| William Leighton | |
| Birth Date: | 15 July 1905 |
| Birth Place: | Fremantle, Western Australia |
| Death Place: | Dalkeith, Western Australia |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Education: | Fremantle Boys School Perth Technical College |
| Occupation: | Architect |
| Spouse: | Miriam Olga Wight |
| Children: | Garry |
| Parents: | James Leighton, Margaret née Howard |
William Thomas Leighton (1905–1990) was a Western Australian architect, well known for his Art Deco[1] and Inter-War Functionalist style of civic, commercial and domestic buildings.
Leighton was born in Fremantle on 15 July 1905 and after an apprenticeship at the architectural offices of Allen & Nicholas in Fremantle, was one of the first group of architects to be registered as part of the WA Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.[2] Leighton then worked in the architectural offices of Eales and Cohen before joining Bohringer, Taylor and Johnson, who sent him on interstate and overseas commissions.[2] Leighton joined the firm Baxter Cox in 1936 and was later to become a partner until the firm was dissolved in the mid-1940s. Leighton joined the Public Works Department for a short time after World War II, before being offered a partnership with Hobbs, Winning and Leighton.[2] Leighton was president of RAIA (WA) between 1951 and 1952[3] Leighton retired in 1975.[2]
William Leighton worked on a number of Western Australian cinemas including the Windsor Cinema in Nedlands, the Cygnet Cinema in South Perth,[4] the Princess in Fremantle, and the Piccadilly Theatre and Arcade,[5] Theatre Royal, Metro, Grand and Plaza Theatres in Perth, and the Lyric in Bunbury.,[6]
Leighton died on 11 March 1990 at his Dalkeith residence.