Joseph Kay (architect)
Joseph Kay was an English architect, particularly active in the early years of the 19th century, and associated with the layout of central Greenwich and with Hastings. He was one of the original members of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and was elected a fellow in 1834.Early career
Kay was a pupil of Samuel Pepys Cockerell, and studied European architecture during a trip alongside Robert Smirke. In 1807, he married Sarah Henrietta Porden, the eldest daughter of architect William Porden; he was assistant to Porden during the building of the second Eaton Hall near Chester, Cheshire. One of his earliest work in his own right was interior design of the Assembly Rooms in Clifton, Bristol, c.1811.Professional practice
In London, as surveyor to the Foundling Hospital, he designed houses on the east side of Mecklenburgh Square, and, as clerk of works to Greenwich Hospital, he remodelled the town centre in Greenwich ; the nearby Trafalgar Tavern is also his work. In Edinburgh he designed the Post Office in Waterloo Place. His masterpiece was Pelham Crescent with the Church of St Mary-in-the-Castle in the centre, in Hastings, Sussex, built for Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester; Colvin described it:
Other buildings by Kay in Hastings also survive, including the Cupola and Belmont House.Family
Kay and his wife had at least eight children. Their eldest son, William Porden Kay also became an architect, emigrating to Australia in 1842 to become a Director of Public Works, and designing Hobart's Government House. The second son, Joseph Henry Kay, became a naval officer and one of Australia's first geophysicists, a foundation member of the Royal Society of Tasmania and a fellow of the Royal Society.
