William Etty was an English architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 and craftsman, best known for designing Holy Trinity Church, Leeds

Holy Trinity Church, Leeds

Holy Trinity Church , in Leeds, West Yorkshire, is a Church of England Parish Church in the Parish of Leeds City in the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds. It was built in 1722–7, but the steeple dates from 1839...

 and (probably) Holy Trinity Church, Sunderland.

Life and work

He was the son of John Etty of York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

 (c1634-1708), also an architect and craftsman, to whom there is a monument in All Saints North Street. William Etty's first known building was the Moot Hall

Moot hall

A moot hall is meeting or assembly building, traditionally to decide local issues.In Anglo-Saxon England, a low ring-shaped earthwork served as a moot hill or moot mound, where the elders of the hundred would meet to take decisions. Some of these acquired permanent buildings, known as moot halls...

, Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 (1710, demolished in 1825). Holy Trinity, Sunderland, followed in 1719 and Holy Trinity Church, Leeds

Holy Trinity Church, Leeds

Holy Trinity Church , in Leeds, West Yorkshire, is a Church of England Parish Church in the Parish of Leeds City in the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds. It was built in 1722–7, but the steeple dates from 1839...

, in 1722-7 (the steeple is a later addition by R D Chantrell). He also worked at John Vanbrugh

John Vanbrugh

Sir John Vanbrugh  – 26 March 1726) was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse and The Provoked Wife , which have become enduring stage favourites...

's Castle Howard

Castle Howard

Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh...

 from 1701 onwards and at Seaton Delaval Hall

Seaton Delaval Hall

Seaton Delaval Hall is a Grade I listed country house in Northumberland, England. It is near the coast just north of Newcastle upon Tyne. Located between Seaton Sluice and Seaton Delaval, it was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1718 for Admiral George Delaval and is now owned by the National...

 from 1719.

In York, he designed the reredos

Reredos

thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....

 in St Michael le Belfrey in 1712, and may have been responsible for the Red House, Duncombe Place, and the frontage of the Mansion House

Mansion House, York

The Mansion House in York, England is the home of the Lord Mayors of York during their term in office. It is situated on St Helen's Square, where York's Coney Street and Lendal intersect in the city centre. It is built in an early Georgian style. The foundation stone for the Mansion House was laid...

.

Etty also contributed work to a number of country houses and estates, notably Temple Newsam House, Barrowby Hall (Austhorpe

Austhorpe

Austhorpe is a civil parish in east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England that is situated between Pendas Fields to the north, Whitkirk to the west, Cross Gates to the north-west and Colton to the south-west....

), Whixley

Whixley

Whixley is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is near the A1 road and 10 miles west of York. The ancient village of Whixley lies on Rudgate, the old Roman road along which the Roman “Hispania” Legion would have marched to nearby Isurium .To the...

 Hall, Brocklesby

Brocklesby

Brocklesby is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The village is 1 mile south of Habrough, 4 miles southwest of Immingham, close to the border of both North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, and near Humberside International Airport...

 Park, Holme Hall at Holme-on-Spalding-Moor

Holme-on-Spalding-Moor

Holme-on-Spalding-Moor is a small village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north east of Howden and south west of Market Weighton...

, Scriven Park (Knaresborough

Knaresborough

Knaresborough is an old and historic market town, spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, located on the River Nidd, four miles east of the centre of Harrogate.-History:...

), and Aldby Park

Aldby Park

Aldby Park is a country estate in the village of Buttercrambe near the village of Stamford Bridge in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.Built circa 1725 by Jane, sister of that Thomas Darley who had sent to Aldby the celebrated "Darley Arabian"...

.

In later life, he was clerk of works at Colen Campbell

Colen Campbell

Colen Campbell was a pioneering Scottish architect who spent most of his career in England, and is credited as a founder of the Georgian style...

's Newby Park (Baldersby

Baldersby

Baldersby is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England, about west of Thirsk and north east of Ripon on the A61. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 253....

) in 1720-1, and, from 1729 until his death, on the mausoleum

Mausoleum

A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...

 at Castle Howard designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor

Nicholas Hawksmoor

Nicholas Hawksmoor was a British architect born in Nottinghamshire, probably in East Drayton.-Life:Hawksmoor was born in Nottinghamshire in 1661, into a yeoman farming family, almost certainly in East Drayton, Nottinghamshire. On his death he was to leave property at nearby Ragnall, Dunham and a...

. In 1727, he built the stone bridge across the River Derwent

River Derwent, Yorkshire

The Derwent is a river in Yorkshire in the north of England. It is used for water abstraction, leisure and sporting activities and effluent disposal as well as being of significant importance as the site of several nature reserves...

 at Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire

Stamford Bridge is a village and civil parish on the River Derwent in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, approximately east of York.-Location and history:The village sits astride an ancient ford on the River Derwent....

.

Etty died in 1734, and Hawksmoor recommended that his son, John Etty (born in 1705), should succeed him at Castle Howard. John, the last of the Etty dynasty, died in 1738.