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

. 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.

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

Biography

See also

References

External links