Mary Medd Explained

Mary Beaumont Medd
Birth Name:	Mary Beaumont Crowley
Birth Date:	4 August 1907
Nationality:	British
Alma Mater:	Bedales School
Spouse:	David Medd
Practice:	Hertfordshire county Ministry of Education

Mary Beaumont Medd (née Crowley, 4 August 1907 - 6 June 2005) was a British architect, known for public buildings including schools.^[1] Medd was the first architect to be employed by Hertfordshire county council.^[2]

Early life and education

Medd was the daughter of Ralph Henry Crowley (1869–1953), who worked as Chief Medical Officer in the Ministry of Education.^[3] After education at home, she spent one year at an experimental school run by Isabel Fry, and then was at Bedales School from 1921 to 1926 where she became Head Girl.^{[4] [5]}

After attending a finishing school in Switzerland, in 1927 Medd trained at the Architectural Association School of Architecture. She studied alongside Jessica Albery, Justin Blanco White, and Judith Ledeboer where they developed a commitment to housing reform and social concerns which impacted their future careers.^[6]

Career

As Mary Crowley, working with Cecil George Kemp, she designed three houses at 102, 104 and 106 Orchard Road, Tewin, Hertfordshire, in 1935–36.^[7]

In 1941, John Newsom, Hertfordshire's education officer, hired her as the first architect to be employed by Hertfordshire County Council. She later met her husband David Leslie Medd (1917–2009), when she was part of the team of architects commissioned to build schools in Hertfordshire after World War II. They married on 11 April 1949, and always worked together after this, becoming leading school designers in England and Wales.^[8]

National Life Stories conducted an oral history interview (C467/29) with Mary Medd in 1998 for its Architects Lives' collection held by the British Library.^[9]

Mary Medd died on 6 June 2005 in Woolmer Green, Hertfordshire.

Collections

In 1998 the Institute of Education received the papers of David Medd and Mary Medd, which had previously been held at Bishop Grossteste College.^[10] In subsequent years the collection was added to by Medd until his death in 2008. University College London also holds the archive of the Architects and Building Branch (for whom David and Mary Medd worked), and the archive of educators George and Judith Baines who collaborated with the Medds.^{[11] [12]}

Further reading

• Lacomba Montes, Paula; Campos Uribe, Alejandro. “From Classrooms to Centres: Mary and David Medd’s Contribution to Postwar School Design in Britain.” Arq: Architectural Research Quarterly 24, no. 3 (January 1, 2020): 251–264.
• Shariff, Yasmin. “Schools Power: A New Biography of Mary Medd Is a Timely Reminder of the Interdependence of Architecture, Education and Children’s Welfare in the Modern Age.” Architects’ Journal 237, no. 12 (March 1, 2013): 63–67.
• University of York. Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies., and Mary Medd. A Right to Be Children: Designing for the Education of the Under-fives : An Account of Two Courses Held At the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, University of York, April and July 1974. London: RIBA Publications, 1976.
• Book: Burke, Catherine. A Life in Education and Architecture: Mary Beaumont Medd. 2013. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. 978-1-4094-7190-5.
• Gould, Jeremy (1977), Modern houses in Britain, 1919-1939, Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain

External links

• Papers of George and Judith Baines at the Institute of Education, University College London
• Papers of David Medd and Mary Medd at the Institute of Education, University College London
  • Photographic Archive of the Architects and Building Branch, Ministry of Education and its successors at the Institute of Education, University College London Records of the Architects and Building Branch at The National Archives
• Institute of Education Archives Guides at University College London

Notes and References

1. News: 24 June 2005. Walker . Lynne. Saint . Andrew . Mary Medd, Obituary. Theguardian.com. 6 October 2015.
2. News: Walker. Lynne. Obituary: Mary Medd. 2005-06-23. The Guardian. 2020-03-08. Saint. Andrew. en-GB. 0261-3077.
3. Catherine Burke,About looking: vision, transformation, and the education of the eye in discourses of school renewal past and present, British Educational Research Journal Vol. 36, No. 1 (February 2010), pp. 65–82, at p. 66. Published by: Wiley on behalf of BERA
4. Catherine Burke,About looking: vision, transformation, and the education of the eye in discourses of school renewal past and present, British Educational Research Journal Vol. 36, No. 1 (February 2010), pp. 65–82, at p. 80 note 10 and p. 68. Published by: Wiley on behalf of BERA
5. Medd [née Crowley], Mary Beaumont (1907–2005), architect and educationist]. 2021-10-02. 2004 . en. 10.1093/ref:odnb/104202. 978-0-19-861412-8 .
6. Ledeboer, Judith Geertruid (1901–1990), architect and public servant. 2021-10-02. 2004 . en. 10.1093/ref:odnb/66415. 978-0-19-861412-8 . Walker . Lynne .
7. Book: Gould, Jeremy. Modern houses in Britain, 1919-1939. Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain. 1977. 45.
8. News: Harwood, Elain. 27 April 2009. David Medd: Architect who revolutionised school design. The Independent. 8 October 2015.
9. http://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/Architects-Lives/021M-C0467X0029XX-0001V0 National Life Stories, 'Medd, Mary (1 of 11) National Life Stories Collection: Architects' Lives', The British Library Board, 1998
10. Web site: UCL Special Collections . Papers of David Medd (1917-2009) and Mary Medd (1907-2005) . 2024-06-25 . UCL Archives Catalogue.
11. Web site: UCL Special Collections . Photographic Archive of the Architects and Building Branch, Ministry of Education and its successors . 2024-06-25 . UCL Archives Catalogue.
12. Web site: UCL Special Collections . Papers of George and Judith Baines . 2024-06-25 . UCL Archives Catalogue.