David Mocatta
1806-1882
Old Royal Free, Liverpool Rd
Was born in Vauxhall, London. Like his cousin George Elias Basevi, he was a pupil of Sir John Soane. He was elected a fellow of the Institute of British Architects (later the RIBA) in 1836.
He designed the (no longer standing) New Synagogue building in the City, and Sir Moses Montefiore’s private synagogue, which is still resplendent today in Ramsgate. He is mainly known now, however, for his railway architecture projects, undertaken at the height of the railway boom. Appointed architect to the London and Brighton Railway, he designed its headquarters at Brighton Station and ten of the stations along the line.
With his close family connections to the Basevis, the Disraelis and the Lindos, it can be imagined that he visited Islington fairly frequently, but his only formal connection to Islington is the London Fever (later Royal Free) Hospital in Liverpool Road, now turned into flats, which was built to his design.
