New Zealand-born architect Joseph Fearis Munnings (1879-1937) is largely forgotten in the country of his birth. Considering the importance of his public works in Bihar and Orissa, India (1912-1919) and his prominence as a school architect in New South Wales, Australia (1923-1937), recognition of his architectural achievements is long overdue. This thesis takes as its premise the notion that early twentieth century architecture in colonial New Zealand, India and Australia was British, the rationale expounded by G. A. Bremner in Imperial Gothic– Religious Architecture and High Anglican Culture in the British Empire (2013). My thesis argues that, considering Munnings’ colonial upbringing and English training, the styles he employed reflected his and his clients’ identity as British. It explores the extent to which Munnings adapted British styles, by incorporating features appropriate for colonial conditions. Drawing upon the work of Ian Lochhead on the achievements of Samuel Hurst Seager, my thesis considers the role played by Seager in mentoring Munnings and guiding his philosophy of architecture. Peter Scriver’s papers, ‘Edge of empire or edge of Asia’ (2009) and ‘Complicity and Contradiction in the Office of the Consulting Architect to the Government of India, 1903-1921’ (1996), also inform my analysis of Munnings’ work in India. To enable an analysis of Munnings’ work, this study divides his career into chronological stages: Early experiences and training, Christchurch, New Zealand, 1879-1903 Architectural training, London, England, 1903-1906 Partnership with Hurst Seager and Cecil Wood, Christchurch, 1906-1909 Work with Leonard Stokes, London, 1909 Responsibilities and achievements, India, 1910-1918 Contributions and achievements, New Zealand, 1919-1923 Partnership with Power and Adam, Sydney, Australia, 1923-1937. This thesis, the first comprehensive study of Munnings’ career, illuminates the extent of his architectural legacy in India, his significant contribution to school architecture in New South Wales, and asserts his place as an architect of the British Empire.

This thesis explores the domestic designs produced in Canterbury, New Zealand, by the architectural firm of Collins and Harman between 1883 and 1927. Architects John James Collins (1855 – 1933) and Richard Dacre Harman (1859 – 1927) were partners in the firm founded in Christchurch by William Barnett Armson (1833 – 1883) in 1870. Like many New Zealand architects practicing at the turn of twentieth century, Collins and Harman worked amidst a climate of major social and economic transformation, yet they managed to navigate these transitions with their personal connections and respected positions within the local architectural profession. From Collins and Harman’s surviving architectural drawings and office records, the firm’s ability to design residences in accordance with its clients’ wishes is evaluated. The methods with which they carried out designs, transacted business and secured future clients are also considered. The social standing of the firm’s clientele is emphasised to highlight the tight-knit nature of architectural patronage in Canterbury during this period. In order to assess the firm’s contribution to the development of domestic architecture in New Zealand, the local architectural profession, the firm’s reputation, and the effects that its built designs had on its clients and the local community are also investigated. While their major public and commercial designs are included in general surveys of New Zealand architecture, Collins and Harman tend to be overlooked as domestic architects in comparison with better-known contemporaries such as Samuel Hurst Seager and Cecil Wood. In catering to the requirements of a diverse clientele, the firm adopted varied approaches in its designs, which illustrate a more complex evolution than the linear progression usually found in standard architectural historical methodologies. Divided chronologically into four distinct periods, the thesis focuses on key commissions to chart the firm’s development over forty-four years within the context of the evolution of domestic architecture in Canterbury. The diversity in its domestic work engendered by the firm’s professionalism demonstrates that Collins and Harman made a substantial and vital contribution in the development of domestic architecture in Canterbury.