Author: Liardet, Wilbraham
Biography:
LIARDET, Wilbraham (1771-1854: ancestry.co.uk)
He was born on 17 Dec. 1771 and baptised Wilbraham Francis John Liardet on 19 Jan. 1772 at St. Martin’s-in-the Fields, Westminster, the eighth of at least nine children of Rev. Jean François Louis (anglicized to John Francis Lewis) Liardet, originally from Lausanne, Switzerland, and Maria Salomé Von Kückh, who had married at St. Botolph’s, Aldgate, City of London, in 1762. The family later lived at Grosvenor Place, Pimlico. Nothing is known of his education until he was apprenticed to an architect in St. Marylebone in 1792. He does not appear to have practised and eventually became a clerk in the Ordnance Office of the Navy. He married Phillipa (Evelyn) Houghton, widow of Major Daniel Francis Houghton, on 16 Apr. 1797 at St. George’s, Hanover Square, Westminster. They went on to have at least two daughters and a son. They probably lived in Chelsea, where they baptised their children at St. Luke’s. In 1807 he was in financial difficulty and was imprisoned for debt in the Fleet under King’s Bench rules. He was again imprisoned in 1813, with his address recorded as Elkin’s Row, Bayswater, and as formerly William Street, Lisson Green, Paddington. There was a final meeting of creditors in 1815. Sometime thereafter, possibly due to his wife’s inheriting, his finances improved. She died in 1824. At some point and perhaps on account of his son’s emigration to Australia in 1839, he went to live with his married daughter Louisa Morley and her family. In the 1841 Census they are recorded living at Westgate House, Acol, Thanet, Kent. He died on 1 Jan. 1854, aged 83, at Beresford Place, Southsea. Despite the works listed here having been reviewed, there appear to be no extant copies recorded. (ancestry.co.uk 5 Aug. 2023; findmypast.co.uk 5 Aug. 2023; Hampshire Telegraph 7 Jan. 1854; Morning Herald 19 Feb. 1869; Kentish Mercury 18 May 1878; London Gazette, various issues) AA