John Beswicke

John Beswicke (1847 – 1925) was an Australian architect who practiced in Melbourne between the 1870s and 1915.

A prolific and successful designer, he is known to have designed some 300 buildings, including 203 houses, 9 banks, 14 churches, 44 commercial buildings, 11 hotels, 15 institutional buildings such as hospitals, 45 shops and 6 large town halls.

History

John Beswicke was born in 1847, the son of Charles Beswicke and Elizabeth Keys, who had both arrived in the Port Phillip district in the 1840s. In 1847, Charles married Elizabeth when he was aged 40 and Elizabeth was 18. They had 3 daughters and 2 sons, John being their second son. John went to Geelong Grammar School and in 1862 was apprenticed to the firm Crouch & Wilson at age 16, where he continued to work for 18 years, finishing as head assistant.

Amongst his prolific output was a series of grand houses in Harcourt Street in Hawthorn, many for his family, from the 1870s to 1900; of 15 buildings built in this area, 14 are still standing. His father Charles had bought land in Harcourt Street in 1873 and moved from Geelong into a house at No 5, which John designed while he was still at Crouch & Wilson ('Les Avents', later 'Carn Brae', altered in the 1920s ). John Beswicke's own residence 'Rotha' at No 29 was built in 1887, and in 1900 he built the even grander 'Talana' on the corner of Auburn Road for his wife, but she preferred to stay at 'Rotha '.

Beswicke was associated as a consulting designer with a number of property and building companies in the Boom period of the 1880s. Malvern Town Hall, 1886, Wilson & Beswicke Essendon Town Hall, 1886, Wilson & Beswicke Dandenong Town Hall, 1890, Beswicke & Hutchins Hawthorn Town Hall, 1888

Churches: Keysborough Uniting (formerly Methodist) Uniting Church, Chapel Rd, Keysborough, 1877,

St. Kilda Presbyterian, Barkly Street and Alma Road, St. Kilda, 1883 Beswicke Buildings, three storey shops and residences, 236-252 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

Domestic: 'Les Avents' ('Carn Brae', altered in the 1920s), 5 Harcourt Street, Hawthorn 1873 'Bendigonia', 25 Queens Road, Melbourne, 1882, Wilson & Beswicke 'Tudor House', cnr. Pasco and Electra streets, Williamstown, 1884, Wilson & Beswicke 'Rotha', (Beswicke's own home), 29 Harcourt Street, Hawthorn, 1887 'Miharo', 145 Noble Street, Newtown, Geelong, 1890, Beswicke & Coote 'Cullymont' & 'Eyre Court', 4 Selwyn Street, Canterbury, 1890 'Tourmont' (now Fintona Girls School), 79 Balwyn Road, Balwyn, 1891 'Derriweit Heights', Douglas Road. Mount Macedon, 1893 (additional floor). 'Redholme' (later Warwillah), 572 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, 1896