John Hooper Harvey (1911 – 1997)

[KALKI]

John Hooper Harvey (25 May 1911 – 18 November 1997) was an English architectural historian, who specialised in writing on English Gothic architecture and architects. Paul Crossley has described him as "the most prolific and arguably the most influential writer on Gothic architecture in the post-war years".

He made extensive use of archival sources, and is particularly remembered for having – through his study of Henry Yevele (1944), and his biographical dictionary of English Mediaeval Architects (1954) – helped dispel the myth that the architects of medieval buildings were anonymous figures of whom little could be discovered. He also published more generally on England in the later middle ages, and was a pioneer in the field of garden history.

Politics and World War II

In 1930 Harvey joined the far-right and antisemitic Imperial Fascist League, and for a while was active in the associated Nordic League. He had to curtail his activities when he joined the Office of Works, but he continued to be peripherally involved and to pay his subscriptions to the IFL until 1940. On the outbreak of World War II he was placed on a "Suspect List" by MI5. In 1942 he was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for failing to submit to a medical examination, but he subsequently secured his release and was placed on the Register of Conscientious Objectors.

He was not re-employed by the Office of Works, and instead joined his father in identifying buildings of historic interest in danger of destruction from enemy action.