Colonial Architect Francis Drummond Greville Stanley

Francis Drummond Greville Stanley (1839–1897) was an architect 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 ...

, Australia. He was the

Queensland Colonial Architect The Queensland Government Architect is a position within the public service of Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and t ...

. Many of his designs are now

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

buildings.

Early life

Stanley was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland, on 1 January 1839, the son of actor and painter Montague Talbot Stanley and his wife Mary Susan (née Eyre). Stanley studied and practised architecture in Edinburgh, prior to emigrating to Brisbane in 1861–62. There, he joined the Lands Department in 1863 and became the chief clerk of works, under the Colonial Architect Charles Tiffin. On 27 April 1865, he married Margaret Bennet at

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

. His younger brother, Henry Charles Stanley, was also an early immigrant to Queensland, becoming the Chief Engineer of the Queensland railways. His niece, Gwendolyn Stanley was an artist.

Career

Stanley was himself appointed to the post of Queensland Colonial Architect in July 1873. He held the post until 1881.

Works

* 1872:

General Post Office, Brisbane The General Post Office (GPO) in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is a heritage-listed building located at 261 Queen Street, Brisbane, Queen Street. Originally constructed in 1872, it was extended through to Elizabeth Street, Brisbane, Elizabeth ...

* 1873:

Roma Street railway station Roma Street railway station is a commuter and long-distance passenger train station located in the Brisbane central business district, central business district of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is the junction station for the North Coast ...

, Brisbane * 1874: the first Cape Capricorn Light, near

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

* 1877: Maryborough Courthouse * 1879:

Supreme Court of Queensland The Supreme Court of Queensland is the highest court in the Australian State of Queensland. It was formerly the Brisbane Supreme Court, in the colony of Queensland. The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court allows its trial division to ...

, Brisbane * 1879: St Paul's Anglican Church, Maryborough * 1879:

Queensland National Bank The Queensland National Bank is a former bank in Queensland, Australia. History In 1872, the bank was established in Brisbane. In December 1914, the bank had its head office in Brisbane with branches throughout Queensland at Allora, Queensland, ...

(former),

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

* 1880:

Toowoomba Post Office Toowoomba Post Office is a heritage-listed former post office at 136 Margaret Street, Toowoomba City, Queensland, Toowoomba City, Toowoomba, Queensland, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Francis Drummond Gr ...

* 1882:

Australian Joint Stock Bank Building, Maryborough Australian Joint Stock Bank Building is a heritage-listed former bank and now museum at 331 Kent Street, Maryborough, Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built in 1882 by French ...

*1882:

Queensland Club Queensland Club is a heritage-listed Club (organization), club house at 19 George Street, Brisbane City, Queensland, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built from 18 ...

* 1883: the rectory of

Christ Church, Milton Christ Church is a heritage-listed Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican church at 3 Chippendall Street, Milton, Queensland, Milton, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The current church building is the second one at this site and was de ...

, Brisbane * 1884: Union Bank of Australia (now

Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Perc ''(pronounced purse)'' Tucker Regional Gallery is a heritage-listed public art gallery in the Townsville City, Queensland, Townsville CBD, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Located on the corner of Flinders and Denham streets, the ...

*1884: first Lennons Hotel in Brisbane * 1888:

Australian Joint Stock Bank Building Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

(former),

* 1889:

Tighnabruaich, Indooroopilly Tighnabruaich is a heritage-listed villa at 203 Clarence Road, Indooroopilly, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built around 1889. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register ...

, a residence built for his brother, Henry. * 1893: St Ann's Industrial School, now part of

All Hallows' School All Hallows' School (AHS) is a Catholicism, Catholic day school for girls, located in Fortitude Valley, close to the central business district of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1861, the school is a day school, having had a board ...

, Brisbane

Later years

Stanley was interested in astronomy and built an observatory at his home. It was equipped with a powerful telescope, housed under a retractable roof. He used this to observe the

transit of Mercury file:Mercury transit symbol.svg, frameless, upright=0.5 A transit of Mercury across the Sun takes place when the planet Mercury (planet), Mercury passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet. During a Astronomical transit, transit, Merc ...

, in November 1894. In August 1896, Stanley took up government employment again as an Inspector of Works. Stanley died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

on Friday 28 May 1897, at his home ''Ardencraig'' in Church Street - later Jephson Street - in the

Toowong Toowong ( ) is a riverside Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 12,556 people with a median weekly household income of $1,927. Geography Toowong is ...

district of Brisbane. With classic symptoms of extrapulmonary TB, he had caught a chill three weeks previously, which developed into a paralysis of his lower body. He was buried in

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland, Queensland's lar ...

. His widow Margaret died on 14 September 1921 at ''Witherslack'', Chelmer and was buried in the Anglican Cemetery of St. Matthews, in neighbouring

Sherwood Sherwood may refer to: Places Australia *Sherwood, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane * Sherwood, South Australia, a locality *Shire of Sherwood, a former local government area of Queensland * Electoral district of Sherwood, an electoral district fr ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Francis Drummond Greville Architects from Brisbane 1839 births 1897 deaths Burials at Toowong Cemetery 19th-century Australian architects Francis Drummond Greville Stanley buildings Architects from Edinburgh Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia