Bank of South Australia, King William Street |
|||
---|---|---|---|
Title : | Bank of South Australia, King William Street |
![]()
|
|
Date of creation : | ca. 1880 | ||
Format : | Photograph | ||
Dimensions : | 21 x 16 cm | ||
Contributor : | State Library catalogue | ||
Catalogue record | |||
The State Library of South Australia is keen to find out more about SA Memory items. We encourage you to contact the Library if you have additional information about any of these items. |
Copyright : | Reproduction rights are owned by State Library of South Australia. This image may be printed or saved for research or study. Use for any other purpose requires permission from the State Library of South Australia. To request approval, complete the Permission to publish form. |
Description : |
Bank of South Australia, King William Street photographed about 1880. The building is on the western side of King William Street between Hindley and Currie Streets. The original Bank of South Australia building was located on North Terrace on land opposite the site reserved for Parliament House. In 1866 the Bankof South Australia purchased a new site in King William Street, and commissioned a new building designed by Edmund Wright of Adelaide and Lloyd Tayler of Melbourne which was erected between 1875 and 1878. This ornate building in the French Renaissance Style, now known as Edmund Wright House, was the head office of the bank until 1892 when the Bank of South Australia was taken over by the Union Bank. By 1951 after various takeovers this Adelaide building became an asset of the ANZ Bank, until 1969 when it was sold to a Sydney developer who wanted to use the site for a multi-storey office block. There was an extensive campaign in the 1970s to save the building from demolition, resulting in the State Government purchasing it in 1971 and renaming it Edmund Wright House in honour of the prominent Adelaide architect. An exceptional feature of this building is the amount of exceedingly intricate stone carving undertaken by celebrated Scottish sculptor William Maxwell and British painter and sculptor Joseph Durham. The most noteworthy carvings are heads of Mercury, Minerva and Winter on keystones in Gilbert Place and the coat of arms on top of the portico on the King William street facade.
|
Subjects | |
Related names : | Bank of South Australia -- Buildings Banks and Banking -- South Australia -- Adelaide Edmund Wright House (Adelaide, S. Aust.) |
Coverage year : | 1880 |
Period : | 1852-1883 |
Region : | Adelaide city |
Further reading : | Heritage of the city of Adelaide: an illustrated guide edited by Susan Marsden, Paul Stark and Patricia Sumerling Adelaide: Corporation of the City of Adelaide, 1990 Edmund Wright House, [Adelaide]: History Trust of South Australia, [1999] Jensen, Elfrida, Colonial architecture in South Australia: a definitive chronicle of development 1836-1890 and the social history of the times, Adelaide: Rigby, 1980 Corporation of the City of Adelaide: Edmund Wright House, 59 King William Street, Adelaide 5000, [Adelaide]: Public Buildings Dept., [1982] Butlin, S. J. Bank of South Australia, 1837-1892: a brief history of the Bank of South Australia as recorded in the history of the A.N.Z. Bank [Adelaide?: S.J. Butlin], 1961 |
Internet links : | Manning Index of South Australian history: Banking and finance. Select Bank of South Australia |
Exhibitions and events : | State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing. From the ground up August 2004- |