Gordon Leith Explained

George Esslemont Gordon Leith (1885–1965) was a South African architect.

Career

He started his career working for Herbert Baker.[1]

Leith served as a captain in the Royal Field Artillery (and was later recovering from a Western Front gas attack).[2]

Leith was assistant architect to the Imperial War Graves Commission in England from 1918 to 1920, before going back to South Africa, where he set up his own practice.[1]

Leith's works include the Calais Southern War Cemetery, France (1918–20), Johannesburg Park Station (1927–32), the Town Hall, Bloemfontein (1920–40), the South African Reserve Bank, Johannesburg (1938),[1] and the Queen Victoria Hospital, Johannesburg (1943).[3]

Personal life

He married Ethel Mary Leith, née Cox (1888–1974). Their daughter Sarah Greenaway Leith (1918-2010), was a British rally driver and novelist, and a Second World War codebreaker at Bletchley Park.

Notes and References

  1. George Esslemont Gordon Leith - oi. 20 November 2017. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201035838/http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100059218. dead.
  2. Web site: Fox. Paul. Sarah Greenaway [Sally] Miall [née Leith] (1918–2010)]. oxforddnb.com. ODNB. 20 November 2017.
  3. Web site: Hospital Hill (Old Suburb between Braamfontein & Hillbrow). 2016-01-02. Johannesburg 1912 - Suburb by suburb research. en. 2019-01-17.