George Raymond Johnson

George Raymond Johnson (7 February 1840 – 25 November 1898) was an architect who practiced in late 19th century Melbourne and Perth, Australia. He is known for designing numerous important buildings, especially town halls and theatres.

Biography

Johnson was born in Southgate, England and at age 13 began working with George Hall, Midland Railway architect. At 19 he moved to London, presumably to continue his architectural career.[1] On 24 July 1862 he married Emma Louise Wood and, two days later, the couple embarked on a journey of emigration to Queensland.[1] In 1867, Johnson moved to Melbourne, where he produced most of his major works. Following the bank crash in 1895 he moved to Perth, Western Australia, establishing a practice there. In 1898, while at sea returning to Melbourne, Johnson contracted sepsis, and died. One son, Harry Johnson (1867-1931), also became an architect.[2]

Architectural works

Johnson is known today for the design of a number of town halls across Victoria, notably the impressive Collingwood Town Hall, probably the most elaborate of the grand towered Second Empire style town halls that characterised the boom years of Melbourne in the 1880s. However he achieved most contemporary renown for his theatres in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide (perhaps as many as fifteen[3]), now all demolished.[1] Johnson's greatest contemporary acclaim came from his design for the extensive northern additions to Reed & Barnes's grand 1880 Exhibition Building for the Centennial Exhibition of 1888, removed soon after the Exhibition.[2]

Johnson's major works, notably all the town halls and the theatres, were Renaissance Revival in style, and its variations including Free Classical, Italianate, Second Empire or Mannerist.[1][2] Many were designed "with bold and rich character from Johnson's mannerist palette, an idiom in which he was a master."[2] A few projects adopted different styles, such as the first building for the Hospital for Incurables, now the Austin Hospital, Heidelberg (1881, demolished), which was Venetian Gothic in character, in polychrome brick,[1] while his bluestone cottages for the Old Colonists Home in North Fitzroy (1870) were Gothic.[4]

A selection of Johnson's notable buildings are listed below. For a complete list of known works, see the database compiled by Johnson's descendant, architect Peter Johnson, included in Pride of Hotham (Hannan, 2006).[1]

	Building	Location	Year	Type	Note
	Old Colonists Home	North Fitzroy	1870	cottages	extant
	Holdsworth (Daley) Building	376-386 Lygon Street, Carlton	1871	shops	rear wings removed and front sections restored 1984[5]
	Prince of Wales Opera House	Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria,	1872	theatre	demolished 1900
	Eastern Arcade	Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria	1872	retail	modified 1894, demolished 2008[6]
	North Melbourne Town Hall	North Melbourne, Victoria	1876	town hall	Now Trading As Arts House
	Theatre Royal, Adelaide	Hindley Street, Adelaide	1878	theatre	demolished 1962
	Metropolitan Meat Market	North Melbourne, Victoria	1880	commercial	Now a performance and events venue Trading as Meat Market
	Austin Hospital for Incurables	Heidelberg, Victoria	1882	other	demolished c1970
	Cathedral Hotel (1882/83),	Swanston Street, north east corner of Flinders Lane, Melbourne	1883	hotel	demolished c1970
	Daylesford Town Hall	Daylesford, Victoria	1882	town hall
	Collingwood Town Hall	Collingwood, Victoria	1885	town hall
	Criterion Theatre	Cnr Pitt and Park streets, Sydney	1886	theatre	demolished 1935
	Centennial Exhibition Annexes to Exhibition Building	Carlton, Victoria	1887	other	demolished 1889
	Northcote Town Hall	Northcote, Victoria	1887	town hall
	Fitzroy Town Hall additions	Fitzroy, Victoria	1887	town hall
	Maryborough Town Hall	Maryborough, Victoria	1887	town hall
	Bijou Theatre	Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria	1889	theatre	demolished 1934
	"Battle of Waterloo" Cyclorama	55 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy	1889	entertainment	demolished 1927
	Kilmore Town Hall	Kilmore, Victoria	1894	town hall
	Theatre Royal (interior only)[7]	Hay Street, Perth	1897	theatre	interior now shops, exterior survives

References

1. Hannan, Bill (2006). Pride of Hotham. North Melbourne: Hotham History Project. ISBN 0-9586111-7-3.
2. Johnson, Peter. Johnson, George Raymond (1840–1898), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 16 August 2011.
3. Peterson, Richard (2005). "Edgewater Towers". A Place of Sensuous Resort: Buildings of St Kilda and Their People. St Kilda Historical Society.
4. "Rushall Park". Victorian Heritage Database. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
5. "Holdsworth Buildings". Victorian Heritage Database. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
6. Hamish Heard (10 September 2008). "Demolition anger". Melbourne Leader. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
7. "OPENING OF THE THEATRE ROYAL. ' THE SILVER KING.' The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954) - 21 Apr 1897 - p3". Trove. Retrieved 29 October 2019.