John Horbury Hunt


John Horbury Hunt was a Canadian-born Australian architect who worked in Sydney and rural New South Wales from 1863.

Life and career

Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, the son of a builder, Hunt was trained in Boston, Massachusetts but then migrated to Australia in 1863. He worked in Sydney with Edmund Blacket for seven years prior to pursuing his own practice. His output was extremely varied and included cathedrals, churches, chapels, houses, homesteads, stables and schools. Probably his first building designed in Australia was the Superintendent's Residence at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, designed in 1863. A few years later he designed the Catherine Hayes Hospital, which was also built at the Prince of Wales Hospital, with the design modified by Thomas Rowe. Hunt's other works include the Convent of the Sacred Heart, now Kincoppal-Rose Bay, School of the Sacred Heart, Sydney, in the Sydney suburb of Vaucluse; and Tivoli, now part of Kambala, in the suburb of Rose Bay. In Armidale, New South Wales, he designed St Peter's Anglican Cathedral and Booloominbah and Trevenna which are now both part of the University of New England.
Hunt's distinctive, radical architecture was considered to be twenty years in advance of his peers, some of it unequalled in the world at that time, and sowed the seeds of some aspects of modern architecture in Australia. It has been said that "Undoubtedly men such as Hunt... have, through their buildings and their ideas, stiffened the intellectual backbone of Australian architecture." He was instrumental in bringing the North American Shingle Style to Australia. The outstanding example of this style was Highlands, a two-storey home designed by Hunt and built for Alfred Hordern in 1891. Situated in Highlands Avenue, Wahroonga, Sydney, Highlands is listed on the Register of the National Estate. Another notable example is Pibrac, designed by Hunt for Frederick Ecclestone du Faur. Pibrac is also on the Register of the National Estate.
Hunt was ruined by the Depression of the 1890s. He died in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, eleven days after admission suffering from Bright's disease. His personal effects, recorded in the hospital Admission Book, consisted of a metal box, three gold rings, a silver pencil and a pair of spectacles. He was buried at South Head Cemetery, Vaucluse, Sydney.
He was close to destitute at the time of his death. His home, Cranbrook Cottage, had been repossessed by the mortgagor; it was demolished in 1925 to make room for the widening of New South Head Road. The site of the cottage is marked by a small rock garden, named Horbury Hunt Place. Riversdale House in Burradoo, now part of Chevalier College, still survives and is thought to be similar in design to Cranbrook Cottage, having been commissioned by Henry Osborne around the same period.

Partial list of works

The following buildings designed either in part or in full by Hunt are listed on various national, state and local government heritage registers:
Building nameLocationYear
completed		Australian National
Heritage List		NSW State
Heritage Register		Local government
register		Notes
All Saints ChurchHunters Hill, Sydney1885
Belltrees Scone1907
BooloominbahUniversity of New England, Armidale1883Yes
CamelotKirkham1888
Catherine Hayes BuildingPrince of Wales Hospital, Randwick1867completed by Thomas Rowe
CloncorrickDarling Point, Sydney1884
Christ Church Cathedral and Church HallGrafton
Christ Church CathedralNewcastle1869
Church of St JamesJerrys Plains1875
Church of the Good Shepherd and RectoryKangaroo Valley
Cranbrook School, Sydney additionsBellevue Hill, Sydney1874–75
FairwaterDouble Bay, Sydney1881Yes
Havilah homesteadHunter Valley
Havilah property extensionsMudgee area1890
HighlandsWahroonga, Sydney1891
Osborne Memorial Church of St Luke1882
PibracWarrawee, Sydney1888
Public SchoolRozelle, Sydney1877
Public School and Headmaster's ResidenceFrederickton1880
Riversdale House at Chevalier CollegeBurradoodesigned by Hunt.
Sacred Heart Convent, Vaucluse, Sydney1888
Sir John Robertson MemorialSouth Head Cemetery, Sydney
St Alban's Anglican ChurchMuswellbrook1869Yes
St Bartholomew’s Church of England, Ollera StationGuyra1876
St James' Anglican ChurchMorpethpartly designed by Hunt.
St Matthias ChurchDenman1871
St Paul's Church of EnglandMurrurundi1872
St Peter's Anglican Cathedral ChurchArmidale1871
Superintendent's Cottage, Prince of Wales HospitalRandwick, Sydney1863

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