Page 71 - Bulletin 15 2011

68

Greaves, Henry Siddon (1844-1901) FRIBA (1884)

Henry Greaves was born in Edinburgh and was articled to John
Whichcord (1883-1885) in London. He arrived in the Cape in early 1879,
aged 35. He had been chosen out of fty applicants by the Crown Agent for
the Colonies to be architect on the new Houses of Parliament, Cape Town,
after Charles Freeman had been dismissed by the Colonial Government.
Greaves had previously been in practice on his own account in London
for four years. Because of the delay after the dismissal of Freeman, he
accepted a newly appointed post of Chief Deputy Inspector of Public
Works. When plans for the Houses of Parliament nally went ahead at
the end of 1879, Greaves and his staff worked on the design with John
Whichcord, under whom he had served articles, who acted as a consultant.
The Houses of Parliament were completed in 1885 by the PWD after the
builder, John Bull, had gone insolvent. Greaves’ staff was also involved
in the design of the Physics Block, South African College, in 1880.
Greaves, as Chief Director of the PWD architectural branch, had a large
and competent staff under his authority. He was greatly respected and his
judgement was called upon in many architectural matters. He assessed both
the Museum (1892) and the Cape Town City Hall (1894) competitions.
He was in charge of all work undertaken by the Cape PWD architects
which included Cape lighthouses, Magistrate’s Courts, schools and Post
Ofces including the General Post Ofce Building, Adderley Street (1897).

Kalk Bay Police Station

Kalk Bay Police Station