Nathaniel Young Armstrong Wales (1832 – 3 November 1903) was a 19th-century architect, Member of Parliament, and Mayor in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

, New Zealand.

Biography

Wales was born in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, England. He trained as an architect in

Jedburgh Jedburgh ( ; ; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire. History Jedburgh began as ''Jedworð'', the "worth" or enclosed settlem ...

, Scotland. He joined the

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia, approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony and an influx of population growth and financial capi ...

in its early days and then migrated to Dunedin in 1861. He was employed by the architect

William Mason William, Willie, or Willy Mason may refer to: Arts and entertainment *William Mason (poet) (1724–1797), English poet, editor and gardener *William Mason (architect) (1810–1897), New Zealand architect *William Mason (composer) (1829–1908), Ame ...

and in 1871 joined him as a partner in the firm. He represented the City of Dunedin electorate from to 1875, when he retired. He was later

Mayor of Dunedin The mayor of Dunedin is the head of the local government, the city council of Dunedin, New Zealand. The mayor's role is "to provide leadership to the other elected members of the territorial authority, be a leader in the community and perform c ...

from 1895 to 1896. Coincidentally, Wales' partner Mason had held the same position during the 1860s.

Notable designs

One of his notable designs is his own house at 38 Belgrave Crescent, which was built from stones quarried on the site. He designed the New Zealand Insurance Company Building, which is located on the corner of Queens Gardens and Crawford Street, and which is registered as a Category I heritage by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

References

1832 births 1903 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Mayors of Dunedin Architects from Dunedin New Zealand MPs for Dunedin electorates English emigrants to New Zealand 19th-century New Zealand politicians 19th-century New Zealand architects {{NewZealand-architect-stub