Amateur woodcarver and engineer who was British born. Cairns specialised in refrigeration and arrived from Queensland in 1902. Examples of his woodcarving are found in the house Nyleeta designed for him by Charles Oldham at 19 Central Avenue, Swanbourne, Western Australia. The house, completed in July 1908, is listed by the National Trust, which states:
Mr Cairns’ hobby was woodcarving, and the house has an important collection of his work on the architraves in the hall and the lounge. The motif for these is possums and gum leaves and the earlier work is beautifully executed. A number of loose items of significance include two fire fenders in rough polished jarrah with beautifully carved wildlife, a bobtailed goanna, a frog (allegedly fed to the lizard after its image was complete) and a dolphin sketched from the base of the C.Y. O’Connor statue in Fremantle. Other items include bookshelves, tables and furniture specially made for the bay window in the drawing room and lozenges applied to a bought sideboard. A matching set of dining chairs in the same motif as the seat is also extant. The house has several fireplaces, the best being in the drawing room of which the mantel is original polished sheoak.
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- Writers:
- Dr Dorothy Erickson
- Date written:
- 2010
- Last updated:
- 2011
