by a blood infection, in 1920. His biographer Brian Walker notes from the architect's personal archives that he was "a man of remarkable vigour and had an enthusiasm for life ... he possessed a tranquility of mind and a great sense of humour and fun." Early life Francis Matcham was born on 22 November 1854 in Newton Abbot, Devon. He was the second of nine children and the eldest son of Charles Matcham (1826–1888), a brewer, and his wife, Elizabeth Lancaster (1830–1905). In 1857 Charles Matcham moved his family to Union Street, Torquay, and secured a job as a manager of a brewery and a malthouse. Frank was educated at Babbacombe School, in Babbacombe, Torquay. Matcham showed an early interest in architecture and became apprenticed at the age of 14 to George Soudon Bridgman, a local architect. The apprenticeship lasted 18 months until Matcham was offered a job at a quantity surveyor's office in London in around 1868. Working in the capital allowed Matcham to study with different architectural professionals. His training under a quantity surveyor taught him how to draw up estimates of cost, interact with building contractors, and introduced him to complex calculations, something which he was unlikely to have been taught at school. He also learnt the importance of working to tight schedules imposed by demanding customers. In his spare time, Matcham visited many of London's buildings but took a particular liking to theatres and music halls. A building of special interest to him was the newly completed Gaiety Theatre in the Strand, designed by Charles J. Phipps. Matcham was impressed at Phipps's ability to build a normal-sized theatre on a small, awkward plot, and it is probable that Matcham gained inspiration from the Gaiety in some of his later buildings which were also built on restricted plots of land. It is not known how long Matcham spent in London, although it was not uncommon for an architect to take up to six years to become qualified. The theatre historian Görel Garlick estimates that Matcham spent three years in the capital during this time, which would seem probable as by 1871 Matcham was back in Torquay and again under the guidance of Bridgeman, this time as his chief assistant. Bridgeman was eager to take advantage of Matcham's experience in London and asked him to help on the redesign of the Lyceum Theatre in Torquay. Isaac Singer, the