William Jay (1792-1837)

He was born in England at Bath in Somerset. He served his apprenticeship as an architect in London and practised in Savannah, Georgia, from 1817 to 1820 where he made a name for himself designing several of its most important buildings. In 1820, he was appointed Architect of the South Carolina Board of Public Works but returned to England two years later (1822). A speculative venture for the development of Pittsville ruined him and by 1836 he was bankrupt, forcing him to accept the position of Colonial Architect and Civil Engineer at Mauritius, where he died in 1837.