Byera Hadley

Byera Hadley (1872 – 26 November 1937) was an Australian architect and educator. He led the architecture programme at Sydney Technical College, which was the forerunner of the University of New South Wales Faculty of the Built Environment's architecture programme. He is known less for his buildings than for the scholarships issued in his name, as the Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarships, by the NSW Architects Registration Board.

Early life and education Byera Hadley was born in Cotham, Bristol, then part of Gloucestershire in England. He was the third son of E.A. Hadley and Florence Hadley. The family was comfortably off and Byera attended a private school in Clifton, Bristol.

Hadley arrived in Sydney in 1887. In 1888 he enrolled in the architecture programme at Sydney Technical College (STC) architecture programme, and was awarded 1st grade in his first‐year course in model drawing, and honours in freehand drawing.

Career STC Hadley was working for the STC as "assistant lecturer, architectural classes" by 1899, and was promoted to "assistant teacher of Architectural and Trades Drawing" in the same year.

He designed Botany Town Hall in early Italian Renaissance style, and had various other commercial commissions. and the Baumann Café (1904) in Pitt Street. Apart from Renaissance revival, he also employed Gothic Revival (such as the original wing of the Wesley College, Sydney University and its 1919 chapel) and Romanesque Revival style in some buildings. A son was born on 4 December 1902. A daughter born in 1907 died at 10 months old in February 1908.

Hadley left the family home before his son was earning a living and made a small monthly payment to his wife. Florence trained as a nurse in order to provide for herself and for her son's education.

In the 1920s Hadley lived in a house he designed and named Hopes on acreage in Welby on the outskirts of Mittagong. In the 1930s he sold the property to members of the Cull family. The property is now known as Welby Park Manor. Fred and Ada Cull were Wesleyan benefactors who made possible many of the buildings Hadley designed for the Methodist Church in New South Wales.

His final residential address was 137 Livingstone Road, Marrickville. of circulatory disease, and buried at Woronora Cemetery.

BHTS today The Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarships (BHTS) are today administered by the NSW Architects Registration Board (ARB). The purpose is stated thus: Several scholarships may be awarded, worth up to A$15,000 in the student category, and up to A$30,000 to graduates. Only students or graduates of an accredited architecture program offered by a NSW university are eligible for the award, which is judged on merit.

The Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship Fund is a registered trust fund with charitable status, administered by a small board.