Edmund Blacket - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Edmund Thomas Blacket (25 August 1817 – 9 February 1883) was an Australian architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney

St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney

St Andrew's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of New South Wales, the Most Reverend Peter Jensen...

and St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn

Goulburn Cathedral (St. Saviour)

St Saviour's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican diocese of Canberra and Goulburn, Australia. The Cathedral is named after the Saviour Himself. The current Dean is the Very Reverend Phillip Saunders.-History:...

.

Arriving in Sydney from England in 1842, at a time when the city was rapidly expanding and new suburbs and towns were being established, Blacket was to become a pioneer of the revival styles of architecture, in particular Victorian Gothic. He was the most favoured architect of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

for much of his career, and between late 1849 and 1854 was the official "Colonial Architect to New South Wales".

While famous for his churches, and sometimes referred to as of "The Wren

Christopher Wren

Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...

of Sydney", Blacket also built houses, ranging from small cottages to multi-storey terraces and large mansions; government buildings; bridges; and business premises of all sorts. Blacket's architectural practice was highly influential in the development of Australian architecture. He worked with a number of other architects of both Australian and international importance: James Barnet

James Barnet

James Johnstone Barnet was the Colonial Architect for New South Wales from 1862 - 1890.-Life and career:Barnet was born at Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland. The son of a builder, he was educated at the local high school...

, William Wardell

William Wardell

William Wilkinson Wardell was a Civil Engineer and Architect, notable not only for his work in Australia, the country to which he emigrated in 1858, but also for having a successful career as a surveyor, and an ecclesiastical architect in England and Scotland before his departure.In Australia,...

and John Horbury Hunt

John Horbury Hunt

John Horbury Hunt was a Canadian-born architect who worked in Sydney, Australia and rural New South Wales from 1863.-Life and career:...

. Among his children, Arthur, Owen and Cyril followed him into the profession. The successful architect William Kemp also trained in his practice.

Edmund Blacket is regarded by descendants of the Blackett

Blackett

Blackett or Blacket is a surname of English derivation.Blackett is an English surname that originated in England and is found throughout the English speaking world. The name is a corruption of Black Head, and in early times had various spellings as Blakehed, Blackheved, Blackved and Blackett...

family as "a man of the strictest probity with a great love for his profession, who also studied the classics, and was considered the leading authority on Classical Greek in Sydney, loved music, playing the organ at the temporary wooden pro-Cathedral, was a competent wood-carver and an amateur mechanical engineer."

Early life

Edmund Blacket was born on 25 August 1817 at 85 St Margaret's Hill (later Borough High Street) Southwark

Southwark

Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, the seventh child of James Blacket and Margaret Harriot Ralph. His father was a prosperous draper

Draper

Draper is the now largely obsolete term for a wholesaler, or especially retailer, of cloth, mainly for clothing, or one who works in a draper's shop. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild...

or slopseller

Slopseller

A slopseller was an English merchant who sold slops or rough working dress. Typically these would be butchers' aprons or similar clothing. The term slop was applied to an early form of hose....

of Smithfield

Smithfield, London

Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...

, London. The family were Nonconformists

Nonconformism

Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...

, and Edmund's grandfather Edward Ralph, a former clockmaker, had been minister of a Congregational church at Maidstone

Maidstone

Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...

. Blacket was educated at Mill Hill School

Mill Hill School

Mill Hill School, in Mill Hill, London, is a coeducational independent school for boarding and day pupils aged 13–18. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, an organisation of public schools in the United Kingdom....

, near Barnet

Barnet

High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...

, and although he showed an early interest in architecture, spending his holidays sketching and measuring old buildings, his father opposed him taking up the profession.

On leaving school, Blacket went to work in his father's office and three years later, at the age of 20, took a position in a linen mill in Stokesley

Stokesley

Stokesley is a small market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Leven. Stokesley is located about two miles south of the boundary of the borough of Middlesbrough and ten miles south of Middlesbrough town centre. Stokesley is located...

, Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

. This mill was owned by his father in partnership with a Thomas Mease and operated by Edmund's brothers John and James. However, the Blackets ended the partnership with Mease in July 1837 as they were unhappy about certain financial matters, and by March 1838, the issue was in Chancery

Court of Chancery

The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...

.

In about 1837, although lacking formal training, Blacket began work for the Stockton and Darlington Railway

Stockton and Darlington Railway

The Stockton and Darlington Railway , which opened in 1825, was the world's first publicly subscribed passenger railway. It was 26 miles long, and was built in north-eastern England between Witton Park and Stockton-on-Tees via Darlington, and connected to several collieries near Shildon...

as a surveyor

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

. This was the period of rapid expansion of the railways and in railway engineering and innovation. As a railway surveyor one of Blacket's jobs would have been the design of railway stations. He continued in Yorkshire until 1841, taking every possible opportunity to draw ancient buildings and their details, which included spending his 23rd birthday surveying Whitby Abbey

Whitby Abbey

Whitby Abbey is a ruined Benedictine abbey overlooking the North Sea on the East Cliff above Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry VIII...

.

In June 1841, Blacket was at the family home on Brixton Hill

Brixton Hill

Brixton Hill is the name given to a 1 km section of road between Brixton and Streatham Hill in south London, England. It slopes downhill towards central London.Brixton Hill and Streatham Hill form part of the traditional main London to Brighton road...

, when his father entered him on the census returns as "Draper". During the same year, he worked for the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

in London as Inspector of Schools, and at that time learnt the craft of making stained glass

Stained glass

The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...

. He spent the year "in misery", being in love with Sarah Mease, the daughter of his father's former business partner. Their marriage was opposed by the families, and having been in love probably from 1837 or earlier, they were finally wed on the 27 April 1842 in the medieval Anglican parish church of Wakefield

Wakefield

Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....

, (which later became Wakefield Cathedral

Wakefield Cathedral

Wakefield Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of All Saints Wakefield is the cathedral for the Church of England's Diocese of Wakefield and is the seat of the Bishop of Wakefield. The cathedral has Anglo Saxon origins and the tallest cathedral spire in Yorkshire...

) with neither set of parents present. Blacket's diaries indicate that he had become a member of the Church of England

Church of England

and had a great love for the Anglican Liturgy. His brother Henry Blackett became a high church

High church

The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...

Anglican clergyman.

On 13 June 1842, Blacket and his new wife left England on the passenger vessel Eden, bound for Sydney, but with New Zealand as their intended final destination. Blacket later wrote, "Neither my Father or Mother would bid me good bye, so my old Uncle offered to see us off." He had letters of introduction to prominent residents of Sydney, including Sir Charles Nicholson

Charles Nicholson

Sir Charles Nicholson, 1st Baronet was a British-Australian politician, university founder, explorer, pastoralist, antiquarian and philanthropist...

, Thomas Sutcliffe Mort

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort was an Australian industrialist responsible for improving refrigeration of meat. He was renowned for speculation in the local pastoral industry as well as industrial activities such as his Ice-Works in Sydney's Darling Harbour and dry dock and engineering works at...

and a recommendation to Bishop William Grant Broughton

William Grant Broughton

William Grant Broughton was the first Bishop of Australia of the Church of England....

from the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

. Blacket suffered from sea-sickness

Sea-sickness

Seasickness is a form of motion sickness characterized by a feeling of nausea and, in extreme cases, vertigo, experienced after spending time on a craft on water. It is typically brought on by the rocking motion of the craft. Some people are particularly vulnerable to the condition with minor...

for the first month, although Sarah did not. After about 55 days the ship called at Bahia

Salvador, Bahia

Salvador is the largest city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the Northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. Salvador is also known as Brazil's capital of happiness due to its easygoing population and countless popular outdoor parties, including its street carnival. The first...

, where he made sketches of church doors and other items that interested him. He also acquired a marmoset

Marmoset

Marmosets are the 22 New World monkey species of the genera Callithrix, Cebuella, Callibella, and Mico. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term marmoset is also used in reference to the Goeldi's Monkey, Callimico goeldii, which is closely related.Most marmosets...

monkey which disturbed his sketching for the rest of the voyage. He spent the rest of the voyage carving a wooden crucifix.

The Eden sailed into Sydney Harbour on 4 November 1842 with Blacket, who kept a shipboard diary, writing that he had never seen such "an exquisite scene". The Blackets were also greatly impressed by the crew of Maori oarsmen in the pilot boat. The first building that Blacket saw in Sydney Town was the simple copper-clad steeple of Francis Greenway

Francis Greenway

-References:* *...

's St. James's Church. He went ashore and found lodgings opposite the little Methodist Chapel with its Doric portico in Princes Street. Sarah wrote home that "almost everyone keeps a carriage" and that Sydney Town had just achieved the status of a city, the first mayor having been elected. Blacket was a prepossessing young man, handsome, well-mannered, elegantly dressed and with £600 in capital. He soon found suitable employment and the Blackets relinquished their plans to travel on to New Zealand.

Family relationships

Blacket's brother Russell, who joined him in Australia in 1858, ran a school in Wollongong

Wollongong, New South Wales

Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...

and was the father of Wilfred Blacket, barrister All his other brothers and sisters remained in England, and their descendants include his great nephews Patrick, Lord Blackett

Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett

Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett OM CH FRS was an English experimental physicist known for his work on cloud chambers, cosmic rays, and paleomagnetism. He also made a major contribution in World War II advising on military strategy and developing Operational Research...

and Sir Basil Blackett

Basil Blackett

Sir Basil Phillott Blackett KCB KCSI was a British Civil Servant and expert on international finance.Blackett was the eldest son of Rev. William Blackett, a missionary and educationalist in India and his wife Grace Phillott. He was born in Calcutta and educated at Marlborough College...

. Blacket was an enthusiastic writer, leaving a shipboard journal in the form of an ordinary school exercise book and sending many letters to his family in England, and to his children particularly his youngest daughter Hilda, to whom he once sent thirty stamps, as an encouragement to write back.

The breach with his parents and in-laws apparently healed. After his father's death in 1858 he wrote to his mother-in-law that "there has never been an instance in which I have failed to receive a letter from him, and in addition he has regularly directed and posted to me the Illustrated London News

Illustrated London News

The Illustrated London News was the world's first illustrated weekly newspaper; the first issue appeared on Saturday 14 May 1842. It was published weekly until 1971 and then increasingly less frequently until publication ceased in 2003.-History:...

and Punch

Punch (magazine)

Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...

". The first edition of the former paper was published shortly before he left England, and would have kept him informed of architectural developments in England.

Architectural influences and development

In England, towards the end the 18th century, architecture was dominated by the simple symmetrical Classical forms of Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

. This style was transported to Sydney along with the first English settlers and the accompanying military regiments. However, among England's elite there was a growing taste for the picturesque Gothic style. This too was introduced to Australia, and Sydney's convict architect, Francis Greenway

Francis Greenway

-References:* *...

, employed it in the construction of the Government Stables with battlements and towers.

Changes within the Church of England and an academic interest in the historic styles promoted the formation of the Oxford Architectural Society

Oxford Movement

The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...

and the Cambridge Camden Society

Cambridge Camden Society

The Cambridge Camden Society, later known as the Ecclesiological Society from 1845 when it moved to London, was a learned architectural society founded in 1839 by undergraduates at Cambridge University to promote "the study of Gothic Architecture, and of Ecclesiastical Antiques." Its activities...

which, though differing in their philosophies, both promoted the medieval styles—Gothic in particular—as being those suitable for church architecture and its correct liturgical function. The purpose of the architect was seen as being to create designs of such archaeological correctness that they reproduced the styles of ecclesiastical architecture prior to the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, as is demonstrated in the work of the renowned Augustus Welby Pugin.

On his arrival in Sydney, Blacket possessed a small library of architectural books, and he kept abreast of the latest trends by subscribing to journals. Although there were a number of buildings with Gothic details in the colony at the time, in particular the existing south transept of the new cathedral, these structures had strongly Classical elements beneath their medieval detailing. Blacket was the first architect in Australia who truly understood the principals of the Gothic style

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

and who could design a church that would satisfy the august societies of Oxford and Cambridge. Since it was the wish of so many colonials, not the least of whom was the Bishop, to assuage their homesickness by at least attending a church that reminded them of one in Cornwall, Yorkshire or East Anglia, Edmund Blacket was to become a very popular man.

Although probably at his best when designing in the Medieval ecclesiastic styles and the Florentine palazzo style which he employed for commercial premises, Blacket followed the trends of Victorian architecture

Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

in London through his subscription and library membership. Some of his later churches, particularly those in brick, were to have a robust quality, often with Early French Gothic rose windows with plate tracery or a simple quatrefoil

Quatrefoil

The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts.-In heraldry:In heraldic terminology, a quatrefoil is a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets . It is sometimes shown "slipped", i.e. with an...

. Blacket quickly adopted the colonial Georgian

Georgian architecture

form of domestic architecture, to which he then applied a variety of details. He was also introduced to the architectural trends in both North America and Scotland by John Horbury Hunt

John Horbury Hunt

John Horbury Hunt was a Canadian-born architect who worked in Sydney, Australia and rural New South Wales from 1863.-Life and career:...

and James Barnet

James Barnet

respectively. From the 1870s his commercial and domestic buildings began to acquire eclectic

Eclecticism

Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...

details and incised ornament

Ornament (architecture)

In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...

"Architect and Surveyor"

The early 1840s were a time of economic depression in New South Wales brought on by a severe drought in 1839, so Blacket was very fortunate to immediately gain employment from Bishop Broughton as Inspector of the Schools in connection with the Church of England in the Colony. This position involved the design and supervision of the building of schools, churches and parsonages. As the colony rapidly expanded, many school buildings were designed to be multi-purpose, serving as churches on Sunday and sometimes as court houses. Blacket began work on 1 January 1843, and on 18 January delivered to the Bishop the plans for the church of All Saint's, Patrick Plains (now Singleton). He estimated that it could be built for £700. It was eventually completed in 1850 for £713.11s.6d.

£sd

£sd was the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies used in the Kingdom of England, later the United Kingdom, and ultimately in much of the British Empire...

Other churches that he supervised, designed or extended were St John's Ashfield

St. John the Baptist's Anglican Church, Ashfield, Sydney

St John the Baptist Anglican Church is an active Anglican church located between Alt and Bland Streets, Ashfield, a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia...

(1843), St Mary's Balmain (1843), St Paul's Carcoar (1845), the old St Stephen's, Newtown (1845) and Christ Church St Laurence, Sydney.

In May 1843, he put up a brass plaque on his door, advertising himself as "Architect and Surveyor" and writing to his brother Frank in London: "There is nothing to be gained here by hiding ones talent in a bushel". In the same letter he wrote of his aim to "improve the taste of the discerning public upon ecclesiastical architecture." In July of the same year, he began this by giving his first lecture, on Norman architecture

Norman architecture

About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...

, presumably at the Sydney School of Arts. Towards the end of the year, he and Sarah rented a house from Dr Hammett in Stanley Street, off College Street, where he was soon to receive an important architectural commission. Their first child, Edith, was born at Stanley Street the following year.

Christ Church St Laurence was designed by Henry Robertson in 1840. From 1843, Blacket undertook the completion of the interior and then in the 1850s he built the tower and spire. This was to become a highly significant project for Blacket. The Church of England in Sydney had been founded in 1788 by the first Anglican priest in the colony, Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson (chaplain)

Richard Johnson was the first Christian cleric in Australia.Johnson was the son of John and Mary Johnson. He was born in Welton, Yorkshire and educated at Hull Grammar School under Joseph Milner. In 1780 he entered Magdalene College, Cambridge as a sizar and graduated in 1784...

. This foundation came at a time of austerity within the Church of England, predating the Oxford Movement

Oxford Movement

. The first churches in Australia, such as St James', King Street, were essentially "preaching boxes" in which the pulpit was placed centrally against one of the long walls and surrounded by tiered seating of box pews, each designated for a family.

Blacket was instrumental in introducing to Christ Church St Laurence all the elaborate High Church details in the style of the great Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

architect, Augustus Welby Pugin. Sydney Evangelicals

Anglican Diocese of Sydney

The Diocese of Sydney is a diocese within the Anglican Church of Australia. The majority of the diocese is Evangelical and low church in tradition and committed to Reformed and Calvinist theology....

were shocked at the furnishing, the liturgy and the robed male choir, seeing it as "scandalous", and "papist". Later, Blacket was to be one of the architects to transform Greenway's St James in keeping with a High Church mode of worship (as it remains today). The Reverend WH Walsh at Christ Church St. Laurence enthusiastically helped Blacket to gain other important commissions. Blacket also had a private practice during this time, one of the most notable of his commercial commissions being the Kent Brewery for Henry Tooth. From 1843 onwards he also began receiving commissions for private houses.

St Paul's, St Mark's and St Philip's

In 1847 Blacket was officially appointed Diocesan Architect for the Church of England, while still continuing with his private practice. The designs of three of Blacket's most significant churches date from 1847-48. These are St. Paul's, Redfern, St. Mark's, Darling Point and St. Philip's, Church Hill. As Joan Kerr points out, Blacket has used these three buildings as essays on the three main periods of English Gothic architecture

English Gothic architecture

English Gothic is the name of the architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520.-Introduction:As with the Gothic architecture of other parts of Europe, English Gothic is defined by its pointed arches, vaulted roofs, buttresses, large windows, and spires...

: Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular, his motive being perhaps to impress Sydney with his scholarship.

Of these three buildings, St. Paul's is the most derivative of other Victorian models, the arrangement of triple aisles of almost equal height, each with an open timber roof is repeated many times in the work of Pugin and his followers. However, the window traceries, which are of the most complex of the three English styles and for which drawings still exist, display Blacket's mastery of Gothic design.

For St Mark's, Darling Point, Blacket showed the committee a design based upon an engraving of the church at Horncastle, Lincolnshire. Unlike St. Paul's, St Mark's has a high nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

lit by small clerestory

Clerestory

Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...

windows with trefoil

Trefoil

Trefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism...

lights above the aisles. The building work was interrupted in 1851 by the departure of men for the Australian gold rushes

Australian gold rushes

The Australian gold rush started in 1851 when prospector Edward Hammond Hargraves claimed the discovery of payable gold near Bathurst, New South Wales, at a site Edward Hargraves called Ophir.Eight months later, gold was found in Victoria...

. The spire

Spire

A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....

, which is a feature of the leafy streetscape of Darling Point Road, was chosen from 14 different versions prepared by the architect, and was paid for privately.

At St Philip's, Church Hill

St Philip's Church, Sydney

St Philip's Church, Sydney is the oldest Anglican church parish in Australia. The church is located in the Sydney CBD, between York Street, Clarence and Jamison Streets on a location known as Church Hill. St Philip's is part of the Diocese of Sydney, Australia...

, Blacket was to replace the church built by Governors Hunter and Bligh

William Bligh

Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...

and justifiably known as "the ugliest church in Christendom". Bishop Broughton, both here and at St Paul's, wanted the design based on his beloved Magdalen Tower

Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...

at Oxford. But although Blacket used the paired windows at St Philip's, the design was not a replica. Blacket was masterly at designing in the Perpendicular style

English Gothic architecture

and, as with other designs (such as the spire of St Mark's), he produced alternative versions which he slotted into place on the drawing or glued on as flaps, so that the Parish Council could choose. In this case they selected a design with double the usual number of windows in the clerestory level, and also two large windows in the southern side of the chancel as well as the six-light window in the eastern end, so this church, in contrast to St Paul's, Redfern, is unusually light. Unlike the Decorated Gothic

English Gothic architecture

tracery at St Paul's, the Perpendicular Gothic

English Gothic architecture

tracery is repetitious in its form. The visual effect of the church is one of harmony and elegance of proportion. Because of the Evangelical nature of this church, there is no figurative decoration, but the east window by James Powell and Sons

James Powell and Sons

The firm of James Powell and Sons, also known as Whitefriars Glass, were English glassmakers, leadlighters and stained glass window manufacturers...

of Whitefriars, "variegated with flowers and interspersed with texts", cost £200 and is one of the finest non-pictorial windows in Sydney.

St. Andrew's Cathedral

Blacket's association with St Andrew's, the Anglican Cathedral of Sydney, began in 1846. Grand plans for a square church had been made by Governor Lachlan Macquarie

Lachlan Macquarie

Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...

and his architect Francis Greenway

Francis Greenway

-References:* *...

, but these had been abandoned after proceeding no further than the laying of the foundation stone in 1819. By the time of Blacket's arrival, St Andrew's was under construction to a design by James Hume. It was to be a Neo Gothic structure of a relatively timid design and scale, cruciform and with narrow transept

Transept

For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...

s. The foundations were laid, the south transept was almost complete, and in places the walls were 15 feet (4.5 m) high. The work had ceased through lack of funds owing to the drought

Drought

A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...

. In 1846 Blacket, who was seen by the committee to have a greater grasp of architectural principles and design than Hume, was appointed to replace him as architect of the cathedral.

While the cathedral was under construction, a temporary wooden cathedral was erected, and one of Blacket's first jobs was to create a stained glass window for it. Being unable to acquire coloured glass, he painted plain glass and fired it, using part of the crypt beneath St James, King Street, as his studio. This window, which predated commercial stained glass manufacture in Australia, has unfortunately been lost. Blacket was very pleased with it and wrote to his brother Frank "the folk who come to see it...can hardly believe it is not stained glass."

Blacket's design for the cathedral was restricted by the foundations that were already in place and the existence of Perpendicular tracery built to Hume's design in two of the aisle windows. The challenge to Blacket was to create a building which worked within the limitations of scale but still had the imposing quality of a cathedral. Once again, Bishop Broughton's aim was to have a replica of the Magdalen College tower, but Bishop Selwyn

George Augustus Selwyn

George Augustus Selwyn was the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand. He was Bishop of New Zealand from 1841 to 1858. His diocese was then subdivided and Selwyn was Primate of New Zealand from 1858 to 1868. He was Bishop of Lichfield from 1868 to 1878...

of New Zealand had laid the foundation stone in 1842, and his recommendation had been for two towers. Blacket initially designed towers that accommodated the wishes of both Bishops, but he also wrote to a relative in Yorkshire asking them to send drawings of the façade of York Minster

York Minster

York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...

.
By 1847, all of Blacket's proposed changes, including the elaborate façade and lengthening of the nave had been accepted. In order to make sure that his design was truly the best possible solution, he sent copies of his plans to England, to both the Oxford Society

Oxford Movement

and the Cambridge Camden Society

Cambridge Camden Society

for comment. His design was acceptable to both, the Oxford Society in particular waxed lyrical, saying that his design "had realised the idea of a cathedral, as diverse from a parish church". However, Oxford wanted the roof of the aisles to be of steeper pitch, and a decorative moulding (or string course) around the interior walls, while Cambridge wanted more pinnacles and just one large window in the transept ends. Blacket obliged by making such changes as he could, but the string course and the rebuilding of the paired windows in the existent transept were impractical. Blacket had the model-maker J.C. White construct a detailed cardboard model of a scale 1 inch to 8 feet. This pleased the committee and the cathedral was finished much as demonstrated on the model, but with one very significant change: the west front—while retaining its form—had it details redesigned, in the light of the drawings that he received from Yorkshire.

Blacket's modification of the west front is to a much richer and more vertical design. This was achieved by the adoption of several features of the famous façade of York Minster, including abandoning the paired "Magdalen College" windows in the uppermost stage in favour of large mullion

Mullion

A mullion is a vertical structural element which divides adjacent window units. The primary purpose of the mullion is as a structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Its secondary purpose may be as a rigid support to the glazing of the window...

ed windows framed by a flamboyant arch rising to the level of the ornate parapet

Parapet

A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...

These are more strongly modelled than at York, and meet the obliquely set pinnacle above them in a continuous upward-sweeping movement. Another such flamboyant moulding rises from the tall central window to overlap the gable

Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...

in a manner both complex and inventive.

The interior, despite its small scale, and the large size of the piers, has a lofty, spacious and elegant appearance. It was furnished with richly carved furniture designed by Blacket himself and a cycle of 27 windows by John Hardman & Co.

Hardman & Co.

Hardman & Co., otherwise John Hardman Trading Co., Ltd., founded 1838, began manufacturing stained glass in 1844 and became one of the world's leading manufacturers of stained glass and ecclesiastical fittings...

of Birmingham depicting the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The cathedral was opened and consecrated on 30 November 1868 by Broughton's successor, Bishop Frederic Barker

Frederic Barker

Frederic Barker was the second Anglican bishop of Sydney.- Early life :Barker was born at Baslow, Derbyshire, England, fifth son of the Rev. John Barker and his wife Jane, née Whyte. He was educated at The King's School, Grantham and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1831, M. A....

.

Joseph Kinsela writes, "Such is Blacket's grasp of English Late Gothic style that the interior could be taken for the product of the fifteenth century. There are no Victorian clichés... Not many Australians are aware of the architectural status of St. Andrew's Cathedral...[it] is the equal of the best 19th century work in this style." However, not everyone was enthusiastic at the time, one critic writing, "We are compelled to say that seldom has so dull an inanity been produced at so great a cost".

Colonial Architect

On 1 December 1849, while the construction of St Andrew's Cathedral was proceeding, Blacket was appointed Colonial Architect

New South Wales Government Architect

The New South Wales Government Architect is an officer of the New South Wales government. Historically, the government architect was in charge of the state government's public building projects....

for New South Wales

New South Wales

, succeeding Mortimer Lewis

Mortimer Lewis

Mortimer William Lewis , was an English architect and surveyor who migrated to Australia and became Colonial Architect in the state of New South Wales from 1835 to 1849. Lewis was responsible for designing and overseeing many government buildings in Sydney and rural New South Wales, many of which...

. He occupied this position for nearly five years, but there are few buildings remaining in Sydney from this employment with the exception of the small Water Police Office in a robust Classical style. His largest job was the Glebe Island Abattoirs and the Moreton Island

Moreton Island

Moreton Island is a large sand island on the eastern side of Moreton Bay, on the coast of south-east Queensland, Australia. Moreton Island lies 58 kilometres northeast of the Queensland capital, Brisbane. The island is 95% National Park and a popular destination for four wheel driving, camping,...

Lighthouse was also a significant undertaking. He spent much of his time in the country, supervising the building of wooden bridges, some of which have survived. When in Sydney, he was called out frequently to look at the leaking roof of Government House, but roof drainage was not one of Blacket's talents.

In 1851, gold was discovered, both in New South Wales and in Victoria. While trade and commerce thrived, the building industry lost its workforce. While work on many of the ecclesiastical buildings that Blacket had designed and continued to supervise came to a standstill, the Government had a sudden requirement for coach houses, escort stations and lockups, as well as a design for a secure coach to transport gold. Designs for all these were provided by the Colonial Architect, probably closely following plans sent from England.

In 1853, the Blacket family moved to a rented house in Glebe. It was a wild place at that time and Sarah feared for Edmund's safety as he walked home. The family had expanded to six children: Edith, was born in 1844, Alice in 1846, Arthur in 1848, Marian in 1850, Owen in 1851 and Hilda in 1854. The cost of living greatly increased owing to the gold rush and with six children to support and earning £300 a year, Blacket left the Public Service in September 1854, to be succeeded by William Weaver

William Weaver

William Fense Weaver is an English language translator of modern Italian literature.-Biography:William Weaver is perhaps best known for his translations of the work of Umberto Eco and Italo Calvino, and has translated many other Italian authors over the course of a career spanning more than fifty...

University of Sydney

Blacket was involved with the foundation of Sydney University from the outset, and played a role in selecting the site on the Parramatta Road at the top of a rise overlooking Grose Farm (now Victoria Park

Victoria Park, Sydney

Victoria Park is a large park in Sydney, situated on the corner of Parramatta road and City road, within the grounds of University of Sydney and across Parramatta road from Broadway Shopping Centre...

). He was appointed University Architect on 23 May 1854, several days before he resigned as Colonial Architect, and he continued to supervise building for the Government for some months.

One of his first tasks as University Architect was to persuade the august committee to accept the notion that Perpendicular Gothic really was the only right and appropriate style for the building, because of its association with most colleges of both Oxford and Cambridge. The notes that he made for this speech are still in existence. Blacket was able to show the committee the sort of building that he intended, having to hand J.T. Emmett's design of the Congregational College on Finchley Road, north of London. Blacket asked his friend, the artist Conrad Martens

Conrad Martens

Conrad Martens was an English-born landscape painter active in Australia from 1835.-Life and work:Conrad Martens' father was a merchant who came originally to London as Austrian Consul; Conrad was born in "Crutched Friars" near Tower Hill...

, to create a watercolour drawing from his plans and elevations. Although the plans can not be located, the drawing is owned by the University and was engraved to appear in a newspaper.

The building is in the Perpendicular Gothic

English Gothic architecture

style with a front of 125 metres (410 ft) broken at the centre by a tower of 27 m (90 ft), beneath which there is a lofty archway, and surmounted by large pinnacles. The façade is broken by two gabled bays to the left, and one to the right, the right side of the building terminating in the Great Hall

Great hall

A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, nobleman's castle or a large manor house in the Middle Ages, and in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries. At that time the word great simply meant big, and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence...

. While the whole exterior of the building, with its glowing sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

, battlement

Battlement

A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels...

ed roofline and array of glinting leadlight

Leadlight

Leadlights or leaded lights are decorative windows made of small sections of glass supported in lead cames. The technique of creating windows using glass and lead came is discussed at lead came and copper foil glasswork...

windows give an imposing effect on top of the hill, it is the Great Hall that is regarded as the finest part of the design. The interior is loosely based on that of the Great Hall of Westminster, having a magnificent hammer-beam roof and a large mullioned and transommed

Transom (architectural)

In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...

window at each end. The windows of the long sides are placed high above an ornamented course in order that portraits may be hung beneath them, except at the south western corner where there is a large oriel window

Oriel window

Oriel windows are a form of bay window commonly found in Gothic architecture, which project from the main wall of the building but do not reach to the ground. Corbels or brackets are often used to support this kind of window. They are seen in combination with the Tudor arch. This type of window was...

. The building has many rich details including the angels, which are carved on every hammer beam. The glass, by the English firm Clayton and Bell

Clayton and Bell

Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient workshops of English stained glass during the latter half of the 19th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton and Alfred Bell . The company was founded in 1855 and continued until 1993...

, represents men of learning, and is said to be the oldest complete cycle of Victorian stained glass. The Senate is said to have asked Blacket to sign his buildings; the Blacket

Blackett

coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

are on a chimney on the south wall of the main wing, and his initials, ETB, are on the façade of the Great Hall.

Completed in 1861, the university soon became a tourist attraction; Anthony Trollope

Anthony Trollope

Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...

wrote home in 1874 that the Hall was "the finest chamber in the colonies", and that he could remember no college of Oxford or Cambridge which possessed a hall "of which the proportions are so good".

J. M. Freeland says of the architectural scene in Sydney in the 1860s, "The real architects of Sydney, in general, liked, respected and helped each other as friends. This peaceful situation was partly due to the overpowering presence of Edmund Blacket. Blacket bestrode the Sydney Architectural scene like a colossus."

During the period of the building of Sydney University, Edmund and Sarah added another two children to the family; Cyril was born in 1857 and Horace in 1860, taking the total to eight. In 1857, Edmund designed and built a home for his family, "Bidura", on Glebe Point Road. Nearby was "Toxteth Park", home of the solicitor, George Allen, a grand house built by the Regency architect, John Verge

John Verge

John Verge was an English architect, builder, pioneer settler of New South Wales, who migrated to Australia and pursued his career there. Verge was one of the earliest and the most important architect of the Greek Revival in Australia. He also brought more comprehensive range of Regency style than...

. The presence of this house seems to have influenced Blacket's design as the house he built for himself is entirely of a Colonial Regency style, with a hip roof

Hip roof

A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...

and French doors opening onto a veranda with open cast-iron pilaster

Pilaster

A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....

s. In 1859, Blacket received his last letter from his father, who died in November 1858.

Schools and institutions

At the University of Sydney, Blacket built the Anglican St. Paul's College

St. Paul's College, Sydney

St Paul's College in Sydney, Australia, is an Anglican residential college for men which is affiliated with the University of Sydney. Founded in 1856 by an 1854 act of the New South Wales Legislative Council, it is Australia's oldest university college...

and supervised the building of the Catholic College of St John's

St John's College, University of Sydney

]St John's College, or the College of St John the Evangelist, is a residential College within the University of Sydney.Established in 1857, the College of St John the Evangelist is the oldest Roman Catholic university college and second-oldest university college in Australia, and is one of the...

after the resignation of its designer William Wardell

William Wardell

. Insofar as the building was completed, he was faithful to Wardell's design, but he omitted several features, such as the western cloister, for lack of funds. In 1881, Blacket designed the Clarke Buildings of Trinity College in Melbourne. These residential buildings were executed in brick.

One of Blackets's best known commissions was the extension of Sydney Grammar School

Sydney Grammar School

Sydney Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, selective, day school for boys, located in Darlinghurst, Edgecliff and St Ives, all suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....

in 1855. The building, occupying a highly visible position fronting onto College Street and overlooking Hyde Park

Hyde Park, Sydney

Hyde Park is a large park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Hyde Park is on the eastern side of the Sydney central business district. It is the southernmost of a chain of parkland that extends north to the shore of Port Jackson . It is approximately rectangular in shape, being squared at the...

in the City of Sydney

City of Sydney

The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia...

, was begun by Edward Hallen in 1832, to a Regency design, but considerably smaller than intended. Because of the structure of the school board, Blacket's plans for the extension had to go before the Legislative Council for approval. He added a wing to either end of the building, respecting the proportion of the original, but with two floors where the earlier stage had one, and with the centre of Hallen's building having a Doric portico. The portico was not constructed until 157 years later, and in the intervening period, the design looked strangely vacant in the middle.

Blacket also designed the Avoca Street front of the Prince of Wales Hospital

Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney

The Prince of Wales Hospital is a major public teaching hospital located in Sydney's eastern suburb of Randwick, providing a full range of hospital services to the people of New South Wales, Australia...

at Randwick

Randwick, New South Wales

Randwick is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Randwick...

, Mudgee Hospital and the ornate Blind Asylum on the corner of William Street.

Banks and commercial premises

Many of Blacket's banks date from the 1850s and 60s, as do many of his houses. Whereas churches and associated buildings were generally of the Gothic and occasionally of the Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

style, the Classical style was more usual for banks, many of them stylistically based upon the palaces of Renaissance

Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...

Florence. These included The Bank of Australasia and The English, Scottish and Australian Bank, both on George Street, The Exchange Buildings on Spring and Gresham Streets and The Liverpool and London Insurance Company on Margaret Street. Of the banks and offices that Blacket designed within the Sydney CBD

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

, several survived into the 1970s but were eventually demolished to make way for high-rise development. Many of his small shops and commercial premises exist in other parts of Sydney such as Redfern and King Street, Newtown, but invariably with the street level façade altered beyond recognition.

Other commercial buildings included Mort's Wool Stores at Circular Quay, which are now demolished, and David Cohen's & Co general store in High St Maitland

Maitland, New South Wales

Maitland is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle...

, which was originally three stories but only the ground floor, occupied by Centrelink

Centrelink

Centrelink is the trading name of the Commonwealth Service Delivery Agency , a statutory authority responsible for delivering human services on behalf of agencies of the Commonwealth Government of Australia. The majority of Centrelink's services are the disbursement of social security payments...

, is now remaining after a fire in 1970.

Houses

Blacket built houses both great and small. They ranged from a little five-room house for E. O. Heywood on Glebe Point Road to Henry Cary Dangar's castle-like "Grantham", formerly on Pott's Point. With its battlements, turrets, grand staircase and magnificent harbour views, "Grantham" rivalled Government House. Joan Kerr writes, "It was one of the grandest houses in Australia and certainly the grandest of this baronial Gothic type. Its demolition was an appalling loss...."

Blacket also built several Anglican Church rectories, most of which are in a simple, asymmetrical, Gothic Revival style with gables and some Gothic detailing in the bargeboards and verandas, such as those at Berrima

Berrima, New South Wales

Berrima is an historic village in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The village, once a major town, is located on the Old Hume Highway between Canberra and Sydney. It was previously known officially as the Town of Berrima...

and Bega

Bega, New South Wales

Bega is a town in the south-east of New South Wales, Australia in the Bega Valley Shire. It is the economic centre for the Bega Valley.-Place name:One claim is that place name Bega is derived from the local Aboriginal word meaning "big camping ground"....

. He also remodelled Thomas Sutcliffe Mort

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort

's house "Greenoaks" in the Gothic style—it has since been renamed "Bishopscourt" as the residence of the Archbishop of Sydney.

A common residential commission late in the practice was for rows of terraces. As three of his four sons—Arthur, Owen and Cyril—joined him, terraces became a major occupation for "Blacket and Sons". A row with decidedly eccentric aesthetic details—for which Cyril was almost certainly responsible—exist in Petersham

Petersham, New South Wales

Petersham is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Petersham is located 6 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Marrickville Council...

, and are similar to those designed for W. H. Paling in 1881.

Churches

For reference to the archaeological styles, see English Gothic architecture
English Gothic architecture
English Gothic is the name of the architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520.-Introduction:As with the Gothic architecture of other parts of Europe, English Gothic is defined by its pointed arches, vaulted roofs, buttresses, large windows, and spires...

.

As an architect, Blacket is most famous for his churches. The exact number that he designed is unknown but totals more than a hundred, earning him the epithet, "The Wren of Sydney". His little country churches, in golden sandstone where available, with their steep gables and small bellcotes are so familiar in New South Wales, and established such a strong tradition to be imitated in stone, weatherboard and brick, that they are often seen as so commonplace as to be unremarkable.

Blacket's churches range from small multi-purpose school-cum-churches to cathedrals. Several of his finest churches are among the most highly valued heritage buildings in Australia.

Small churches

While the general outline of these buildings, with steeply pitched roofs, lower chancels and small bellcotes are easily recognisable, the form varies from tiny buildings like St Mark's Greendale, (1848) to the somewhat larger cruciform St Michael's, Wollongong, (1858). Even at a church as remote as St Mark's, which was surrounded by fields and forest, and had neither village nor full-time priest, the details of the design commanded Blacket's care, the little building having an elegant gable over its fluted doorway, and floral bosses, long since destroyed, at the ends of its drip moulding.

Blacket's small church designs varied in style from Norman at St Silas, Waterloo; to staid Early English Gothic as at St Peter's, Watson's Bay (1864) and St Thomas's, Narellan (1880); to Perpendicular at Holy Trinity, Berrima, (1847) a comparatively wide church spanned by a hammerbeam roof of unusual design.

Larger churches

Many of his larger churches are among Blacket's best known buildings. The designs are extremely varied; Blacket could work in any of the medieval styles, and built larger churches in all of them, while the forms of the buildings range from the aisleless hall of St Mary's, Waverley; to the aisleless cruciform church of St Paul's, Burwood; to the triple-gabled church of St Paul's, Redfern, the aisled church of St Michael's, Surry Hills and the clerestoried

Clerestory

church of St Stephen's, Newtown.

St. John the Evangelist, Glebe, 1868, is Blacket's most famous design in the Norman style

Norman architecture

, in which rich mouldings and carved capitals

Capital (architecture)

In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...

form a striking contrast with the plain round arches. Blacket also designed the major furnishings.

St. Thomas', North Sydney

St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney

St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney is a large Anglican church in Sydney's North Shore. It is located at the corner of Church and McLaren streets, close to the busy North Sydney CBD.- History :...

, (1877–84), is a cathedral-sized building in the Early English style

English Gothic architecture

, it is of very robust external appearance, being of rusticated

Rustication (architecture)

thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...

masonry and internally, very spacious. Designed by Blacket near the end of his career, it was built by his sons and grandson who provided the designs for much of the furnishings. Like a number of his later works, it has a rose window of an early French Gothic type. The spire was never completed.

All Saints Church, Bodalla, New South Wales

Bodalla, New South Wales

Bodalla is a small town on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia, and located in the local government area of Eurobodalla Shire. The town sits on the Princes Highway, and is connected by road to Moruya, Narooma, Nerrigundah, Eurobodalla and Potato Point.The Yuin people are consider to be...

, was designed to commemorate the life of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort

Thomas Sutcliffe Mort

, 'father of Australian dairying', and was built between 1880 and 1901 from granite quarried on Mort's estate. While a Blacket design, it is unlikely that he ever saw the site or the church which was overseen by his son Cyril. However, it also features hand-wrought iron hinges and straps said to have been designed by Blacket himself.

St Michael's, Surry Hills, was first designed in 1854, but Blacket modified and reduced it, as required, to cut costs. The church plan accepted in 1882 is rare among Blacket's designs in having simple Geometric Gothic

English Gothic architecture

tracery in its windows rather than the Flowing Decorated style of which he was a master. All Saint's, Woollahra, on the other hand, presents Late Geometric Gothic at its most opulent and ornamental.
Blacket's preferred style for a medium-to-large church was Flowing Decorated Gothic

English Gothic architecture

. Unlike the other historic periods of Gothic architecture, this style permitted him to vary the design of the tracery from window to window. This was far more time-consuming and costly than designing in the Early English or even the Perpendicular style, but it gave free rein to Blacket's creativity and skills as a draughtsman. During his time spent in Yorkshire during his youth, Blacket would have become familiar with two of the most famous of all Flowing Decorated windows in England, the west window of York Minster

York Minster

and the east window of Selby Abbey

Selby Abbey

Selby Abbey is an Anglican parish church in the town of Selby, North Yorkshire.-Background:It is one of the relatively few surviving abbey churches of the medieval period, and, although not a cathedral, is one of the biggest...

. The influence of these designs, and that of the equally famous east window of Carlisle Cathedral

Carlisle Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, otherwise called Carlisle Cathedral, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Carlisle. It is located in Carlisle, in Cumbria, North West England...

, can be seen in Blacket's east windows at Goulburn Cathedral; St Stephen's, Newtown; and St Paul's Burwood.

Cathedrals

Edmund Blacket was to design four cathedrals for the Church of England, All Saint's, Bathurst, 1845; St. Andrew's, Sydney, (appointed architect 1846); St. Saviour's, Goulburn, 1874; and St. George's, Perth, 1878.

All Saint's Cathedral, Bathurst,http://www.allsaintscathedralbathurst.websyte.com.au/site.cfm?/allsaintscathedralbathurst/ was a simple, lofty Norman design in the attractive local red brick of all Bathurst's older buildings. It was greatly enlarged in the late 19th century, and then mostly demolished and replaced because of subsidence.

St. George's Cathedral, Perth, is also of brick, and the details are of a simple Early English design. Blacket designed a single tower and spire, asymmetrically-placed and of majestic proportions. When a tower was eventually built, it was not of Blacket's design.
Joan Kerr indicates that St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn

Goulburn Cathedral (St. Saviour)

was one of Blackets favourite buildings, as, unlike his cathedrals in Sydney and Perth, he was not hampered either by distance, or a previous architect's foundations. It was here that Blacket was able to really indulge a love of Flowing Decorated

English Gothic architecture

ornamentation. There are three very large windows, of seven and six lights in the chancel and transept ends, each with highly elaborate and distinct tracery, inspired by, but not identical to, famous Medieval windows. That in the North transept has a wheel based on the Visconti emblem of a window in Milan Cathedral, but by the judicious placement of two small tracery lights, Blacket has turned it into a sunflower, an emblem frequently used by one of the stained glass firms he employed, Lyon and Cottier. Other decorative features include the foliate carving of the capitals, much of it in the stiff-leaf style of Wells Cathedral

Wells Cathedral

Wells Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, who lives at the adjacent Bishop's Palace....

; pierced cinquefoil openings in panels above the hammerbeams; and a screen of white New Zealand stone. The stained glass includes windows by two of England's major firms: John Hardman & Co.

Hardman & Co.

and Heaton, Butler and Bayne

Heaton, Butler and Bayne

Heaton, Butler and Bayne is the name of an English firm who produced stained glass windows from 1855 onwards.-History:Clement Heaton originally founded his own stained glass firm in 1852, joined by James Butler in 1855. Between 1859-61 they worked alongside Clayton and Bell and were joined by...

, and Sydney's two leading firms: Lyon and Cottier and Falconer and Ashwin.

Goulburn occupied much of the last nine years of Blacket's life, and ultimately, his family donated the crucifix which he had carved on his voyage to Sydney. At St. Saviour's, as at St. Georges, Blacket's tower and the ornate crocket

Crocket

A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. It is in the form of a stylised carving of curled leaves, buds or flowers which is used at regular intervals to decorate the sloping edges of spires, finials, pinnacles, and wimpergs....

ed spire was not built in his lifetime. The tower, without the spire and pinnacles, was completed in the late 20th century.

Spires

The most visible signs of Blacket's career are the spires that he positioned on hilltops around Sydney and in several country towns. Unfortunately, among those proposed but never realised are the spires of three of Blacket's grandest churches, Goulburn Cathedral, St Thomas's, North Sydney and All Saints, Woollahra.

Among those that were completed, two are outstanding, those of St John's Anglican Church, Darlinghurst

St John's Anglican Church, Darlinghurst

St John's Anglican Church is a church in the Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst. It is located at 120 Darlinghurst Road and is listed on the Register of the National Estate as well as having a New South Wales state heritage listing.-History and description:...

and St Stephen's, Newtown. As with the design of any spire, the architect faces the challenge of placing a structure of octagonal plan upon one of square plan and both structurally and visually bridging the difference. In both examples Blacket makes it "difficult to determine where the tower ends and the spire begins".

At St Stephen's (1871), the tower has an accompanying stair turret that rises to the level below the tall upper belfry

Bell tower

A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...

window. At that level, both the tower and the top of the turret are encircled by a battlement, as if the tower itself might well end there, as it does at St Paul's, Redfern. But it does not; it rises, somewhat narrower, and visually reduced by the clever play of overlapping forms. Each of the tall windows on the four sides is set into a slightly projecting plane, with its own gable, very similar in form to that which Blacket often used around doors. These rise like dormer

Dormer

A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...

s between the broaches, overlapping the meeting of the spire and the tower, so the horizontal definition between the two occurs only at the corners. Unfortunately, in the 1990s the large poppyhead on the top of the spire became unsafe and was removed which has lessened the visual impact.

At St John's the design is even more complex, because, near the top of the upper window, the tower itself suddenly appears to become octagonal in horizontal section, before the spire is reached. The change to the section is masked by the presence of four large pinnacles which rise from the corners at this point, as if they were sitting on the buttress

Buttress

A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...

es but are in line with the tower itself. Behind the pinnacles, once again Blacket has placed an encircling battlement which appears to mark the point where the tower ceases to be tower and becomes spire, or vice versa. Harmonious with the four crocketed pinnacles, and on the same level, are little dormer windows.

Morton Herman writes of the spire of St Mark's, Darling Point, that it is a conspicuous landmark for miles around, "contrasting...yet part of the silhouette of the hill, amply demonstrating Blacket's ability to make buildings seem inevitable on their sites." Herman says of the Sydney landscape that "had St Mary's, Waverley, and All Saint's, Woollahra, gained their intended spires the main heights of the whole district would have culminated in Blacket spires and provided impressive sights from all points of view".

Later life

On 15 September 1869, Sarah Blacket died, aged 51 years. Cyril and Horace were at this time only 12 and 9 respectively. Marion, the third daughter, was 19. She was to remain unmarried and in her father's household, caring for her four young siblings. Sarah's body was buried in Balmain Cemetery with a simple headstone of a gabled Gothic form. According to Morton Herman, Blacket had "always consulted her about every important matter, before he ever gave a final decision, for as long as she lived."

A year after Sarah's death, Blacket sold "Bidura" and moved to Balmain

Balmain, New South Wales

Balmain is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located slightly west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....

, living for a time in a house owned by his brother Russell. He was to remain in Balmain until about 1880, despite the fact that it was a notorious place with its own force of six police necessary to keep order. In his last few years he lived in "Roland Villa", Petersham

Petersham

Petersham is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the east of the bend in the River Thames south of Richmond, which it shares with neighbouring Ham. It provides the foreground of the scenic view from Richmond Hill across Petersham Meadows, with Ham House further along the River...

, near the home of his son Cyril and his wife.

Death

Edmund Blacket died on 9 February 1883 aged 65, from "apoplexy". The daily papers, as far away as Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, where St. George's Cathedral

St George's Cathedral, Perth

St George's Cathedral is the principal Anglican church in the city of Perth, Western Australia and the mother-church of the Anglican Diocese of Perth. It is located in St Georges Terrace in the centre of the city.- History:...

was under construction, carried obituaries praising him and citing Sydney University as "probably the finest structure in the Australian Colonies." At his funeral, the coffin bearers included three of Australia's most distinguished architects: William Kemp, John Horbury Hunt, and the Colonial Architect, James Barnet.

Blacket was buried with his wife, and his name was added to the tombstone that he had designed for her, but at the closure of Balmain Cemetery in 1942, their ashes were removed to St. Andrew's Cathedral, where an enamel hatchment

Hatchment

A hatchment is a funeral demonstration of the lifetime "achievement" of the arms and any other honours displayed on a black lozenge-shaped frame which used to be suspended against the wall of a deceased person's house...

and a small brass plaque mark the place of their interment.

Personally, Blacket was held in high esteem, those who knew him recalling his good qualities for later historians; H. G. Woffenden wrote in the 1960s: "Edmund Blacket was an upright God-fearing man who shunned controversy, professional publicity and social acclaim. An exemplary husband and father, he had been churchwarden and alderman, and was widely respected and admired for honesty, diligence, accuracy, fortitude and propriety."

Influence

Blacket's architectural practice was to be one of the most influential in Australia's history. His first articled pupil was William Kemp

William Kemp

William Kemp may refer to:*William Kempe , 17th century English actor and dancer, one of the original actors in William Shakespeare's plays*William D. Kemp , architect*William E...

whose apprenticeship was interrupted when Blacket became Colonial Architect. During the 1860s, Blacket's son Owen began training, followed by Cyril in 1872 and the older son, Arthur, who worked in the "Blacket and Sons" business in the 1880s.

In 1880, Cyril travelled to England where he took his examination at the Royal Institute of British Architects

Royal Institute of British Architects

The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...

, returning to Australia to put up his plate as "Cyril Blacket A.R.I.B.A.". In 1903, he was elected president of the Institute of Architects, New South Wales. After Edmund's death, Cyril and Arthur worked for a time as "Blacket Brothers", the most famous building of this period being the Hunter Baillie Memorial Church, (1886) which from its position on the ridge pays homage across the suburbs of Annandale and Camperdown to their father's spire of St Stephen's, Newtown, on the parallel ridge. Cyril's other well-known work is the chapter-house for St. Andrew's Cathedral. Two later Blackets, Cyril's son Pendril and Harold Wilfred Blacket were to follow the family tradition as architects.

During the 1850s, Blacket employed James Barnet

James Barnet

, who had emigrated from Scotland, having studied architecture under C.J. Richardson. He worked for Blacket as Clerk of Works for Sydney University, and it has been suggested that the massive hammer-beam roof of the Great Hall may have been his design. Barnet was to become the most successful of the Colonial Architects, with many of his public buildings still serving their original purposes.

Of all the architects associated with Blacket, the one who would become most famous was John Horbury Hunt

John Horbury Hunt

John Horbury Hunt was a Canadian-born architect who worked in Sydney, Australia and rural New South Wales from 1863.-Life and career:...

, who worked with him from 1863 to 1868. It was at this time, that Blacket's architecture developed bolder forms, based upon Norman

Norman architecture

, Transitional

Romanesque architecture

and Early French Gothic

French Gothic architecture

French Gothic architecture is a style of architecture prevalent in France from 1140 until about 1500.-Sequence of Gothic styles: France:The designations of styles in French Gothic architecture are as follows:* Early Gothic* High Gothic...

architecture, rather than the more refined Gothic. This is particularly noticeable in the presence of simple round windows divided by four circles of tracery in the gables of several churches of this time. Blacket permitted his staff to enter competitions, and it was while at Blacket's office that Horbury Hunt won the commission for Newcastle Cathedral, to be executed in his preferred material of brick. The brick church at Tumut

Tumut, New South Wales

Tumut is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut is at the foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is referred to as the gateway to the Snowy Mountains Scheme...

, consecrated in 1873, is ascribed to Blacket, but appears to owe much to Hunt. Hunt, who lived most of his early life in North America, had previously worked under Edward Clarke Cabot

Edward Clarke Cabot

Edward Clarke Cabot was an American architect and artist.-Early life:Cabot's father was Samuel Cabot Jr., a shipping businessman. His mother was Eliza Perkins Cabot. He had two siblings: Dr. Samuel Cabot III , an eminent surgeon, and Walter Channing Cabot Edward Clarke Cabot (August 17, 1818...

. One of innovations that he introduced to Australian architecture while working for Blacket was the saw-tooth roof for industrial building, which was employed at Mort's Woolstore. Hunt appears to have been influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement

Arts and Crafts movement

Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...

, particularly Philip Webb

Philip Webb

Another Philip Webb — Philip Edward Webb was the architect son of leading architect Sir Aston Webb. Along with his brother, Maurice, he assisted his father towards the end of his career....

, and ultimately he created buildings of great originality such as the Anglican Cathedrals of Cathedrals of Grafton

Grafton, New South Wales

The city of Grafton is the commercial hub of the Clarence River Valley. Established in 1851, Grafton features many historic buildings and tree-lined streets. Located approximately 630 kilometres north of Sydney and 340 km south of Brisbane, Grafton and the Clarence Valley can be reached...

and Armidale

Armidale, New South Wales

Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale Dumaresq Shire had a population of 19,485 people according to the 2006 census. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region...

Partial list of works

While Edmund Blacket's university buildings have been maintained and continue in use, few of Blacket's commercial buildings have survived, with none of his Sydney banks remaining. Residential buildings are better represented, and include cottages, terrace houses and mansions.

Of Blacket's more than 100 designs for churches, 84 can be identified as having been built to his plans, with a number of others being detailed or substantially designed by his sons Arthur and Cyril. In addition he supervised the building of several other churches and made major contributions to a dozen more, such as the towers and spires at St John's, Darlinghurst and Christ Church St. Laurence, the chancel of St John's, Camden and the roof of St. Judes, Randwick. Of these churches, 80 are known to remain substantially intact.

Christ Church Geelong
Christ Church Geelong
Christ Church is the oldest Anglican Church in Victoria, Australia, in continuous use on its original site. The parish pre-dates the Diocese of Melbourne and was founded on 7 October 1843, when the Bishop of Australia, William Grant Broughton, laid the foundation stone at the northeast corner of...
All Saints' Church, Tumut
St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
St Andrew's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of New South Wales, the Most Reverend Peter Jensen...
St John's, Ashfield
St. John the Baptist's Anglican Church, Ashfield, Sydney
St John the Baptist Anglican Church is an active Anglican church located between Alt and Bland Streets, Ashfield, a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia...

.
St John's Church, Glebe
St Paul's College, University of Sydney
St Jude's Church, Randwick
St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
St Philip's Church, Sydney
St Philip's Church, Sydney
St Philip's Church, Sydney is the oldest Anglican church parish in Australia. The church is located in the Sydney CBD, between York Street, Clarence and Jamison Streets on a location known as Church Hill. St Philip's is part of the Diocese of Sydney, Australia...
St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney
St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney
St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Sydney is a large Anglican church in Sydney's North Shore. It is located at the corner of Church and McLaren streets, close to the busy North Sydney CBD.- History :...
St Mark's Church, Darling Point
St Stephen's Church, Newtown
St Paul's Church, Burwood
St Paul's Church, Redfern
All Saints' Church, Woollahra
St Stephen's Church, Willoughby
Hunter Baillie Presbyterian Church, Annandale
St John's Church, Wollombi
St Paul's Church, Carcoar
St Peter's Church, Watsons Bay
St Michael's Church, Surry Hills
St Michael's Church, Vaucluse
Presbyterian Church, East Sydney
Bidura, Glebe
Bishopscourt, Darling Point
St John's Anglican Church, Darlinghurst
St John's Anglican Church, Darlinghurst
St John's Anglican Church is a church in the Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst. It is located at 120 Darlinghurst Road and is listed on the Register of the National Estate as well as having a New South Wales state heritage listing.-History and description:...

External links

The Blacketts of North East England

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