Richmond, Ernest Tatham, 1874-

Ernest Tatham Richmond was born in 1874, the son of Sir William Blake Richmond, the painter.

He first travelled to Egypt in 1895 to help Somers Clarke prepare illustrations for his book on the Temple of Amenhotep III and the following year was appointed Assistant Architect to the Comité pour la Conservation des Monuments de l'Art Arabe in Cairo under Herz Bey. From 1902 to 1903 he was attached to the Royal Engineers and worked for the Army of Occupation under General Talbot, building barracks and houses for the troops. The following year he was appointed to a position as architect to the Ministry of Public Works in Cairo and from 1900 to 1911 was Director of the Department of Towns and State Buildings at the Ministry. During this period he married Margaret Muriel Lubbock and set up home in a newly contructed house at Zenein. He became increasingly disenchanted with life in Egypt and in particular unhappy with the separations from his wife and three young children, and in 1911 gave up his position to return to private architectural practice in England.

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