Building Jerusalem at Botany Bay: James Barnet (1827-1904) and John Grant (1857-1928)

The Scottish Enlightenment had many distinguished sons in Australia, from Lachlan Macquarie and Alexander Macleay to Charles Nicholson and John Dunmore Lang, among many others. Far more than their English counterparts, who long thought of Australia as merely a penal colony, prominent Scottish emigra...

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Main Author: Mark Stiles
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art 2019-07-01
Series:ABE Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/abe/6344
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author Mark Stiles
author_facet Mark Stiles
author_sort Mark Stiles
collection DOAJ
description The Scottish Enlightenment had many distinguished sons in Australia, from Lachlan Macquarie and Alexander Macleay to Charles Nicholson and John Dunmore Lang, among many others. Far more than their English counterparts, who long thought of Australia as merely a penal colony, prominent Scottish emigrants saw the possibility of building a new Jerusalem at the Antipodes.In this paper I have chosen to contrast the careers of two such men, the architect James Barnet (1827-1904) and the trade unionist John Grant (1857-1928). Both grew up in the building trade and served their apprenticeships in Britain but went on to very different careers in Australia. One became the Colonial Architect of New South Wales, determined to give the rapidly-growing colony a distinguished public architecture, much of whose prodigious legacy remains to this day. The other became the leader of the Stonemasons’ Society and a pioneer of the Australian labour movement, equally determined to give his new country a legacy of a different kind, the foundations of a more progressive and socially just society. Between them they represent the two poles of nineteenth-century Australian aspirations, the individual and the collective, and their careers offer an illuminating contrast of the ways in which men chose to make their way in the new world, and of how that world might be transformed in the light of reason with a particular Scottish inflection.
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spelling doaj-art-e4d38aa70ee44b67b5fc02a71e0cf6952025-08-20T02:02:29ZdeuInstitut National d'Histoire de l'ArtABE Journal2275-66392019-07-011410.4000/abe.6344Building Jerusalem at Botany Bay: James Barnet (1827-1904) and John Grant (1857-1928)Mark StilesThe Scottish Enlightenment had many distinguished sons in Australia, from Lachlan Macquarie and Alexander Macleay to Charles Nicholson and John Dunmore Lang, among many others. Far more than their English counterparts, who long thought of Australia as merely a penal colony, prominent Scottish emigrants saw the possibility of building a new Jerusalem at the Antipodes.In this paper I have chosen to contrast the careers of two such men, the architect James Barnet (1827-1904) and the trade unionist John Grant (1857-1928). Both grew up in the building trade and served their apprenticeships in Britain but went on to very different careers in Australia. One became the Colonial Architect of New South Wales, determined to give the rapidly-growing colony a distinguished public architecture, much of whose prodigious legacy remains to this day. The other became the leader of the Stonemasons’ Society and a pioneer of the Australian labour movement, equally determined to give his new country a legacy of a different kind, the foundations of a more progressive and socially just society. Between them they represent the two poles of nineteenth-century Australian aspirations, the individual and the collective, and their careers offer an illuminating contrast of the ways in which men chose to make their way in the new world, and of how that world might be transformed in the light of reason with a particular Scottish inflection.https://journals.openedition.org/abe/6344colonial architecturetrade unionismlabour movementbuilding industry
spellingShingle Mark Stiles
Building Jerusalem at Botany Bay: James Barnet (1827-1904) and John Grant (1857-1928)
ABE Journal
colonial architecture
trade unionism
labour movement
building industry
title Building Jerusalem at Botany Bay: James Barnet (1827-1904) and John Grant (1857-1928)
title_full Building Jerusalem at Botany Bay: James Barnet (1827-1904) and John Grant (1857-1928)
title_fullStr Building Jerusalem at Botany Bay: James Barnet (1827-1904) and John Grant (1857-1928)
title_full_unstemmed Building Jerusalem at Botany Bay: James Barnet (1827-1904) and John Grant (1857-1928)
title_short Building Jerusalem at Botany Bay: James Barnet (1827-1904) and John Grant (1857-1928)
title_sort building jerusalem at botany bay james barnet 1827 1904 and john grant 1857 1928
topic colonial architecture
trade unionism
labour movement
building industry
url https://journals.openedition.org/abe/6344
work_keys_str_mv AT markstiles buildingjerusalematbotanybayjamesbarnet18271904andjohngrant18571928