Background
He was born of a Roman Catholic family in New York
He was born of a Roman Catholic family in New York
In Bristol he took on Benjamin Bucknall as an assistant. He was commonly known as Francis the Hansom, as he was rather handsome. The original buildings were all designed by Hansom.
His first design at Clifton was for Big School (then a meeting hall and now the school canteen) and a proposed dining hall.
Only the former was actually built and a small extra short wing was added in 1866. This is what now contains the Marshal"s office and the new staircase into Big School.
Hansom was called back to the College in the 1870s and asked to design what is now the Percival Library and the open-cloister classrooms. This project was undertaken in two stages and largely completed by 1875, although the Wilson Tower was not built until 1890.
Saint Stephen, Bristol, 1880s.