John Francis Hennessy (1853–1924) was an Australian architect practicing in

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in the 1880s-1910s, concentrating on projects for the Catholic Church.

Personal life

John Francis Hennessy was born in Ireland about 1853, and grew up and trained in architecture in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, and London. Deciding that there were more opportunities in Australia, he arrived in Sydney in 1880 and was soon appointed assistant to the city architect, where he worked on the Centennial Hall of the

Sydney Town Hall The Sydney Town Hall is a late 19th-century heritage-listed town hall building in the city of Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia, housing the chambers of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, council offices, and venues for meetings and ...

in 1883. The family lived for many years in Burwood, where he designed the Town Hall in 1887, and was an alderman 1890–1895, and mayor in 1892–93. During his presidency of the Institute of Architects of New South Wales in 1911–12, the registration of architects was achieved. He helped to establish the chair of architecture at the University of Sydney and to secure the recognition of public competition for public buildings.

Professional life

John Hennessy was in partnership with Joseph Sheerin as Sheerin & Hennessy from 1884 until Sheerin left the partnership in 1912. Both were devout Catholics, active in Church charities, and were friends of Archbishop (Cardinal) Moran, and were commissioned for a number of large projects for the church, including two large colleges and the Cathedral of St Mary and St Joseph in Armidale, in country NSW. Hennessy then went into partnership with his son, also named,

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 ...

, 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 1923, when he retired. His son retained the name and went make the firm one of the most successful commercial practices in the 1930s in Australia and New Zealand.

Later life

John Hennessy died only a year after retiring on November 1924 at his home in Belmore Street, Burwood. His requiem mass was held at St Mary's Catholic Church in

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

where he regularly worshipped. He was buried in

Rookwood Cemetery Rookwood Cemetery (officially named Rookwood Necropolis) is a heritage-listed cemetery in Rookwood, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere and is the world's largest remaining operating ...

Works

* St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill (1884–94) * St Vincent's College, Potts Point (1886) * Sacred Heart Monastery, Kensington (1897) *Burwood Council Chambers (1887) *

City Tattersalls Club The City Tattersalls Club is a social club located in Sydney, New South Wales. The club was formed in 1895 by a group of bookmakers disgruntled with a judge's decision on a race at Kensington, New South Wales. The club named itself after the T ...

(1890) * Cathedral of St Mary and St Joseph, Armidale (1910–11) *Plan for

Daceyville Daceyville (formerly Dacey Garden Suburb) is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Daceyville is 7 km south of the Sydney central business district and is now part of Bayside Council (formerl ...

garden suburb in Sydney, with John Sulman (1912).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hennessy, Jack New South Wales architects Australian Roman Catholics 1853 births 1924 deaths