Item 4 - New Court (from the South West)

Rickman and Hutchinson was an architects practice based in Birmingham. Thomas Rickman (1776-1841), a self-taught architect, established a practice in Liverpool in 1817. The following year, Rickman took on the eighteen year-old Henry Hutchinson (1800-1831) as a pupil. A second office in Birmingham was opened in 1820, to which Rickman and Hutchinson both transferred. In December 1821 they entered into a partnership. The firm became well-known, especially as church architects. In 1825 Rickman and Hutchinson were invited to submit designs for New Court at St John’s College, Cambridge. Their plans were selected and they supervised the construction between 1826 and 1831. The partnership came to an end in November 1831, when Henry Hutchinson died after a long period of illness. Rickman continued the practice, going into partnership with Richard Charles Hussey (1802-87) in 1835. Rickman retired in 1838, leaving the office to Hussey. He died on 4 January 1841.