Herbert Louis

12/01/1867

Herbert Louis Jackman was born at Kapunda, South Australia on 12 January 1867 to Joseph Jackman and Fanny Wheaton. His father was a cabinetmaker turned restaurateur. He had eight younger siblings and his brother, Sydney (b.1878) also became an architect, working in South Africa for a time as the chief draughtsman in the Government Architect’s Office in Johannesburg (Page 1986: 83). He was educated at Caterer’s School at Glenelg and then Caterer’s Grammar School at Norwood. He married Amelia Kither, the daughter of William Kither and Elizabeth Morvcomb, and had a son, Herbert Montefiore Jackman born 16 May 1897 and a daughter Madeline Kither Jackman. He died, aged 69, on 28 January 1936 and was buried at Mitcham.

Jackman was articled to Adelaide architect Daniel Garlick of Daniel Garlick and Son in 1885. However a period of financial trouble in South Australia combined with bad harvests caused Jackman cut short his articles with Daniel Garlick and Son in 1887 and moved to western New South Wales where silver mining had led to the construction of the new town of Broken Hill. He had more architectural work than he could comfortably handle and in 1891 Garlick’s son, Arthur, joined him as a partner. Tightening economic circumstances in 1892 forced Jackman and Garlick to return to Adelaide where they formed the partnership of Garlick, Jackman and Garlick. This partnership lasted for six years until Daniel Garlick retired and Arthur Garlick left the practice in 1899 to pursue other interests.

Jackman took sole control of the firm but maintained the name of its founder calling it Garlick and Jackman. He took on Eric H. McMichael as an articled pupil. His son, Herbert Montefiore Jackman, joined him and commenced his articles in 1917, as did Lancelot Gooden. (However H.M. Jackman joined the Australian Imperial Forces during World War One and on his return to Adelaide in 1919 went to work for English and Soward, being made a partner in 1926. The English, Soward and Jackman partnership lasted until 1927 when Joseph English died. G.K. Soward and H.M. Jackman continued practising together until 1938.) Lancelot Gooden had remained with Garlick and Jackman, continuing the practice after H.L. Jackman’s death in 1936. In 1938 he was joined by H.M Jackman and the name of Garlick and Jackman was retained with H.M. Jackman as senior and Lancelot Gooden as junior partner. In 1945 they became Garlick and Jackman and Gooden. The various configurations of the architectural practices, known in 2009 as JPE Design Studio, contributed not only to the architectural heritage of South Australia but also to the development of the profession of architecture in South Australia.

Herbert Jackman was a Fellow of the South Australian Institute of Architects and served as Secretary (Burgess 1907) and then President of the SAIA, from 1923 to 1925. Jackman was a member of the South Australian military forces and held ‘records as a rifle shot and at pigeon-shooting’ (Burgess 1907). He also served on the committee of the South Australian Gun Club. Jackman was a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Art Society with a noted talent for sculpting (Burgess 1907). For recreation he enjoyed bowls, golf, fishing and shooting, having designed club houses for the Adelaide Bowling Club and the Adelaide Golf Club at Seaton where he was a member.

Commissions during the time the practice was constituted as Garlick, Jackman and Garlick (1892-1899) included the Mitcham Tram Company offices and sheds (1893), attached cottages, Adelaide for W. Kither (1894), the father of Jackman’s wife, Amelia, and classrooms for St Peter’s College, Hackney (1897).

Following the departure of both Daniel and Arthur Garlick, Jackman maintained the practice name of Garlick and Jackman and works included such significant Adelaide buildings as Tattersall’s Hotel, Hindley Street (1900), the rebuilding of the Stag Hotel, Rundle Street (1902), Bowman’s Building, King William Street (1908), Charles Moore’s Department Store, Victoria Square (1913), Adelaide Railway Station, North Terrace (1926) and Hooper’s Furnishing Arcade, Hindley Street (1927-1930).

Charles Moore’s Department Store (1913) on Victoria Square in the centre of Adelaide was a spectacular building with colonnaded façade and grand interior surmounted with a dome. A marble staircase featured in the opulent interior. In 1948, following the 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 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.

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. 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 smaller 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). 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. A two storey residential hotel was designed for Naracoorte in 1929.

Julie Collins

Citation details
Collins, Julie,'Jackman, Herbert Louis', Architecture Museum, University of South Australia, 2008, Architects of South Australia: [http://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=92]