Ross, David (Architect)

In the 1850’s David Ross designed the Glass Terrace, 64-78 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy (1856). This was one of his very early works and the only design in Fitzroy. Other works in Melbourne include:

• St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church, Geelong (1854-1937)
• Chalmers Church, Eastern Hill (1855)
• Presbyterian Manse, Williamstown (1856-1857)
• St Kilda Bathing Establishment, St Kilda (1856-1857) – now demolished
• Tower and Spire, Scots Church, Melbourne (1857) – now demolished
• Flint, Ramsay & Co Warehouse, Collins Street, St Kilda (1857) – now demolished
• Wesleyan Church, Fitzroy Street, St Kilda (1857-1858)
• Colonial Bank, Kilmore (1859)

Life of David Ross

The following is quoted from David Ross FRIBA, architect | Built in Dunedin:

“David Ross was born in Huntley, Aberdeenshire, where he was baptised on 11 July 1828. His father, William Ross was a jeweller and watchmaker… oss began his career articled to the firm McKenzie & Matthews, of Elgin and Aberdeen, at about the time they designed such buildings as the Free Church College at Aberdeen and the Drumtochty Castle stables. Ross afterwards spent about three years working for Lewis Hornblower of Liverpool and John Hornblower of Birmingham, becoming ‘chief assistant’. Lewis Hornblower’s designs in Liverpool included the grand entrance and other buildings at Birkenhead Park (as part of a collaboration with Sir Joseph Paxton), and a commercial building at 25 Church Street (dating from a little after Ross’s time). He was best known for his later work on Sefton Park.

Ross migrated to Victoria in 1853 and later that year went into partnership with R.A. Dowden in Melbourne. Their firm, Dowden & Ross, won the competition to design St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church, Geelong. It is not known with any certainty which architect was primarily responsible for the competition entry, but following a fire in the 1868 Ross lost what he referred to as ‘my drawing of Geelong Cathedral’, and following his death an obituary credited him with the building’s design. Ross never saw the church in its completed state, as it took over 80 years to realise the original plans and the building was not finished until 1937.” David Ross FRIBA, architect | Built in Dunedin

The following is a summary of the data researched by David Murray and published on his website ‘Built in Dunedin’. To get a full history, please visit his site: David Ross FRIBA, architect | Built in Dunedin

The Dowden & Ross partnership was dissolved in 1854 and Ross continued to practise on his own. His designs of the mid to late 1850s included Glass Terrace in Melbourne, the Chalmers Church at Eastern Hill, the Presbyterian manse at Williamstown, the tower and spire of the Scots Church in Melbourne, the Wesleyan Church at St Kilda, the Colonial Bank at Kilmore, the sea baths at St Kilda, and numerous houses and shops.

Ross married Agnes Buttery Marshall, the daughter of a prominent solicitor, in 1856. They had four daughters and one son. Tragically, the eldest daughter, Pameljeanie, died in 1860 at the age of three years.

David Ross and his family then moved to Dunedin in 1862. Ross was also noted to be an artist and was an early experimenter with concrete buildings in the early to mid 1870’s.

In 1886 Ross returned to Australia and designed the St George’s Hall , Newtown in 1887. He also built the Long Gully suspension bridge. Ross then travelled back to Wellington in 1893 and to Perth in 1895 where he remained for 7 years. In 1903 he moved to Johannesburg, SA. He remained there until 1906, returning to Auckland where he died on 6 October 1908 at the age of 80.

Heritage of David Ross

According to brittanica.com and wikipedia, the county of Ross-Shire in North East Scotland was constituted in 1661, well after the original 12^th century Highlander Clan wars were recorded at Renfrew and Stracathro. Wikipedia’s historical Ross family notes dating back to the 1300s, state :-

“In the early 14th century, a castle was begun at Balnagown by Hugh Mormaer, Earl of Ross. Hugh was husband of Maud, sister of King Robert the Bruce. Although after Hugh’s death in 1333, his family lost royal favour and their lands were forfeit. Balnagown was acquired by a stepson of Hugh in 1375 who expanded the estate, a process which continued over the following centuries. On 11 November 1501 James IV was entertained by the laird’s harper.^[3] In 1585 Alexander Ross, 9th Laird ( Lord ) of Balnagown, was outlawed, as was his son George”.

A great introduction to David Ross’s earliest known direct ancestors from Balnagown and Shandwick north of Inverness on the coast of Scotland, has been located at the “Clan Ross America” web site as outlined as follows:-

Ross Clan – 15^th Century

“Clan Ross was lead by Hugh’s of Rarichies’s son William the 2nd and grandsons Walter the 3rd and Hugh the 4th of Balnagown. In 1411, the Clan fought as Highlanders in support of the Lord of the Isles against an army of Scottish Lowlander who supported the Duke of Albany. The Clan also supplied some of the many Scottish troops supporting France during its Hundred Years war with the English. In 1424, at the Battle of Verneuil though, they suffered heavy causalities.

In 1427 the document listing the exemption of payments (privileges) within Tain was destroyed during a clan feud. On April 20, 1439, Hugh the 4th of Balnagown was a member of an inquest into Tain’s legal status and witnessed the agreement concerning it between the Churches of Fearn and Tarradale, which was near Dingwall.

Hugh ( Ross ), the 4th of Balnagown had numerous sons. His son John became the 5th of Balnagown while William became the 1st of Shandwich. The Shandwich branch was prosperous. Williams son Walter become the 2nd of Shandwick. Walter married 5 different wives (Janet [ Jeane ] Tulloch, Agnes M’Culloch, Elizabeth Hay, Christian Chisholm & Janet [ Jean ] Munro). By Janet Tulloch he had 4 sons. Walter’s son Donald would continue the Shandwich line, while his son Hugh became associated with Balmachy, which eventually led to the Balblair branch.” (Above overview courtesy Clan Ross America).

A transcription from the National Library of Scotland   outlines a few rather violent events involving a few of David Ross’s ancestors in Fearn in Ross-Shire, as follows :-

“Calendar of Fearn – ADDITIONS, Page 139
169 Ye viij day of yis instand [November] beand Fryday 1583 Capitan James Ross brodyr sone to ye Lard of Achlossin and Patryk Zoar with him weir slaine in Tane in Andro Rossis chalmir at viij horis afoir none or yairby be Nicolas Ross and Walter Ross with yair complesis. James Ross was a member of the Aberdeenshire family of Auchlossan (Lumphanan par.); ‘Zoar’ appears to be a misrendering of ‘Rollok’. The killers included Alexander Ross of Balnagown’s second son, Nicholas Ross of Pitcalnie (246) and Walter Ross Williamson in Tuiteam Tarbhach (236). Letters of fire and sword were issued against Walter and others (Macgill, no. 678). Nicholas and Walter Ross received letters of remission on 14 August 1595 (RMS vi, 341) on the grounds that sufficient letters of slains had been given by Captain Ross’s relatives and friends.”

Additional historical regional information: The Chiefs of Balnagown at GreatClanRoss.org | Early history of Ross and Cromarty Shires at britannica.com | Balnagown History | Balnagown Castle at Wikipedia.

The marriage record between Walter Ross and Jeane (Janet) Tulloch on 2 Jun 1659 is the earliest located and confirmed Ross family record. This Ross family had one known son, Donald Ross, who according to a Geneant record (Ancestry.com) denotes his title as Laird of Shandwick, and that he marries Janet Nicol\Simpson at Ardclach, Nairnshire, SCT (Ardclach) Lothian, Scotland. They had at least one child, James Ross who was born in 1702 at Aberdeen, who is noted as being part of the ‘Auchlossan family of Aberdeenshire’ (National Library of Scotland, Ancestry.com).

James married Agnes Dunn on 7 Sep 1726 at Midmar Castle (Familysearch.org). Midmar Castle was the site of many of the Ross children to be born and raised, and more information about it may be found at castle-finders.co.uk. James and Agnes had 10 children between 1730 and 1748 at Midmar. The youngest child was Robert, born in 1748 and he is David Ross’s grandfather.

Robert Ross (David Ross’ Grandfather) and William Ross (David’s father)

Robert Ross married Margaret Lindsay nee Gray in May of 1774 in Drumoak in Aberdeen and they had two sons, Alexander and William Ross. William Ross is David Ross (the architect’s) father.

William Ross married Jae Turpie in November 1819 in the Huntly region of Aberdeenshire where they had 5 daughters and 5 sons between 1820 and 1834.

David was William and Jane’s sixth child as shown in the 1841 Census below. It was quite common in the United Kingdom in these relatively tough times that children were quite young when they were sent out to work, often as house servants and labourers.

As per the information at the commencement of this article and the research performed by Built in Dunedin, David Ross emigrated to Melbourne on the SS Africa in 1853 with an architect acquaintance John Campbell. He then went into partnership with R A Dowden in Melbourne in the same year.

Some 3 years after his arrival in Victoria, David married Agnes Buttery Marshall, daughter of prominent attorney James Gibbons Marshall and Pamela Buttery.

David and Agnes Buttery Ross Children

It appears the Ross family were well travelled. They had two daughters born in Melbourne, two in Otago in New Zealand and a son born in Kensington in Middlesex, United Kingdom. David Ross’ wife Agnes had a sister named Helen Georgina Marshall, who according to Trove cuttings married James Martin, a Merchant / Shipping agent of the Melbourne firm Young and Martin in the 1860s. It is not known when or why, however that the Martin family ended up residing in Yokohama in Japan.

Records indicate that two of the Ross daughters, Flora (Daisy) and Agnes Laurina Beatrice both lived and married in Yokohama.

Sadly Agnes Butter Ross (nee Marshall) passed away on 5 February 1894 at Helen Martin’s place in Yokohama Japan, as did her sisters Pamela Carst and Helen Martin, all between 1891 and 1895.

Pamela Annie Ross (1st child)

Pamela was born in St Kilda in 1857. Sadly, she only lived to the age of 3 years and 3 days and passed away near where she was born.

Flora ‘Daisy’ Ross (2nd child)

Shortly before Pamela died, David and Agnes had their second daughter Flora. Flora lived and studied in both Australia and New Zealand in her youth before moving to South Kensington London. She returned briefly to Dunedin before traveling to Sydney and setting up a studio in Hunter street. Some time later she travelled to Japan in 1893 where she met Marcus Lucas, another artist.

Flora married Marcus Lucas in 1894 in Yokohama, Japan. The couple then later moved to New York, and there Marcus died suddenly of a haemorrhage on the 27th November 1895. Flora moved again to Vancouver and became very active in the arts scene, being involved with the fledgling organisation, teaching of drawing and painting, as well as exhibiting her work.

On 31 Mar 1901, Flora is recorded as an inmate / patient in a small nursing establishment in Vancouver. She died a month later, aged 41.

Alice Moreland Ross (3rd child)

Alice’s life and movements in her young years after being born in Dunedin in 1873 are difficult to come across, but we assume that she lived with her family in Japan for a number of years, and perhaps returned to New Zealand after her mother died in 1894. But we do know she was in New Zealand in 1899 as she married John McPhee and had two children, Archibald R McPhee and Alisa Jessie McPhee.

Alice died in December 1954 (aged 82) and her husband July 1955 (aged 87), they are buried in New Zealand.

Agnes Laurina Beatrice Ross (4th child)

Agnes was born at Port Chalmers, about 13 kms from Dunedin in December 1876 and no doubt also travelled with the family to Japan. Being horse and buggy days, it is a bit of a mystery as to how she met her husband William Edward Laxon Sweet, as he was from Kumamoto. This township is on the western side of Japan, approximately 1,170 kms from Yokohama, where she was likely living with her family and aunt. William was the son of a Reverend of Bathford, England.

Agnes and William married in April 1904. It appears they lived in Japan until 1926, when they traveled to Canada (though we haven’t got a record of this), then they travelled on the Canadian Pacific vessel named the Montcalm from Montreal to Liverpool.

The following Census record suggests that William and Agnes spent most of their later lives together in the United Kingdom. It appears William Sweet carried on his father’s religious interests during his work for the Society of Propagation of the Gospel in Cambridgeshire and perhaps also suggests that he may have been in Japan on ministry type of work as well.

Agnes lived until December 1965 when she passed away aged 89 at the Windemere nursing home, at Paigton in Devon, UK. Records show they had no children.

William Marshall Ross (5th child)

A sad way to wind up our Ross family overview, ending with the short life of the youngest of David and Agnes’ children, their only son, William Marshall. William was born in Middlesex, London in January 1880 and died 8 months later in Courbeuoie, Paris, France.