Thomas Rowe was one of Australia"s leading architects of the Victorian era.
Background
Thomas Rowe was born in Penzance, Cornwall, United Kingdom, the eldest son of Richard Rowe and Ursula Mumford, and attended Barnes Academy. At 15 he became a draftsman in his father"s building business before the family emigrated to Australia in 1848.
Career
From 1857 he practised as an architect in Sydney, Bathurst, Orange, Newcastle and Goulburn. He was often successful in competitions and his firms built commercial premises, large houses and many Methodist churches. Rowe Street in Sydney is named after him.
He died in 1899 in Mona, a heritage-listed house in Darling Point, New South Wales.
Rowe"s son Harry Ruskin Rowe was also successful as an architect. The estate still exists and is heritage-listed.
(Many of the following buildings are heritage-listed): West.B.Field Sydney Green Alfred Spain.