Thomas Forrester

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Thomas Forrester (born May 16, 1838 in Glasgow , † March 25, 1907 ) was a New Zealand architect of Irish descent. His work is particularly associated with the city of Oamaru .

He studied at the Glasgow School of Art before emigrating to New Zealand with his family in 1861. There he worked in Dunedin under William Mason (1810–1897) and William Henry Clayton (1823–1877) and later under Robert Arthur Lawson (1833–1902). In this position he was sent to Oamaru to oversee the construction of the Bank of Otago branch . In 1865 he was responsible for the Dunedin Exhibition .

From 1870 he was responsible for supervising the construction work in the port of Oamaru. He designed the breakwater and the pier for the then important port. He worked his way up from Inspector of Works to Secretary of the Oamaru Harbor Board . In 1885 he became an engineer on the Oamaru Harbor Board and officially remained so until his death. As such, repairs to the breakwater after a storm in 1886 and Holmes Wharf were among his work. From soil samples he had taken from the seabed, he concluded that the port could be dredged, which made it possible to build a deep-water port.

Together with the Jamaican John Lemon (1828–1890) he founded the company Forrester & Lemon , which built many of the buildings belonging to the listed Victorian architectural heritage Oamarus. Forrester was responsible for the architectural side, Lemmon for the day-to-day business and the commercial side.

In 1882 Forrester became the first curator of the newly founded Oamaru Museum, which is now the North Otago Museum , and was housed in the "Athenaeum" designed by Forrester himself .

In addition to architecture, he was interested in geology and photography. His son John Megget Forrester later took over the architecture office.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Thomas Forrester - Architect . The Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust , 2010, archived from the original on May 26, 2010 ; accessed on February 9, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).
  2. ↑ Abstract for Forrester & Lemon on the New Zealand Historic Trust website , accessed May 5, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Forrester, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand architect of Irish descent
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1838
PLACE OF BIRTH Glasgow
DATE OF DEATH March 25, 1907