George David Payne

Last updated

George David Payne
Born1853
London, England
Died1916
Brisbane, Australia
OccupationArchitect

George David Payne (1853–1916) was an Australian architect. He worked for a short time in the Public Works Department in Queensland, alongside John Smith Murdoch and Thomas Pye in a time when the Department was producing a considerable amount of high quality works. [1]

Contents

Brisbane Grammar School Science Wing addition, 1911 Brisbane Grammer School.JPG
Brisbane Grammar School Science Wing addition, 1911
South Brisbane Library, 1911 South Brisbane Library.JPG
South Brisbane Library, 1911
Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Brisbane, 1905 Saint Andrew's Uniting Church, Brisbane.JPG
Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Brisbane, 1905
Townsville Customs House, 1900 QueenslandBuilding0031.jpg
Townsville Customs House, 1900

Personal life

George David Payne was born in 1853 in London, England to George David Payne, a distiller, and Eliza Grant. He received his training as an architect in London. In c.1887 Payne emigrated, settling in Sydney. He was a foundation member of the Sydney Architectural Association and its inaugural vice-president in 1891–93. His move to Brisbane around 1898 was prompted by the sustained economic depression. There he became a fellow of the Queensland Institute of Architects. In November 1897 Payne married Theodora Lucie Jarrett. His wife survived him after his death on 4 December 1916, age 63, at his residence, Holyrood, in Ryans Road, St Lucia. [1]

Loweish and Moorhouse

After settling in Australia, Payne worked for the Sydney architecture firm Loweish and Moorhouse. In 1889 he was responsible for the firm's winning design entry for the Royal Bank Competition in Brisbane. The following year he submitted an action to claim the surplus of the competition premium. The claim was much publicised and ultimately successful. [1]

Queensland Public Works Department

In March 1898 Payne joined the Queensland Department of Public Works as a draftsman where he "may have been the catalyst for the sophistication of the subsequent work of the Professional Branch." [2] Within the department he worked alongside architects John Smith Murdoch and Thomas Pye. Payne is considered to have contributed to, or at least influenced, the design of various public buildings, including the Rockhampton Customs House, Warwick Post Office and East Brisbane State School. Among other works, the design and documentation of the Townsville Customs House is attributed to him. In 1901 Payne was appointed assistant to Thomas Pye. Payne left the Public Works Department in 1904 to oversee the construction of his winning design for St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Brisbane. [1]

Private practice

Payne established two architectural practices in his lifetime. The first was in Sydney, after leaving the firm Loweish and Moorhouse. Taxed by the depression, however, Payne applied for work at the Queensland Department of Public Works as a temporary Draftsman. His second private practice was in Brisbane and where he worked in the later years of his life. It is considered as not having attracted work "of a scale commensurate with his talent." [3]

Competitions

In 1889 Payne was responsible for the firm's winning design entry for the Royal Bank Competition in Brisbane. The following year, after leaving Loweish and Moorhouse, he submitted entries for to various competitions. He came third in three: The Australian Club, Melbourne, City Avenue Building, Sydney (with A. L. and G. McCredie), and an asylum at Rossiville. His entry for the Melbourne Commercial Bank the same year is also notable for its alternate elevations in Romanesque, Renaissance and Queen Anne. [1]

In his time at the Queensland Public Works department Payne again came third, this time in the Brisbane General Post Office Competition (1900). [1] Under notice of retrenchment, Payne entered a competition for the new Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church in 1902. He won the competition and resigned to oversee its construction.

Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Brisbane

Payne's design of Saint Andrew's is considered his greatest life work. Even when it was first built the church was recognised as one of the "finest and most impressive architectural piles in this State," although its actual beauty was debated because of a public unaccustomed to its style. [4]

The Romanesque design was a contrast to the Gothically inspired stone church it replaced. It is renowned for its bold massing, abstracted planes, and unadorned red brickwork, and can be marked for placing importance upon the design implications of the relationship to the immediate site and the local climate. [5]

List of known built works

1900Townsville Customs House:16 Wickham St Townsville QLD 4810 [2]
1905Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church: 131 Creek Street, Brisbane City QLD 4000 [6]
1911South Brisbane Library: 472 Stanley St South Brisbane QLD 4101 [7]
1911–1916Brisbane Grammar School (School House alterations, Science Wing and New Building): 24 Gregory Terrace

Spring Hill QLD 4000 [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Smith Murdoch</span> 19/20th-century Scottish-Australian architect

John Smith Murdoch was a Scottish architect who practised in Australia from the 1880s until 1930. Employed by the newly formed Commonwealth Public Works Department in 1904, he rose to become chief architect, from 1919 to 1929, and was responsible for designing many government buildings, most notably the Provisional Parliament House in Canberra, the home of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John James Clark</span>

John James Clark, an Australian architect, was born in Liverpool, England. Clark's 30 years in public service, in combination with 33 in private practice, produced some of Australia's most notable public buildings, as well as at least one prominent building in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emil Sodersten</span>

Emil Lawrence Sodersten was an Australian architect active in the second quarter of the 20th century. His work encompassed the Australian architectural styles of Art Deco and Functionalist & Moderne. His design for the Australian War Memorial was "the first national architectural monument in Australia". The Australian Institute of Architects presents the Emil Sodersten Interior Architecture Award annually in his honour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Dods</span> New Zealand-born Australian architect (1868 - 1920)

Robert Smith (Robin) Dods was a New Zealand-born Australian architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Andrew's Uniting Church, Brisbane</span> Heritage-listed building in Brisbane, Queensland

St Andrew's Uniting Church is a heritage-listed Uniting church at 131 Creek Street, Brisbane CBD, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by George David Payne and built in 1905 by Alexander Lind & Son. Initially St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, it became part of the Uniting Church following the merger of the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational Churches in 1977. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

Charles Tiffin (1833–1873) was an English architect, who spent most of his career in Queensland, Australia where he held the post of Queensland Colonial Architect.

Thomas Pye was an Australian architect. He worked for over 33 years in the Public Works Department in Queensland. Pye contributed significantly to major buildings including the completion of the Public Offices and Rockhampton Customs House, as well as the design for the Lands and Survey Offices. He was responsible for the heightened expectations which produced the best public buildings yet seen in Queensland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John H. Buckeridge</span> English-born Australian architect

John H. Buckeridge (1857–1934) was an English-born Australian architect, who built about sixty churches in Queensland and is also remembered for remodelling the interior of the Macquarie era church of St James', King Street, Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Henry Male Addison</span>

George Henry Male Addison (1857–1922) was an Australian architect and artist. Many of his buildings are now heritage-listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conrad Gargett</span>

Conrad Gargett is an Australian architecture and design practice. It was founded in Brisbane in 1890 and is one of Queensland's oldest architectural firms.

Frank Gibson Costello (1903–1987) was an Australian architect. A number of his works are now listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.

Alexander Brown Wilson was an architect in Queensland, Australia. A number of his works are listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Langer (architect)</span>

Karl Langer (1903–1969) was an Austrian-born architect in Queensland, Australia. A number of his works are listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Francis (Jack) Hennessy</span>

John Francis (Jack) Hennessy (1887–1955) was an Australian architect, with the same name as his architect father, John Francis Hennessy, with whom he was in partnership as Hennessy & Hennessy from 1912 to 1924. As principal of the firm after his father retired from 1924 to 1955, he was responsible for many major Art Deco office buildings in capital cities in Australia and New Zealand in the 1930s, as well as many projects for the Catholic Church in Queensland, and the Great Court of the University of Queensland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woolloongabba Post Office</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Woolloongaba Post Office is a heritage-listed former post office at 765 Stanley Street, Woolloongabba, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Thomas Pye and built in 1905 by Thomas Rees. It is also known as Woolloongabba Post & Telegraph Office. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 January 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Backhouse</span> Australian architect, builder and politician (1829–1904)

Benjamin Backhouse was an architect and politician in Australia. He was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.

Claude William Chambers (1861–1947) was a prominent architect in Brisbane, Queensland and Sydney, New South Wales in Australia. Many of his works are listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Barton Brady</span>

Alfred Barton Brady (1856-1932)was an engineer and architect in Queensland, Australia. He was one of Queensland's most important early engineers and was particularly known for his bridge design. He was the Queensland Colonial Architect and many of his buildings and structures are now heritage-listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Townsville Customs House</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Townsville Customs House is a heritage-listed former customs house at Wickham Street, Townsville CBD, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by George David Payne and built from 1900 to 1902 by Crawford & Cameron. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 7 February 2005.

George Bernard Roskell (1850–1926) was an architect in Queensland, Australia. Some of his works are now heritage-listed.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Watson, McKay, Donald, Judith (1994). Queensland Architects of the 19th Century: A biographical dictionary. Brisbane: Queensland Museum. pp. 139–141.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. 1 2 "Townsville Customs House (entry 600937)". Queensland Heritage Register . Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Riddel, Robert (April 2005). "Significant Queensland 20th century architecture: A report for Royal Australian Institute of Architects".
  4. ↑ "Brisbane's Historic Churches". The Courier Mail. 26 August 1905.
  5. ↑ Goad, Willis, Philip, Julie (2012). Encyclopedia of Australian Architects. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "Saint Andrew's Uniting Church (entry 600086)". Queensland Heritage Register . Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "South Brisbane Library (entry 600302)". Queensland Heritage Register . Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "Brisbane Grammar School (entry 600124)". Queensland Heritage Register . Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.