GOTCH, Laurence Mursell (1882-1964), a partner in the Calgary, Alberta architectural firm of Holman & Gotch. He was born in Kettering, Co. Northamptonshire, England on 4 July 1882. His uncle was the well-known Edwardian architect J. Alfred Gotch (1852-1942) and it was he who likely played a role in persuading his nephew Laurence to pursue a career in architecture. L.M. Gotch articled in his uncle’s office from September 1898 to 1901, then spent another eighteen months as junior assistant to his uncle. He became a skilled delineator and draftsman, and in early 1904 he was awarded the Annual R.I.B.A. Silver Medal for Measured Drawings. His presentation, documenting the historic St. Oswald’s Church in Ashbourne, was one of twelve sets submitted in competition, and they received praise in the R.I.B.A. Journal [London], xi, 6 Feb. 1904, 170 and 180. His drawings were later published in The Building News [London], lxxxvi, 11 March 1904, plate illustrations. Gotch moved to London in 1904 and joined Andrew N. Prentice as assistant (in 1904-07), then obtained a teaching post as Lecturer at the Architectural Association in London (in 1907-10).
It is unclear why Gotch decided to leave England in 1910 and emigrate to Canada, bypassing the prosperous cities of Montreal and Toronto and instead choosing to settle in Calgary, Alberta where he was invited by Reginald T. Holman to form a partnership (see list of works under Holman & Gotch). Gotch wrote a lengthy essay on his experiences as an architect in Alberta in 1913, and his paper, entitled " The Spirit of The West", was published in The Architects' & Builders' Journal [London], xxxvii, 12 Feb. 1913, 183. When the building boom in Calgary faded in 1914, Gotch returned to England and rejoined his uncle’s firm of Gotch & Saunders in Kettering. In 1924 he moved to London and opened an office under his own name; his major work there was the Head Office of the Midland Bank, Poultry, London, designed in collaboration with Sir Edwin Lutyens and built 1924-39. He was also credited with the design of nearly 200 branches of the same bank, located in cities and towns throughout Britain. After WWII he founded the London architectural firm of Gotch and Partners which was active until 1955. Gotch died at Amersham, Co. Buckinghamshire on 28 January 1964 (obituary The Builder [London], ccvi, 7 Feb. 1964, 274; biog. and port. Who’s Who & Why in Canada, 1913, 286; biog. Frederick Chatterton, Who’s Who in Architecture [London], 1923, 105; biog. R.I.B.A., Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, pub. 2001, Vol. i, 759).