THE LATE MR. F. W. PETRE.

New Zealand Tablet, 9 January 1919, Page 34

THE LATE MR. F. W. PETRE.

The death of Mr. Frank William Petre, which occurred on Tuesday, December 10, at St. Clair, Dunedin, occasioned very sincere sorrow among a wide circle of friends. ; A 'man of wide experience, he has done much valuable work in the Dominion in his professional capacity of architect, and some fine buildings throughout New Zealand stand as monuments to his handicraft. Mr. Petre was born in Wellington in 1847, and was a son of the late Hon. Henry W. Petre, who was the second ( son of the eleventh Baron Petre, of Essex, England, and chairman of the original New Zealand Company. The deceased was educated in

several Catholic colleges in England and at Boulogne. After some time in the navy he served his apprenticeship with two London architects, and having completed his studies in architecture and engineering engaged in private practice in London. In 1872 he returned to New Zealand, arriving at Dunedin under engagement to Messrs. Brogden and Sons, railway contractors. He superintended the construction of the Dunedin-Clutha and the Blenheim-Picton lines, and then estabished a practice as architect and engineer in Dunedin, amongst his first works being the reclamation of the Henley swamp, the building of the Deborah Bay tunnel, and the construction of the first section of the Otago Central railway. As an architect he became well known throughout New Zealand, church architecture especially occupying his attention, and among the churches he has designed are the Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch : St. Joseph's Cathedral and the Dominican Convent, Dunedin : Sacred Heart Basilica and proposed Cathedral, Wellington, and St. Patrick's Basilica, in Oamaru. Several of the most imposing commercial houses of Christchurch and Dunedin are also of his designing, as also are several fine residences, in Dunedin, including the late Mr. E. B. Cargill's residence, "The. Cliffs," and the late Judge Chapman's house, which was said to be one of the finest concrete houses in Australasia. He was married in

1881 to Miss Margaret Car gill, daughter of the late Mr. E. B. Cargill, and they had a family of six sons and six daughters. The late Mr. Petre was for some years Consular Agent for Italy in Dunedin.—R.l.P.