Robert Fellowes Chisholm (11 January 1840 – 28 May 1915) was a British architect who pioneered the

Indo-Saracenic Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal, or Hindoo style) was a revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and government ...

style of architecture in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Early life

Chisholm was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 11 January 1840 (or on 3 November 1838, according to the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

), and had his early education in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, practising as a talented landscape painter in London during his youth. On completion of his education, he arrived at

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and moved to Madras in 1865, where he was appointed head of the school of industrial art.

Career

In that same year, 1865, Chisholm began to design the older building of Presidency College, Madras. He initially constructed buildings in the Renaissance and Gothic styles of architecture. Also in 1865-67 he was designing the Nilgiri Library in

Ootacamund Ooty (), officially known as Udhagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund (); abbreviated as Udhagai), is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the South Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located ...

(completed in 1869), and the Lawrence Memorial School in that same town (1865–69). The revenue board building in the

Chepauk Palace Chepauk Palace was the official residence of the Nawab of Arcot from 1768 to 1855. It is situated in the neighbourhood of Chepauk in Chennai, India and is constructed in the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. History By the end of the Carn ...

complex, which was constructed by Chisholm in 1871,

Muthiah Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan ( si, මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන්, ta, முத்தையா முரளிதரன், also spelt Muralidaran; born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, former professional ...

, pp 166-168 was his first in the

or Muslim style of architecture. Chisholm later emerged as a pioneer in the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. Chisholm also constructed the Lawrence Asylum buildings (1865),

Napier Museum The Napier Museum is an art and natural history museum situated in Thiruvananthapuram, India. The Museum is grounds to the Trivandrum Zoo, one of the oldest zoological gardens in India. The zoo was established in 1857 over of land. It also c ...

Trivandrum,

Presidency College, Madras Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

(1865–70) the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

buildings of the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...

(1874–79), offices of the P. Orr & Sons

, p 62 and the Post and Telegraph Office in Ootacamund (1875–83). Chisholm also enlarged and constructed a pavilion at the

M. A. Chidambaram Stadium M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, commonly known as the Chepauk Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1916, it is the second oldest cricket stadium in the country after Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Formerly known as Ma ...

, p 170 Chisholm was appointed Consulting Architect to the Government of Madras in 1872 and served from 1872 to 1886.

, p 155 In 1876 he was appointed to the newly established executive committee of management of the Madras School of Arts, and was Officiating Superintendent of that institution from 1877 to 1883. He was also responsible for the Bombay Municipal Offices and the immense

Laxmi Vilas Palace The Lakshmi Vilas Palace in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, was constructed by the Gaekwad family, a prominent Maratha family, who ruled the Baroda State. Major Charles Mant was credited to be the main architect of the palace. Lakshmi Vilas Palace ...

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

(Vadodara) during 1880–90. He returned to London in 1902, where his best-known London building is

Cadogan Hall Cadogan Hall is a 950-seat capacity concert hall in Sloane Terrace in Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. The resident music ensemble at Cadogan Hall is the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), the first ...

(originally First Church of Christ, Scientist), near Sloane Square. He also designed an uncompleted Indian Museum in Belvedere Road,

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

, London.

Death

Chisholm died on 28 May 1915 at

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

at the age of 75.

Notes

References

* * Hockings, Paul: Encyclopaedia of the Nilgiri Hills, pt. 1 (2012). New Delhi: Manohar Publishers (New Delhi). {{DEFAULTSORT:Chisholm, Robert 19th-century births 1915 deaths Year of birth uncertain Architects from London British people in colonial India History of Chennai