![Frederick de Jersey Clere 12](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Frederick_de_Jersey_Clere_12.jpg)
Frederick de Jersey Clere (7 January 1856 – 13 August 1952) was an architect in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
, New Zealand.
Biography
He was born in
Walsden
Walsden (; ) is a large village in the civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts a ...
, near
Todmorden
Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax, West Yorkshire, Hal ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
and trained as an architect before emigrating to New Zealand with his family in 1877.
He was an architect for 58 years, in
Feilding
Feilding ( mi, Aorangi) is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council.
Feilding has w ...
,
Wanganui
Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...
, and
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
. In 1883 he was made the Diocesan Architect for the
Anglican Church in Wellington, designing over 100 churches not only in Wellington but across the lower
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
.
He built a variety of buildings, including the
Wellington Harbour Board Head Office and Bond Store
Wellington Harbour Board Head Office and Bond Store is a historic building on Jervois Quay in Wellington, New Zealand. The building currently houses the Wellington Museum.
It was commissioned in 1890 by the Wellington Harbour Board to replace wo ...
and the
Wellington Harbour Board Wharf Office Building
Wellington Harbour Board Wharf Office Building (also known as Shed 7) is a historic building on Jervois Quay erected by the Wellington Harbour Board in Wellington, New Zealand.
The building, is classified as a "Category 1" ("places of 'special o ...
for the Wellington Harbour Board (WHB) and also designed schools, houses and churches. In 1891 he designed the extension to the baptistry of
Old St Paul's in Wellington.
[Sheppard, Peter. ''Restoring Old St Paul's''. Wellington: Ministry of Works, 1970, p. 4.]
An advocate of concrete construction (though he wrote a pamphlet on building wooden churches), his best known design is
St Mary of the Angels (Catholic, 1922) of reinforced concrete, in Wellington.
Many of his churches are in the
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style, for example
St Alban's Church in
Pauatahanui and the Catholic, St Patrick's Church, Palmerston North which was built in 1925 and renovated and rededicated in 1980 as the
Cathedral of the Holy Spirit
The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, alternatively known as the ''St. Esprit Cathedral'' ( Turkish: ''Saint Esprit Kilisesi''), located on Cumhuriyet Avenue, 127/A, in the quarter of Pangaltı in Şişli district, the former Harbiye, between Taksim ...
. He was involved with his architectural partner,
John Swan John Swan may refer to:
* John Swan (engineer) (1787–1869), British marine engineer, pioneer of the screw propeller and inventor of the self-acting chain messenger
*John Swan (Bermudian politician) (born 1935), British-Bermudian politician
* John ...
, in designing
St Gerard's, Wellington.
In 1935, he was awarded the
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal
The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V.
Issue
This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...
.
He practised on his own and in association with many other architects, including his son. Clere continued working until the age of 92, and died on 13 August 1952 at the age of 96.
See also
*
All Saints Church, Palmerston North
All Saints Church in Palmerston North, New Zealand, is an Anglican heritage-registered church designed by eminent architect Frederick de Jersey Clere. The church has been closed since 2013 over concerns about earthquake resistance but there are ...
References
* ''Architect of the angels: the churches of Frederick de Jersey Clere'' by Susan Maclean (2002, Steele Roberts, Wellington)
* ''Hints on building wooden churches'' by Frederick de J. Clere (1886, Ffrost & Manley, Wellington), a 16-page pamphlet
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clere, Frederick De Jersey
1856 births
1952 deaths
New Zealand architects
New Zealand ecclesiastical architects
People from Todmorden
English emigrants to New Zealand
Wellington City Councillors
Hutt City Councillors