Charles Webb (born 26 November 1821,

Sudbury, Suffolk Sudbury (, ) is a market town in the south west of Suffolk, England, on the River Stour, Suffolk, River Stour near the Essex border, north-east of London. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, it had a population of 13,063. It is th ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

– 23 January 1898) was an architect working in

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

during the 19th century. Notable Webb designs include the iconic Windsor Hotel, Royal Arcade, South Melbourne Town Hall and Tasma Terrace, all listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

Biography

Charles Webb was born in

, England on 26 November 1821, as the youngest of nine children. After being apprentice at an architect in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, in 1847 he became the secretary of the London Architectural Students' Society. Following his brother James who earlier migrated to Australia, Charles arrived in Melbourne on 2 June 1849. He set up an architecture and surveyor partnership with his brother at Brighton. Their first important commission was for the St Paul's Church on Swanston Street in 1850. After 1858 Webb practised on his own, until two of his sons joined him in 1888. In this period he designed several public buildings, including the Wesley College (1864), Alfred Hospital (1869), Royal Arcade (1869), South Melbourne Town Hall (1878), Melbourne Orphan Asylum (1878) and the Grand Hotel later renamed Hotel Windsor (1884). In 1856 he was a founding member of the Victorian Institute of Architects, and between 1882-83 the organisation's president.Bridges-Webb, Charles
"Webb, Charles (1821–1898)"
'' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 3 November 2012.

Significant works

* 1856 -

Melbourne Grammar School (Pray and Work) , established = 1849 (on present site since 1858 - the celebrated date of foundation) , type = Independent, co-educational primary, single-sex boys secondary, day and boarding , denomination ...

(main buildings), Melbourne * 1857 - St Andrew's Anglican Church, Brighton, Melbourne * 1863 - Church of Christ,

Swanston Street Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of the main streets of the Melbourne central business district and was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertical ...

, Melbourne * 1864 - Wesley College, Prahran, Melbourne * 1869 - Royal Arcade, Bourke Street, Melbourne * 1872 - The Beehive Building, Pall Mall,

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, mak ...

* 1875 - Congregational Church, Black St., Brighton, Melbourne * 1876 - Mandeville Hall,

Toorak Toorak may refer to: * Toorak, Victoria, an inner south-eastern suburb of Melbourne *Toorak College, Mount Eliza, approximately 40 km south of Melbourne * Toorak Gardens, South Australia, an inner eastern suburb of Adelaide initially named Toorak * ...

, Melbourne * 1876 - John Knox Presbyterian Church, Gardenvale, Melbourne * 1878 - Tasma Terrace, Parliament Place,

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. East Melbourne recorded a population of 4,896 at the 2021 ...

* 1879 - South Melbourne Town Hall,

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip Local government ...

* 1880 - Primary School No. 1253, South Melbourne * 1882 - Mosspennoch, East Melbourne * 1883 - Grand Hotel (Windsor),

Spring Street, Melbourne Spring Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia. It runs roughly north-south and is the easternmost street in the original 1837 Hoddle Grid. Spring Street is famous as the traditional seat of the Gover ...

* 1884 - Banks & Co Warehouse, 96 Pelham Street, Carlton, Melbourne * 1889 - Charsfield Hotel,

St Kilda Road St Kilda Road is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the locality of Melbourne which has the postcode of 3004, and along with Swanston Street forms a major spine of the city. St Kilda Road begins at Flinders Street, in ...

, Melbourne

Gallery of works

File:MGS Witherby Tower.jpg, Melbourne Grammar School, Witherby Tower, South Facade File:Church of christ swanston street.jpg, Church of Christ, Swanston St, Melbourne File:Bourke street mall facade of royal arcade melbourne.jpg, Royal Arcade File:John Knox Church in Brighton.jpg,

John Knox John Knox ( gd, Iain Cnocc) (born – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordga ...

Church (built 1876) on the corner of New Street and North Road, Brighton, Victoria File:Tasma terrace parliament place.jpg, Tasma Terrace File:South Melbourne Townhall.jpg, South Melbourne Town Hall File:Windsor hotel in 2010.jpg, Melbourne Windsor Hotel (Built 1887) File:New and old buildings in Carlton.jpg, Banks & Co Warehouse (right) File:A Boutique Hotel (Charsfield Hotel) in St Kilda Rd.jpg, Charsfield Hotel, St Kilda Road File:Beehive Building on Pall Mall, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.jpg, Beehive Building, Bendigo, Victoria

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Charles 1821 births 1898 deaths People from Sudbury, Suffolk 19th-century Australian architects English emigrants to colonial Australia Architects from Melbourne