George McRae

George McRae (10 September 1857 – 16 June 1923) was a Scottish-Australian architect who migrated from his native Edinburgh to Sydney, where he became Government Architect of New South Wales and designed some of Sydney's best-known buildings, including completion of the Sydney Town Hall, the Queen Victoria Building, and the lower entrance to Taronga Zoo.

Life George McRae was born in Edinburgh in 1857. The register of his birth records his father as Duncan (joiner journeyman) and his mother as Mary. He arrived in Sydney in 1884 and was appointed Assistant Architect in the City Architect's office. He became City Architect and City Building Surveyor in 1889. He held this position until 1897, when he was appointed Principal Assistant Architect to Walter Liberty Vernon in the Government Architect's Branch. In 1912 he succeeded Vernon as New South Wales Government Architect and held the position until he died in 1923.

McRae married Katie Prescott in St Mark's Church, Darling Point on 8 May 1895.

Career

George McRae was responsible for the design of many buildings in Sydney and other places, several of which still survive, some of which are listed on various heritage registers. Works undertaken by McRae during his term as Government Architect included the Department of Education Building 1912; Parcels Post Office 1913; Taronga Zoo lower entrance, top entrance, and Indian elephant house; additions to the Colonial Treasury Building in Bridge Street, and Cessnock Court House. Some of the extant buildings are: Rozelle Tram Depot, Glebe, New South Wales, 1904; Federation Queen Anne style, saw-tooth, corrugated iron roof concealed by a brick stepped parapet structure. Department of Education Building, Bridge Street, Sydney, 1912; a six-storey sandstone building with steel and reinforced concrete structure and a central light-well, listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register and the (since defunct) Register of the National Estate. Model factory and dwelling, The Rocks, 120 Gloucester Street, 1912–13, replacing a sordid slum complex in a manner which reflected the humanitarian principles of the garden city movement. Former Parcels Post Office, Railway Square, Sydney, 1913; a brick and sandstone building in the Federation Free Classical style, described as "an ingeniously designed and monumental building." This distinctive building used to house a post office, Telecom Telex machine centre and a tool store; it has now been fully restored and reopened as an "executive hotel". Taronga Zoo lower entrance, top entrance and Indian elephant house, Mosman, Sydney, 1916; replaced first zoo at Moore Park, has a Local Government Heritage listing. Corporation Building, Hay Street, Sydney, ; known at first as the Municipal Building, this building combined Queen Anne and Anglo-Dutch influences, and originally had a ground-floor market stall arcade. The building is listed on the state and local government heritage registers; and the (since defunct) Register of the National Estate. and the (since defunct) Register of the National Estate. and the (since defunct) Register of the National Estate. In 1916 he started work on Wilson Memorial Community Hospital.

Funeral McRae's funeral was held on 18 June 1923 at Rookwood Cemetery and was attended by a large number of people from the Public Works Department and other government departments. He was survived by his wife, son and two daughters.

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