapolis 82 VII Last Years 103 VIII Postscript 133 Appendices A. Indenture of Apprenticeship 141 B. Indenture of Service, Buckland to Mason . . . 142 C. Mortgage Securing McCalFs Loan to Buckland . 144 D. One of Several Buckland Accounts in Lloyd Ledgers 146 E. Inventory of Estate 147 F. Final Account of Estate 152 Notes 157 Index 166 of illustrations William Buckland, by Charles Willson Peale Cartouche for bulls-eye window of Ham mond-Harwood House Apprentice record Arms of the Worshipful Company of Joiners, London Gunston Hall, Fairfax County, Va. Floor plan Menokin, Richmond County, Va. Floor plan Blandfield, Essex County, Va. Floor plan Gunston Hall, Fairfax County, Va. Gar den front Design by Batty Langley for a porch GunstonHall. Drawing room Gunston Hall. Dining room Gunston Hall. Hallway Pohick Church, Fairfax County, Va. Interior Rockledge, Prince William Co., Va. Exterior Blandfield, Essex County, Va. Land approach Menokin, Richmond County, Va. Stairway Elmwood, Essex County, Va. Drawing room Map of Annapolis by James Stoddard Scott House, Annapolis, Md. Street front Mabel Brady Garvan Collec tion, Hale University frontispiece . H . Scarff title-page Joiners Company, Guildhall, London 4 Joiners Company 11 Coffin and Holden, Brick Ar chitecture of the Colonial Period in Md...