Henry Austin Wilshire (HA Wilshire) was an architect and prominent member of Sydney society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was an active and innovative architect, and a contributor to the community through interests in town planning and transport issues.
Wilshire was born in Potts Point (Sydney) on 8 September 1860, into one of Sydney's oldest and best-connected families. He was the youngest child of James Robert Wilshire MLC, Sydney's second elected mayor,[1] who had died the week before Henry was born. His mother, Sarah Wilshire, lived until 1912, a well-regarded, active member of the community.[2] The family moved to Burwood around 1880. In 1888 Wilshire married Hephzibah Maude Stewart, and they had one daughter, Lena, born in 1889.[3] They moved to the Mosman/Cremorne area in 1893, and remained there for 30 years until Henry's death on 6 August 1923.[4] During this period they lived in at least seven different residences, at least three of which were designed by Wilshire.
Career
Wilshire began his architectural career in around 1879, articled to the well-known Mansfield Brothers.[5] As an architect he was very active and versatile, designing many residences and other buildings. For most of his 44-year career he was a sole practitioner. However, for a brief period in 1888-1889 he partnered with George Taylor Shaw and, from 1913 until his death in 1923, was in partnership with Harry Cooper Day,[6] trading as HA Wilshire and Day.[7][8] Numerous of his works still exist today, including at least 13 that are listed on the NSW Heritage Register (see below). His buildings include Grafton Gaol[9] in 1891, the heritage-listed Bennett and Wood (Speedwell bicycles) building in Sydney in 1908[10] (replacing their previous premises in Market Street, which he also designed, in 1900[11]), and Warringah Hall (see e.g. Ajax Films), Neutral Bay in 1910.[12]
Wilshire was an active member of the profession, being a member of the (then) Institute of Architects of New South Wales from at least the late 1880s. He was a member of the Committee of the Institute on various occasions from 1893 through to 1919, and held a number of executive positions including Vice-President (1897–1899) and Honorary Treasurer (1901).
The Grafton community had been agitating for many years during the 1880s for a new gaol to be constructed and, following the first competition for the design of a NSW public building, Wilshire was awarded first prize of 100 guineas, and was given the task of instigating its construction.[13] The building is now heritage listed. (It was reported that he also won fourth prize in the same competition, and had earlier won second prize for a design for the Brisbane premises of the Royal Bank of Queensland and third prize for the Thomas Walker Hospital (Rivendell Child, Adolescent and Family Unit) in Concord, Sydney).
In the early 1890s, the Mosman/Cremorne/Neutral Bay area was a hive of residential development activity, supported by the introduction of the steam ferry service from Circular Quay.[14] Wilshire moved to the area at this time presumably with the intention of involving himself in (and profiting from) this development. James Thompson Wilshire and John Matcham Wilshire (Henry's half-brother and cousin, respectively) also moved from Burwood to Neutral Bay/Cremorne around the same time – and presumably with similar intentions – and lived close to each other and to Henry for the rest of their lives. James, particularly, amassed a significant property portfolio prior to his death in 1909.
In 1904, Henry Wilshire and his wife undertook an overseas tour, including to the UK and the USA. On their return, he designed a number of flat-roofed houses, located in the Mosman/Neutral Bay area,[15] two of which are listed on the NSW Heritage Register. At least eight such houses were built, of which five were erected prior to 1908, one in 1910, and the other two in 1912 and 1914.
Seven of the flat-roofed houses were built close to each other in Cremorne and Neutral Bay, and the eighth is in Mosman. Five of these houses are known to still exist, though one no longer has a flat roof. One, no longer in existence, in Bannerman Street Neutral Bay, was the home of the architecture/town planning/publishing couple, George Augustine Taylor and Florence Mary Taylor following their 1907 marriage.
In 1914, Wilshire travelled again to the US, this time to investigate the latest methods for the use of steel and concrete in construction.
A 2022 book by Davina Jackson recognises Wilshire as the first architect to build flat-roofed houses in Sydney.[16]
Community works
Wilshire was very active in the community. In 1893 he wrote to Mosman Council, proposing to construct a horse-tramway from the ferry wharf up to Military Road, and in 1895 was among those opposing the proposal to mine coal at Cremorne Point.[17]
He built one of the first houses[18] at Palm Beach, New South Wales in 1913, which became his preferred residence until his health deteriorated around 1922.[19] He was involved in the development of the Palm Beach area, including laying out and developing the golf course in the early 1920s.[20] In this project he worked with Sydney merchant Charles Crossman, later president of Palm Beach Golf Club.
In 1903, Wilshire had designed a residence for Crossman, 'Ingleneuk' which, having been restored by Clive Lucas a century later,[21] still stands in Neutral Bay, now the residence of the well-known Sydney couple Lisa Wilkinson and Peter FitzSimons.) He was also an active member of the Palm Beach Surf Life Saving Club, including serving as a vice-president and trustee.[22]
In 1925, at the instigation of the Palm Beach Progress Association Warringah Shire Council named Wilshire Park in recognition of his contributions to the area. At some stage a typo emerged and the park is now designated 'Wiltshire' Park.[23] Towards the end of WWI, 'Furlough House'[24] was established at Narrabeen, a Sydney beachside suburb, to provide holidays for wives and children of servicemen. Wilshire designed the buildings (without fee), and served on the Board of Management.[25]
In 1916, he submitted the winning design in a competition organised by the Synod of the Sydney Archdiocese of the Church of England,[31] for significant extensions and alterations to the Chapter House at St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney,[32] He also did commissions for other denominations: in 1886, he designed the Sunday School for the Ashfield Wesleyan (now Uniting) Church,[33] now the headquarters for Bill Crews's Exodus Foundation.[34] In 1901 he designed additions for the Congregational Church at Rockdale,[35] and in 1921 designed the manse for the now heritage-listed St John's (Uniting) Church in Neutral Bay.
Other endeavours
Wilshire shared the Victorian era fascination with technology and invention. In 1894 he and E E Tournay-Hinde were granted a patent for a form of water crossing consisting of submerged iron tubes for pedestrian or vehicular traffic[36] and, in the same year, they developed an innovative proposal to replace the old Pyrmont Bridge (Sydney) with a tunnel.[37] In 1888 he, along with George Taylor Shaw, applied for a patent for a 'portable and floating swimming bath',[38] and in 1911 he acquired the rights[39] to a 'rotary excavator' invented by his cousin Henry Rawes Whittell.[40] In 1906 he wrote to the SMH advocating the use of automatic telephones (as he had seen in the US)[41] and, in 1921 wrote again, expressing the then 'modern' view that government money would be better used constructing a good regional road system rather than railways.[42]
Works by Henry Wilshire included in the NSW Heritage Register
↑ Lena had an interesting life. She married Mervyn Skipper in China and, after living in various places (including Java, New Zealand and Western Australia) they moved to Melbourne in the 1920s and later, together with their three children, became founding and integral members of the Montsalvat artistic community in Eltham, Victoria.
↑ Carroll, Jack (1953). The Settlement and Growth of Mosman, ISBN0959995633 Mosman Historical Society
↑ Kemp, Chery (1993). Architects of Flat Roofed Houses in Sydney, 1900–1914 unpublished essay for Master's degree, held at Stanton Library, North Sydney
↑ In 1918 the church was dismantled and re-erected on a new site in Redfern Road Minto, where it still stands. Local residents have been fighting to prevent the Anglican Church demolishing it and, with the granting of an interim heritage listing in October 2017, it appears that it may be preserved. Update: In April 2018, Council decided to seek a permanent Heritage Listing.
The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson, west to Middle Harbour and north to the entrance of Broken Bay. The area was formerly inhabited by the Garigal or Caregal people in a region known as Guringai country.
Pittwater Council was a local government area on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It covered a region adjacent to the Tasman Sea about 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of the Sydney central business district. The area is named after Pittwater, the body of water adjacent to much of the area governed. First proclaimed in 1906 as the A Riding of Warringah Shire, the area was proclaimed as the Municipality of Pittwater on 1 May 1992. On 12 May 2016, the Minister for Local Government announced that Pittwater Council would be subsumed into the newly formed Northern Beaches Council. The last mayor of Pittwater Council was Councillor Jacqui Townsend, an independent politician.
Warringah Council was a local government area in the northern beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed on 7 March 1906 as the Warringah Shire Council, and became "Warringah Council" in 1993. In 1992, Pittwater Council was formed when the former A Riding of Warringah Shire voted to secede. From this point on until amalgamation, Warringah Council administered 152 square kilometres (59 sq mi) of land, including nine beaches and 14 kilometres (9 mi) of coastline. Prior to its abolition it contained 6,000 hectares of natural bushland and open space, with Narrabeen Lagoon marking Warringah's northern boundary and Manly Lagoon marking the southern boundary.
Neutral Bay is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Neutral Bay is around 1.5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.
Cremorne is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, located 6 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.
Cremorne Point is a harbourside suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Cremorne is located 6 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.
North Sydney Council is a local government area on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, established on 29 July 1890 through the amalgamation of three boroughs.
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Kenneth Frank Charles Woolley, BArch, Hon DSc Arch Sydney LFRAIA, FTSE, was an Australian architect. In a career spanning 60 years, he is best known for his contributions to project housing with Pettit and Sevitt, four time Wilkinson Award-winning architect, including three times for his own house, the first being the 1962 Woolley House in Mosman, and his longstanding partnership with Sydney Ancher and Bryce Mortlock. He is regarded as being a prominent figure in the development of the Sydney School movement and Australian vernacular building.
Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the Municipality of Mosman.
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Jean Frances Hay is an Australian local government politician. She served as the Mayor of Manly Council from 1999 to 2004 and was the last mayor of Manly from 8 September 2008 to 12 May 2016, following Manly's amalgamation into the new Northern Beaches Council.
Cremorne Girls High School, is a former high school located on Murdoch Street in the Sydney suburb of Cremorne, New South Wales, Australia. It was a girls high school operated by the New South Wales Department of Education with students from years 7 to 12. The school was first established in 1927 as Neutral Bay Girls Intermediate High School. However, due to declining enrolments the school was declared surplus to the needs of the department and officially closed in 1987. The school and its heritage-listed buildings are now a satellite campus of Redlands.
The Dalkeith Property or simply Dalkeith, is a heritage-listed former meditation centre, residence and Norwegian Seamen's Church, and now residence at 8 Bannerman Street, Cremorne, North Sydney Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Henry Austin Wilshire and Stone & Siddeley, and built from 1908 to 1910 by (possibly) G. E. Flower. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace, also known and originally as the Cremorne Orpheum Theatre, is a heritage-listed cinema located at 380 Military Road, in the northern Sydney suburb of Cremorne in the North Sydney Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by George Newton Kenworthy and built in 1935 by F. T. Eastment and Sons. It was added as a Heritage Item to the North Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2013 on 2 August 2013.
George Newton Kenworthy FRAIA, also known as G. N. Kenworthy or "Kennie", was a leading Sydney architect and Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects best associated for his work in partnership with Henry Eli White and for his building designs in the Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, Functionalist and Spanish Mission styles.
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