Frederick Thatcher

The Reverend Frederick Thatcher (1814 – 19 October 1890) was an English and New Zealand architect and clergyman.

Reverend Frederick Thatcher
Born	(1814-09-05)September 5, 1814 Hastings, Sussex, England
Died	October 19, 1890(1890-10-19) (aged 76) Bakewell, Derbyshire, England
Resting place	Lichfield Cathedral
Occupation(s)	Architect, vicar, secretary
Religion	Anglican

Memorial to Frederick Thatcher in Lichfield Cathedral

Early life

Frederick Thatcher was born in Hastings, Sussex, England, 5 September 1814. Thatcher's mother was landed his father was a riding officer.^[1][2] At 16 years old Thatcher articled to a London architect, Alfred Bartholomew. 6 years later Thatcher established his own architectural and surveying practice. In 1836 Thatcher became an associate member of the Institute of British Architects of London.^[1] Thatcher married Elizabeth Watt on 30 June 1840. Thatcher's wife and an infant son died in 1842.^[2][1] Due to the deaths of his wife and son, Thatcher purchased rural land near New Plymouth from the New Zealand Company before leaving England in 1843 aboard the Himalaya and arrived in New Plymouth 23 December 1843.^[1][2]

Life in New Zealand

In New Plymouth Thatcher became associated with Bishop Selwyn and engaged in architectural work.^[1] Thatcher left for Auckland in 1845. In Auckland Thatcher became superintendent of public works and a lieutenant in the Auckland Militia. He served as Sir George Grey's secretary from 1846 until 1848 when he enrolled in St John's College, Auckland.^[1][2] Thatcher remained at the college until 1853 when he was ordained as a priest.^[1] Thatcher was appointed vicar of St Matthew's parish and retired from the position in 1856 on account of ailing health and return to England with his family.^[1][2]

Return to New Zealand

In England Thatcher was working as a curate in Northamptonshire.^[1] On 14 August 1861 Thatcher had returned to New Zealand with his family. Bishop Selwyn appointed him vicar of St Paul's Church, Thorndon. As vicar he was the architect for the design of St Paul's Cathedral.^[1][2] Thatcher resigned from the parish due to poor health and on 25 October 1864 went to Auckland to work as Governor George Grey's secretary again. When Grey's term as governor ended in 1868 Thatcher returned to England to be with his wife and son.^[2]

Return to England and retirement

After Thatcher's return to England he worked as secretary to the Bishop of Lichfield, which at the time was held by Selwyn. Following Selwyn's death Thatcher assisted Charles Abraham with founding Selwyn College. Afterwards, from 1883, he was prebendary of Lichfield Cathedral.^[2]

Thatcher died on 19 October 1890 at Bakewell, Derbyshire. Thatcher was buried at Lichfield Cathedral near Selwyn's grave.^[2]

Architectural career

Thatcher mostly designed churches, although he did work on Mansion House for George Grey.^[1] Thatcher's ecclesiastical designs were in the Gothic Revival style and he assisted Bishop Selwyn in designing the Selwyn churches.^[1][3][2] In addition to his work on St Paul's Cathedral Thatcher also designed St John's Church, Trentham as well as 6 other churches during his time as vicar of St Paul's.^[1] Other notable works from Thatcher include St. Mary's Church, New Plymouth, The Gables, Christ Church, Nelson, and St. Mary's Church, Parnell, Kinder House, and Selwyn Court.^[3][2]

List of buildings

Name	Date	Image	Note	Ref
Workhouse	1840		Became a hospital in 1948, private residence since 1990. Located in Battle, Sussex	[4]
Taranaki Cathedral	1846		Registered as a category 1 building with Heritage New Zealand	[5]
Auckland Colonial Hospital	1847		Demolished	[3]
The Gables Colonial Hospital	1848		Registered as a category 1 building with Heritage New Zealand	[6]
Christ Church, Nelson	1851		Demolished	[3]
St Matthews Church	1853		Building on left. Demolished	[3][7]
Kinder House	1857		Registered as a category 1 building with Heritage New Zealand	[8]
St Stephen's Chapel, Auckland	1857		Registered as a category 1 building with Heritage New Zealand	[9]
St Mary's Church, Parnell	1860		Demolished	[3]
Selwyn Library	1861		Registered as a category 1 building with Heritage New Zealand	[10]
Selwyn Court	1861–1865		Registered as a category 1 historic place with Heritage New Zealand	[11]
St John's Church, Trentham	1863		Registered as a category 2 building with Heritage New Zealand	[12]
St John's Church, Johnsonville	1864		Demolished	[1]
Old St Paul's, Wellington	1866		Registered as a category 1 building with Heritage New Zealand	[13]
St Peter's Church, Tawa Flat	1866		Demolished	[1][14]
Bolton Street Cemetery mortuary chapel	1866		Demolished but a replica rebuilt in 1990	[1][15]
St Matthias' Church, Makara	1867		Demolished in 1920	[16][1]
Holy Trinity Church, Ohariu Valley	1870		Registered as a category 2 building with Heritage New Zealand	[17]
Government House, Wellington	1865		Designed an addition for the building	[1]
Mansion House, Kawau Island	1865		Designed an addition for the building	[1]
St Mary's Church, Karori	1866		Credited to Thatcher by Heritage New Zealand and Margaret Alington but attributed to Nicholas Marchant by Geoffrey Mew and Adrian Humphris. Demolished in 1925	[18][1]

Further reading

• Alington, Margaret Hilda (2007). An Excellent Recruit: Frederick Thatcher, architect, priest & private secretary in early New Zealand. Polygraphia.