George Gray Prentice

George Gray Prentice (25 July 1891 – July 1944) was an architect practising in Brisbane, Australia, during the first half of the twentieth century and was involved in the design and construction of numerous major buildings in South East Queensland including the Queensland Heritage Register listed Brisbane City Hall.

Life

G. G. Prentice was born on 25 July 1891 in Tank Street, Brisbane, Queensland and was the son of George Prentice, first mayor of Sandgate and director of the Brisbane Permanent Building and Banking Company, and his second wife Jean Elizabeth, née Gray, daughter of a pioneering boot retailer Messrs. T. and W. Gray's in George Street, Brisbane. George's half-sister, Jessie Blanche (aged 18), and paternal grandfather, George Prentice (aged 70), died the year before his birth when the RMS Quetta was wrecked on the Far North Queensland coast in 1890.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

He attended the Normal School in Brisbane, and was an employee in the artist's department of Watson, Ferguson and Company, established in 1868 and Queensland's longest operating printing company.^[9] On 24 November 1915 he married Ethel Driver at St Nicholas's Church, Sandgate.^[10] They had one son, Dr Peter George Driver, who served with the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II and was the father of Ian Prentice.^[11][12]

George Gray Prentice was articled to the architect Thomas Ramsay Hall and, in the early 1900s, the two men entered into partnership and established the firm Hall and Prentice. In 1931 George Gray Prentice entered into partnership with William 'Bill' Atkinson, son of the architect H. W. Atkinson, to form Atkinson Prentice.^[13] In 1939, George Grey Prentice filed for bankruptcy due to a combination of ill health, unprofitable investments and the impact of the Depression on his business.^[14] In the years immediately prior to his death, he worked for the Department of the Interior.^[15]

Throughout his career, George Gray Prentice was involved with a number of significant buildings in Queensland including the Brisbane City Hall, Mater Misericordiae Public Children's Hospital, Nudgee College, All Hallows' Chapel, Our Lady of Victories Memorial Church, Truth Building, Ascot Chambers and the Sandgate Cenotaph.^[16][17][18]

He was a life trustee and president of the Royal Queensland Art Society^[19] and a member of Tattersalls Club, Royal Queensland Golf Club, Brisbane Golf Club, Sandgate Golf Club, Sandgate Sailing Club and the Gordon Club.^[20]

George Gray Prentice died at the age of 53 in July 1944.^[21]

Some of the projects associated with Prentice

Brisbane City Hall

St Joseph's College, Nudgee

References

1. "Mr George Prentice". The Week. Vol. LIII, no. 1, 366. Brisbane. 28 February 1902. p. 17. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
2. "Obituary". The Queenslander. Queensland, Australia. 12 June 1930. p. 54. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "The Quetta Inquiry". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XLVI, no. 10, 076. 1 May 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "Pioneer Passes". The Courier-Mail. No. 778. Brisbane. 26 February 1936. p. 5. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
5. "Family Notices". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XLVIII, no. 10, 465. 30 July 1891. p. 4. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "Family Notices". The Telegraph. No. 5, 429. Brisbane. 8 March 1890. p. 4. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
7. "Family Notices". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XLIV, no. 9, 408. 10 March 1888. p. 4. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
8. "Family Notices". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XLV, no. 9, 731. 23 March 1889. p. 4. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
9. "Who We Are". Watson, Ferguson and Company. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
10. "Family Notices". The Brisbane Courier. No. 18, 083. 31 December 1915. p. 6. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
11. "Obituary". Truth. No. 2314. Brisbane. 30 July 1944. p. 23. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
12. "Family Notices". The Courier-Mail. No. 3070. Brisbane. 9 July 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
13. "Architects' Partnership". The Telegraph. No. 18, 248. Brisbane. 2 June 1931. p. 6 (Final). Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
14. "Architect Tells of Debts Leading To Bankruptcy". The Telegraph (City Final Last Minute News ed.). Brisbane. 20 April 1939. p. 11. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
15. "Death of City Hall Designer". The Telegraph (City Final Minute News ed.). Brisbane. 27 July 1944. p. 2. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
16. "untitled". The Brisbane Courier. No. 22, 864. 11 May 1931. p. 10. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
17. "Obituary". Truth. No. 2314. Queensland, Australia. 30 July 1944. p. 23. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
18. "Cenotaph Unveiled". The Telegraph. No. 15987 (Second ed.). Brisbane. 25 February 1924. p. 4. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
19. "President's Wife". The Telegraph (City Final Last Minute News ed.). Brisbane. 7 October 1936. p. 18. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
20. "Obituary". Truth. No. 2314. Brisbane. 30 July 1944. p. 23. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
21. "Death of City Hall Designer". The Telegraph (City Final Last Minute News ed.). Brisbane. 27 July 1944. p. 2. Retrieved 27 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.