Stiff Leadbetter

Stiff Leadbetter (c. 1705 – 18 August 1766) was a British architect and builder, one of the most successful architect–builders of the 1750s and 1760s, working for many leading aristocratic families.

In 1756 Leadbetter was appointed as Surveyor of the Fabric of St Paul's Cathedral, and through this position also gained many ecclesiastical commissions.

John Hawks, the architect of Tryon Palace, the official residence of the governor of North Carolina, United States, trained under Leadbetter.

Giles Worsley, who has written several articles about Leadbetter, stated He was an innovative and possibly influential planner at a time when the design of the British country house was undergoing rapid change.

[7] Leadbetter’s entry in Colvin's Biographical Dictionary of British Architects describes him as ‘a very competent architect who designed a number of handsome Georgian country houses that are essentially Palladian in character’[8] Leadbetter and his wife Elizabeth had five children in their short marriage, before Elizabeth died in 1737.