John Campbell

There are monuments to John Campbell all over New Zealand but no place more so than Wellington.
The beautiful and now fully restored Public Trust building, Government House and the Dominion Observatory in the Botanic Gardens are all his, as is the Ashurst Post Office, Hokitika customhouse, Dunedin Prison, the old Porirua Mental Asylum, Dunedin law courts along with government buildings all over the country.
There is a look - the Edwardian baroque - with arches over windows and colonnades.
Campbell was the first person to hold the position of Government Architect.
He was born to Janet and Donald Campbell in Glasgow, Scotland on July 4, 1857 where he was educated at the Glasgow School of Art before taking up an apprenticeship as a draughtsman or architect under John Gordon from whom he got a solid education.
In 1882 he came to New Zealand where he worked for the firm of Mason and Wake in Dunedin before joining the office of Public Works.
Ironically, the first thing he designed to be built was a train station in Porirua - it never got built.
But his other early works like the Dunedin prison and the mental asylum in Porirua were.
In 1888 he transferred to Wellington and became draughtsman in chief of public works in the newly created Public Buildings Department.
He oversaw 10 others who between them created most of the public works buildings, many of which are still around today.
Campbell developed a plan for post offices, one was a two-storeyed block while the other was a block with a clock tower.
In 1904, he designed and built the Wallaceville Animal Research Centre in Wallaceville in Upper Hutt.
When fire destroyed the old Parliament buildings in 1907 he worked on two designs, for Government House and a new Parliament building.
It was often considered the height of his career to win the commission in 1911 to build Parliament House in Wellington. At the time it was considered the most ambitious architectural project in the country.
His position was officially changed to that of architect in 1899 and he was later elected a fellow of both the New Zealand Institute of Architects and the Royal Institute of British Architects.
He was given the title of “Government Architect” in 1909 and held it until his retirement in 1922.
Campbell married Mary Jane Marchbanks in 1889 in Dunedin.
He was also a keen yachtsman and amateur landscape painter.
Once retired, he helped found the Architectural Students Association in Wellington.
For all that his buildings could be considered very grand, Campbell himself was considered a quiet and unassuming man.
Campbell died in Wellington on August 4, 1942 and is buried in Karori Cemetery.
Photo from Te Papa.​