George Henry Male Addison


George Henry Male Addison was an Australian architect and artist. Many of his buildings are now heritage-listed.

Early life

Addison was born on 23 March 1857 in Llanelly, Wales, the son of Edward James Addison, a Wesleyan minister and Jane Roswell née Male. His father undertook missionary work in West Africa but it damaged his health and he died in 1863 and Addison was raised by his maternal grandfather, Henry Male in Somerset. His sister, Emily Jane Addison worked as a governess to the family of Alexander McArthur in Brixton and, in 1834 married their son John Percival McArthur.
He was articled to architect Edmund Isles Hubbard at Rotherham and studied at the Royal Academy in London.
Addison immigrated to South Australia to work on a number of large government projects. After that, he moved to Melbourne and worked for the firm Terry and Oakden, later forming the firm Oakden, Addison and Kemp. There he was one of the founders of the Melbourne Art Society along with John Mather, Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin and other well-known artists.
In 1884 he married Emily Alice Maude with whom he had four children:
In 1889, Addison came to Brisbane to design the London Chartered Bank of Australia building on the corner of Queen and Creek Streets, Brisbane. He liked the climate and decided to stay, working on his own. Later he went into partnership with his son George. His daughter Lily worked as a draftswoman and then architect in her father's firm; she was one of the earliest women to practice architecture in Australia.

Works

His works included:
For a number of years, he was in a partnership with Leslie Corrie as Addison and Corrie. Together they designed many prominent Brisbane buildings, including:
Addison was a chairman of the Brisbane Art Gallery.
Addison died on 6 February 1922 at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Brisbane. He was buried at the Toowong Cemetery.