Robert William Edis

Edis was born in Huntingdon to Emma and Robert Edis. His sister was the preacher Isabella Reaney,[3] his brother was Arthur Wellesley Edis, a gynaecologist,[4] and his niece through Arthur was the photographer Olive Edis.[5]

Edis was educated at Huntingdon Grammar School and Aldenham School before being articled to William Gilbee Habershon and Edward Habershon, architects, in London.[1][2] He became chief assistant to Anthony Salvin, and joined the Architectural Association in 1859.[1] He was admitted an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1862 and a fellow of the association in 1867.[1]

Although his early work was Gothic, Edis later became a proponent of the Queen Anne style of baroque revival architecture. He worked mostly on private houses and public buildings, although he did design a few churches.[6]

He later became involved in the Aesthetic Movement of decorative arts and in furniture design, and delivered a series of Cantor lectures on the subject at the Royal Society of Arts. These formed the basis of two books: Decoration and Furniture of Town Houses (1881) and Healthy Furniture and Decoration (1884).[1][7] Combining principles of Aestheticism with the Sanitary Movement, Edis delivered a lecture during the 1884 International Health Exhibition calling for more artistic designs within hygienic interior objects.[8]

Great Britain building at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893

From 1883, Edis extended and rebuilt Sandringham House in Norfolk for the Prince of Wales.[9][10] He was the designer of the British pavilion at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

He built a studio on Church Street, Sheringham, for his nieces the photographers Katherine and Olive Edis. It was their first studio and had a glass roof to allow in natural daylight which became an important aspect of their trademark style.[5]

Edis had a long association with the Volunteer Force and its successor the Territorial Force. In 1868 he received a commission in the Artists' Rifles.[11] He went on to be the regiment's commanding officer from 1883 to November 1902,[12][13][14] and subsequently held the office of honorary colonel from 1902 until his death (he continued when the regiment was reorganized as part of the Territorial Force in 1908).[2][15] He designed the unit's drill hall at Duke's Road, off Euston Road, Camden (now The Place, home of the Contemporary Dance Trust).[16]

In January 1889 he was elected a member of the first London County Council, representing St Pancras South for three years as a member of the Conservative-backed Moderate Party.[17]

Edis had homes at Ormesby Old Hall, Great Ormesby, Norfolk, as well as Fitzroy Square[18] and Regent's Park, London.[19] He was a justice of the peace and a Deputy Lieutenant for Norfolk from 1901.[2][20] He was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919 for his military services.[21]

Edis died suddenly at his Norfolk home in 1927, aged 88.[2]