John Harry Grainger: Architect and Civil Engineer
Early Years in Australia
At age 22 John Harry Grainger successfully applied for a position in the South Australian Government as an assistant architect and engineer. It is unclear why he chose to emigrate. In his 1954 unpublished memoir ‘My Father in my Childhood’, Percy refers to his father leaving a girl in England who was pregnant to him. Falconer says that his decision to move abroad followed a quarrel with his uncle. Whatever his motivation, his career decision proved to be well made. In addition to his government position he developed a thriving private practice in Adelaide. Less than 18 months later in 1878 he resigned his government position to pursue private commissions.
Grainger developed a strong social network in South Australia. He became very active within the musical fraternity and organised the first string quartet in Adelaide. The ensemble rehearsed in his private rooms.
In 1880 Grainger married 22 year old Rosa (Rose) Aldridge, daughter of Adelaide publican George Aldridge. In the year of their marriage Grainger won the competition to design Princes Bridge over the Yarra River in Melbourne. He and Rose moved to Melbourne anticipating that he would supervise the bridge’s construction. In the same year he designed a swinging bridge over the Latrobe River at Sale in Gippsland, Victoria. The late architectural historian Margaret Pitt Morison described it as an ‘elegant trussed structure in wrought iron with a balanced wing span of 45 metres supported centrally by eight pivot cylinders resting on bedrock.’ It is believed that Grainger’s bridge was the first to use this technology in Australia.
Grainger maintained a strong connection with South Australia and in 1881 was contracted to design two mansions for the wealthy Barr Smith family – ‘Auchendarroch’ at Mount Barker and ‘Torrens Park’ at Mitcham. In the same year he designed a Church of England church in gothic style at Walkerville on the outskirts of Adelaide.
On 8 of July 1882, Rose gave birth to a son, George Percy Grainger. They were living in a brick house in North Brighton, where they employed staff. John Grainger’s business was on a firm footing – he entered into a lucrative partnership with fellow English Architect Charles D’Ebro. His future would have seemed very positive, yet it appears that during his residence in Brighton he contracted syphilis and, as so often happened, he passed the then almost incurable disease on to his wife. During this period he was also prone to extended periods of heavy drinking and the state of his health began to fluctuate.
Grainger & D’Ebro successfully submitted a design in a competition for a town hall in Fremantle. Later the same year they won first prize for the Masonic Hall Company’s building in Lonsdale Street in Melbourne. In 1884 the partnership won first prize in a competition to design Auckland’s public library, art gallery and municipal offices, a design that showcased Grainger’s abilities at designing in French Renaissance revival style. In the same year the partnership won a commission to design Brisbane Town Hall, though their design was never implemented.
In 1885 the Graingers moved from Brighton to the New England Hotel in Heidelberg. Grainger had over-speculated in mining shares and lost money, which forced his family to suddenly change their living circumstances. His business partnership was also dissolved at this stage. His professional status, however, does not seem to have been affected by either event – in 1886 he was responsible for the design of the once celebrated Georges Building in Collins Street executed with a convincing Classical treatment. In the same year he was contracted to design the New Masonic Hall, also on Collins Street.
Much of what is known about Grainger’s movements over the next decade is sourced from correspondence between Grainger and a young woman, Miss Amy Black, the sister of one of Grainger’s junior staff members originally articled to the firm of Grainger & D’Ebro. Black lived with her family in Brighton near the Grainger household and became John Grainger’s confidante.