Joseph Henry Hirst (1863–1945) was a leading architect of the post-Victorian era based in Kingston upon Hull.
He was born in 1863 in South Milford, Yorkshire, the son of William Hirst (1833-1918) and Mary Ann Carr (1839-1883). He married Hannah Whitehead (1852-1951) in 1890 in St Charles Catholic Church, Hull. They had the following children:
During the Second World War his home in Hymers Avenue, Hull was damaged in an air raid. He moved to Selby where he died aged 82.[1]
He started his career as a surveyor under Colonel William H. Wellsted.
He was appointed first City Architect for Kingston upon Hull on 1 January 1900, and he retained this until retirement on 1 July 1926[2] and was "the man who more than any other designed the face of the modern city".[3] He was responsible for some of Hull's best-known buildings, among them the City Hall, swimming baths, schools and housing estates. [4]