William Chatfield

William Charles Chatfield (1851 – 30 May 1930) was a New Zealand architect. He was born in Sussex and educated in Brixton, Surrey. He moved to New Zealand at the age of 16. In 1886 he designed the Wellington Opera House, which burnt down 2 years later. Two of his remaining buildings are the Star Boating Club and the Stewart Dawson's Building.

Chatfield died on 30 May 1930 aged 79. Early life

William Charles Chatfield was born at Greatham Manor in Parham Park, Sussex in 1851. Chatfield's father as a magistrate and his mother was a prominent artist. Chatfield received his education in Brixton, where he likely received his architectural education, (Chatfield is said to have set up practice in 1867 suggesting he had studied architecture in England.) Architectural career Chatfield's obituary stated he worked in the Public Works Department as a draughtsman from 1872 to 1876 but Chatfield was instead employed by the Wellington Provincial Government during this time. (This is confirmed by the Appendices to the Journal of the House of Representatives which lists Chatfield's redundancy in 1877.)

In private practice Chatfield mostly designed commercial buildings around Wellington's central business district although Chatfield did design some residential buildings in Wellington. Approximately 260 designs have been attributed to Chatfield from 1875 to 1927. Chatfield employed High Victorian plaster designs into his buildings with a notable example being the Stewart Dawson's Building. Chatfield used recycled railway irons to strengthen his designs.

In 1892 Chatfield and Frank Jacobsen were selected to make alterations to parliament's ventilation system. The Hawkes Bay Herald accused the government of selecting the two men over government architects due to their political leanings. The controversy did not impact Chatfield's career. Tuckey left Chatfield in 1913.