Biography

F.W. Burwell (1846-1915) is noted for designing many buildings in Invercargill, transforming the centre of the town between 1874 and the mid-1880s. Born in Scotland, Burwell served his articles with the architect John Matthews and immigrated to New Zealand in the late 1860s. By 1873, he had established his practice in Queenstown. He moved to Invercargill the following year. Once established there, he began designing elegant two and three-storey buildings in the Renaissance style. He designed almost all the buildings in Dee Street, including the hospital. 'The Crescent' was another notable Invercargill streetscape created by Burwell. In recognition of his work, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1880. The depression in the 1880s saw his commissions decline and he moved to Australia in 1887 where he practised in Melbourne, Perth and then Fremantle. He was particularly successful in the last, as Western Australia was in the middle of a building boom, and a number of his commercial buildings in central Fremantle are now classified by the Australian Heritage Commission. Burwell returned to Melbourne in 1910, and died there five years later. (Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, 'Burwell, Frederick William (1846-1915)' in Jane Thomson (ed.), Southern People: a dictionary of Otago Southland biography, Dunedin, 1998, p. 74.)

Name

Burwell, F. W.

Type

Architect

Biography

Scottish-born Ramsay (c.1835-1919) arrived in Auckland in 1859. Hearing about the gold rushes in the South, he journeyed to Dunedin before joining the hopefuls at the Tuapeka goldfields. After his marriage to Elizabeth Allen he took up residence at Longbush where he set up as a sawmiller in conjunction with John Laidlaw and James Strang. After that partnership was dissolved he moved to Invercargill and worked as a builder, active from the mid 1870s. He was the builder for F.W. Burwell’s St Paul’s Church (Presbyterian) and the Bank of New Zealand building in Invercargill, as well as building additions to the Fleming and Company Flourmill in 1881. He worked on many significant buildings including the AMP buildings, the first government buildings, the first part of St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, the race and turbine of the Mataura freezing works, as well as his own Ramsay’s Hall on Tay Street, later incorporated into the Thomson and Beattie’s drapery concern. However, bankruptcy in 1887 seems to have ended his contracting career.

Name

Ramsay, John

Type

Designer

Biography

Glasgow-born Stewart (c.1835-1920) came to New Zealand in the 1860s, settling in Invercargill. He began work as a monumental mason before joining the gold rush to the West Coast. He returned to Invercargill and set up business as a building contractor. He was contractor for many significant buildings including Southland Boys’ High School (first used for both boys and girls), the Athenaeum, the Bank of New Zealand, Central School, Thomson and Beattie’s Invercargill premises and Thomson and Co.’s Leven Street factory, and the Awarua radio station.

Name

David Stewart

Type

Builder

Biography

Yorkshire born Sharp (1847-1936) was educated in England as an engineer and surveyor before going to Japan as assistant engineer on the Imperial Government railway until 1877. After returning to England he then came to New Zealand in October 1878. He was appointed assistant engineer in the Public Works Department. Retrenched in the 1880s, he started in private practice and was part time engineer to the Invercargill Borough Council and the Bluff Harbour Board. He retired in 1914 and died in Timaru in 1936.

Name

Sharp, William

Type

Architect