The University of New South Wales Doctor of Philosophy Degree READING RUSKIN: ARCHITECTURE AND SOCIAL REFORM IN AUSTRALIA, 1889–1908 2010 MARK DOUGLAS STILES ABSTRACT This thesis examines the reception of John Ruskin’s work in Australia between 1889 and 1908, and seeks to answer two questions: what Australians made of Ruskin’s ideas at a critical moment in their history, and what we may make of Australia a century ago with Ruskin as our guide. The period covered here spans the decades before and after the federation of the Australian colonies in 1900, and the quest for political unity forms the background to the thesis. What Ruskin’s perspective adds to this account is his search for unity in diversity, a search paralleled in Australia in the struggle to establish the foundations of a just society. Because Ruskin thought that art, and especially architecture, was the true expression of national life and character, the thesis uses a study of Australian architecture to reflect on the search for social justice in this period. This study is developed by comparing the experiences of the progressive architects influenced by Ruskin with those of leading figures in the early Australian labour and feminist movements. Their contrasting perspectives fill out the account given here not only of the understanding of Ruskin’s work in Australia, but also of the hopes of Australian reformers in a turbulent period marked by economic distress and political unrest. Ruskin was not the only writer to find eager readers in Australia as it moved closer to Federation, but he was read by more people, and his opinions cited on a wider range of issues, than almost any other contemporary figure. This thesis shows that what his readers looked for in Ruskin was what he himself sought throughout his life, the moral unity of a fragmenting world. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my thesis supervisors, Peter Kohane and Catherine De Lorenzo of the University of New South Wales, for their support and encouragement over many years. Tough-minded critics and experienced guides, they were also the most knowledgeable and patient of tutors, and I owe them a very considerable debt. For help of a different kind I thank my colleagues at the University of Technology Sydney, George Verghese, Rod Hayes and Susan Sherringham, for their support of my work outside the rigours of teaching a very full program. I also wish to thank Mick Carter, Paul Hogben, Peter Phillips and the late Joan Kerr, scholars, architects, or both, for useful conversations along the way. My primary debt is to my family for their forbearance in the writing of this thesis, and for their practical help. My daughter Alice was one of the earliest, and most insightful, readers of the thesis and it benefited from the thoughtful discussions I had with her about it. My son Harry solved many computing problems for me, always with good humour, and I valued the warmth and steadiness of his companionship. My sister Janet gave up her holidays and made the long journey to Australia to scrutinise my presentation and help make the bibliography. In her expert hands this gained considerably in rigour and comprehensiveness to become the essential scholarly apparatus it is now. Two people in particular deserve special thanks: my brother-in-law Kent Whitmore, for the elegant formatting of the final text and for his meticulous attention to detail, both of which enhanced the thesis in no small degree; and my wife Lee. Her part in my work goes well beyond the photographs she took for Chapter Two and organising the final production of the text. Her help and support at every stage was crucial to the writing of the thesis, and I willingly share credit for its achievement with her. I could not have done the work without her, and this thesis is dedicated to her. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract — iii Acknowledgements — iv List of Tables — x List of Illustrations — xi INTRODUCTION — xvii 1. Summary of Thesis — xvii 2. Trends in Ruskin Scholarship — xviii 3. Ruskin Scholarship in Australia — xviii 4. Methodology — xx 5. “A Rudderless Democracy” — xxvi 6. “The Order of Things” —xxvii 7. “A Great Englishman” — xxviii 8. Overview of Thesis — xxxiv endnotes for introduction — xxxvii CHAPTER ONE WHO READ RUSKIN? — 1 a. introduction — 1 b. the written word — 2 1. Readers — 6 2. Books and Libraries — 8 3. Parliamentary Libraries — 11 4. Mechanics’ Institutes — 12 5. Sydney Mechanics’ Institute — 13 6. New South Wales Mechanics’ Institutes — 14 7. Periodicals — 16 8. The Art Journal — 17 9. Booksellers — 17 c. the living voice — 18 1. Ruskin as Lecturer — 18 2. Lectures and Debates as Entertainment — 19 3. Lecture Tours — 21 d. some literary ruskinians — 22 1. John Woolley — 22 2. James Smith — 25 3. James Green — 29 4. Thomas George Tucker — 33 5. Ruskin in Australian Textbooks — 35 e. conclusion — 37 endnotes for chapter one — 38 CHAPTER TWO RUSKIN AND AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE — 47 a. introduction — 47 b. the three phases of ruskinism — 53 c. phase one: visual ruskinism and the gothic revival — 54 1. The Gothic Revival in Australia — 55 2. Visual Ruskinism in Sydney — 56 3. Visual Ruskinism in Melbourne — 83 d. phase two: ruskinism and honest building — 93 1. The Arts and Crafts Movement in Australia —93 2. The Ruskinian Moment in Australia, 1889–1894 — 98 3. E Wilson Dobbs — 99 4. Harold Desbrowe-Annear — 100 5. Debating Ruskin — 102 6. Early Arts and Crafts Work in Sydney — 105 7. The Vernon Office 113— e. phase three: ruskinism and the nature of work — 129 1. Architects versus Engineers — 130 2. Architects versus Builders — 131 3. An Open Profession? — 132 4. The Architecture and Engineering Association of Victoria — 140 5. The Sydney Architectural Association — 142 6. The Sydney Arts and Crafts Exhibition, 1892 — 146 f. the ruskinian moment in australia, 1894–1900 — 148 g. the ruskinian moment in australia, 1900–1908 — 152 1. John Barlow — 163 2. George Sydney Jones — 170 3. John Horbury Hunt — 173 h. the argument from drawings — 185 i. conclusion — 213 endnotes for chapter two — 217 CHAPTER THREE RUSKIN AND THE AUSTRALIAN LABOUR MOVEMENT — 233 a. ruskin and the labour movement in britain — 234 b. ruskin and the labour movement in australia — 240 1. “This Pernicious Theory” — 240 2. “The Workers Are a Reading Class” — 241 3. Radical Readers — 243 4. Recommending Ruskin — 246 5. Was Ruskin Actually Read? — 247 6. “Mighty Poet Without the Name” — 249 c. ruskin and the sydney building world of the 1890s — 257 1. The Building World Described — 257 2. “The Reunion of Art and Labor” — 262 3. Masters and Men — 265 4. Unto This Last and the Prince Alfred Hospital Project — 267 d. “go to, vain prophet” — 270 endnotes for chapter three — 275 CHAPTER FOUR RUSKIN AND THE AUSTRALIAN FEMINIST MOVEMENT — 285 a. introduction — 285 b. ruskin on women — 288 c. women on ruskin — 293 d. art and politics — 295 1. Art — 295 2. Politics — 298 e. women and reform — 302 f. respectability — 305 1. Ruskin on Respectability — 306 2. Respectability in Australia — 307 3. Women and Respectability in Australia — 308 g. temperance — 310 h. home — 314 1. The Socialist Challenge to Home — 316 2. The Feminist Challenge to Home — 317 3. Australia and the Home — 319 4. Three Feminist Utopias — 323 i. conclusion — 329 endnotes for chapter four — 332 CHAPTER FIVE RUSKIN AND AUSTRALIAN READERS — 347 a. ruskin as authority — 349 b. ruskin as protest — 352 1. “Faces in the Street” — 352 2. “Too Amusing to Be Dangerous” — 355 3. “A Counsel of Perfection” — 357 c. ruskin as utopian — 361 1. Ruskin on Utopia — 361 2. The Working Man’s Paradise — 362 3. Village Settlements in Victoria — 365 4. The Pitt Town Settlement in New South Wales — 367 5. Spiritual Ideals and Generous Virtues — 372 d. ruskin as companion — 374 endnotes for chapter five — 376 EPILOGUE — 383 1. The Light of the World, 1906 — 383 2. The Dinner Party — 394 endnotes for epilogue — 397 APPENDIX — 401 BIBLIOGRAPHY — 405 a. ruskin — 405 1 Books by Ruskin — 405 2 Books on Ruskin — 406 b. social history — 411 1 Contemorary Australian Social Periodicals — 411 2 Contemporary Foreign Social Periodicals — 412 3. Contemporary Australian Newspapers — 413 4. Government Publications on Australian Social History — 414 5. Archival Sources for Australian Social History — 415 6. Contemporary Australian Poetry and Prose — 417 7. Stories by Ruskin in Contemporary Australian Schoolbooks — 418 8. Books on Social History — 418 9. Journals on Social History — 424 c. architectural history — 425 1. Contemporary Australian Journals — 425 2. Contemporary Foreign Architectural Journals — 431 3. Archival Sources for Australian Architectural History — 431 4. Books on Architectural History — 432 5. Journals on Australian Architectural History — 435 d. labour history — 436 1. Contemporary Australian Labour Periodicals — 436 2. Archival Sources for Australian Labour History — 436 3. Books on Labour History — 437 4. Journals on Australian Labour History — 439 e. feminist history — 440 1. Contemporary Australian Feminist Periodicals — 440 2. Archival Sources for Australian Feminist History — 440 3. Books on Feminist History — 440 4. Journal Sources for Australian Feminist History — 444 LIST OF TABLES CHAPTER ONE WHO READ RUSKIN? table 1 Illiteracy Rates in Australia 1861–1901, as measured by entries in the Marriage Register — 7 table 2 Number of Post Office Deliveries in Australia, 1851–1901 —7 table 3 Number of Public Libraries in Australia by State — 8 table 4 Number of Ruskin Titles in Sydney Mechanics’ Institute, 1862–1901 — 13 table 5 Number of Ruskin Titles in New South Wales Mechanics’ Institutes, 1875–1910 — 15 APPENDIX table 6 Arts and Crafts in Public Practice: The Vernon Office, 1895–1908 401— table 7 Australian Careers of Principal Figures in the Vernon Office — 402 x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS CHAPTER TWO RUSKIN AND AUSTRALIAN ARCHITECTURE POLYCHROMY IN SYDNEY figure 1 Exterior perspective for proposed building for Mutual Life Insurance Company, Sydney.