Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Jerman, Edward

1399514Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 29 — Jerman, Edward1892Thomas Seccombe (1866-1923)

JERMAN, EDWARD (d. 1668), architect, was one of the three surveyors appointed by the committee for rebuilding the Royal Exchange, London, to report on the ruins after the great fire of 1666, and was selected to undertake the work of reconstruction. The building was commenced by him on 6 May 1667. The last mention of his name is made on 22 Oct. 1668, and he died before 28 Nov., on which day Cartwright, his head mason, ‘declared himself master of the whole designe for the Exchange.’ It appears that Cartwright completed the work in 1669 from Jerman's drawings, at a cost of 59,000l. Dr. Robert Hooke [q. v.] and Sir Christopher Wren were occasionally consulted. There is a view of the edifice in Campbell's ‘Vitruvius Britannicus,’ vol. ii., and a sketch of it in Knight's ‘London’ (ii. 302), where Jerman's name is wrongly spelt ‘Jernan.’ It was burnt down 10 Jan. 1838. Jerman also restored the Merchant Taylors' Hall, and rebuilt the halls of the Haberdashers', Drapers', and Fishmongers' companies respectively. The Fishmongers' Hall (completed after his death and since rebuilt) was highly successful, and has often been wrongly attributed to Sir Christopher Wren. It is not certain whether Jerman was ever surveyor to the city of London, but he surveyed for Gresham House and for several of the city companies.

[Extracts from Records of the City of London, 1564–1825, London, 1839, fol.; Herbert's History of the Twelve Great Livery Companies, ii. 69; Knight's London, ed. Walford, ii. 298; Thornbury's London, i. 501, ii. 4; Britton and Pugin's Public Buildings, i. 292; Brayley's Londiniana, iii. 83; Architect. Publ. Society's Dictionary of Architecture, vol. iv.; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists.]

T. S.