Walter Liberty Vernon - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Walter Liberty Vernon was an English

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...

architect who migrated to the state of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, 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...

and pursued his career as an architect in 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...

. He is noted for designing multiple government buildings which are still standing, many of which have a heritage listing.

Early life

Vernon was born 11th August 1846 in High Wycombe

High Wycombe

High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...

, Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

, England

England

, the son of a banker's clerk, Robert Vernon and Margaret Liberty. He was articled in 1862 to a London architect, W.G.Habershon, and studied at the Royal Academy of Arts and South Kensington School of Art. After completing his studies, he pursued a practice as an architect in London and married Margaret Anne Jones in 1870 at Newport, Wales. His London practice was successful, but he suffered from bronchial asthma and received medical advice to leave England.Thus, he migrated to Australia and arrived in Sydney in November 1883.

Career in Australia

Vernon established a private practice in Sydney but later joined the Government Architect's Branch in 1890 as Government Architect. The activities of this office were boosted in 1894 when extra funding was committed as a way of creating relief work during the Depression.

As an architect practising in Australia, Vernon favoured what were later known as Federation styles such as Federation Arts and Crafts

Arts and Crafts movement

Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...

and Federation Free Style. (The Federation style was, roughly speaking, the Australian equivalent of the Edwardian style.) Examples of the former were his fire station in St Johns Road, Glebe, and the Public School, Military Road, Mosman. Examples of the latter were his fire stations in The Avenue, Randwick; Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst; and Pyrmont Street, Pyrmont. The last two are on the Register of the National Estate

The Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...

. Another example of Federation Free Style is the former police station, Taylor Square, Darlinghurst, also on the National Estate. In a stylistic departure, he designed the (former) police station in Bourke Street, Surry Hills, in the Romanesque

Romanesque Revival architecture

Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...

style; it too is on the National Estate.

For more substantial public buildings, Vernon continued the tradition whereby such buildings were designed in a Classical

Classical architecture

Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance...

style. Notable examples were 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...

, the Mitchell Library

Mitchell Library

The Mitchell Library is a large public library and centre of the public library system of Glasgow, Scotland.-History:The library was established with a bequest from Stephen Mitchell, a wealthy tobacco manufacturer, whose company, Stephen Mitchell & Son, would become one of the constituent members...

(part of the State Library), Central Railway Station and Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

Court House; all of which are on the National Estate. The Art Gallery has been described as "masterly symmetry featuring Ionic colonnades." Central Station has been described as "the grandest railway station in Australia."

Vernon also designed significant additions to existing buildings, such as Customs House, Sydney; Randwick Police Station; the Chief Secretary's Building, Sydney; Balranald Post Office; Armidale Post Office; and the former Premier's Office, Sydney. His office was also responsible for the public decorations during the Federation celebrations of 1901.

He retired as New South Wales Government Architect

New South Wales Government Architect

The New South Wales Government Architect is an officer of the New South Wales government. Historically, the government architect was in charge of the state government's public building projects....

in 1911 and returned to private practice, establishing a partnership with Howard Joseland

Howard Joseland

Howard Joseland was an English architect who migrated to Australia and pursued a successful and influential career there.-Early life:...

. The latter, also born in England, was a practitioner of the Federation Arts and Crafts and Federation Bungalow styles. One of the buildings designed by Vernon and Joseland was the Paterson Reid and Bruce building, York Street, Sydney, which is now on the National Estate.

Vernon had an outstanding career as an architect, with approximately thirty of his buildings being on the Register of the National Estate. He is known as a key practitioner of various Federation styles.

National Estate

The following Vernon buildings are on the Register of the National Estate.

Lidcombe State Hospital

Burwood Post Office, Sydney

Annandale Post Office, Sydney

Crows Nest Fire Station, Sydney

Kitchen Block, Parramatta Psychiatric Centre

Newtown Post Office, Sydney

Redfern Court House, Sydney

Former Police Station, Taylor Square, Darlinghurst, Sydney

Main Warehouse, Darling Island, Pyrmont, Sydney

Pyrmont Post Office, Sydney

Pyrmont Fire Station, Sydney

Former Police Station, Bourke Street, Surry Hills, Sydney

Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Domain, Sydney

Herbarium, Sydney Botanical Gardens

Shelter House, Sydney Botanical Gardens

Central Railway Station, Sydney

Central Police Court, Liverpool Street, Sydney

Registrar-General's Building, Prince Albert Road, Sydney

West Wing, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney

Stable Square, Hawkesbury Agricultural College, Richmond

Hay Court House

Wagga South Public School, Wagga Wagga

Maitland Court House

Newcastle Court House

Newcastle Post Office

Lismore Post Office

Parkes Court House

Lands Board Office Building, Dubbo

Paterson Reid and Bruce Ltd, York Street, Sydney (with Howard Joseland)

Former Premier's Office, Sydney (additions by W.L.V.)

Randwick Police Station, Sydney (additions by W.L.V.)

Customs House, Sydney (additions by W.L.V.)

Chief Secretary's Building, Sydney (additions by W.L.V.)

Balranald Post Office (additions by W.L.V.)

Armidale Post Office (additions by W.L.V.)

Early life

Career in Australia

National Estate

See also