Alfred G Newman – Architect | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 18 January 1875 |
| Died | 18 January 1921 (aged 46) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Projects | 15 Methodist Churches throughout NSW |
| Design | The Tower Wing MLC School [3] |
Alfred Gambier Newman (18 January 1875 – 18 January 1921) was an Australian architect active in the first 20 years of the 20th century. He designed significant work for both the Methodist Church [4] and the Newman [5] and Vickery [6] families.
Newman was born in Mount Gambier, South Australia, one of eight children of Emma Ann (née Fisher) and the Rev. Charles Thomas Newman. He was educated at Prince Alfred College (PAC), Adelaide (1887–1890) where his art master was James Ashton. [7] After leaving PAC, Newman studied art and design at the South Australian School of Art. [8] In 1896 his mother died in Kapunda. [9] In 1900 his father married Elizabeth Vickery, [10] the daughter of Ebenezer Vickery, merging two prominent Methodist families.
Newman was articled to architect Frederick William Dancker. He then worked as an architect in Adelaide and became an Associate of the South Australian Institute of Architects in 1898. He advertised in The Advertiser as "Alfred G Newman A.S.A.I.A. Architect" of Augusta Street Glenelg, South Australia [11] and later in King William Street, Adelaide [12] before moving to Sydney in 1906. He resigned from the South Australian Roll of Architects in 1909. [13]
Newman and his wife lived at Ingleburn, Kingsland Road, Strathfield, and had three daughters, [14] [15] one stillborn. [16] He died at home in Strathfield in 1921. [17]
From the time Newman moved to Sydney he was a superintendent of the Sunday school at the Strathfield Methodist Church [18] and over a period of 15 years did a substantial amount of design work for the church. His buildings include:
For the Church of Christ he designed:
The following house designs are attributed to Newman:
Dying at 46 years of age, Newman is not well known in historical or architectural circles in Sydney in the 2020s. His residential tour de force was Tiptree. It was an enormous mansion built for his stepmother and father in 1906 and demolished less than fifty years later for suburban subdivision. Tiptree is now the name of a cul de sac that was built on its substantial grounds. [58] The house Wych Hazel was demolished in 2014 and the house Camden Lodge was burnt down in 2012. Camden Lodge is being rebuilt as the local council refused to let the owner demolish its burnt out shell. [59] Only a portion of The Tower Wing at MLC School remains and was restored in 2024. Most of his Methodist churches remain as Uniting churches after church Union in 1977 but the Woodford Methodist Church is now abandoned. The Epping Methodist Church was demolished for high rise development. Thirty timber pews from the church found a new home in a Wesleyan Church in Tonga. Several windows were used in Uniting Church aged-care facilities in Leichhardt and Narellan. A panelled stained-glass window depicting the Last Supper is still yet to find a new home sensitive to its Christian imagery. The developer of the new residential tower recycled church materials including the foundation stone from 1905. Bricks and stones have been used in the two-storey podium balconies at the front of the new building. A heritage area dedicated to the church features in the development’s piazza but doesn’t mention Newman who designed it. [60] His Church of Christ in Marrickville has been demolished after being empty for many years and a million dollars spent in an effort to have it removed for low cost inner city housing. [61] The former Joseph Vickery & Co Building in Sydney is now a well restored office building housing the Church of Scientology rather than a mainstream Christian denomination. Newman’s design for a Temperance Hall has been redeveloped as a luxury apartment block and is named in honour of Frederic Chelmsford, a former Governor of NSW.
Strathfield is an affluent suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A small section of the suburb north of the railway line lies within the City of Canada Bay, while the area east of The Boulevard lies within the Municipality of Burwood. North Strathfield and Strathfield South are separate suburbs to the north and south, respectively.
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Ebenezer Vickery was an Australian businessman, pastoralist and philanthropist.
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George Allen Mansfield was a prominent Australian architect of the nineteenth century who designed many iconic buildings in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Hordern family is an Australian retailing dynasty.
Charles Thomas Newman, generally known as Rev. C. T. Newman, was a Methodist minister in South Australia and New South Wales.
The Municipality of Enfield was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was proclaimed as the Borough of Enfield on 17 January 1889 and, with an area of 3.6 square kilometres, included the modern suburbs of Croydon, Croydon Park and Strathfield South, with parts of Enfield, Belfield and Greenacre included in the West Ward. In 1949, the council was split into two, with Central and East Wards being added to the Municipality of Burwood and the West Ward being added into the Municipality of Strathfield, with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948.
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Ashwin and Falconer were a stained glazing partnership in Pitt Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Their work appears in a number of heritage-listed properties.
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