Colonel
Thomas Rowe
VD, JP, FRIBA
1st Mayor of Manly
In office
15 February 1877 – 7 February 1879
Succeeded byAlfred Hilder
Alderman of the Municipality of Manly
In office
13 February 1877 – 1 October 1880
Succeeded byJames Boscawen Duff
Alderman of the City of Sydney
for Bourke Ward
In office
2 December 1872 – 30 November 1876
Preceded byJoseph Raphael
Succeeded byJohn Young
1st President of the Board of Water Supply and Sewerage
In office
26 March 1888 – 24 March 1892
Preceded byNew office
Succeeded byCecil West Darley
President of the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage
In office
20 March 1896 – 14 January 1899
Preceded byCecil West Darley
Succeeded byJacob Garrard
Official Member of the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage
In office
26 March 1888 – 14 January 1899
Preceded byNew office
Succeeded byJacob Garrard
Personal details
Born(1829-07-20)20 July 1829
Penzance, Cornwall, England
Died14 January 1899(1899-01-14) (aged 69)
Darling Point, Colony of New South Wales
OccupationArchitect
Awards Volunteer Officers' Decoration (1895)[1]
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/serviceNSW Defence Force
Years of service1872–1899
RankColonel
CommandsNew South Wales Corps of Engineers

Thomas Rowe VD, JP, FRIBA (20 July 1829 – 14 January 1899) was a British-born architect, builder and goldminer who became one of Australia's leading architects of the Victorian era.[2] He was also a politician, who was the first Mayor of Manly.

Early life

Thomas Rowe was born in Penzance, Cornwall, United Kingdom, the eldest son of Richard Rowe and Ursula Mumford, and attended Barnes Academy. At 15 he became a draftsman in his father's building business before the family emigrated to Australia in 1848. From 1857 he practised as an architect in Sydney, Bathurst, Orange, Newcastle and Goulburn. As an architect he was often successful in competitions and his firms built commercial premises, large houses and many Methodist churches.

Political career

In 1872 he was elected alderman for Bourke Ward of the Sydney City Council, which he held until 1876. During his time on the council he worked on sanitation efforts related to improving the Sydney water supply. Rowe Street, which runs from Pitt Street to Castlereagh Street, was at that time named after him by in a vote by the council.[3]

In February 1877 he was elected to the first Manly Municipal Council and was elected first Mayor of Manly, overseeing the first laying-out of the town of Manly, and serving as an alderman until 1880.[4]

Military career

Rowe in his uniform as Commanding Officer of the NSW Corps of Engineers.

Rowe was also involved in the volunteer NSW Colonial Forces, receiving a commission as a lieutenant in the newly formed New South Wales Corps of Engineers in 1872, and was promoted to the rank of captain in 1874.[5]

When the Colonial Volunteer Force was disbanded and reorganised as the NSW Defence Force in 1878, Rowe was recommissioned a captain, and promoted to major in 1880.[5] Raised to rank of brevet Lieutenant Colonel in 1886, Rowe undertook a European tour the following year, visiting Aldershot, Chatham, Enfield, and Woolwich, in search of information relating to defence matters.[6] Rowe later designed several entrenching tools for the use of the engineers corps, including a bullet-proof shovel. Following the return to England of Colonel Henry Renny-Tailyour in 1894, Rowe took up the position of Commander of the New South Wales Corps of Engineers, was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1895, and served until his retirement on 30 June 1898.[5][7]

Later life and career

Rowe was also the founder, and for many years president, of the New South Wales Institute of Architects, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1884.[8]

In 1888 the Premier Sir Henry Parkes appointed Rowe as the first President of the Board of Water Supply and Sewerage, and served in that office until his death, with the exception of the period 1892 to 1896 when Cecil West Darley presided.[9][10][11] His presidency was well-received, with an account after his death noting: "The great leaps and bounds by which the department has progressed, and its present state of efficiency, bear ample testimony to the capability of his administration."[6]

He died age 69 in January 1899 at Mona, his leased residence since 1881 in Darling Point.[12][13] In accordance with his wishes "to be laid to rest near the sea", he was buried in his military uniform at Waverley Cemetery following a service at St Mark's Church, Darling Point.[14][5]

Key works

(Many of the following buildings are heritage-listed):[15]

Architectural partners

  • W. B. Field
  • Sydney Green
  • Alfred Spain[23]

Harry Ruskin Rowe

The Cabbage Trees, Ruskin Rowe, Avalon

Rowe's son Harry Ruskin Rowe was also successful as an architect. One of his most significant achievements was the creation in 1950 of Ruskin Rowe, an estate in the Sydney suburb of Avalon. Rowe acquired a house, The Cabbage Trees, in the estate and used it as a weekender. The estate still exists and is heritage-listed.[24]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Rowe.
  1. ↑ "MERITORIOUS SERVICE". Evening News. New South Wales, Australia. 28 December 1895. p. 1. Retrieved 13 June 2020 – via Trove.
  2. ↑ J. M. Freeland, Thomas Rowe, pp 68–69, Volume 6, Australian Dictionary of Biography (MUP, 1976)
  3. ↑ "Thomas Rowe". Sydney's Aldermen. City of Sydney. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  4. ↑ "MUNICIPALITY OF MANLY". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 66. 16 February 1877. p. 735. Retrieved 23 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "DEATH OF COLONEL ROWE. A WORTHY COLONIST". The Sydney Morning Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 16 January 1899. p. 5. Retrieved 13 June 2020 – via Trove.
  6. 1 2 "The Late Colonel Rowe". Australian Town and Country Journal. New South Wales, Australia. 21 January 1899. p. 21. Retrieved 13 June 2020 – via Trove.
  7. ↑ "THE COMMAND OF THE ENGINEERS". The Sydney Morning Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 25 May 1898. p. 5. Retrieved 13 June 2020 – via Trove.
  8. ↑ "COLONEL ROWE". Evening News. New South Wales, Australia. 14 January 1899. p. 6. Retrieved 13 June 2020 – via Trove.
  9. ↑ "Government Gazette Appointments and Employment". New South Wales Government Gazette. New South Wales, Australia. 26 March 1888. p. 2243. Retrieved 13 June 2020 – via Trove.
  10. ↑ "Government Gazette Appointments and Employment". New South Wales Government Gazette. New South Wales, Australia. 27 January 1899. p. 734. Retrieved 13 June 2020 – via Trove.
  11. ↑ "Government Gazette Appointments and Employment". New South Wales Government Gazette. New South Wales, Australia. 20 March 1896. p. 2046. Retrieved 13 June 2020 – via Trove.
  12. ↑ "Mona - 38 Mona Road, Darling Point". NSW State Heritage Inventory. Heritage NSW. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  13. ↑ Jacobsen, Patricia (2016). "Mona and Greenoaks". The Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  14. ↑ "The Late Colonel Rowe". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. New South Wales, Australia. 21 January 1899. p. 149. Retrieved 13 June 2020 – via Trove.
  15. ↑ The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company, 1981, pp. 2/34,38,60,61,81,95,99,174,252,260
  16. ↑ Hawaii for visitors
  17. ↑ Methodist Church (Former) - Newington College, including interiors Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  18. ↑ Newington College - Grounds and Founder’s Building, including interiors Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  19. ↑ War Memorial Hospital Conservation Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  20. ↑ "Petersham Town Hall". NSW Heritage Database. Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  21. ↑ M. Berry, A History of Colonel Thomas Rowe (B Arch thesis, UNSW, 1969)
  22. ↑ "THE IMPERIAL ARCADE". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 16, 635. 17 July 1891. p. 7. Retrieved 25 October 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  23. ↑ J. M. Freeland, The Making of a Profession (Sydney, 1971)
  24. ↑ State Heritage Register
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