sketcher, architect and builder, arrived in the Maitland, NSW district in 1857. He was a pupil of Fortescue Hitchins at Maitland in 1861, when he won a certificate for a landscape drawing in pencil at the Industrial Exhibition held in the West Maitland School of Arts. J.W. Pender set up his own architectural practice in West Maitland in 1863, which continued for over 40 years. As well as being a builder, Pender designed many buildings throughout the Hunter area and into New England, the former Presbyterian schoolhouse at West Maitland being an early example. He was best known for the many homesteads he designed and erected from the 1880s, including the two-storeyed verandahed Saumarez near Armidale (1890), now owned by the National Trust (NSW), Cintra, Benhome, Pinehurst House, Anambah and Belltrees.
At the1888 Melbourne Centennial International Exhibition Pender exhibited a drawing of the front elevation of E.P. Capper & Sons new warehouse at West Maitland he had designed. His pupils, W.H. Lee and J.L. White, also showed architectural drawings. Pender was in partnership with a Mr Silk in 1889-99, then continued on his own. When he died in 1917 his son Walter continued the practice and in turn passed it on to his son Ian. The firm survived until 1988.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
