The architect and designer Augustus Welby Pugin (1812 52), whose early commissions included furniture for George IV at Windsor, assured his place in history through his work with Sir Charles Barry on the Palace of Westminster following the 1834 fire. A pivotal figure in Britain's Gothic Revival, he became a Roman Catholic in 1835, combining his religion with his devotion to the medieval in building projects such as Nottingham Cathedral, St George's Cathedral in Southwark, and Mount St Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire. Benjamin Ferrey (1810 80) studied architectural draughtsmanship under...