George Raymond Johnson

Johnson was born in Southgate, England (then a part of Middlesex) and at age 13 began working with George Hall, Midland Railway architect. At 19 he moved to London, presumably to continue his architectural career.[1] On 24 July 1862 he married Emma Louise Wood and, nine days later, the couple embarked on a journey of emigration to Queensland.[1] In 1867, Johnson moved to Melbourne, where he produced most of his major works. In 1898, while at sea on return to Melbourne from Perth, Western Australia, Johnson contracted sepsis, and died.[2]

Johnson is known today for the design of a number of town halls across Victoria, notably the impressive Collingwood Town Hall, probably the most elaborate of the grand towered Second Empire style town halls that characterised the boom years of Melbourne in the 1880s, but he achieved contemporary renown for his theatres in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide (perhaps as many as fifteen[3]), now all demolished.[1] Johnson's greatest contemporary acclaim came from his design for the extensive northern additions to Reed & Barnes's grand 1880 Exhibition Building for the Centennial Exhibition of 1888, removed soon after the Exhibition.[2]

Johnson's major works, notably all the town halls and the theatres, were Renaissance Revival in style, and its variations including Free Classical, Italianate, Second Empire or Mannerist.[1][2] Many were designed "with bold and rich character from Johnson's mannerist palette, an idiom in which he was a master."[2] Amongst his many smaller projects such as shops, houses and hotels, some are no doubt Gothic in character, but his largest project in this idiom was the first buildings for the Hospital for Incurables, now the Austin Hospital, (1881, demolished) which were Venetian Gothic in polychrome brick.[1]

A selection of Johnson's notable buildings are listed below. For a complete list of known works, see the database compiled by Johnson's descendant, architect Peter Johnson, included in Hannan (2006).[1]

Building	Location	Year	Type	Note
Prince of Wales Opera House	Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria,	1872	theatre	demolished 1900
Eastern Arcade	Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria	1872	retail	modified 1894, demolished 2008[4]
North Melbourne Town Hall	North Melbourne, Victoria	1876	town hall	Now Trading As Arts House
Theatre Royal, Adelaide	Hindley Street, Adelaide	1878	theatre	demolished 1962
Metropolitan Meat Market	North Melbourne, Victoria	1880	commercial	Now a performance and events venue Trading as Meat Market
Austin Hospital for Incurables	Heidelberg, Victoria	1882	other	demolished c1970
Cathedral Hotel (1882-3),	Swanston Street, north east corner of Flinders Lane, Melbourne	1883	hotel	demolished c1970
Daylesford Town Hall	Daylesford, Victoria	1882	town hall
Collingwood Town Hall	Collingwood, Victoria	1885	town hall
Criterion Theatre	Cnr Pitt and Park Street, Sydney	1886	theatre	demolished 1935
Centennial Exhibition Annexes to Exhibition Building	Carlton, Victoria	1887	other	demolished 1889
Northcote Town Hall	Northcote, Victoria	1887	town hall
Fitzroy Town Hall additions	Fitzroy, Victoria	1887	town hall
Maryborough Town Hall	Maryborough, Victoria	1887	town hall
Bijou Theatre	Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria	1889	theatre	demolished 1934
"Battle of Waterloo" Cyclorama	55 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy	1889	entertainment	demolished 1927
Kilmore Town Hall	Kilmore, Victoria	1894	town hall
Theatre Royal (interior only)[5]	Hay Street, Perth	1897	theatre	interior now shops, exterior survives