John Bramston Russell Oldham (1907–1999) at

Subiaco, Western Australia Subiaco (known colloquially as Subi) is an inner-Western suburbs (Perth), western suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is approximately west of Perth's central business district, in the City of Subiaco local government area. H ...

) was a

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Oldham, a pioneer of landscape architecture in Australia, and his journalist wife Ray were founding members of the National Trust (WA) and were prominent in the fight to save some of WA’s heritage buildings during the 1960s and 1970s.

Biography

John Oldham was born in Perth (19 December 1907). His father, Charles Lancelot Oldham, was a well known local architect who had designed a number of buildings in Fremantle during the 1890s, including the Fremantle Markets. His mother, Susan, was a painter. Both of Oldham's maternal grandparents were also painters, and his paternal grandfather, James Oldham, the headmaster of the Central Training School in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

, established the Ballarat Art Gallery. Oldham was educated at

Christ Church Grammar School Christ Church Grammar School is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Single-sex school, single-sex Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primary and Secondary school#Australia, se ...

and as a boarder at

Guildford Grammar School Guildford Grammar School, informally known as Guildford Grammar, Guildford or GGS, is an Independent school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Mixed-sex education, coeducational Primary school, primary and Secondary school, se ...

. In 1924 he served an architectural apprenticeship to the firm Oldham, Boas and Ednie-Brown, which had bought his father’s business after the death of Oldham Senior in 1919. In 1928 he joined the staff of Rodney Allsop Oldham, where he worked on designs for the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

, he then went for a year of study at the Architecture Atelier at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. Oldham returned to Perth in late 1930, and capitalised on his graphic skills to set up the ‘Poster Studio’ with Harold Krantz, where, even during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, he was able to make a living out of producing lino-cut poster prints. In 1932, as a result of a family legacy, he moved to Sydney, where he established the Oldham Publishing Company which produced lino-cut posters and calendars. In 1934 he returned to Perth joining an architectural firm established by Krantz, as a junior partner. During 1934–37, Oldham established himself as an architectural designer, specialising in the rendering and presentation of architectural drawings. He drew heavily on his knowledge of the ideas of the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

and the International School. In 1936 he met Ruby 'Ray' McClintock, a journalist with ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'', who he married the following year. In the late 1930s the couple joined the Communist Party and embraced its programmes – especially the Workers’ Art Guild. Oldham contributed substantially to the design and production of posters and programmes. They moved to Sydney, where he joined the architectural firm of Stephenson and Turner and, in 1939, was given the task of designing the Australian Pavilion for the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York, United States. The fair included exhibitio ...

. Oldham was appointed WA’s first Government landscape architect in the 1950s. Among his many achievements were the landscaping of the

Narrows A narrows or narrow (used interchangeably but usually in the plural form), is a restricted land or water passage. Most commonly a narrows is a strait, though it can also be a water gap. A narrows may form where a stream passes through a tilte ...

Interchange,

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Meeting places of parliament Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * P ...

, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Serpentine and Wellington Dams, Western Australian Institute of Technology, Crestwood estate and developing a master plan for Kings Park and the Swan River foreshores. Internationally renowned as a landscape architect, Oldham was admitted as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM)in 1990. He died in 1999.

Honours

In 2000, Oldham Park at the

Interchange was named in his honour.John Oldham Park. Named to honour the late John Oldham, a landscape architect, who designed the Freeway Interchange area. ''Geographic name approvals in Western Australia'', Jan./Mar. 2000, p.16, http://henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au/record=b1961341~S2

Biography

Honours

References

Further reading