William Hardy Wilson
Encyclopedia
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
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. He "is regarded as one of the most outstanding architects of the twentieth century".
Early years
He was born in Campbelltown, New South WalesCampbelltown, New South Wales
Campbelltown is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campbelltown is located 51 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Campbelltown.- History :Campbelltown...
in 1881, the second son of William and Jessie Wilson and attended Newington College
Newington College
Newington College is an independent, Uniting Church, day and boarding school for boys, located in Stanmore, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
(1893–1898). The following year he was articled to the firm of Kent & Budden
Henry Budden
Henry [Harry] Ebenezer Budden CBE was a Sulman Award winning Australian architect active in the first 40 years of the 20th century. His work encompassed the styles of the Federation Arts and Crafts and Bungalow through to the Inter-War Stripped Classical and Art Deco...
and studied at the Sydney Technical College
Sydney Technical College
The Sydney Technical College was a name used by Australia's oldest technical education institution.It began as the Sydney Mechanics' Institute in 1843...
. During this period he took instruction in art from Sydney Long
Sydney Long
Sydney Long was an Australian Artist.Born on 20 August 1871 at Ifield, Goulburn, New South Wales, Sydney Long began formal art classes at the New South Wales Art Society in 1890. in 1894 his Heidelberg School-influenced painting 'By Tranquil Waters' caused a small scandal, but was purchased by the...
.
Career
Upon completion of his articles he went to EnglandEngland
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...
and successfully sat for the intermediate and final examinations of 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:...
. 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...
his circle of friends included George Lambert
George Lambert
George Lambert may refer to:*George Lambert , played for Fitzroy Football Club in the early 20th century*George Lambert , English cricketer...
and Arthur Streeton
Arthur Streeton
Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton was an Australian landscape painter.-Early life:Streeton was born in Mount Duneed, near Geelong, and his family moved to Richmond in 1874. In 1882, Streeton commenced art studies with G. F. Folingsby at the National Gallery School.Streeton was influenced by French...
, and he served as secretary of the Chelsea Arts Club
Chelsea Arts Club
The Chelsea Arts Club is a private members club located in London with a membership of over 2,400, including artists, poets, architects, writers, dancers, actors, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers...
. Wilson travelled widely in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and became interested in the American Colonial style of architecture. After returning 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...
he married Margaret McKenzie, and in 1913 he went into partnership with Stacey Neave. Wilson exhibited regularly with the Society of Artists, and with other artists he founded the Fine Arts Society. In 1923 his work was hung in the Exhibition of Australian Art at Burlington House
Burlington House
Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in London. It was originally a private Palladian mansion, and was expanded in the mid 19th century after being purchased by the British government...
, London.
Architectural legacy
Early Australian architecture was the chief influence on his architectural work. Two of his best-known house commissions were built in the suburbs north of Sydney: Eryldene in GordonGordon, New South Wales
Gordon is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Gordon is located north-west of the Sydney Central Business District and is the administrative centre for the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council...
(1914); and Purulia in Wahroonga
Wahroonga, New South Wales
Wahroonga is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wahroonga is located 22 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council and Hornsby Shire....
(1916).
Published works
In 1920 he published The Cow Pasture Road, and Wilson and Neave invited John Berry to join the partnership. The following year Wilson visited ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and his architectural style started at that time to include Oriental elements. Wilson contributed to Art in Australia, The Home, and The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
. In 1924 he published Old Colonial Architecture in New South Wales and Tasmania. His other published books were The Dawn of a New Civilization (1929), Yin Yang (1934), Collapse of Civilization (1936), Grecian and Chinese Architecture (1937), Eucalyptus (1941), Instinct (1945), Atomic Civilization (1949) and Kurrajong: Sit-Look-See (1954).
Later life
In 1927 he left his architectural partnership and lived for three years in London before returning to AustraliaAustralia
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...
to live 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 then northwestern Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. After the death of his first wife he married Elsie MacLean, and from 1940 they lived between a property at Wandin, near Mount Dandenong
Mount Dandenong, Victoria
Mount Dandenong is both a mountain and small township/suburb of Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 35 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges...
, and Kew
Kew, Victoria
Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....
in Melbourne. Wilson died in Richmond
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
on 16 December 1955, survived by his wife and by the son of his first marriage. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120598b.htm