Early career He went to India in 1864, initially to supervise the building of Bombay school of art in Bombay to Burges’s plan, which in the event was never built. Instead he stayed on to practice architecture in Bombay, returning to London in 1869, where he opened an office in Westminster. He continued however to do his best work in India. His first big commission was for Mumbai's Gothic
Crawford Market (1865–71) with a fountain executed by
Rudyard Kipling's father,
John Lockwood Kipling, who was also responsible for the bas-reliefs on the main entrance.
Stints in Allahabad and Bhavnagar Thereafter he moved to Allahabad where he designed his most important works,
All Saints Cathedral, Allahabad (1869–93) and
Muir College (1872-78). He then did two buildings for the princely
Bhavnagar State, Nilambag Palace (1894–95) and the Takhatsinhji Hospital (1879–83). In 1896, he designed the Clarence Memorial Wing
St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London
Later work and Victoria Memorial Eventually he designed his most known building, the
Victoria Memorial (1905–21) in Calcutta.He was admitted
ARIBA on 12 February 1866, his proposers being Burges, Coutts Stone and Henry Edward Kendall; and was elevated to FRIBA on 21 April 1873, his proposers being Stone, Thomas Hayter Lewis and Thomas Roger Smith. He was President of the
Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) from 1899 to 1902, and was
knighted in the
1902 Coronation Honours, receiving the accolade from King
Edward VII at
Buckingham Palace on 24 October that year. Most of his later work was in India; his most familiar being the design of the marble clad
Victoria Memorial Hall in Calcutta (1905 onwards), described as "Britain's answer to the Taj Mahal". Although asked to design a building in the Italian Renaissance style, Emerson was against the exclusive use of European styles and instead incorporated Mughal elements into the structure. He died in
Shanklin,
Isle of Wight in 1924. == Personal life ==