John Hawes (Monsignor)

Monsignor John Hawes (b. September 7 1876, Richmond, England - d. June 26 1956, Miami, Florida) was an architect and priest.He began training as an architect in London in 1892.

In 1903 he was ordained an Anglican priest, after which he worked in the Bahamas. He later converted to Roman Catholicism and was ordained a Catholic priest in Rome on February 27 1915, after which he was sent to Geraldton, Western Australia where he worked as a both a priest and an architect.

In May 1939, Hawes sailed from Fremantle to the Bahamas, officially on a pilgrimage. He lived in the Bahamas as a hermit, and died on June 26 1956 in Miami, Florida, aged 79 [ [http://www.geraldton.wa.gov.au/Extranet/LocalHistory/MonsignorHawes.asp Monsignor Hawes - Architect/Priest] , "City of Geraldton"] .

Architecture Work

Monsignor Hawes' architectural work in the Mid West region of Western Australia is renowned. He was appointed Diocesan Architect and designed:

* The Cathedral of St Francis Xavier, a Spanish Mission style cathedral in Geraldton. The completed building was officially opened in 1938
* Nazareth House in Geraldton
* The Cemetery Chapel of the Holy Spirit in Geraldton
* The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and adjoining priest house in Mullewa [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/Western-Australia/Mullewa/2005/02/17/1108500208568.html Mullewa] , "Sydney Morning Herald", February 8, 2004]

* Churches for many agricultural towns in the region; including Morawa, Perenjori, Yalgoo and Northampton.

* Only two private residences were designed - one being the homestead for Melangata Station north of Yalgoo.

The "Monsignor Hawes Heritage Trail" is a tourist route which visits many of these buildings, some of which he also built.

He also designed the Anglican Church of S. Christopher, in Gunnerton a small village in the North Tyne valley, Northumberland. [Pevsner: The Buildings of England-Northumberland Pub. by Penguin] . The building has recently been beautifully restored and now boasts a fine stained glass window by William Tillyer in the W end (thanks to the efforts of the present incumbent Rev. J. Wylam).

References

External links

* [http://www.geraldtondiocese.org.au/mpph.htm Monsignor Hawes' Heritage Project] geraldtondiocese.org.au

Further reading

* Evans, A. G. "The conscious stone : a biography of John C. Hawes" Melbourne : Polding Press, 1984. ISBN 0-85884-376-5 (pbk.)
* Taylor, John "Between devotion and design : the architecture of John Cyril Hawes 1876-1956" Nedlands, W.A. : University of Western Australia Press, 2000. ISBN 1-876268-16-6

ee also

*W.A. Heritage Trails Network