Robert Fellowes Chisholm (11 January 1840 – 28 May 1915) was a British architect who pioneered the

Indo-Saracenic Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal) was a Revivalism (architecture), revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and gov ...

style of architecture in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

Early life

Chisholm was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 11 January 1840 (or on 3 November 1838, according to the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

), and had his early education in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, practising as a talented landscape painter in London during his youth. On completion of his education, he arrived at

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and moved to Madras in 1865, where he was appointed head of the school of industrial art.

Career

In that same year, 1865, Chisholm began to design the older building of Presidency College, Madras. He initially constructed buildings in the Renaissance and Gothic styles of architecture. Also in 1865–67, he was designing the Nilgiri Library in

Ootacamund Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located northwest of Coimbatore, and is the headquarters of N ...

(completed in 1869), and the Lawrence Memorial School in that same town (1865–69). The revenue board building in the

Chepauk Palace Chepauk Palace was the official residence of the Nawab of Arcot from 1768 to 1855. It is situated in the neighbourhood of Chepauk in Chennai, India, and is constructed in the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. History After the Carnatic ...

complex, which was constructed by Chisholm in 1871,

Muthiah Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan (born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, businessman and former professional cricketer. Averaging over six wickets per Test match, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the s ...

, pp. 166–168 was his first in the

or Muslim style of architecture. Chisholm later emerged as a pioneer in the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. Chisholm also constructed the Lawrence Asylum buildings (1865),

Napier Museum The Napier Museum is an art and natural history museum situated in Thiruvananthapuram, India. The Museum is grounds to the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo, one of the oldest zoological gardens in India. The zoo was established in 1857 over of land. ...

Trivandrum,

Presidency College, Madras Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

(1865–70) the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

buildings of the

University of Madras The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

(1874–79), offices of the P. Orr & Sons

, p 62 and the Post and Telegraph Office in Ootacamund (1875–83). Chisholm also enlarged and constructed a pavilion at the

M. A. Chidambaram Stadium M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, commonly known as the Chepauk Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Chepauk, Chennai. It is named after former BCCI president M. A. Chidambaram, and is operated by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. It was established ...

, p 170 Chisholm was appointed Consulting Architect to the Government of Madras in 1872 and served from 1872 to 1886.

, p 155 In 1876 he was appointed to the newly established executive committee of management of the Madras School of Arts, and was Officiating Superintendent of that institution from 1877 to 1883. He was also responsible for the Bombay Municipal Offices and the immense

Laxmi Vilas Palace The Lakshmi Vilas Palace (Gujarati language, Gujarati: લક્ષ્મી વિલાસ મહેલ) in Vadodara, Gujarat, India, was constructed in 1890 by the Gaekwad dynasty, Gaekwad family, a prominent Maratha Empire, Maratha family, ...

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

(Vadodara) during 1880–90. He returned to London in 1902, where his best-known London building is

Cadogan Hall Cadogan Hall is a 950-seat capacity concert hall in Sloane Terrace in Chelsea, London, Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. The resident music ensemble at Cadogan Hall is the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ( ...

(originally First Church of Christ, Scientist), near Sloane Square. He also designed an uncompleted Indian Museum in Belvedere Road,

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

, London.

Death

Chisholm died on 28 May 1915 at

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea began as a f ...

at the age of 75.

Notes

References

* * Hockings, Paul: Encyclopaedia of the Nilgiri Hills, pt. 1 (2012). New Delhi: Manohar Publishers (New Delhi).

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chisholm, Robert 1840 births 1915 deaths Architects from British India 19th-century Indian architects People from the Madras Presidency Architects from London British people in colonial India History of Chennai