Introduction and early life
Florence Hobson was born in Monasterevin, Kildare on 11 February 1881 to Benjamin, a grocer, and Mary Anne (née Bulmer).[1] If Bulmer Hobson sounds familiar, Florence's young brother was John, a leading member of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republic Brotherhood (IRB), indeed, he swore Patrick Pearse into the IRB membership in 1913.
Shortly after her birth, Florence and her family moved to Belfast and it is here that she is found on the Irish Census of 1901, her occupation recorded as an architect's pupil and her religion as 'Society of Friends' i.e. Quakers.[2] The architectural firm that accepted Florence was J. J. Phillips & Son, a small family-run business in Belfast. By 1903, she had passed the preliminary and intermediate exams of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), a fact that was greeted with delight by architect William J. Fennell. During a lecture given by Fennell on 'Early English Architecture' in the elementary room of the School of Art, North Street, he proclaimed that 'he was glad to see that there was at least one lady in Belfast who had the pluck to serve her time to architecture, and had passed the British Institute of architects - Miss Hobson.'[3] Florence must surely have been influenced by her mother Mary Ann, suffragist and amateur archaeologist.[4] Together, they would go on expeditions visiting archaeological sites and presenting their findings at various events and archaeology journals.[5]
To England and back again
Later in 1903, Florence moved to London but found it difficult to secure a long-term job and returned to Belfast in 1905, re-joining J. J. Philips & Son and very soon afterwards she joined the architectural staff of Belfast Corporation. As an assistant to the Royal Commission on Health and Housing, she visited Germany and Switzerland to study housing problems and initiatives in those countries. On 20 March 1911, she was elected licentiate, having been proposed by J.G.S. Gibson, E.G. Dawber and Robert Magill Young.[6] Towards the end of 1911, Florence published an anonymous article in The Queen, an illustrated weekly society magazine established by Samuel Beeton in 1861, where she notes that one reason to refuse women entering the architectural fraternity was ‘that they would find it difficult to get builders to carry out their orders.’ However, as Florence also surmises, ‘a woman usually knows what she wants, and mostly gets it without much berating about the bush’. She continues, rather humorously, that ‘those who imagine that the young men might become distraught, and that from the hour of her entrance concentrated work would cease’ are very much mistaken and regardless of sex architecture enables a person to ‘express their artistic ideas; and to the true artist it thus becomes a method of self-realisation.’[7]
Architectural career
By 1912, Florence held a permanent position in the Health Department of Belfast Corporation, where she worked until 1921.[8] After this, she worked with the Reconstruction Commission of the White Cross Society, an organisation established on 1 February 1921 to distribute funds raised by the American committee for relief in Ireland. In the 1930s, Florence ran a craft shop in Bushmills, Antrim and a decade later married William Patterson, some twelve years her junior. [9] Florence died on 1 November 1978 at her home, 23 Ballymullen Road, Crawfordsburn, Down.[10] In an article in the Irish Independent, Florence was acknowledged as the first woman to become an architect in Ireland, and one of the first three women to become a member of the RIBA.[11]
However, there are few examples of architectural design. Florence, unfortunately, had to battle numerous prejudices: she was female, a Quaker, she was born in the Irish Free State but educated in Belfast, and arguably her reputation may have been damaged as a result of her brother’s involvement in the Easter Rising. Without these barriers, perhaps Florence would have been the first woman to have her own private practice in Ireland, nevertheless, it is irrefutable that she holds her place in Irish history as the first woman in the country to become an architect.
[1] Copy of birth certificate for Florence Hobson, 10 February 1881.
[2] Hobson family, 1901 census return, NAI, https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-census/census-record/?census_year=1901&surname__icontains=hobson&firstname__icontains=florence&id=4404966
[3] Northern Whig, 9 February 1903.
[5] B. Hobson, “Some Souterrains in Antrim and Down.” Annual Report & Proceedings: Belfast Naturalists Field Club, Series 2, Part 3 (1903-04), p. 214.
[6] The R.I.B.A. Kalendar 1912-1913, p. 194.
[7] The Queen, 23 December 1911.
[8] Freemans Journal, 18 March 1912.
[10] Belfast Telegraph, 2 November 1978.
[11] Irish Independent, 6 May 1932.
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