Thomas Rowe

Thomas Rowe, (20 July 1829 – 14 January 1899) was a British-born architect, builder, and goldminer who became one of the leading Australian architects of the Victorian era. He was also a politician, who was the first Mayor of Manly, north of Sydney.

Early life and education Thomas Rowe was born in Penzance, Cornwall, England, on 20 July 1829, the eldest son of Richard Rowe and Ursula Mumford.

He attended Barnes Academy in Penzance. At 15 he became a draftsman in his father's building business, before the family emigrated to the colony of New South Wales in 1848. Spain was articled to Rowe's practice of Rowe & Green in 1884, when he commenced his studies at Sydney Technical College.

Spain became a partner in Rowe, Campbell & Spain in 1893, which became Rowe & Spain in 1895, which continued until Rowe's death in 1899.

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.

Military career

Rowe was also involved in the volunteer New South Wales 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.

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. He was a recipient of the Volunteer Officers' Decoration.

Other activities Rowe was 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.

In 1888 the Premier Sir Henry Parkes appointed Rowe as the first president of the Board of Water Supply and Sewerage, and he served in that office until his death, with the exception of the period 1892 to 1896 when Cecil West Darley presided. 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".

Death and legacy Rowe died age 69 in January 1899 at Mona, his leased residence since 1881 in Darling Point. 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.

Harry Ruskin Rowe also worked with Spain and Cosh at some point.

Chatswood South Uniting Church, Artarmon, New South Wales (1871) Presbyterian Church, Bridge Road, Glebe, New South Wales (1881) Original Randwick Borough Chambers (later Parish Centre of St Jude's Church, Randwick) (1862) Catherine Hayes Building (based on design by John Horbury Hunt), Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales (1870) Tresco, Elizabeth Bay, New South Wales (1868) F.L. Kelly and Company Building, Yass, New South Wales (1869) St Paul's Presbyterian Church, Hill End, New South Wales (1872) Presbyterian Church, Bathurst (1871) Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Orange (1879) Aliiolani Hale, Honolulu, Hawaii (1872) Great Synagogue, Elizabeth Street, Sydney (1874) Former Stanmore Methodist Church (1874), now part of the Newington College drama centre Sydney Hospital, including Nightingale Wing, Macquarie Street, Sydney (1879) Newington College, Founders Wing including Prescott Hall, Stanmore (1878) Sydney Arcade, Pitt Street, Sydney (1874) Vickery's Building, Pitt Street, Sydney (1874) Vickery houses, Banksia, Wych Hazel, Ellerslie and Edina, now part of the War Memorial Hospital Waverley, New South Wales. Former Petersham Town Hall, Petersham (1882; extended 1892, demolished 1937) Former Stanmore Methodist Parsonage (1886), now Headmaster's residence, Newington College Ashton, Elizabeth Bay Road, Elizabeth Bay Imperial Arcade, Sydney (1891)