Sydney

30/7/1878

Sydney Jackman was a skilled architect who designed the Adelaide Railway Station and the Charles Moore Department Store, both of which are significant landmarks in Adelaide.

Sydney Jackman was the son of Joseph Jackman who had arrived in South Australia in 1855 from Peckham near London and worked as a cabinetmaker, a clerk at Collingrove, and later became a restaurateur, running the popular Jackman’s Dining Rooms on King William Street in Adelaide from 1870 unitl it was taken over by two of his sons. Following Joseph’s marriage to Fanny Wheaton, the family lived in various places in South Australia including Kapunda, Gawler, Payneham and Glenelg. Sydney was born at Olive Lodge, Payneham Road on 30 July 1878 and was one of nine children. His older brother Herbert Louis Jackman (1867-1936) became an architect working in Adelaide and Broken Hill, NSW while Sydney was still in his youth. Sydney Jackman was schooled at Norwood Public School and then Pultney Street Grammar School in Adelaide before beginning his training as an architect in 1896 articled to Daniel Garlick, the local architect with whom his older brother had begun his training some years earlier. Daniel Garlick, Arthur Garlick and Herbert Jackman formed a partnership under the name of Garlick, Jackman and Garlick in 1892.

Following the completion of his articles in 1901, Sydney Jackman enlisted in the armed forces and signed up with the South Australian Imperial Bushman to serve in the Boer War (1899-1902) in South Africa. His contingent left Adelaide on 6 April 1901 and Lance Corporal Sydney Jackman was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in October 1901. When the Boer War hostilities ceased, he chose to remain in South Africa and gained employment with the Public Works Department of the Transvaal. Over the next four years, from 1902 to 1906, he superintended the construction of alterations and additions to public buildings for the South African Government in Johannesburg and Pretoria. In 1906 Sydney Jackman left Africa for Britain and travelled throughout Europe before returning to South Australia (‘Pen Portraits of People’ 1926: 4).

Sydney Jackman married Margaret Beatrice who was, ‘prior to her marriage, a well-known Sydney vocalist’ (‘Social Notes’ 1908, p56). From the Sands and McDougall Directories it has been discovered that they lived at North Glenelg, on Broadway, from 1910 to 1916, and later in 1928 at 29 Palmer Place, North Adelaide. In 1935 Sydney Jackman bought the large home called ‘Bella Vista’ at 13 Wooldridge Avenue, Millswood and converted it to two flats, one for Margaret and himself and one for rental. Sydney and Margaret lived at ‘Bella Vista’ for the rest of their lives. Sydney was an enthusiastic sportsman who enjoyed golf, cycling, rowing and later, motoring, horseracing and bowls. He was the inaugural president of the Glenelg Golf Club (‘Fore!’ 1951: 17) and represented South Australia in rowing races (‘Pen Portraits of People’ 1926, p4). Sydney appeared to have been quite an entrepreneur, he, together with his brother Arthur and Charles Moore junior, acquired Somerlea Homes Limited in 1928 to do business as ‘builders and surveyors, cement, brick and tile makers, lime burners, house and estate agents, and timber merchants’ (‘New Company Registered’ 1928:14). In 1931 it was reported that Sydney was partner in a tobacco growing venture with Mr A.W. Gordon at Paris Creek near Macclesfield in the Adelaide Hills (‘Leads way in Tobacco Growing’ 1931, p6). Margaret passed away on 24 June 1942, aged 62 years, and Sydney died suddenly on 8 May 1944, aged 66 years. They were buried together at Centennial Park Cemetery in Pasadena, South Australia. The Public Trustee finalised his estate.

Sydney Jackman’s architectural work in South Australia was under the auspices of the architectural practice of Garlick and Jackman which he joined around 1908. At that time the firm was run by his brother and sole practitioner Herbert Louis Jackman, who had bought out partners Daniel Garlick and Arthur Garlick in 1899. Herbert continued the firm under their names until his death in 1936. The practice had offices located in the Bowman Buildings, King William Street, Adelaide, and later in Eagle Chambers on Pirie Street, Adelaide.

The practice, and specifically Herbert Jackman took on Eric H. McMichael (1884-1945) as an articled pupil as well as Herbert’s son, Herbert Montefiore Jackman (1897-1968) and Lancelot Gooden (1898-1987). Gooden remained with Garlick and Jackman, continuing the practice after H.L. Jackman’s death in 1936. In 1938 H.M Jackman re-joined the firm and the name of Garlick and Jackman was retained with H.M. Jackman as senior and Lancelot Gooden as junior partner. Following Sydney’s death in 1944 the practice was renamed as Garlick and Jackman and Gooden in 1945. The practice changed partners many times over the subsequent decades and was known in 2013 as JPE Design Studio, an abbreviation of Jackman Parken Evans Design Studio.

Sydney Jackman was an Associate member of the South Australian Institute of Architects by 1914 and a Fellow by 1939. He became a registered architect in 1941 following the introduction of the Architects Act in 1939 (Lustri and Collins 2009). Sydney Jackman became expert in concrete construction techniques yet, he was not blind to its limitations, while praising the Thousand Homes Scheme in 1924, spoke out against the original proposal for single skin concrete houses, advocating double brick cavity walls instead (‘Thousand Homes Scheme’ 1924).

Sydney Jackman and his brother Herbert practising as Garlick and Jackman Architects contributed several significant buildings to Adelaide including Bowman’s Building, King William Street (1909), Charles Moore’s Department Store, Victoria Square (1913), Adelaide Railway Station, North Terrace (1926) and Hooper’s Furnishing Arcade, Hindley Street (1927-1930). Such was their prominence that in 1929 Herbert and Sydney Jackman were the first architects to be featured in the local newspaper the News’s series of profiles of architects titled ‘Structure Designers’ (20 February 1929: 10). In the article it was noted that they ‘have been responsible for the designing of many of the prominent buildings of Adelaide.’

Charles Moore’s Department Store (1913) on Victoria Square in the centre of Adelaide was a spectacular building with classical colonnaded façade and grand interior surmounted with a dome. A marble staircase featured in the opulent interior. A former employee of Garlick and Jackman recalled that Mr Charles Moore was fond of Selfridges in London (1908), and consequently this was an influence on the design (pers. comm. Arthur Hughes 2002). However it has also been stated that, ‘Moore's new department store is said to have been modelled upon a department store in Paris, (possibly the Bon Marche) with Moore supplying detailed plans acquired from Paris to his Adelaide architects. William Lucas, an English architect, was engaged to design the central staircase which is said to have been directly modelled on the Paris department store’ (Register of the National Estate). In 1948, following a major fire at Charles Moore’s Department Store, Victoria Square, Adelaide, Garlick, Jackman and Gooden were called upon to prepare plans for the reinstatement of the premises.

The Adelaide Railway Station design had been decided by competition in 1924. According to Michael Page, ‘Herbert Jackman’s brother Sydney was responsible for much of the design and supervision work for the new station, which as an integral part of the modernisation of the State’s railway system during the 1920s’ (1986: 160). It featured a magnificent barrel vaulted concourse and Marble Hall. The Adelaide Railway Station was described as of ‘purely classic design’ and as having ‘evoked praise from many visitors’. In the same article praise was reported to have come from the Railways Department, which said the construction work was managed ‘without interrupting traffic, in a manner which no private contactors could have done and at a lower cost’ (‘Structure Designers’ 1929: 10).

Hooper’s Furnishing Arcade was a long-time client of Garlick and Jackman Architects, commissioning new premises on the corner of Hindley and Leigh Streets, Adelaide in 1928. The new building was constructed in two sections. The first, built on the western portion of the site, was commenced in July 1928 and was opened in July 1929. The ground level Hindley Street frontage featured display windows interspersed with three entrances. The first floor contained one large show room and seven smaller showrooms to display particular suites in room settings, the second floor comprised one large furniture showroom while the basement contained building services. The building was constructed of reinforced concrete and steel with brick walls and rendered with cement to resemble sandstone. A feature of the façade is the double storey height arch windows running over the first and second floors, which not only let daylight into the building but also introduced a sense of grandeur to the store.

The practice also designed many less noticed buildings with several clients returning and providing a steady flow of work for the business. Eudunda Farmers was one such client, with the practice designing premises in Blyth Street, Adelaide (1921), a residence at Laura (1924), premises at Balaklava (1924), Pinnaroo (1934), Renmark (1936), Barmera (1936) and Lameroo (1937). Other returning clients included the Wyatt Trust (1921-1936), A.A. Simpson for their factory on Gawler Place, Adelaide (1922-1925) and the SA Farmers Co-operative Union Ltd. which commissioned a cheese factory at Woodside (1936), a cheese factory at Glencoe (1937) and later, offices at Eyre Street, Port Lincoln (1939). The Commercial Bank of Australia was a continuing client for Garlick and Jackman. Branches were designed at Yorketown (1930), Victor Harbor (1930) and Naracoorte (1937). A drainage scheme for the Port Adelaide Racing Club at Cheltenham was undertaken in 1936.

Tender notices show that residences designed by Garlick and Jackman included some at Glenelg (1921), Unley Park (1923), North Adelaide (1924), Roysten Park (1924) and Largs Bay (1924). A residence for A.R. Taylor in the leafy suburb of Unley Park was designed in 1914. The two storied brick residence of ten rooms for the Villeneuve Smith family at Pennington Terrace, North Adelaide in March 1923 was a large residential commission. Another of the residences designed by the practice was the Grasby house, Fullarton Road, Netherby (1941). Memorial Halls made up some of the practice’s work with two designed in 1923, at Ceduna and Snowtown. These were followed by the District Hall at McLaren Vale in 1932. St Mary’s Church at Glenelg was designed in 1925. The two storey residential Kincraig Hotel was designed for A. and E. Tolley at Naracoorte in 1929 and still stands today.

Sydney Jackman was a talented architect whose contributions to Adelaide’s character through the Railway Station and Charles Moore’s Department store mean that he should not be forgotten.

Julie Collins

Citation details
Collins, Julie, ‘Jackman, Sydney, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia, 2013, Architects of South Australia: [http://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=113]