John Sulman
Encyclopedia
Sir John Sulman was an Australia
n architect. Born in Greenwich
, England
, he emigrated to Sydney
, Australia
in 1885. From 1921 to 1924 he was chairman of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee
and influenced the development of Canberra
.
, England. He was educated at the Greenwich Proprietary School
and the Royal Institute of British Architects
, of which he was Pugin travelling scholar in 1871. After travelling through England and western Europe Sulman began practising as an architect in London
and designed among other buildings a large number of churches.
and Brisbane
, the Mutual Life Association building, Sydney, afterwards known as New Zealand Chambers, the Sydney Stock Exchange and several suburban churches. Between 1887 and 1912 Sulman was P. N. Russell lecturer in architecture at the University of Sydney
. After 1908 he retired from active practice to some extent to develop his interest in town-planning. From 1916 to 1927 he was the Vernon lecturer in town planning at the University of Sydney. In 1921 he published his An Introduction to the Study of Town Planning in Australia.
Sulman published his plan for the capital city that became Canberra in his book The Federal Capital in 1908. However his plan was not chosen. Sulman however became involved with the planning of Canberra in 1921 when he was appointed head of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee. Sulman's alterations to the Griffin
plan made the city less like the one Griffin had planned and more in line with the English garden city movement
.
The Melbourne and Sydney buildings in Canberra's city centre, Civic
, were based on design principles set by Sulman although the design work was finalised by J H Kirkpatrick. The buildings were the model which establish the colonnade principle, an important design element throughout Civic.
One of the most coveted architecture prizes, the prestigious Sir John Sulman Medal
, also known as the Sulman Award, recognises excellence in public and commercial buildings. The medal is awarded by the New South Wales Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects
. The medal was first awarded in 1932.
He was a trustee of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1899 and its president from 1919. The Sir John Sulman Prize for "the best subject/genre painting and/or murals/mural project executed during the two years preceding the [closing] date ..." has been held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales
since 1936. It is hosted concurrently with the Archibald Prize
, the most prominent Australian art prize, along with the Wynne prize
and Dobell art prizes. The prize was established as a bequest by the Sulman family. Sulman had been appointed a trustee of the art gallery of New South Wales in 1899 and was its president from 1919. When initiated the prize was about £100 annually and for the best subject painting or mural decoration by artists resident in Australia.
Sulman also endowed a lectureship in aeronautics at the University of Sydney in memory of a son killed during World War I
while serving with the Flying Corps.
They moved to Sydney, Australia on account of his wife's tuberculosis. They arrived on 13 August 1885 and settled at Parramatta, where his wife died on 31 December 1888.
His parents John (senior) and Martha moved into Addiscombe at Lane Cove Rd. in Turramurra.
He married again, to Annie Elizabeth Masefield (a relative of John Masefield
) at St Luke's Anglican Church, Burwood, on 27 April 1893. His health broke down in 1896, prompting a trip to Europe. When they returned, he turned the cottage he had originally intended for his parents at Boomerang St. Turramurra into their family home Ingleholme, which developed into a "rambling complex of gables, bays, turrets and chimneys".
Children by this second marriage were Geoffrey and Thomas Noel ("Tom", or "Tommy"). Geoffrey enlisted in England and joined the Royal Flying Corps
. He died aged 23 in 1917, in a flying accident over England, prior to being qualified for combat duties. Thomas became a racing car driver, and developed the Sulman Singer, and Sulman Park in Bathurst is named after him. He was still racing in 1954. He died in 1970, aged 70.
In 1913 John Sulman purchased the magnificent property "Kihilla" at Lawson
in the Blue Mountains as a second home; it remained in the family until 1953.
Mrs Sulman was socially active, being a prominent member of such organisations as the Leura
and Lawson branches of the Red Cross Society. Florence, usually referred to as "Miss Sulman" was active in the Society of Arts and Crafts of NSW, where she was president 1928–35 and 1951–56) as well as hospital and kindergarten charities. Florence was author of the two-volume (1913, 1914) Wildflowers of New South Wales.
He retired in 1928 but remained a highly visible presence in civic, art and architectural circles, taking a proominent role in many public debates. He died in Sydney aged 85 years.
Most of the family mentioned here are interred or memorialized at Gore Hill cemetery
.
In 1926 he was elected to the International Housing and Town Planning Congress in Vienna.
His portrait by John Longstaff
won the Archibald prize
for 1931.
On 2 January 2008 it was announced that a suburb in the future Canberra district of Molonglo
would be named Sulman.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n architect. Born in Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, he emigrated to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1885. From 1921 to 1924 he was chairman of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee
Federal Capital Advisory Committee
The Federal Capital Advisory Committee was a body of the Australian government which oversaw the construction of Canberra from 1921 to 1924 following the termination of the contract of architect Walter Burley Griffin....
and influenced the development of Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
.
Early life
Sulman was born in was born at GreenwichGreenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, England. He was educated at the Greenwich Proprietary School
Blackheath Proprietary School
The Blackheath Proprietary School was an educational establishment founded in 1830 that was noted in the contemporary press as an extremely successful school in terms of its education but is perhaps most notable for its profound influence on the game of football, in both Association and Rugby codes...
and the Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
, of which he was Pugin travelling scholar in 1871. After travelling through England and western Europe Sulman began practising as an architect in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and designed among other buildings a large number of churches.
Career in Australia
Sulman went to Sydney in 1885, and as a partner in the firm of Sulman and Power was associated in the designing of many of the finest buildings in Sydney and other capital cities. These included the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital, Concord, Sydney, the A.M.P. buildings in MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, the Mutual Life Association building, Sydney, afterwards known as New Zealand Chambers, the Sydney Stock Exchange and several suburban churches. Between 1887 and 1912 Sulman was P. N. Russell lecturer in architecture at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
. After 1908 he retired from active practice to some extent to develop his interest in town-planning. From 1916 to 1927 he was the Vernon lecturer in town planning at the University of Sydney. In 1921 he published his An Introduction to the Study of Town Planning in Australia.
Sulman published his plan for the capital city that became Canberra in his book The Federal Capital in 1908. However his plan was not chosen. Sulman however became involved with the planning of Canberra in 1921 when he was appointed head of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee. Sulman's alterations to the Griffin
Walter Burley Griffin
Walter Burley Griffin was an American architect and landscape architect, who is best known for his role in designing Canberra, Australia's capital city...
plan made the city less like the one Griffin had planned and more in line with the English garden city movement
Garden city movement
The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts" , containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and...
.
City Centre, Australian Capital Territory
The central business district of Canberra, Australia's capital city, is officially named City . However it is also referred to as Civic, Civic Centre, City Centre, Canberra City and Canberra ....
, were based on design principles set by Sulman although the design work was finalised by J H Kirkpatrick. The buildings were the model which establish the colonnade principle, an important design element throughout Civic.
One of the most coveted architecture prizes, the prestigious Sir John Sulman Medal
Sir John Sulman Medal
The Sir John Sulman Medal is a New South Wales architectural prize presented by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and was first awarded in 1932....
, also known as the Sulman Award, recognises excellence in public and commercial buildings. The medal is awarded by the New South Wales Chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects
Royal Australian Institute of Architects
The Australian Institute of Architects is a professional body for architects in Australia. Until August 2008, the Institute traded as the "Royal Australian Institute of Architects", which remains its official name....
. The medal was first awarded in 1932.
He was a trustee of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1899 and its president from 1919. The Sir John Sulman Prize for "the best subject/genre painting and/or murals/mural project executed during the two years preceding the [closing] date ..." has been held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Art Gallery of New South Wales , located in The Domain in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, was established in 1897 and is the most important public gallery in Sydney and the fourth largest in Australia...
since 1936. It is hosted concurrently with the Archibald Prize
Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919...
, the most prominent Australian art prize, along with the Wynne prize
Wynne Prize
The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. One of Australia's longest running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne...
and Dobell art prizes. The prize was established as a bequest by the Sulman family. Sulman had been appointed a trustee of the art gallery of New South Wales in 1899 and was its president from 1919. When initiated the prize was about £100 annually and for the best subject painting or mural decoration by artists resident in Australia.
Sulman also endowed a lectureship in aeronautics at the University of Sydney in memory of a son killed during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
while serving with the Flying Corps.
Personal life
John married Sarah Clark Redgate on 15 April 1875 at the Congregational Church at Caterham, Surrey. He had designed the church where they married, and theirs was the first wedding held there. They had three children, a son Arthur (1882–1971) and daughters Florence E. (1876–1965) and Edith (1877–1907)They moved to Sydney, Australia on account of his wife's tuberculosis. They arrived on 13 August 1885 and settled at Parramatta, where his wife died on 31 December 1888.
His parents John (senior) and Martha moved into Addiscombe at Lane Cove Rd. in Turramurra.
He married again, to Annie Elizabeth Masefield (a relative of John Masefield
John Masefield
John Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...
) at St Luke's Anglican Church, Burwood, on 27 April 1893. His health broke down in 1896, prompting a trip to Europe. When they returned, he turned the cottage he had originally intended for his parents at Boomerang St. Turramurra into their family home Ingleholme, which developed into a "rambling complex of gables, bays, turrets and chimneys".
Children by this second marriage were Geoffrey and Thomas Noel ("Tom", or "Tommy"). Geoffrey enlisted in England and joined the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
. He died aged 23 in 1917, in a flying accident over England, prior to being qualified for combat duties. Thomas became a racing car driver, and developed the Sulman Singer, and Sulman Park in Bathurst is named after him. He was still racing in 1954. He died in 1970, aged 70.
In 1913 John Sulman purchased the magnificent property "Kihilla" at Lawson
Lawson, New South Wales
Lawson is a town in the Blue Mountains area of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Great Western Highway between Hazelbrook in the north east and Bullaburra in the west. At the 2006 census, Lawson had a population of 2,419 people. It has a station on the Main Western line...
in the Blue Mountains as a second home; it remained in the family until 1953.
Mrs Sulman was socially active, being a prominent member of such organisations as the Leura
Leura, New South Wales
Leura is a suburb in the City of Blue Mountains Local Government Area 109 km west of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the series of small towns stretched along the Blue Mountains railway line and Great Western Highway that bisects the Blue Mountains National Park. It is...
and Lawson branches of the Red Cross Society. Florence, usually referred to as "Miss Sulman" was active in the Society of Arts and Crafts of NSW, where she was president 1928–35 and 1951–56) as well as hospital and kindergarten charities. Florence was author of the two-volume (1913, 1914) Wildflowers of New South Wales.
He retired in 1928 but remained a highly visible presence in civic, art and architectural circles, taking a proominent role in many public debates. He died in Sydney aged 85 years.
Most of the family mentioned here are interred or memorialized at Gore Hill cemetery
Gore Hill cemetery
Gore Hill Cemetery is located in the northern Sydney suburb of St Leonards in New South Wales, Australia, and is one of the oldest and largest remaining cemeteries in metropolitan Sydney. It was established on 19 May 1868 by the New South Wales politician William Tunks. The first body was...
.
Recognition
He was appointed Knight Bachelor in 1924.In 1926 he was elected to the International Housing and Town Planning Congress in Vienna.
His portrait by John Longstaff
John Longstaff
Sir John Campbell Longstaff was an Australian painter, war artist and a five-time winner of the Archibald Prize. He was a cousin of Will Longstaff, also a painter....
won the Archibald prize
Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919...
for 1931.
On 2 January 2008 it was announced that a suburb in the future Canberra district of Molonglo
Molonglo Valley
Molonglo Valley is the newest district of Canberra. The district is planned to consist of 13 suburbs containing 33,000 dwellings with an expected population of 73,000....
would be named Sulman.