Philip Herapath

Philip Herapath (19 September 1823 – 29 June 1892) was an English-born New Zealand architect, active in Auckland for much of the 1860s to 1880s and designer of a number of notable buildings in the city.

Early life Born in Pilton, Devon, in England, on 19 September 1823, Philip Herapath was one of two sons of a builder and his wife. He is likely to have worked as a carpenter in Camberwell in Surrey for a time and may have received some training in architecture from his father. In 1857, he and his wife Emma, who he had married earlier in the year, emigrated to New Zealand. They arrived in Auckland on the Harkaway on 31 May and settled there, living on Karangahape Road.

Herapath played a role in the establishment of the Auckland Institute of Architects in 1881 and became its second president. In this capacity he mediated in a dispute between architects and the Building Association over working conditions. Herapath was joined in his architectural practice by his son Samuel, formalising this by entering into a partnership, Herepath & Son, in around 1883. He was admitted as a fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in November 1886.

Later life Herapath died at his home on Karangahape Road in Auckland on 29 June 1892. Buried in Purewa Cemetery, he was survived by his wife and his sons, Samuel and John.