Biographical entry: Wilson, William Hardy (1881 - 1955)

Born
1881
Died
1955
Occupation
Architect and Artist

Details

William Hardy Wilson, architect, designer, artist and writer. Although born in Campbelltown New South Wales and spending most of his life in Sydney and Melbourne, Wilson has important professional and personal connections with Tasmania.

One of the first to argue for an Australian architecture, he sought inspiration in the buildings of the Colonial Georgian era from Tasmania and New South Wales, and his fascination with the Orient. In his book Old Colonial Architecture in New South Wales he included eleven Tasmanian examples, ranging from the grand such as 'Panshanger' to the humble such as 'Cottage in Davey Street, Hobart'. He lived at Flowerdale near Burnie in the early 1930s, contributed philosophical essays to the Advocate and self-published a novel, Yin-Yang, which explores his east-west interests. His only known Tasmanian building is a house in Launceston for his medical doctor son.

Barry McNeill

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