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William Wardell
William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a noted architect who practiced in the second half of the 19th century, and is best known for a series of landmark buildings in Australia in Melbourne and Sydney.
Following a successful career in the 1840-50s as an ecclesiastical architect for the Catholic church in Britain, Wardell emigrated to the Colony of Victoria in 1858. He then designed the Catholic cathedrals in both the major cities, St Patrick's in Melbourne and St Mary's in Sydney, as well as St John's College, at the University of Sydney, and numerous parish churches in Victoria. His Gothic Revival church designs have been compared favourably with his friend, English architect and Gothic pioneer Augustus Pugin. He also served as the Chief Architect of the Victorian Public Works Department from 1858-1878, personally designing Government House, Melbourne, and ensured refined classicalism was the predominant style for most public buildings. Wardell also maintained a private practice, designing a mansion, and a series of banks for the ES&A, most notably the Gothic Bank in Melbourne.
Wardell was born in 1823, the son of Thomas Wardell, baker, and his wife Mary; his birth date is not recorded, but he was baptised the following year, on 3 March 1824 at All Saints Church of England, Poplar. He was educated as an engineer, and spent a short time at sea before practicing in London, working for the commissioners of sewers for Westminster and part of Middlesex, and for W. F. East, an architect. While employed on railway surveys in the early 1840s he studied near-by churches.
His interest in Gothic Revival architecture was stimulated by his friends, architect Augustus Pugin, and John Henry Newman, who encouraged him to become a Roman Catholic. Pugin became his friend and mentor, and was to inspire him not only in architecture but also in his religious convictions. Mixing in the artistic and literary circles of London, he fell in with the philosophy of the Oxford movement, which taught (amongst other things) that Gothic architecture, as symbolized by the great medieval cathedrals of England, was the only form of architecture worthy of God and fostered a spirituality that made it easier to communicate with God. In 1843 Wardell made the unusual decision to convert from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism, adopting the motto Inveni Quod Quaesivi ("I have found that which I sought"). While Catholics were not actively persecuted in Britain at the time, there was still open discrimination against the Faith in certain political and business quarters. Newman himself did not himself make the leap of faith until 1845.
This manifested in his architectural interests, directed towards the revival of the Gothic of England's medieval period, and or the remainder of his life he saw architecture as a means of praising God. He always had a room in his home set aside as a chapel, dominated by an ancient carved wooden French cross, which he visited several times during the course of a day;iIt is thought that he frequently prayed before working on plans of church buildings.
The lifting of most restrictions on Catholics, which had prevailed since the time of the reformation, through the Catholic Emancipation Acts led to a Catholic revival in Britain. Thus the newly converted Pugin and his protégé Wardell were well placed to receive the numerous commissions which came flooding in.
On 7 October 1847 Wardell married Lucy Ann Butler, the daughter of William Henry Butler, a wine merchant and one time Mayor of Oxford. The couple married at St Mary's Catholic Church, Moorfields in the City of London and are known to have had eleven children.
By the time of his marriage aged 23, Wardell was already independently practicing as an architect. Between 1846 and 1858 he designed, restored or re-ordered about 30 churches in the UK, a rapid success.
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William Wardell
William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a noted architect who practiced in the second half of the 19th century, and is best known for a series of landmark buildings in Australia in Melbourne and Sydney.
Following a successful career in the 1840-50s as an ecclesiastical architect for the Catholic church in Britain, Wardell emigrated to the Colony of Victoria in 1858. He then designed the Catholic cathedrals in both the major cities, St Patrick's in Melbourne and St Mary's in Sydney, as well as St John's College, at the University of Sydney, and numerous parish churches in Victoria. His Gothic Revival church designs have been compared favourably with his friend, English architect and Gothic pioneer Augustus Pugin. He also served as the Chief Architect of the Victorian Public Works Department from 1858-1878, personally designing Government House, Melbourne, and ensured refined classicalism was the predominant style for most public buildings. Wardell also maintained a private practice, designing a mansion, and a series of banks for the ES&A, most notably the Gothic Bank in Melbourne.
Wardell was born in 1823, the son of Thomas Wardell, baker, and his wife Mary; his birth date is not recorded, but he was baptised the following year, on 3 March 1824 at All Saints Church of England, Poplar. He was educated as an engineer, and spent a short time at sea before practicing in London, working for the commissioners of sewers for Westminster and part of Middlesex, and for W. F. East, an architect. While employed on railway surveys in the early 1840s he studied near-by churches.
His interest in Gothic Revival architecture was stimulated by his friends, architect Augustus Pugin, and John Henry Newman, who encouraged him to become a Roman Catholic. Pugin became his friend and mentor, and was to inspire him not only in architecture but also in his religious convictions. Mixing in the artistic and literary circles of London, he fell in with the philosophy of the Oxford movement, which taught (amongst other things) that Gothic architecture, as symbolized by the great medieval cathedrals of England, was the only form of architecture worthy of God and fostered a spirituality that made it easier to communicate with God. In 1843 Wardell made the unusual decision to convert from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism, adopting the motto Inveni Quod Quaesivi ("I have found that which I sought"). While Catholics were not actively persecuted in Britain at the time, there was still open discrimination against the Faith in certain political and business quarters. Newman himself did not himself make the leap of faith until 1845.
This manifested in his architectural interests, directed towards the revival of the Gothic of England's medieval period, and or the remainder of his life he saw architecture as a means of praising God. He always had a room in his home set aside as a chapel, dominated by an ancient carved wooden French cross, which he visited several times during the course of a day;iIt is thought that he frequently prayed before working on plans of church buildings.
The lifting of most restrictions on Catholics, which had prevailed since the time of the reformation, through the Catholic Emancipation Acts led to a Catholic revival in Britain. Thus the newly converted Pugin and his protégé Wardell were well placed to receive the numerous commissions which came flooding in.
On 7 October 1847 Wardell married Lucy Ann Butler, the daughter of William Henry Butler, a wine merchant and one time Mayor of Oxford. The couple married at St Mary's Catholic Church, Moorfields in the City of London and are known to have had eleven children.
By the time of his marriage aged 23, Wardell was already independently practicing as an architect. Between 1846 and 1858 he designed, restored or re-ordered about 30 churches in the UK, a rapid success.
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