Ashwin and Falconer

Ashwin and Falconer were a stained glazing partnership in Pitt Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Their work appears in a number of heritage-listed properties.^[1]

History

John Falconer was one of the earliest Sydney stained glaziers establishing his business in 1863 after his arrival in Australia from Glasgow in 1856. He was joined by Frederick Ashwin of Birmingham in 1875 and formed a partnership in 1877 called Falconer and Ashwin, later reversed to Ashwin and Falconer. Falconer continued in practice until 1892 when Ashwin and Falconer became known as Ashwin and Co.^[1][2] Following Frederick Ashwin's death in 1909, John Radecki became chief designer for J. Ashwin & Co, in partnership with Frederick's brother John; he was proprietor of the company from John Ashwin's death in 1920 until 1954. Radecki's daughter Winifred Siedlecky continued the company until the building's owners demolished the premises in Dixon Street in 1961.

Significant works

The company produced many outstanding windows including:^[1]

• 1877: the glazed dome in the Sydney Town Hall^[2]
• 1878: windows for St James's Catholic church, Forest Lodge, Sydney^[2]
• circa 1882: two figured panels at Farrington House in Alderley, Brisbane, Queensland (since removed from this house and in an unknown private collection)^[3]
• panels for St James' Church of England in Toowoomba, Queensland which were designed by Edmund Blacket & Son^[4]
• a window in the Wesley Uniting Church in Toowoomba^[1]
• 1905: three stained glass windows in St Andrew's Uniting Church in Brisbane (representing the Burning Bush, John Knox and John Calvin)^[4]

References

Further reading

• "SAINTS REAL PEOPLE TO STAINED-GLASS ARTIST". The Australian Women's Weekly. 14, (13). Australia, Australia. 7 September 1946. p. 26. Retrieved 11 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
• Whitmore, Karla (2015), Stained glass pioneers of Sydney : John Falconer and Frederick Ashwin, Chatswood, NSW Karla Whitmore, ISBN 978-0-646-93711-3