Alexander Nelson Hansell
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Alexander Nelson Hansell (6 October 1857[1]: 103–104 [note 1] – 1940) was a British architect known primarily for his activities in Kobe, Japan. In 1891 he became a fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects[2][note 2] He had an apprentice named Yokoyama Eikichi.[4]: 178
Hansell was born on 6 October 1857 in Caen in Normandy, France.[1]: 103–104 His father Peter Hansell was a British[4]: 173 pastor,[1]: 103–104 who had been rector of Kingsdon, Somerset before being appointed as Consular Chaplain of Caen on 11 October 1853.[5] Father and son later returned together to Somerset, England.[4]: 173
At some point Alexander moved from Somerset to Winchester, where he studied architecture,[4]: 173 and in 1888 he moved to Japan. He worked teaching English at a seminary on Lot 18 of the Kawaguchi foreign settlement in Osaka[1]: 105 before beginning his activities as an architect. His first job was the planning of the Harris Science Hall at Doshisha University.[1]: 105 He continued on to design the clubhouse of the newly renamed Kobe Club at the Kobe foreign settlement, and was thereafter involved in the planning of many more structures both inside the foreign settlement and in the surrounding mixed residential zone.[1]: 105–106
During the First World War, Alexander's only son Kenneth was killed in battle.[6] Alexander mourned his loss greatly, and in 1920 he moved to Hankou in China, and then later to Monaco, where he died.[4]: 178–179
Hansell's personal residence, known as the Choueke House, is now run as a tourist attraction, located on Yamamoto-dōri in Chūō-ku, Kobe.
