Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Couse, Kenton
COUSE, KENTON (1721–1790), architect, received his training as an architect under Mr. Flitcroft of the board of works, and was subsequently introduced into that establishment; eventually he rose to be first clerk of the works and secretary to the board. In 1782, on the remodelling of the office, he was reappointed as examining clerk. For several years he was surveyor to the Goldsmiths' Company, and also enjoyed a very extensive practice as an architect both of a public and private character, gaining the esteem and credit of all parties with whom he was connected. Among the buildings designed by him may be noted the bridge over the Thames at Richmond (erected 1774–7); St. Paul's Church, Clapham Common; Botley House, Chertsey, &c. Couse married, 23 June 1750, at St. Mary Woolnoth, London, Miss Sarah Hamilton, and died in Scotland Yard 10 Oct. 1790 in his seventieth year. He left three children, Captain Charles Couse, R.N., and two daughters, the elder of whom was married to Sir C. Pegge.
[Redgrave's Dict. of English Artists; Gent. Mag. (1790), lx. 959; Chambers's Collections (MS.) for a Biography of British Architects; Registers of St. Mary Woolnoth.]