The Pudsey born Benjamin Henry Latrobe who designed the United States Capitol building

Born in the Fulneck Moravian Settlement, in Pudsey, Benjamin Henry Latrobe is hailed as the "second Architect of the Capitol".

Latrobe was born in 1764 to parents who were prominent members of the Moravian Church.

After studying and travelling in Europe, he returned to England and began an engineering apprenticeship with Austhorpe-born John Smeaton.

He also studied architecture under Samuel Pepys Cockerell, before emigrating to America in 1796.

According to the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) website, Latrobe was hired by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 to fill the position of "Surveyor of Public Buildings".

His main responsibility was constructing the Capitol's south wing.

After the south wing was completed in 1807, Latrobe began reconstructing the interior of the north wing.

During this period, he also constructed the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Baltimore, which was the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States.

His employment was terminated in 1810.

However, after the wings were damaged in a fire set by British troops in the War of 1812, he was rehired to oversee the restoration work.

He resigned in 1817.

The AOC website states: "He left at the U.S. Capitol some of the greatest interiors in the history of neoclassicism in America, including the Hall of the House (now National Statuary Hall), the Old Senate Chamber and the Old Supreme Court Chamber. "

Latrobe then moved to New Orleans where he began work on the city’s municipal water system.

He died in 1820 in Louisiana after contracting yellow fever.

He is buried in the Saint Louis Cemetery in New Orleans.