Henry Colls

1837

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Henry Colls Richardson arrived in South Australia in September 1840 as a child of three years with his parents aboard the Lysander. Born in 1837 to cabinetmaker Henry Richardson and Sarah (nee Colls) of Middlesex, England, Henry had four siblings, although only his sister Mary (1845-1921) survived to reach adulthood. Following his schooling Henry ‘tried his fortunes in various Australian goldfields, before taking up the occupation of builder and contractor’ (Pikusa 1986, p.124). Henry Richardson married Jane Reynolds (1846-1926) at his father’s house on 24 April 1866. They lived in a residence on Sturt Street, Adelaide and when Henry began practicing as an architect during the 1870’s, he set up his office at the same address. Richardson worked as a sole practitioner for his entire career.

In 1878 Richardson nominated for and was elected as a member of the Adelaide City Council, serving for the Grey Ward for 4 years and 9 months in total, with 3 years of this time as alderman. In this capacity he was ‘chairman of every permanent committee and so was involved in the inauguration of the sewerage system, the construction of the Torrens Weir and the Morphett Street Overway Bridge’ (Pikusa 1986: 124). In 1881 Henry Richardson nominated for the South Australian House of Assembly for the seat of West Adelaide but was defeated (‘House of Assembly Nominations’, 1881: 5).

Henry Richardson was one of the first members of the South Australian Institute of Architects formed in1886. He is reported to have delivered a lecture on ‘What constitutes an architect’ to the South Australian Institute of Architects on 16 August 1892. In this lecture Richardson ‘dealt more particularly with the question of practical experience being essential to an architect as well as artistic ability and draughtsmanship’ (‘Institute of Architects’, 1892: 5).

One of Richardson’s early architectural works in 1872 was additions he designed for the Ferguson residence, Wakefield Street, Adelaide. The builder for this job was Joseph Richardson and following its completion it was described in the South Australian Register, which reported ‘He has put up what is rather a novelty in the way of verandahs. It consists of cast-iron ornamented frieze work with brackets.’ (‘Building Improvements in 1872’, 1873: 6). This would have been one of the earlier uses of cast iron which became very popular in Adelaide hotels and residences in the 1880’s and 1890’s.

Richardson was engaged to design alterations and additions to Bentham Street Chapel in 1878, for which the contractor was Mr Williams (‘Religious Items’, 13 July 1878: 9). A further church commission followed, this time a new lecture hall for Draper Memorial Church on Gilbert Street, Adelaide completed by 1880 (‘Building improvements during 1879’, 1880: 5). Richardson designed a residence with a Mitcham freestone front for Mr J Nicholson at Glenelg in 1879 (‘Building improvements during 1879’, 1880: 5). Also at Glenelg in the same year was a 14 room house, said to be suitable for a hotel, on Pier Street for Mr Prowse. Mr J Kerr was the builder (‘Building improvements during 1879’, 1880: 5).

The 1880’s saw Richardson’s business increase and architectural commissions included alterations to shops and business premises as well as at least two villa residences, one at Queen Street, Norwood and another at Glenelg (‘Tenders’, 1882: 6). According to research by Stefan Pikusa the Delano House of c.1884 at Norwood was a villa for a ‘collector’ named William Delano. It is a single storey sandstone villa with a corrugated iron roof and verandah. Triple-fronted with ornamental cast iron work around the returned verandah, it features a spectacular finial to the front gable. The Delano House plan and elevation are illustrated in Pikusa’s book ‘The Adelaide House 1836 to 1901’ (1986: 77) and shows it comprised five rooms with a kitchen and pantry under the lean-to at the rear with the bathroom opening off the back verandah. The front parlour had a deep bay window under a gable, while the large dining room had a door which led out onto the tiled returned verandah providing access to the garden.

One of Richardson’s larger commissions would have been the factory he designed for Burfords Soap and Candle Works on Sturt Street, Adelaide. Henry’s sister Mary had married the Adelaide soap making industrialist William Burford, second son of WH Burford. The drawings for the completed soap and candle works were exhibited in the Exhibition Building, North Terrace, Adelaide in June 1891 at the Industrial Exhibition (‘The Industrial Exhibition’, 1891: 6).

Richardson’s architecture was predominately domestic or smaller scale commercial or community buildings. The notable exception is his industrial complex at Burfords. Possibly his most significant contribution to South Australian architecture is his early use of decorative cast iron in residential work. Henry Richardson died on 1 October 1910 aged 73.

Julie Collins

Citation details
Collins, Julie, ‘Richardson, Henry Colls’, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia, 2013, Architects of South Australia: [http://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=115]