# Charles Farr (builder)

Charles Farr (c. 1812 – 25 February 1888) was a timber merchant and builder in the young colony of South Australia.

## History

Farr emigrated to South Australia from Britain aboard D'Auvergne arriving in March 1839.
Farr, by trade a bricklayer, had premises on Hindley Street, and by 1850 owned a business on Franklin Street, a timber yard possibly purchased from Philip Santo. By 1868 he employed up to 115 men and his sawmill and timber yard, which employed around 35 men, extended over two acres between Franklin and Grote streets, and included the Farr residence. He later moved to Waymouth Street, then in 1883 moved to Grote Street, west of Brown Street. That same year he had a timber yard in Wakefield Street.
His two sons, who were educated at J. L. Young's Adelaide Educational Institution, were brought into the business, but later went their separate ways: Charles George was licensee of the Talbot Hotel, Gouger Street, then the International Hotel, Rundle Street; Alfred was city manager for Walter & Morris, who owned the Sarnia timber mills in Port Adelaide, and influential president of the Builders and Contractors' Association.
Farr died after several years an invalid. His remains were interred in the West Terrace Cemetery.
He evidently had good relations with the men in his employ, and paid skilled tradesmen slightly more than other employers; from 8/6d to 10s. per day. For twenty years his company was probably second only to English & Brown / Brown & Thompson, who owned the Glen Ewin quarry.

## Some works

| Built | Name | Architect | Client | Location | Notes |
| 1856 | Head office | Edmund Wright | Union Bank | Pirie Street | Became "Union Hall", Adelaide headquarters of WCTU 1896, demolished 1925 |
| 1858 | Church of the Immaculate Conception | G. S. Kingston | Catholic Church | Port Adelaide | |
| 1859 | Branch office | E. Wright | Bank of South Australia | Commercial Road, Port Adelaide | |
| 1859 | Branch office | E. Wright | Union Bank | Lipson Street, Port Adelaide | |
| 1860 | Head office | James Macgeorge | South Australian Savings Bank | King William Street | |
| 1863 | Coal store and retort house | | SA Gas Company | Brompton | |
| 1863–1869 | Adelaide Town Hall | E. Wright E. J. Woods | Adelaide City Council | King William Street | |
| 1864 | Chemist's shop | R. G. Thomas | Mrs. A. M. Bickford | Hindley Street | |
| 1864 | Warehouse | G. S. Kingston | George P. Harris | Gawler Place, Adelaide | became Harris Scarfe |
| 1865 | "Kingsmead House" | E. Wright, E. J. Woods | Charles Jacobs | 75–78 Brougham Place | |
| 1865 | Athelney | E. Wright, E. J. Woods | P. D. Prankerd | Athelney Avenue, Kent Town | Peter Dodding Prankerd married Lucy Amelia Wright, sister of the architect. They sold Athelney to H. B. Hughes in 1874. Now part of St Peter's College |
| 1866 | Wine and spirit store | Daniel Garlick | S. R. Hall | King William Street | adjacent a similar store same owner and architect but built by English & Brown. |
| 1867 | Department store | G. S. Kingston | George P. Harris | Rundle Street | became Harris Scarfe |
| 1868 | Prince Alfred College | D. Garlick | Methodist Church | Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town | foundation stone was laid by HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, on 5 November 1867. |
| 1869 | Buck's Head Hotel | D. Garlick | W. H. Gray | North Terrace, Adelaide | rebuilt on same site |
| 1868 | Parkside Lunatic Asylum | D. Garlick | SA Government | cnr Greenhill and Brownhill Creek (now Fullarton) roads | |
| 1868 | York Hotel | D. Garlick | | cnr Rundle & Pulteney streets | rebuilt on same site |
| 1869 | Norwood Baptist Church | James Cumming | Baptist Association | 134 The Parade, Norwood | heritage-listed on the SA Heritage Register in 1982. |
| 1871,1872 | East, west wings | J. Cumming | Bushmen's Club | SE corner, Whitmore Square | sold to the Salvation Army (the current owner) in 1899 |
| 1871 | Norwood Public School | J. Cumming | Education Department | The Parade, Norwood | |
| 1871 | Extension | G. S. Kingston | Bank of Australasia | King William Street | |
| 1873 | Residence | D. Garlick | Thomas Magarey | Mills Terrace, N.A. | |
| 1875 | "Kalymna" | T. English | C. A. Hornabrook | 28 Dequetteville Tce, Kent Town | still stands, as "Oreon House" |
| 1876 | drapery shop | D. Garlick | T. Wilcox | cnr. Rundle & Pulteney streets | |
| 1876 | King's Head Hotel | T. English | W. Thomson | King William Street | rebuilt on same site |
| 1877 | Universal Buildings | T. English | L. A. Jessop M. C. Davis | Grenfell Street | |
| 1878 | Blind, Deaf and Dumb Institution | T. English | | Brighton Road, Brighton | New building in front of the old one, previously the "Grace Darling Hotel". |
| 1878 | Royal Admiral Hotel | T. English | C. Banbury | Hindley Street | rebuilt on same site |
| 1878 | extensions | D. Garlick | G. & R. Wills | | |
| 1879 | Southern Cross Hotel | D. Garlick | William Chambers F. J. Blades | King William Street | rebuilt on same site |
| 1879 | Clubhouse "Albert Hall" | G. R. Johnson | Deutsche Club | Pirie Street | sold to the Salvation Army in September 1898, and became its HQ, "Memorial Hall" |
| 1879 | stores | D. Garlick | J. Hodgkiss & Co. | Stephens Place, Adelaide | |
| 1879 | clubhouse | T. English | New South Australian Club | Pirie Street | Not to be confused with (Trew's) South Australian Club Hotel on North Terrace, this was an exclusive establishment comparable to the Adelaide Club. An earlier incarnation (1839–44) on Hindley Street, whose members included Sturt, Morphett and Fisher failed financially. |
| 1880 | Exchange Building / Queens Exchange | E. Wright J. H. Reed | | eastern corner, Pirie Street and Exchange Lane | "Commercial Union Building" demolished 1980 |
| 1880 | Exchange Building | E. Wright | Exchange Land Company | Currie Street | |
| 1882 | Adelaide Swimming Baths | | Adelaide City Council | King William Road | |
| 1882 | Warehouse | David Williams, jr. | Blackwell, Felstead, & Co. | Pirie Street, Adelaide | |
| 1884 | Clubhouse | Smeaton | YMCA | cnr. Grenfell Street and Gawler Place | |
| 1885 | Institute | R. Rees | | Summertown | |
| 1885 | shops | D. Garlick | E & W. Hackett | Rundle Street | |
| 1887 | Western annexe, Jubilee Exhibition Building | Withall & Wells | | North Terrace | for Adelaide Jubilee International Exhibition |

## Family

Farr married Sophia Morris (c. 1813 – 19 March 1879) before leaving for South Australia. Their children were:
* Charlotte Farr (c. February 1839 – 4 September 1866) married Harry Bickford (1843–1927) on 24 February 1866. They had no children. He married again, on 10 March 1870 to Rosina Mary Ferguson (1845 – 5 October 1898). There was a dispute over a North Adelaide block given to Charlotte by Farr.
* Sophia Farr (1843 – 30 June 1918) died at the home of her sister Martha Laurence
* Charles George Farr (1845 – 1 April 1908) married Paruna Minnie Ann "Mina" Russell (c. 1863 – 4 August 1940) on 26 June 1879
* Alfred Farr (1847 – 29 May 1912) married Mary Prynn Sands ( – 7 March 1903) in 1865, lived on Hurtle Square. He married again in 1905 to Ann McInnes, died at Jaffrey Street, Parkside.
   * Alfred John Farr ( – 1938) married Mary Lucy Greayer ( – ) on 20 May 1907
* Martha Farr (1849– ) married Walter Laurence ( – ) on 8 February 1871
   * Walter James Laurence (1883–1907)
* Eliza Farr (1851 – 10 January 1930) died at Napier Terrace, Hawthorn
They had a home on Franklin Street, and from around 1880 on Grove Street, Unley Park, where he died. This residence may have previously been the property of Dugald Herschel Babbage.