Pepler, George L. (George Lionel), 1882-1959

Sir George Pepler was born in Croydon and educated at Bootham and Ley Schools. He trained and practised as a surveyor but became interested in housing and town planning. He was a member of the National Housing and Town Planning Council and in 1908 won two gold medals at the Wolverhampton Model Housing Exhibition with his partner, Ernest G Allen. In 1913 Pepler was instrumental in founding the Town Planning Institute, in which he served as Hon Secretary and Treasurer and as President in 1919-20 and 1949-50. He was also active in the International Federation for Housing and Town Planning, serving as President in 1935-1938 and 1947-1952, thereafter as Hon President for life. In 1914 he joined the Local government Board and took over the organisation of the Greater London Arterial Road Conferences. He was Chief Town Planning Inspector to the Ministry of Health from 1919-1941 and Chief Technical Adviser to the Ministry of Town and Country Planning from 1943-1946. His work at this period focussed strongly on post war housing and reconstruction. Pepler prepared the Town and Country Planning Act 1947, which made planning an integral role of central and local government and enshrined the concept of the 'green belt'. From 1948-1956 he was Town Planning Consultant for Renfrewshire and Town Planning Adviser to the Colony of Singapore from 1950-1954. Pepler was actively involved in the National Playing Fields Association from 1949-1959, and in the Council for the Preservation of Rural England from 1952-1959. Through lectures, conference papers and published work, Pepler made an enormous contribution to his profession, and was a great admirer of the work of Patrick Geddes. He was knighted in 1948. Further information on his life and work may be found in the article by F J Osborn, revised by Catherine Gordon in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (2004)