Basic Biographical Details Name: | George Alexander Troup | Designation: | | Born: | 21 October 1863 | Died: | 11 October 1941 | Bio Notes: | George Alexander Troup was born in London on 21 October 1863 to a family of Scottish descent, and was brought up in Aberdeen and educated there at Robert Gordon's College. In 1879 he was articled to Edward Calvert in Edinburgh, moving to John Chesser's office in 1882 and attending classes at the Royal Institution where he was awarded several Queen's Prizes. He spent his holidays making sketching tours of Britain but did not venture further afield until 1884, when he emigrated to New Zealand and found employment in the Survey Department, Otago Province. In 1887 he transferred to the New Zealand Railways Department, becoming chief draughtsman in 1890 and thereafter designing a series of ambitious free Flemish Renaissance railway stations, notably that at Dunedin (1904) which brought him the sobriquet of Gingerbread George. His work for the Railways Department also involved technical experiments, in particular testing of the strengths of local timbers and of reinforced concrete arches. He was elected FRIBA on 3 December 1906, his proposers being Frederick de Jersey Clere, Alfred Atkins, and Thomas and William Turnbull, and was promoted Officer in Charge of the Railways' architectural branch in 1919.
In 1927, two years before his retirement in 1929, he was elected Mayor of Wellington, and he remained in office until 1931. He was active in several spheres of public life as President of the Academy of Fine Arts, President of the Wellington Boys Institute and President of the British and Foreign Bible Society. He was knighted in 1937 and died on 11 October 1941. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | Wellington, New Zealand | Business | | | |
Employment and TrainingEmployers
RIBARIBA Proposers
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | British Architectural Library, RIBA | 2001 | Directory of British Architects 1834-1914 | | | | | Historic Buildings of New Zealand | | Historic Buildings of New Zealand, South Island | | | | | Historic buildings of New Zealand | | Historic buildings of New Zealand: North Island | | | | | McCoy, E J and Blackman, J G | 1968 | Victorian City of New Zealand | | | | | Troup, Gordon | 1982 | George Troup, architect and engineer | | | |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | F v18 p41 no1194 (microfilm reel 12) |
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