William Guilfoyle
Encyclopedia
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
and botanist
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, 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...
, acknowledged as the architect of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne
Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne
The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne are internationally renowned botanical gardens located near the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on the south bank of the Yarra River. They are 38 hectares of landscaped gardens consisting of a mix of native and non-native vegetation including over...
and was responsible for the design of many parks and gardens in Melbourne
Melbourne
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 regional Victoria.
Early life
Guilfoyle was born in ChelseaChelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, 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...
, to Charlotte (née Delafosse) and Michael Guilfoyle (died 1884), a landscape gardener and nurseryman. The family migrated 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...
in 1853 where William Guilfoyle was privately educated at Lyndhurst College, Glebe
Glebe, New South Wales
Glebe is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Glebe is located 3 km south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney, in the Inner West region....
where he received botanical instruction by William Woolls
William Woolls
William Woolls was an Australian botanist, clergyman and schoolmaster.Woolls, the nineteenth child of merchant Edward Woolls, was born at Winchester, England and educated at the grammar school, Bishop's Waltham, and at 16 years of age endeavoured unsuccessfully to obtain a cadetship in the British...
, William Sharp MacLeay (1792–1865) and John MacGillivray
John MacGillivray
John MacGillivray was a Scottish-naturalist, active in Australia between 1842 and 1867.MacGillivray was born in Aberdeen, the son of ornithologist William MacGillivray. He took part in three of the Royal Navy's surveying voyages in the Pacific...
(1821–1867), who all encouraged him to follow in his father's career.
In 1868 William Guilfoyle was appointed to the scientific staff of HMS Challenger that travelled around the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Guilfoyle settled in the Tweed River valley where he grew tobacco and sugar cane and first met the noted German botanist, Ferdinand von Mueller
Ferdinand von Mueller
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
.
Melbourne Botanic Gardens
In April 1873 Mueller created the genus Guilfoylia and described William Guilfoyle as "distinguished as a collector [who] evidenced great ardour" and held high hopes for his collecting ability. Mueller's opinion changed when Guilfoyle was appointed to take his place as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, MelbourneRoyal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne
The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne are internationally renowned botanical gardens located near the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on the south bank of the Yarra River. They are 38 hectares of landscaped gardens consisting of a mix of native and non-native vegetation including over...
on 21 July 1873. He accused Guilfoyle of being a "nurseryman [with] no claims to scientific knowledge whatever" and of getting the job due to being related to the wife of the responsible Minister. Mueller subsequently abolished Guilfoylia as part of the genus of Cadellia in his botanical census of 1882.
Mueller had adopted a scientific and educational approach to the Botanic Gardens, which had come in for criticism by influential Melburnians, who wanted a more aesthetic gardens for recreational use. William Guilfoyle set about creating the Gardens’ world-famous "picturesque" landscape style. Guilfoyle sculpted sweeping lawns, meandering paths and glittering lakes, creating a series of vistas offering a surprise around every corner. The swamp and lagoon were separated from the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
under the direction of Carlo Catani
Carlo Catani
Carlo Giorgio Domenico Enrico Catani was a civil engineer who worked in Australia for the Victorian Government for the majority of his career.He oversaw many projects, including:*the draining of the Koo-Wee-Rup swamp...
(1852–1918), a civil engineer with the public works Department, allowing Guilfoyle to create the chain of ornamental lakes further adding to the beauty of the gardens.
The "Temple of the Winds" monument was dedicated to Governor Charles La Trobe
Charles La Trobe
Charles Joseph La Trobe was the first lieutenant-governor of the colony of Victoria .-Early life:La Trobe was born in London, the son of Christian Ignatius Latrobe, a family of Huguenot origin...
and erected by William Guilfoyle in the Botanical Gardens. The temple is composed of 10 columns instead of the normal 8 or 12 which are more easily divisible by the four points of the compass.
Public parks in Melbourne
Other public work included additional tree planting and landscaping of Kings Domain and refining the original garden design of Government HouseGovernment House, Melbourne
Government House, Melbourne is the office and official residence of the Governor of Victoria. It is set next to the Royal Botanic Gardens and surrounded by Kings Domain in Melbourne. It was the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia from 1901 to 1930...
"with many fine mature trees, including conifers, Australian rainforest species and deciduous trees, which are characteristic of the era and which also reflect Guilfoyle’s personal taste" (Victorian Heritage register). The Carlton Gardens
Carlton Gardens, Melbourne
The Carlton Gardens is a World Heritage Site located on the northeastern edge of the Central Business District in the suburb of Carlton, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
, now a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
, was landscaped for the Melbourne International Exhibition held in 1880 by several leading landscape designers and horticulturists including Clement Hodgkinson
Clement Hodgkinson
Clement Hodgkinson was a notable English naturalist, explorer and surveyor of Australia. He was Victorian Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey from 1861 to 1874.- Exploration in New South Wales :...
, William Sangster, Nicholas Bickford, and William Guilfoyle.
The gardens at Aspendale Racecourse
Aspendale Racecourse
Aspendale Racecourse or Aspendale Park Racecourse was a horse racing and motor racing track located at Aspendale, Victoria, Australia.Aspendale Racecourse opened on 14 April 1891...
were designed by William Guilfoyle.
In 1902 William Guilfoyle transformed the ornamental pond in the Treasury Gardens
Treasury Gardens, Melbourne
The Treasury Gardens consist of 5.8 hectares on the south-eastern side of the Melbourne Central Business District, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are bounded by Wellington Parade, Spring Street, Treasury Place, and by the Fitzroy Gardens across Lansdowne street to the west...
into a Japanese Garden, however the garden was demolished after the Second World War.
Regional botanic gardens
Shortly after completing the major landscaping of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne in 1879, Guilfoyle designed several Botanic gardens in regional Victorian towns:- CamperdownCamperdown, VictoriaCamperdown is an historically significant rural town in southwestern Victoria, Australia, south west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Camperdown had a population of 3,165.-History:...
Botanic gardens which now features an arboretum, rare examples of Himalayan oak and a statue of Scottish poet Robbie Burns, which once stood at Tydenham Castle, near London. Several street-tree elmElmElms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
plantings in Camperdown were designed by Guilfoyle. - ColacColac, VictoriaColac is a small city located in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, situated approximately 150 kilometres south-west of Melbourne on the southern shore of Lake Colac and the surrounding volcanic plains, approximately 40 km inland from Bass Strait. Colac is the largest city in and...
Botanic gardens in Queen street located on the shores of Lake Colac, were established in 1868, remodelled in 1910 by Guilfoyle and include a huge diversity of plants with many old and rare trees and a rose arbour. - HamiltonHamilton, VictoriaHamilton is a city in western Victoria, Australia. It is located at the intersection of the Glenelg Highway and the Henty Highway...
Botanic gardens from 1881. Set in four acres (16,000 m²), the gardens are distinguished by rare botanic species, a superbly restored rotunda, a small zoo and playground and the ornate Thomson Fountain. The National Trust of AustraliaNational Trust of AustraliaThe Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....
classified the gardens in 1990 with eight tree species listed on the Register of Significant Trees in Victoria. - HorshamHorsham, VictoriaHorsham is the largest city by population and regional centre of the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia and is approximately north-west of Melbourne via the Western Highway. At the 2006 census, Horsham had a population of 14,125. Horsham is in the federal Division of Mallee...
botanic gardens located by the Wimmera RiverWimmera RiverThe Wimmera River is a river in Western Victoria, Australia. It begins in the Pyrenees, and flows into Lake Hindmarsh and Lake Albacutya, although in many years flows do not reach these terminal lakes and the river contracts to a series of pools of varying sizes...
. - KoroitKoroit, VictoriaKoroit is a small rural town in western Victoria, Australia a few kilometres north of the Princes Highway, north-west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Moyne local government area located amidst rolling green pastures on the North rim of Tower Hill. At the 2006 census,...
botanic gardens form part of a large, central recreational area. - WarrnamboolWarrnambool, Victoria-Cityscape:The original City of Warrnambool was a 4x8 grid, with boundaries of Lava Street , Japan Street , Merri Street and Henna Street . In the nineteenth century, it was intended that Fairy Street – with its proximity to the Warrnambool Railway Station – would be the main street of...
's botanic gardens featured wide curving paths, rare trees, a lily pond with ducks, a fernery and a band rotunda.
Private Gardens
He also undertook private landscape design work which included Nellie MelbaNellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...
’s Coombe Cottage at Coldstream
Coldstream, Victoria
Coldstream is a locality and township within Greater Melbourne beyond the Melbourne metropolitan area Urban Growth Boundary, 36 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...
; Moritz Michaelis’s Linden
Linden
Linden is one of three English names for the tree genus Tilia . Several of the common names for species within the Tilia genus have Linden in their names...
in Acland Street, Mawallok between Skipton and Beaufort for Philip and Mary Russell in 1909, St Kilda
St Kilda, Victoria
St Kilda is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Port Phillip...
; Werribee Park
Werribee Park
Werribee Park is the estate of a historical building in Werribee, Victoria, Australia. It includes Werribee Park Mansion, the Victoria State Rose Garden, formal gardens, the Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre, the Werribee Open Range Zoo, a contemporary sculpture walk and a natural riverine...
for the Chirnside brothers; and two gardens near Birregurra, "Mooleric" - a four acre (16,000 m²) private garden registered under the Heritage Act as being of state and national significance and "Turkeith" for Mr. And Mrs. Urquhart Ramsay.
The gardens around Parliament House, Melbourne
Parliament House, Melbourne
Parliament House in Melbourne, located at Spring Street in East Melbourne at the edge of the Melbourne city centre, has been the seat of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia, since 1855 .- History :In 1851, even before the colony of Victoria acquired full parliamentary self-government, Governor...
were designed by Clement Hodgkinson
Clement Hodgkinson
Clement Hodgkinson was a notable English naturalist, explorer and surveyor of Australia. He was Victorian Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey from 1861 to 1874.- Exploration in New South Wales :...
and William Guilfoyle and feature the Parliament Gardens, a small triangular park which features the Coles Fountain and provides pleasant views of Parliament House, St Patrick's Cathedral
St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
St Patrick's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and seat of its archbishop, currently Denis J. Hart. The building is known internationally as a leading example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture.In 1974 Pope Paul VI...
, the Old Synagogue, the Old Baptist Church and the Eastern Hill Fire Station. They became a public reserve in 1934.
The Parliament House Gardens, designed by Guilfoyle, have restricted access and are used by parliamentarians and guests, and for official garden parties. The garden contains The Federal Oak which was planted in 1890 by Sir Henry Parkes
Henry Parkes
Sir Henry Parkes, GCMG was an Australian statesman, the "Father of Federation." As the earliest advocate of a Federal Council of the colonies of Australia, a precursor to the Federation of Australia, he was the most prominent of the Australian Founding Fathers.Parkes was described during his...
; a plaque recognising the efforts of Vida Goldstein
Vida Goldstein
Vida Jane Mary Goldstein was an early Australian feminist politician who campaigned for women's suffrage and social reform.-Early years:...
; and an 'oriental-style' pavilion.
Guilfoyle retired from landscape design in 1909, living at Chatsworth in Jolimont Road, Jolimont and died on 25 June 1912.