William Archer (architect)

Last updated

William Archer (1820–1874) was an Australian architect, naturalist, grazier, politician and member of the prominent Archer family. He was the second son of Thomas Archer, a prominent pastoralist and politician himself. A keen interest in architecture led to him going to London to study architecture when he finished school, where he studied under William Rogers and Robert Stephenson. During his life he built many colonial buildings across Tasmania, served as a member of both the Tasmanian House of Assembly and Tasmanian Legislative Council and made significant contributions to botany, with several native Tasmanian plants named after him. Despite this he died penniless at his brothers house Fairfield on 15 October 1874. [1]

Contents

Life

Archer was born in Launceston, Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) into the influential local Archer family, owners of the Brickendon Estate and Woolmers Estate, a closely knit and pious Anglican family to Thomas (1780–1850), a banker and landholder, and Susannah (née Hortle) Archer. He was married (7 April 1846) to Anne Hortle, his first cousin, with whom he had thirteen children, one of whom died before him.

Archer studied architecture and surveying in London from 1836 to 1840 under William Rogers. Following completion of those studies he worked under Robert Stephenson for two years, before returning to Tasmania on 18 October 1842. His career in architecture was delayed however when his brother died and the family bank collapsed. He took over management of the family estate Woolmers for some years. Following this, he moved to London again to study botany. Archer studied botany in England between the years 1856 and 1858 and was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society before returning to Tasmania. He was secretary of the Royal Society of Tasmania from 1860 to 1861. Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker wrote a dedication to him (and jointly to Ronald Campbell Gunn) in his Flora Tasmaniae (1859). Archer composed illustrations of orchids and collected and sent numerous Tasmanian plant specimens to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew. [1]

He was the appointed architect to the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania, and designed The Hutchins School located in Hobart (1848–49), additions to the world heritage listed Woolmers and Brickendon estates, the calendar house "Mona Vale" (1865–68) in Ross, his own home Cheshunt, Fairfield for his brother. his cousins house Saundridge and Horton College at Ross. Archer did some of his architectural work free of charge. [1]

Archer died in Cressy, on 15 October 1874 following a prolonged period of financial hardship. [1]

Politics

He was a member of the Tasmanian parliament three times, once as a member of the Legislative Council (1851–1855) and twice as a member of the House of Assembly (1860–1862 and 1866–1868). [2]

Architectural works

Residences

Churches

Schools

Legacy

The species Eucalyptus archeri , Amphibromus archeri , [4] Corunastylis archeri (the elfin midge orchid) [5] and the genus Archeria are named after him.

The standard author abbreviation W.Archer bis is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longford, Tasmania</span> Town in Tasmania, Australia

Longford is a town in the northern midlands of Tasmania, Australia. It lies 145 m above sea level at the convergence of the Macquarie River and the South Esk River, 21 km south of Launceston and a 15-minute drive from the airport. It is just south of the Illawarra Road, a road connecting the Bass and Midland Highways. It has a population of 3,863 and is part of the Northern Midlands Council area. The region is predominantly agricultural, noted for wool, dairy produce and stock breeding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ College (University of Tasmania)</span> Residential college of the University of Tasmania

Christ College is the oldest tertiary institution in Australia and is a residential college of the University of Tasmania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hutchins School</span> School in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

The Hutchins School is an Anglican, day and boarding school for boys from pre-kindergarten to Year 12 in Hobart, Tasmania. Established in 1846, Hutchins is one of the oldest continually operating schools in Australia.

<i>Diselma</i> Genus of conifers

Diselma archeri is a species of plant of the family Cupressaceae and the sole species in the genus Diselma. It is endemic to the alpine regions of Tasmania's southwest and Central Highlands, on the western coast ranges and Lake St. Clair. It is a monotypic genus restricted to high altitude rainforest and moist alpine heathland. Its distribution mirrors very closely that of other endemic Tasmanian conifers Microcachrys tetragona and Pherosphaera hookeriana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bothwell, Tasmania</span> Town in Tasmania, Australia

Bothwell, Tasmania is a small town with a population at the 2021 census of 499. Situated in central Tasmania on the River Clyde in a broad valley, it is notable for hunting and being a lake district. It is part of the municipality of Central Highlands Council and celebrated the bicentenary of its founding in 2022. Nearby locations include Hollow Tree, Hamilton, Ouse and Kempton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronald Campbell Gunn</span> Australian politician

Ronald Campbell Gunn, FRS, was a Cape Colony-born Tasmanian botanist and politician.

John Lee Archer was the Civil Engineer and Colonial Architect in Van Diemen's Land, serving from 1827 to 1838. During his tenure, Archer was responsible for all Tasmanian government buildings including those for penal and military purposes.

<i>Cortinarius archeri</i> Species of fungus

Cortinarius archeri is a species of mushroom in the genus Cortinarius native to Australia. The distinctive mushrooms have bright purple caps that glisten with slime, and appear in autumn in eucalypt forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John George Davies</span> Australian politician, newspaper proprietor and cricketer (1846–1913)

Sir John George Davies, generally known as (Sir) George Davies, was a Tasmanian politician, newspaper proprietor and first-class cricketer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brickendon Estate</span> House and estate in Longford, Tasmania, Australia

Brickendon Estate is a farm estate located in Longford, Tasmania. It is one of the two main ancestral homes of the Archer family, prominent local pioneers and politicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woolmers Estate</span> Heritage place in Longford, Tasmania

Woolmers Estate is a farming estate located in Longford, Tasmania, founded in 1817 by prominent grazier and member of parliament Thomas Archer. It consists of an 82ha property, including a two-part manor house, coach house, the National Rose Garden, extensive outbuildings and convict cottages and formal gardens. The main house consists of a brick nog weatherboard homestead, built in 1819, with an attached extensive addition in Italiate style, designed by William Archer and built in 1842-1843. From the 1819 completion of the main house to 1994, it was one of the main ancestral homes of the Archer family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mona Vale, Tasmania</span>

Mona Vale is a large heritage listed 1860s country house in Ross, Tasmania. Completed in 1867, it is well known locally as the "Calendar House", for its reportedly 365 windows, 52 rooms, 12 chimneys and seven entrances. The property is on the Tasmanian Heritage Register and the Register of the National Estate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archer family</span> Family in Tasmania, Australia

The Archer family are a notable family in Tasmania, Australia, prominent in society, business and politics of Tasmania for the last two centuries. They are best known today for their now world-heritage listed farm estates, Brickendon Estate and Woolmers Estate, but have contributed to many areas of Tasmania throughout their history. Other members of the family have been Mayors of Hertford in England and participated in the American Civil War.

Cheshunt House is an Italianate mansion in the Meander Valley, Tasmania, 10 kilometers from Deloraine. It was designed and originally owned by politician, botanist and architect William Archer, started in 1851-52. It was purchased incomplete by the Bowman Brothers from William Archer in 1873, who completed it to his design in 1885. It fell into disrepair during the period of the World Wars and the Great Depression, before a restoration project was undertaken by the family in the 1970s. It is still owned by the Bowman family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horton College</span> Independent boarding school in Australia

Horton College was a 19th-century independent Wesleyan Methodist boys' boarding school, at Mona Vale near Ross, Tasmania, Australia. Founded by Captain Samuel Horton in 1855, the College closed in 1894; and during its brief period it was considered an extremely prestigious school, counting many of the region's landed families of the period as students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Morris-Nunn</span> Australian architect (born 1949)

Robert William Morris-Nunn is an Australian architect.

The Tasmanian Heritage Register is the statutory heritage register of the Australian state of Tasmania. It is defined as a list of areas currently identified as having historic cultural heritage importance to Tasmania as a whole. The Register is kept by the Tasmanian Heritage Council within the meaning of the Tasmanian Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995. It encompasses in addition the Heritage Register of the Tasmanian branch of the National Trust of Australia, which was merged into the Tasmanian Heritage Register. The enforcement of the heritage's requirements is managed by Heritage Tasmania.

<i>Genoplesium archeri</i> Species of orchid

Genoplesium archeri, commonly known as the elfin midge orchid and as Corunastylis archeri in Australia, is a small terrestrial orchid endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has a single thin leaf fused to the flowering stem and up to fifteen small, hairy, yellowish green flowers with purple stripes. It grows in a wide range of habitats in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

Frank Archer was a Tasmanian politician. He was a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1893 until his death, representing the electorate of Selby.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 G. T. Stilwell (1969). "William Archer (1820–1874)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 3. Melbourne University Press . Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "William Archer". Members of the Parliament of Tasmania . Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "William Archer – Biography". daao.org.au. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  4. ↑ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2006). CRC world dictionary of grasses common names, scientific names, eponyms, synonyms, and etymology. Boca Raton, FL: CRC/Taylor & Francis. p. 99. ISBN   9781420003222.
  5. ↑ Mayfield, Enid (2010). Flora of the Otway Plain and Ranges 1: Orchids, Irises, Lilies, Grass-trees, Mat-rushes and Other Petaloid Monocotyledons. Csiro Publishing. p. 99. ISBN   9780643102002 . Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  6. ↑ International Plant Names Index.  W.Archer bis.
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.