Biography

Armson (1832/3?-83) was born in England and emigrated to New Zealand with his family in around 1852. They shifted to Australia two years later and settled in Melbourne. Here Armson was articled to the architectural and civil engineering firm of Purchas and Swyer for a period of six years. He was trained in architecture, engineering and surveying. Armson returned to New Zealand in 1862 during the Otago gold rushes. He was appointed architectural draughtsman in the Provincial Engineer's Department and was soon promoted to Assistant Architect. Made redundant in 1864, Armson practised in Dunedin before superiving construction of St Luke's Church at Oamaru in 1865. Armson moved to Hokitika in 1866 and practised on his own account, designing a wide variety of buildings. These include bank branch offices in towns around the West Coast, and the Hokitika Town Hall (1869). He moved to Christchurch in 1870 and it was here that he prospered as an architect. His buildings include the former Public Library (1875), the Bank of New Zealand, Lyttelton (1878), the Bank of New Zealand, Princes Street, Dunedin (1879), Christchurch Girls' High School (1880), St Mary's Church, Timaru (1880) as well as many shops and offices. From 1870 until his death, Armson was unrivalled as a commercial architect in Christchurch. He was also known for his professionalism and in 1872 was one of the founding members of the Canterbury Association of Architects. The practice founded by Armson in 1870 continued as Collins Architects Limited.

Name

Armson, William Barnett

Type

Architect