Woods & McMinn

Edward John Woods F.R.I.B.A. (1839 – 5 January 1916) was a prominent architect in the early days of South Australia.

Woods was born in London and educated at several private schools, then, deciding to become an architect, served his articles for three years with C. J. Richardson. He subsequently spent two years in the office of T. E. Knightly. At the recommendation of Dr. William Browne, he set out for South Australia, arriving at Port Adelaide in the Blackwall, in 1860.

After a brief stint, for which he had no liking, on Dr. Browne's cattle station at Mount Gambier, he found employment as a draughtsman in the office of E. W. Wright, who later, as Wright & Woods, took him on as partner, and continued there for four years.

The first building he had to work on was the head office of the National Bank, King William street, which was erected together with the Imperial Chambers. He also designed and superintended the erection of several branch offices of the bank, not only in the suburbs, but in the country at Mount Barker, Moonta and elsewhere. For the Bank of Adelaide he designed the tiny but elegant Bank of Adelaide building at Kapunda. The firm also designed several Catholic churches in the country and the St. Laurence Martyr church at North Adelaide.

He was involved in designing the Adelaide Town Hall.

He designed the Post Office, winning the contract in open competition, and made the working drawings upon which tenders were called for by Wright & Woods, and accepted by the Government, by which time, 1866, the company had become Wright Woods & Hamilton with the addition of draftsman Edward Angus Hamilton, son of engineer G. E. Hamilton. They built a new flour mill at Port Adelaide for J. Dunn.

The next important building to come along was St. Peter's Cathedral. Bishop Augustus Short called, informing him that the church authorities would have nothing to do with any other local architect, and in 1869 he left the partnership with Wright, and was soon entrusted with the preparation of working drawings for the Cathedral. The original plans had been prepared by Butterfield in London, but Bishop Short, then head of the Anglican Church of South Australia, deemed it necessary to enlarge the design and make other substantial modifications, and the first and subsequent portions of the Cathedral were carried out under the direction of E. J. Woods.

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