William Winde, architect and soldier, was born in Bergen-op-Zoom, Netherlands, to an emigre family. By the late-1650s Winde had embarked on a military career, holding the post of ensign in charge of English troops in Holland. By 1660 Winde was in England.
As Winde's military career developed, he became associated with military engineering. He assisted in the fortification of Gravesend Reach (1667), for example, and also undertook work at Portsmouth.
His domestic architectural work began when his godfather, the 1st Earl of Craven, employed Winde as an architect for his house, Hampstead Marshall, Berkshire (1662-1688). Winde was finishing the project following Sir Balthazar Gerbier's death in 1663 or 1667. Gerbier had dedicated a book to Winde in 1667. Forty of Winde's architectural drawings of Hampstead Marshall survive in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Winde tended to rely on a proven team of craftsmen who would work on several projects that were for a number of notable patrons. These included the likes of the additions made to Combe Abbey, Warwickshire (1680-91). This was Winde's first independent commission, for Lord Craven. Winde also built Newcastle House, a townhouse, for the Marquis of Powis in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London (1684-9).
William Winde became a member of the Royal Society in 1662 but was expelled 23 years later for failing to pay his subscription. He married Magdalen (d.1708/9), the daughter of Sir James Bridgeman, of Castle Bromwich Hall, Warwickshire, where Winde made several alterations between 1685 and 1702.
He died in London in 1722 and was buried at St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Bibliography
Beard, G (2004) ‘Winde, William (c.1642–1722)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/63120, accessed
Colvin, H. (1995) A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840 Murray, London
Pevsner, N & Wedgwood, A (1974) The Buildings of England: Warwickshire Penguin, London
Summerson, J (1983) Architecture in Britain: 1530-1830 Penguin, London