Charles Barry

Charles Barry (1795 to 1860) was an English architect, best known for rebuilding the Palace of Westminster in London after the fire of 1834. Born in Westminster, he spent three years on a Grand Tour of the Mediterranean and Middle East before setting up practice, and his first commissions were Gothic churches for the Church Building Commissioners. He later became the leading figure in bringing Italianate architecture to Britain, using the Italian palazzo as the model for clubs, town houses and country houses such as the Reform Club in Pall Mall, and he laid out Italian Renaissance style gardens around many of them. He received the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1850 and was knighted in 1852.