/ND 5242,

John Stevens Gawler

How can I do justice to my father’s long and very productive life in a brief talk? 1
The more research I did, the more difficult the job became. Still I will attempt to

convey his major accomplishments as well as possible.

My grandparents, John and Kate Gawler, set off for Australia in 1886 with their first
born son, also John, 8 months old, another child on the way and a comfortable amount
of cash .The passage by sailing ship took 3 months and on arrival grandfather bought
land at Black Rock, built a house and invested his money in a drycleaning business.
Then came the land boom of 1888 and the collapse of almost everything including his
investment. Being without much vocational training he took a clerical job; enough for

a frugal existence but not much more. So my father and his younger brother Harold

got an early introduction to scrimping and saving, but did have the advantage of living
in seaside bushland. Their father was not a great provider but he took the boys on long
bush walks and gave them an excellent grounding in “moral fibre”.

The boys built a sailing boat and got into trouble with local fishermen for selling
undersized fish. One of them declared “you will live to be hung” [Pity I did not know
that when I was causing problems as a teenager]; they also collected bottles washed

up on the beach, to supplement the family budget.

At the age of 12, my father [hereafter referred to as John] had developed an interest in
houses and set his sights on becoming an Architect- a tall order as the going
arrangement was for Architects to be paid “Tutillage” of anything up to 500 pounds

for the apprentice to work without pay for 3 or 4 years before receiving a “Certificate

of Competency”

So John’s first job was as office boy to a real estate agent which included collecting
rents and having a good look at the subject houses. Then he had a stroke of luck in the
form of an Architect who took him on without the usual fee! In those days there were

no typewriters, no cars and no means of duplicating plans. The juniors started each

day by “rubbing up” the India Ink sticks to make the day’s supply of ink. Parties to
building contracts signed the original drawings which then became the contract
document. Builders then paid the juniors to trace copies for use on the job, while
everyone else went to the Architect’s office to refer to the originals! During this

period, John attended night classes at the Working Men’s College, mainly in drawing,
and commuted from Black Rock [a 3 mile walk to catch the steam train]. This

obviously helped him win the under 18 five mile walking championship of Victoria

[he also played lacrosse and cricket].

At the age of 22 John had his qualification and took a two year contract in Canton,
China [a Geelong firm working for a mission]. This brought him face to face with age
old art and tradition, but also extreme poverty alongside wealth and privilege; whole
families living in a working sampan, “3 planks”, and others crowded into mud huts

with only boards to sleep on and a brazier for cooking. He lived with a Chinese family
in a small village where a dung heap in the square received all the faeces, dead dogs

etc. When he asked about the health risk of this offensive heap he was told

“You Westerners do not understand, we have lived here for 3000 years, and if we did
not save everything we would starve”

John travelled with a missionary, up rivers by boat and visited areas where no one had
ever seen a “foreign devil” and saw how people had lived for generation after

generation in very primitive style [but all they knew existed]

When his contract ended John set off to visit America. This required getting to Tokyo to
catch a boat to San Francisco. Imagine his surprise to find an apparently unescorted and very
attractive 16 year old young lady on board! Her father [Alonzo Woodworth} was an
American missionary going home on furlough and he spent his time talking to other men on
board, while her mother, Ida, suffered from seasickness and spent most of the time in her
cabin. By the time they reached San Francisco, John popped the question, was accepted,
and obtained the parent’s approval. Then the Woodworths went home to Merom, Indiana
while John made for Chicago where building was booming to house a huge influx of
migrants coming in at the rate of 5000 per week.

[but some of it of appalling standard, with no provision of water or toilets except out in the
yard!] He spent a year there learning for the first time of reinforced concrete and other new
technology [but he was the only one in the office with a grounding in the Greek classic
orders] Having only visited his future wife, Ruth, a few times, John then headed to England
and Europe [highly valuable experience for a young architect to see the historic buildings,
but even there he saw unbelievable crowding, squalor and lack of services]

On his return home John set up a practice with Walter Drummond [Who helped start
“Rotary” in Australia]. By 1914 John wrote to Ruth, [now back in Japan] to ask if she
would come to Melbourne to marry him as he could now support her. She came alone
ona slow freighter which didn’t arrive until the day after the wedding date, so it was
postponed till the next Saturday [the only day, other than Sunday, that people were
not at work] They rented a house for 10 shillings per week until their new house in
Barloa Rd. Mont Albert was built. When they moved in, it was the first time either of
them had lived in a house with electric light and mains water in the kitchen and
bathroom [but the laundry and toilet were still in an outhouse at the back]

About this time, John became assistant to Ankatell Henderson, an engineer, who
lectured on Architecture at the Engineering school at Melbourne University. A
groundswell of students, supported by the Institute, wanted an Architecture faculty.
Bill Blackett was appointed to replace Henderson, but went off to the war soon after.
So did Alec Eggleston and Rodney Alsop in turn, so not much happened until after
the war.

When John and Ruth’s second daughter was born, Ruth said “now I have a reason for
living if anything happens to you, so you can join up if you feel the need”. This he did
and because of his building experience, he was given the rank of Sgt. in the
Engineers and sent off to France where he served for 2 years [Together with three
brothers and one sister—all but one came back]

World War One was a frightful experience for the troops in the field as they rarely
had shelter and often John wished for “a roof over my head”. This became a standing
joke among his mates and eventually the title of his memoirs, [a book which covers
the birth of the Architecture school, Building Regulations and Town Planning in
Victoria-well worth reading also as a history book]

While waiting to be shipped home, John was billeted in a French farm village and
again experienced the obnoxious dung heap [the same explanation was given- which
is why he always buried our kitchen scraps at Mont Albert ]. On the ship coming
home John gave lectures on building construction as part of a program to entertain the
men —many of his listeners later turned up at his office as clients!

As soon as he arrived back, John was appointed as head of the Architecture School, as
Bill Blackett had resigned. [in old Army huts in one corner of the University
grounds], so, when an “Architecture Faculty” was established, he became the first
Dean of the Faculty, a position he held for 20 years.

Soon after this, the local Progress Association asked him to stand for the Shire of
Nunawading Council, to represent the young families, as the orchardist Councillors
were more concerned with the rural needs. So, in 1924 he became a Councillor and
was confronted with the maze of problems involved in running a Municipality. At an
early meeting the construction of a road was approved, but when Cr. Gawler later
asked to see the specifications, the Engineer said “There aren’t any specifications, all
the tenderers know how to build a road!” At this point, John asked to see the house
building rules. After a search the Engineer produced one foolscap sheet but explained
“that no one ever asked to look at them”. So John set to work and produced a new
building code. This was duly passed by Council without the other Councillors
bothering to read it!

In those days, the role of Councils was very limited by our standards, but soon
expanded to include baby health centres, recreational facilities such as swimming
pools, street lighting, footpaths etc. The provision of piped gas was just becoming
available, Box Hill separated from Nunawading and acquired the retailing right for
electric supply. I understand that this enterprise funded the building of the Box Hill
Town Hall [which John Designed] and it was a bone of contention with Nunawading
council for many years after. John also designed the new City of Box Hill Seal [see
letter on display]. It is also interesting to note that another argument for building the
town hall was that it would supply business for the brick works [badly needed to
recover from the depression] John became the Council’s representative on the
Municipal Association of Victoria and was it’s President at the time the “Uniform
Building Regulations of Victoria finally got through the long winded process of
formation, exhibition, review, and approval [at first it did not apply in the country as
the rural Councillors thought it was an imposition thought up by the “city slickers”]

So John was extremely busy in the 1920s and now had 5 children to support [and his
partner, Walter Drummond died so John was supporting his widow] But when the
1930 depression occurred, work dried up for the building industry. It also hit many
workers living in outer suburbs who could no longer afford house payments and train
fares, so they tried to sell their homes on a falling market [just like 1888] and, again,
many lost everything! John saw all the “for sale “ signs and believed that there was a
need for cheap rental properties closer to the City [where most people worked]. So he
obtained an option on a piece of land in Barkers Rd. Kew, designed a group of flats
and approached the ESA Bank for finance, together with a builder named Todd [also
out of work]. The Bank agreed that the project had merit and asked the two of them
how much capital they would contribute. When the answer was “none” the bank
stated that they never financed building 100%, John said “ the alternative is two more
failed clients with overdrafts” So the Bank agreed, the job went ahead, all the flats
were let and the project yielded 11% which no doubt paid for my education!

During the 30s John not only ran a very busy practice but continued as a Councillor,
Municipal Association representative, Vestryman and superintendent of the Sunday

School at the Anglical church [which he designed], also one of the practicing
Architects lecturing at the Architecture School. He even became a company director.
Together with other Architects they started “Ozapaper” [a plan printing service] and
the “Victor Plaster Company” to obtain plaster from South Australia [as they were
being “ripped off’ by Sydney suppliers]. The Sydney firm tried to scuttle the
enterprise by flooding the market with plaster below production cost but the Victor
Co. bought all that turned up until their rival came “cap in hand” to try to arrange a
merger, which they refused!

World War Two caused another stop to private building but John was soon recruited
by the Federal Government to work in WOI [War Organisation of Industry] which
coordinated building work, Australia wide , to direct resources to the most urgent
projects [John was the formal issuer of permits in Victoria].

Then, as the tide of war turned, the Government, in 1943, created a new ministry of
“Post War Reconstruction” with Ben Chiffley in charge. Chiffley summoned John
and four others to Sydney to form a Commonwealth Housing Commission.

Leo O’Connor [senior public servant] was chairman, John was deputy, then came
Charles Howard an Architect with the Commonwealth Works Dept., Mary Ryan [an
ex hospital matron] and Albert Thompson [a politician]. Chiffley thanked them for
coming then dug a small slip of paper from a vest pocket and said “ah yes, here it is-
Inquire about the present position of housing in Australia and make recommendations
for the future” He then asked them to work hard as it was urgent and left them to it!
They split into two teams and set about visiting every large town in Australia, to
inspect and take evidence from anyone who offered in response to advertised
meetings. They worked non-stop for over a year to complete the inspections and write
their report. At one point three of them arrived in Cairns in the middle of the night
after a 3 day rail journey, with blackout in force and unsure of their hotel’s location.
As they were wondering what to do next, they were accosted by a policeman who
thought they might be spies, but when they satisfied him with their identities and told
of the hotel problem, he escorted them to the hotel only to find it locked up and with
no response to the door bell. So the policeman suggested they break in “ the top back
door is never locked”. They found the Hotel register but one of their rooms already
had a snoring occupant. So they tiptoed around until they found empty rooms!

[the proprietor laughed it off , saying that the bell hadn’t worked for years and they all
found somewhere to sleep! ]

In the 16 months taken until their final report, some major surprises were uncovered;
like the BHP works at Port Kembla which was carefully planned down to the last nut
and bolt but assumed that private enterprise would house the workers. They, in fact,
were crammed into sub standard houses and shops at roughly one family to a room
with inadequate shared cooking and toilet facilities. A similar situation occurred at the
Newcastle steelworks and, in general, Australia had a severe long term shortage of
houses going back to pre world war one, and numerous incidences of “shanty towns”
Their report suggested that every family had a need and also a right to an adequate
house with kitchen, bathroom and laundry with running water [and not to be used for
sleeping]; cooking facilities in the kitchen, a means of heating water for the bathroom
and laundry; all rooms to have windows of adequate size and ventilation, bedrooms of
minimum sizes and separation of the sexes for children over the age of 8 years [and so
on]. But the report also urged sewerage to be provided to all communities of 1000
persons or more, provision of recreational space, introduction of town planning and
preservation of coastlines and river frontages! Many ,[but not all] of the
recommendations have become normal expectations giving today’s residents a
reliable lifestyle. This report was the “spark plug” for the Commonwealth agreement
with the States, to loan them money for mten years, at 3% interest, and to pay 60% of
financial losses incurred in providing “low income” housing. The Victorian Housing
Commission [of which John was a a member until 1952] built 22,000 houses in the
ten years!

Town planning ideals always seem to be opposed by financial goals. The first
Victorian “Metropolitan Town Planning Commission” was set up in1922 to examine
ideals and cost of proper developments of ports, public transport, provision of extra
housing, reservation of parkland and so on. Surveyor Fred Cook and secretary
A.K.Kemsley were the main contributors to the far reaching report but the
Government did nothing with it until the “Town and Country Planning Act” of 1944,
and, with a change of Government, did not actually appoint a Board until 1946. John
was made chairman, supported by Fred Cook and Kemsley for a 5 year term. During
this time the whole of Victoria was subdivided into regions, [the only State to achieve
this], a traffic census was made for the Metropolitan area to locate an extra bridge
over the Yarra, the Latrobe Valley region completely re planned to avoid building
over coal fields and a great deal more “cutting edge” work to confront the many
shortcomings of our State..

At the end of his five year contract, John was asked by the Premier, to serve for a
further five years, but being past retiring age, he declined. He also declined a “New
Year’s Honour’as he had no such aspirations, but recommended that his most
efficient and dedicated secretary be given suitable recognition -[this was done]
Meanwhile “back at the ranch” John had converted one end of his Mont Albert
property into a rented 2 story house, started to drive a car [when his partner died],
built a new two story brick house on one corner of the remaining property and turned
the old house into a villa pair.

Our family used to go on Sunday afternoon walks, often passing houses of men who
had started businesses and were known to my father. He would describe their
successes and always finish by saying “he’s a good chap”. So I learnt that

“a good chap” was probably a God fearing, hard working ex-serviceman who did the
right thing by his wife and family. By this standard my father was a “very good chap”.
In those days much business was conducted by word of mouth and a handshake
{much less work for lawyers and more transparent contracts]

Eventually he sold the new house, [after his children moved out], and lived in one of
the villa pair. [recently, another new house has appeared on what was originally the
tennis court, making 5 houses on the old house site. John built another house in
Springvale road and spent his retirement developing flats in Box Hill and then acting
as handyman to change tap washers or whatever his tenants needed. He also graduated
to power tools and built some 100 coffee tables with timber from old wardrobes,
bought from Joel’s Auctions. He served as a Councillor for 25 years, was President
of the Victorian Institute of Architects, and of the Municipal Association of Victoria,
and was still lecturing at the Architecture school at least until 1950. I knew about his
role as a Councillor and his University work [as I was one of his students], but he
never said much about all his other roles in the community [He just went to work, like

everyone else]

What an extraordinary and productive life for a man brought up without much
education to become a real pioneer in the field of human housing! I don’t think it’s
even a slight exaggeration to say that John Gawler changed the way we all live today
PS he built his first brick veneer house for a client in Camberwell, opposed by
council, in 1915, Just another example of his foresight? He was also one of the first to
use “clinker bricks” when seeking cheap material for a church hall and was offered
the “discards” free. Clinkers became popular and cost more than normal bricks!