John Kenneth Major ARIBA, FSA, popularly known as Ken Major was an architect, author and world authority on industrial archaeology, particularly windmills, watermills and animal-powered machines.
24 Facts About Ken Major
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Ken Major was born in Reading, Berkshire on 21 October 1928.
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Ken Major was christened John Kenneth Major but owing to a number of John Majors in the family he was generally referred to as Ken.
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Ken Major then attended a school in Kendal until 1946.
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Ken Major was interested in ancient buildings from an early age.
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Ken Major recalled cycling to Winwick church aged 8 to see the carved pig there.
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Ken Major was able to obtain a place at King's College, Durham University in Newcastle upon Tyne where he studied architecture under the Beaux-Arts regime.
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Ken Major visited Florence, Italy where he studied the repair of Renaissance buildings damaged in the war.
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On completing his Scholarship in April 1953, Ken Major was appointed as an architect at the Planning Department of Imperial College, London.
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In 1956, Ken Major joined London Transport where his work involved the design of bus garages.
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In May 1961, Ken Major visited the Hudson River to research the construction of a watermill at Sleepy Hollow.
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On his return from the United States, Ken Major joined architect and goldsmith Louis Osman as his assistant.
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Ken Major was involved in the redevelopment of Doncaster town centre including a new cinema for ABC and a new library.
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The scheme was cancelled and Ken Major joined Westminster City Council where he was in charge of a scheme at Lisson Green, which was in limbo after the Ronan Point disaster.
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Ken Major later took charge of Westminster City Council's maintenance team.
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In 1975, Ken Major was appointed Assistant City Architect to Westminster City Council.
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In 1984 his department was closed by the Council and Ken Major commenced practice on his own account.
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Ken Major was involved in the restoration of the waterwheel at Painshill Park, Cobham, Surrey.
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In 1963, Rex Wailes invited Ken Major to assist him in carrying out a survey of mills in Berkshire.
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In 1964, Ken Major met Joao Miguel dos Santos Simoes who was at that time trying to get the various individual mill societies together.
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Ken Major became chairman in 1977 and remained in that position until 1993.
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Apart from his work for the SPAB, Ken Major was an advisor for other national heritage organisations, such as English Heritage, The Heritage Lottery Fund and other bodies concerned with mill preservation.
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Ken Major was a founding trustee of the Mills Archive Trust.
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Ken Major's funeral took place on 6 August 2009 at Reading Crematorium.