William Hartley Wilson arrived from Scotland in 1820 as a free immigrant and worked as superintendent of stonemasons. Government records show that he performed architectural duties before David Lambe’s appointment in 1824, although later descriptions of who was the colony’s “first architect” depend on how the office is defined.
A courthouse built before the colony changed
Heritage research attributes the first Supreme Court and Police Office at Macquarie and Murray streets to Wilson, with convict stonemasons carrying out construction. David Lambe supervised its completion after becoming colonial architect.
Richmond Bridge requires precise credit
Wilson was superintendent of stonemasons during construction of Richmond Bridge. Major Thomas Bell directed the government project and convict labour built it. Sources differ over the extent of Wilson’s design responsibility, so it is safer to state his documented role than repeat an unqualified claim.
Reading attribution in altered buildings
Early public buildings were extended, refaced or absorbed into later complexes. Drawings, government correspondence and fabric analysis need to be considered together. Family histories are useful leads, but official and heritage records should test the claims they preserve.
See Richmond for the bridge and town context. John Lee Archer and James Blackburn followed in public architecture and engineering.