06 : Ernest Shearman – a biographical note
Ernest Shearman, the principal architect of St Barnabas, was born in 1859, the son of Charles James Shearman, a physician. He qualified as an architect, married Marian McGowran in 1885 and had 4 children. He worked for three years in Argentina from 1888-1891 as Architect to the Great Southern Railway, Buenos Aires, when he designed ecclesiastical and domestic buildings as well as railway works. After his return to England he was elected Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He initially worked at Sandringham, restoring the building after fire damage in 1891, and subsequently undertook other non-ecclesiastical projects. He moved to Winchester in 1907 and thereafter devoted himself largely to church architecture. He died in 1939, two weeks before his 80th birthday, and is buried in Winchester with his wife who died in 1953. Much further information is available in Dr John Salmon’s outstanding monograph ‘Ernest Charles Shearman, 1859-1939: An Anglo-Catholic Architect: An Illustrated Introduction to His Life and Work‘.
The photos below show Shearman, with his extended family and playing with his dog.
