Jones, John Philpot
JONES, John Philpot (fl. 1840-72), a native of Clonmell, Ireland, is the probable author of the original design for St. John The Baptist Roman Catholic Basilica, Military Road at Garrison Hill, ST. JOHN’S, NFLD. 1841-55; altered 1902-03 by Jonas Barter (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxvii, March 1950, 88, illus.). A restrained and austere Romanesque design, the project was initiated by Bishop Michael Fleming in 1838 and the completed plans by Jones were then sent to a ‘Mr. Schmidt’, of Altona, Germany, a consulting engineer who prepared a working model of the scheme and adapted the plans to suit the harsh northern climate of the Avalon Peninsula. Michael Murphy, an Irish architect, was hired to supervise the construction of the work, but his disputes with Bishop Fleming led to his dismissal, and he was replaced by James Purcell from Cork, Ireland (P. O’Neill, A Seaport Legacy, 1976, 738).
He is almost certainly the same ‘John Philpot Jones, Architect’ of London, England who exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1857 until 1872 (A. Graves, Royal Academy Exhibitors, iv, 1906, 276; Directory of British Architects 1834-1900, 1993, 510-11). The London City Directories list his name from 1862 until 1870 when he formed a partnership with Edward Salomons, but this office was dissolved in 1873 and Jones name is absent from subsequent listings. His talents as a designer must have been considerable; in 1857 he was selected as a finalist in the competition for the Government Offices in Whitehall, London (Builder [London], xv, 11 July 1857, 383). In 1860 he was awarded First Premium for his design of the Town Hall and Market at Bishop Auckland, Durham, Engl. (C. Cunningham, Victorian and Edwardian Town Halls, 1981, 151, illus.; R.I.B.A., Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, 2001, i, 1040)