Benjamin Mountfort

Woolfield Benjamin Mountfort (* March 13, 1825 in Birmingham, England, † March 15, 1898 in Avonside, New Zealand ) was an English emigrant to New Zealand, who became there one of the most important architects of the 19th century. He was instrumental in the transformation of the city of Christchurch. In addition, he was appointed the first official architect of the province of Canterbury. Since he was strongly influenced by Anglo - Catholicism and the early Victorian architecture, he brought the Gothic Revival style to New Zealand. Its Gothic architecture of wood and stone is unique in that province. Today he is regarded as the most important architect of the province of Canterbury.

Early life

Was Mountfort in Birmingham, an industrial city in the Midlands of England, the son of the perfumer Thomas Mountfort and his wife Susanna (nee Woolfield ) born. As a teenager, he moved to London, where he studied architecture at the Anglo- Catholic architect Richard Cromwell Carpenter, whose preference for the Gothic style Mountfort influenced his life. After graduating, he worked in London as an architect until he and his wife Emily Elizabeth Newman, whom he married in 1849, emigrated in 1850 to Canterbury in New Zealand. He traveled with the Charlotte -Jane, one of the famous "first four ships ". The names of the first settlers, known as " The Pilgrims " are, on the marble slabs in front of the Cathedral Square in Christchurch, Mount Fort co engraved.