An architect and timber miller, Francis Bird was born in England in 1845. He arrived in Western Australia in 1869 aboard the Bridgetown. On the 14th of February, 1871 he married Augusta Maud Earnshaw. He lived at Woodloes, Cannington, a home he designed and built in 1871. This still stands and is reputedly in good condition. It is listed by the National Trust. Bird was in partnership with Benjamin Mason as a timber miller at Cannington. He relinquished this interest in 1877 and began practising as an architect.
Bird acted as Colonial Architect in 1884-5 following Richard Roach Jewell’s retirement and until the appointment of George Temple-Poole in 1885. Francis Bird was responsible for a number of houses in the Claremont area built for the upper echelons of colonial society. Corry Lynn and Craigmiur were two of these. With respect to the former, he built his own home in 1885 on fifty acres, which he had bought from J. S. Parker in 1884. This was later known as Corry Lynn. When Bird moved to Albany in 1889, this property was sold to John Elliot Richardson, pastoralist and the ? Methodist Ladies College of Roebourne. Thomas G. Briggs, quarry owner and one time mayor of Claremont bought the house in 1909. On the larger part of the land the Methodist Ladies College was built. Craigmuir at the Methodist Ladies College was designed by Francis Bird for Judge Burnside in 1888. Nearby were another two houses built for Messrs Macklin and Bennion c1888 that reputedly became part of Christchurch Grammar School. These no longer remain. When Bird moved to Albany he partially rebuilt the historic Spencer home Strawberry Hill, after it was damaged by fire.
RED SECTIONS
Writers:
Dr Dorothy Erickson
Date written:
2010
Last updated:
2011
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Record history
Initial data entry. -
March 31, 2013, 10:54 p.m.
(moderator approved)