Thomas Pye (architect)
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Thomas Pye (18611930) was an Australian architect. He worked for over 33 years in the
Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...
in
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
.The Queenslander (Brisbane), 10 April 1930 Pye contributed significantly to major buildings including the completion of the Public Offices ( Treasury Building) and
Rockhampton Customs House The Rockhampton Customs House is a heritage-listed customs house at 208 Quay Street, Rockhampton, Queensland, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1899 to 1900 by Caskie and Thompson. It was added to the Que ...
, as well as the design for the Lands and Survey Offices ( Lands Administration Building). He was responsible for the heightened expectations which produced the best public buildings yet seen in Queensland.Watson 1994, 150


Early life

Thomas Pye was born in 1861 in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, England to Edward Pye, a farmer, and Ellen Newett.Watson 1994, 149 After receiving “an excellent training” as an architect in England, Pye emigrated to the colonies in c.1882. In 1883, Pye married Emily Ruth Ivy in September, while living in
Mosman Bay Mosman Bay is a bay of Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour adjacent to the suburb of Mosman, New South Wales, Mosman, 4 km north-east of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD in New South Wales, Australia. Three ferry wharves are withi ...
,
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
.


Clark and Pye

In 1884, Pye moved to
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
and joined the Queensland Public Works Department to take charge of the documentation of
John James Clark John James Clark (23 January 1838 – 25 June 1915) was an Australian architect, who began his career at the age of 14 in the office of the Colonial Architect's Office in Melbourne, immediately after his family migrated from Liverpool in 1852. ...
’s design for the Brisbane Public Offices (Treasury Building). After completion of the plans for the first stage of the Public Offices, Pye resigned from his public post at the end of May 1885, and entered partnership with J.J. Clark’s brother George Cotton Clark, having previously prepared the drawings for Clark’s Bros’ Brisbane Masonic Hall while employed in the offices of J.J. Clark.Watson 1994, 34 He was involved in a number of projects while at the firm, most notably the Imperial Hotel in Brisbane. George Clark and Pye ended their partnership in early May 1886.


Public Offices (Treasury Building), Brisbane

In June 1886 Pye rejoined the Works Department to prepare drawings for the Public Offices. Pye is associated with the preparation of the plans for the first and second sections of the Public Offices – those facing William Street and the Queen’s Gardens respectively. This was only a temporary appointment until he was appointed as a permanent draftsman in December 1889. During this time, Pye also engaged work with the tenderer for the project, Sydney contractors the Phippard Bros, in 1886 and 1887. In 1890, the drawings for the Public Offices were completed.


Queensland Public Works Department

In 1892, A.B. Brady, the Engineer for Bridges, took charge of buildings as the Government Architect, and Pye was appointed Chief Draftsman. In 1898, Pye was appointed First Assistant Architect. In February 1902, Pye became District Architect, Southern Division with responsibility for Government buildings south of Gympie. His equivalent for the Northern Division was
John Smith Murdoch John Smith Murdoch (29 September 186221 May 1945) was a Scottish architect who practised in Australia from the 1880s until 1930. Employed by the newly formed Commonwealth Public Works Department in 1904, he rose to become chief architect, ...
. In 1904, John Smith Murdoch transferred to the Commonwealth. Consequently, Pye assumed responsibility for the whole of Queensland. In September 1906, Pye was appointed deputy Government Architect and Acting Under Secretary and continued in that office until his retrenchment in August 1921.


Other interests and military involvement

Pye was a military censor for about five months in 1914, and in September 1915, as a lieutenant-colonel, he was detailed to command Australian Imperial Forces reinforcements on transports. He took keen interest in shooting and was a prominent member of local rifle clubs. The lack of success in private practice may conceal a resumption of his previous role as a gun draftsman.


Later life and death

After leaving the Works Department, Pye practiced privately in Brisbane. An amateur artist, he was a member of the Queensland Authors’ and Artists’ Association and was a collector for the
Queensland Museum The Queensland Museum Kurilpa is the state museum of Queensland, funded by the government, and dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museu ...
. In May 1929 Pye left Brisbane to travel overseas. In 1930, Pye died after catching black-water fever at the
Victoria Falls Victoria Falls (Lozi language, Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "Thundering Smoke/Smoke that Rises"; Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe), Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the border betwe ...
, South Africa. His daughter, Juanita Pye, was one of Queensland’s first female architects.


Significant works

Responsibility for individual projects during his employment at the Public Works Department is difficult to discern. The Lands and Survey Offices (Land Administration Building) are considered Pye’s masterpiece. The significant stylistic and technical innovations used in the design of the Lands Offices such as the use of concrete and the Edwardian Baroque style make them almost a decade ahead of comparable Australian buildings. Pye personally supervised the details, including the statuary.The Brisbane Courier, 26 August 1903


See also

*
Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...


References


External links

*
Google map of known works in Brisbane, Queensland Google map of known works in Queensland
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pye, Thomas English emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian architects Architects from Brisbane Arts and Crafts architects 1930 deaths 1861 births 20th-century Australian architects Architects from Lancashire