FDG Stanley
One of a number of government architects with connections to the Historic Queen’s Wharf was Francis Drummond Greville Stanley. The former State Library at 159 William Street, Brisbane was constructed to his design, as was the government morgue which was located on Queen’s Wharf Road between 1879 and the early 1890s.
Born in 1839, the son of an Edinburgh actor and landscape painter, Stanley trained as an architect in Edinburgh before migrating to Queensland in the early 1860s. He joined the Lands Department as a draughtsman, later becoming chief draughtsman. He also undertook private work. Shaftson House at Kangaroo Point and Tighnabruaich at Indooroopilly, and the James Cook Museum (the former St Mary’s Convent) at Cooktown were designed by Stanley.
When the then colonial architect, Charles Tiffin, took leave in 1871, Stanley was appointed his replacement. The former State Library was constructed under his guidance between 1876 and 1879. Stanley remained Colonial Architect until July 1881, when he reverted to private practice. Financial reversals in the 1890s forced him into liquidation. FDG Stanley died on 26 May 1897.
Additional Reading
Dictionary of Scottish Architects
Queensland Heritage Register: State Library (former)
Additional Image
Queen’s Wharf morgue, designed by FDG Stanley. This is part of an image which captured the damage to Queen’s Wharf building during a landslip in 1890.
