Francis John Wilson is a local legend, yet for some reason not many people know his name or his contribution he made to Timaru’s built heritage. I have been on a deep dive lately and found it fascinating to uncover the history, the impact, and the influence he had on our town in the 1870s. What makes the story even more interesting is how his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have carried that legacy forward. Today the Wilson family still make the news for their architectural achievements. This is what I discovered...
Rebuilding a wooden town CBD after the devistating fire
Picture Timaru in the mid 1850s. A few timber shops line the foreshore, there is a customs shed and a small wooden church. Then in December 1868 disaster strikes. A fire rips through the commercial heart of town and in just three hours more than thirty wooden buildings have gone up in flames.
It must have been overwhelming. Where would you even begin to start again. Yet the people of Timaru chose to rebuild. This time they were determined to make it stronger and turned to stone and brick.
At the centre of this change was Francis John Wilson, a young carpenter from Cape Town who had arrived in Timaru via Melbourne. He stepped up not only as a builder but also as an architect. In doing so he helped shape the Timaru that we walk through today.
Francis was everywhere in the years after the 1868 fire. His work appears again and again helping the town rise from the ashes.
- The Criterion Hotel in 1873, a bluestone landmark that he designed, built and briefly operated.
- Timaru Main School, built in 1873 and 1874 to serve a growing community.
- The Bank Street Methodist Church, completed in 1875 and one of the oldest surviving churches in the city.
- The Timaru Herald offices, rebuilt in bluestone after the fire.
- The Miles Archer and Co brick building on Strathallan Street, one of Timaru’s earliest commercial brick structures, later associated with the Turnbull family and the Theatre Royal.
No wonder when he died in 1911 the Poverty Bay Herald obituary remembered him as the architect who had practically rebuilt Timaru after the big fire.
I made this illustration to demonstrate how the facade of Francis' National Bank has changed over time. I assume the changes we see today, are a response to the worry of earthquakes. Illustration By Roselyn Fauth.
Miles Archer & Co building - Views of Timaru and District by Adolf Fischer South Canterbury Museum 3868
I thought it was really interesting that when we walk past these places, we can often forget who created them.
Francis and his wife Emily Kate Foley raised eleven children in Timaru. Their eldest son, also named Francis John, became an architect himself. Through him the Wilson architectural story continued.
The most influential of the next generation was Francis Gordon Wilson, born in 1900. He was the grandson of Timaru’s pioneer and became one of New Zealand’s most important architects of the twentieth century.
The Methodist Wesley Church, Timaru (# 4419); the Congregational Church in North St, Timaru (#2506)
Bank Street Wesley Church. William Ferrier - The New Zealand Lay Preachers Association. Photographer, William Ferrier (born 1855 in Edinburgh) was a lay preacher for the local Wesleyan Methodist Church for 10 years. He also taught in the Sunday School and served as the Vice-President of the Wesleyan Mutual Improvement Society. Ferrier had his photographic studio in the Royal Arcade in 1900.
F. Gordon Wilson: modernist visionary
Known professionally as F. Gordon Wilson, he was educated in Wellington and Auckland before working for the practice of Gummer and Ford. He contributed to major projects such as the Auckland Railway Station, the Wellington Public Library and the Dominion Museum building.
In 1936, in the depths of the Great Depression, he was appointed as Chief Architect of the newly created Department of Housing Construction. It was a bold role. The first Labour government wanted to tackle the severe housing shortage by providing affordable, well-designed homes. Wilson led a nationwide programme that produced thousands of state houses as well as internationally admired apartment buildings. The Dixon Street State Flats in Wellington, completed in 1944, won the NZIA Gold Medal and became a symbol of modern living.
By 1952 he had risen to become Government Architect, the country’s top architectural position. His office was responsible not only for housing but also for schools, hospitals, offices and civic buildings across New Zealand. He brought together talented young architects, including European émigrés fleeing war, and encouraged modernist design to flourish in Aotearoa. His influence shaped the built environment of mid twentieth century New Zealand in ways that are still felt today.
F. Gordon Wilson’s name lives on in the F. Gordon Wilson Fellowship for Affordable Housing, which supports architects and designers to explore new approaches to one of the greatest challenges of our time. In this way his legacy continues to inspire.
Into the treetops
After Gordon’s death in 1959, his wife Virginia returned to California with their children. Two of his sons, Michael and Peter, became architects in the United States. Together with their siblings Tony and Sara they formed Wilson Associates, a practice that combined design with hospitality and food ventures.
In 2003, the Wilsons circled back to New Zealand with the opening of Hapuku Lodge and Tree Houses near Kaikōura. Designed and built by the family, the lodge is now world renowned. Guests stay in tree houses raised among the canopy, each named for the native bird that lingered during its construction. Kererū, Pīwakawaka, Kōtare, Tūī and Korimako.
The lodge is a continuation of the Wilson tradition. It reflects an architectural vision that connects people to place, honours the natural environment and welcomes visitors into a carefully crafted space.
My personal reflection
I find it facinating that a young South African carpenter who arrived in a small New Zealand frontier town in the 1850s, who helped to rebuild after a devastating fire, could begin a legacy that now stretches across five generations and more than 150 years!!!
Francis John Wilson’s story is about resilience and imagination. His descendants, from F. Gordon Wilson who reshaped state housing and public architecture, to the treetop architects of Kaikōura, show how one person’s craft can ripple across time.
Next time you pass the Criterion corner or glance at the brickwork of the Miles Archer building, think of Francis Wilson. His name might not be widely known but his influence remains all around us, from the stone and brick of Timaru to the modernist flats of Wellington and the tree houses of Kaikōura.
Hapuku Lodge and Tree Houses, About the Lodge: https://www.hapukulodge.com/about-the-lodge
Julia Gatley, “Wilson, Francis Gordon,” Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand: https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/5w36/wilson-francis-gordon
Timaru District Council, Rebuilt in Stone and Brick: https://www.timaru.govt.nz/news/culture-and-lifestyle/rebuilt-in-stone-and-brick
Timaru District Council, Historic Heritage Assessment Report: Former Criterion Hotel (Excelsior Hotel Tavern): https://www.timaru.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/673892/Historic-Heritage-Assessment-Report-HHI69-Former-Criterion-Hotel-former-Excelsior-Hotel-Tavern-Category-A-NEW.pdf
New Zealand Institute of Architects, F. Gordon Wilson Fellowship for Affordable Housing 2025: Expression of Interest: https://www.nzia.co.nz/media/bjslp3n0/f-gordon-wilson-fellowship-2025-expression-of-interest.pdf