John Francis (Jack) Hennessy (1887–1955) was an Australian architect, with the same name as his architect father,

John Francis Hennessy John Francis Hennessy (1853–1924) was an Australian architect practicing in New South Wales in the 1880s-1910s, concentrating on projects for the Catholic Church. Personal life John Francis Hennessy was born in Ireland about 1853, and gre ...

, with whom he was in partnership as

Hennessy & Hennessy Hennessy & Hennessy was an architectural firm established in 1912 in Sydney, Australia that was responsible for a series of large scale office buildings in the 1930s in all capital cities in Australia, as well as New Zealand and South Africa, de ...

from 1912 to 1924. As principal of the firm after his father retired from 1924 to 1955, he was responsible for many major Art Deco office buildings in capital cities in Australia and New Zealand in the 1930s, as well as many projects for the Catholic Church in Queensland, and the Great Court of the University of Queensland.

Early life

Hennessy was born on 8 January 1887 at Burwood, Sydney. After completing his secondary education at the Christian Brothers’ High School at

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

, and St Patrick's College,

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

, he studied architecture at

Sydney Technical College The Sydney Technical College, now known as the TAFE New South Wales Sydney Institute, is a technical school established in 1878, that superseded the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. The college is one of Australia's oldest technical education i ...

and at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. He gained experience with firms in America and Sydney, before becoming a partner with his father

trading as

in 1912. John Hennessy retired in 1924, and the firm continued under Jack Hennessy Jnr, retaining the name, though they were also known as Hennessy, Hennessy & Co.

Career

In the 1920s, Queensland Archbishop Duhig commissioned a number of projects for the Catholic Church in Brisbane, including the never-built

Holy Name Cathedral, Brisbane Holy Name Cathedral was a planned but never-built Roman Catholic cathedral for the city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Designed by Hennessy, Hennessy & Co, initially in an English Baroque style inspired by St Paul's in London, it was inten ...

. In the 1930s Hennessy designed a series large office buildings for three different insurance firms in three countries, and has been described as Australia's first international architect. Another major project was the

Great Court, University of Queensland Great Court is a heritage-listed university colonnade at the University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by John (Jack) Hennessy and built from 1937 to 1979. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Reg ...

St Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindia ...

, Brisbane, built between 1938 and 1979. In 1950, Hennessy was awarded over £25,000 by the court when he sued to recover his unpaid fees for the Holy Name Cathedral. Hennessy died of heart disease at his eldest son's home in Sydney on September 4, 1955, at the age of 68. He was buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery at Rookwood. The firm continued until 1968.

Major extant works

** 1925: Corpus Christi Church in

Nundah Nundah (previously called German Station) is an inner suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It contains the neighbourhood of Toombul. In the , Nundah had a population of 12,141 people. Prior to European settlement, Nundah was i ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

** 1927-28: Villa Maria Convent, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane ** 1929: Church of Saint Ignatius Loyola in

Toowong Toowong is a riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 10,830 people. Geography Toowong is situated between Mount Coot-tha and the Brisbane River and is made up of rolling hills w ...

** 1930-31: Colonial Mutual Life, Brisbane ** 1934:

Colonial Mutual Life The Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society Limited, later Colonial Limited, and commonly known as Colonial Mutual, Colonial Mutual Life, and/or CML, was a diverse international financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. Co ...

, Adelaide **1935: Colonial Mutual Life,

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 ** 1936:

Lawson Apartments Lawson Apartments are located at 2–4 Sherwood Court near the corner with The Esplanade, in Perth, Western Australia. They are situated across the road from the Esplanade Reserve and adjacent to the Weld Club. History The building, originall ...

, Perth ** 1936: Australian Catholic Assurance, Melbourne ** 1936: Australian Catholic Assurance, Sydney **1937: Colonial Mutual Life, Newcastle ** 1937-79:

, Brisbane **1941: Pius XII Provincial Seminary, Banyo, Brisbane.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hennessy, Jack, junior Architects from Sydney 1887 births 1955 deaths