James Gallier

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For architect's son, also a prominent architect, see James Gallier, Jr. .

James Gallier
Born	July 24, 1798 Ravensdale, Ireland
Died	October 3, 1866 Cape Hatteras

Buildings	Gallier Hall, The Leeds-Davis Building, The Second Christ Church Cathedral

James Gallier was a prominent New Orleans architect.

Biography

Early life

He was born James Gallagher in Ravensdale, County Louth, Ireland in 1798.^[1]

Career

He worked in England during his early career, designing the Godmanchester Chinese Bridge which crosses a mill stream of the River Great Ouse in 1827, and then working on the redevelopment of the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair. He became bankrupt, and emigrated to America^[2] in 1832.

He was one of a group of architects who created the idea of Architectural Practice, with the architect working for the clients, and managing those who actually built the structures that had been designed.^[3] He died on 3 October 1866, when the paddle-steamer Evening Star, on which he was travelling from New York to New Orleans, sank in a hurricane. His second wife perished with him.^[4]

His significant works that are National Historic Landmarks include:

Gallier Hall on St. Charles Avenue (1853), at Lafeyette Square in the Central Business District, the former City Hall of New Orleans for nearly a century. It is a National Historic Landmark.
Pontalba Buildings, with Henry Howard, a National Historic Landmark.
Government Street Presbyterian Church (1836), a National Historic Landmark in Mobile, Alabama.

His other significant works include:

The Leeds-Davis Building on Tchopitoulas Street (1853), Headquarters of the Preservation Resource Center.
The Second Christ Church Cathedral on St. Charles Avenue (1837), Episcopalian Church and later a synagogue. No longer exists.
Barton Academy (1836) in Mobile, Alabama.
Belle Helene (1850) in Ascension Parish, Louisiana.

Personal life

In 1823, while in England, he met and married Elizabeth Tyler. Their only surviving child was James Gallier, Jr.. Elizabeth died in July, 1844 in her mid-forties. On June 23, 1850, in Charleston, South Carolina, he remarried to Catherine Maria Robinson of Mobile, Alabama, who was born November 18, 1822 in Hardwick, Massachusetts to Colonel Joseph Robinson and Ann Maria Ruggles Walton. She was 24 years his junior.

His son, James, was also an architect.

References

↑ Banks, William Nathaniel (1997-04-01). "The Galliers, New Orleans architects.". The Magazine Antiques, republished in HighBeam Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
↑ The Architecture of the Estate: The Reign of the Cundys, Survey of London: volume 39: The Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 1 (General History) (1977), pp. 127-140.
↑ From Craft to Profession: The Practice of Architecture in Nineteenth-Century America, (1999), Mary N. Woods, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-21494-1
↑ New Orleans in 1867, (2008), Ned Hemard, New Orleans Bar Association, accessed 2009-10-31

Pierson Jr., William H. The Colonial and Neo-Classical Styles, vol.1, American Buildings and Their Architects (New York: Anchor Books,1976),456.

External links

Authority control	VIAF: 96149913 ISNI: 0000 0000 8457 9523

Persondata
Name	Gallier, James
Alternative names
Short description	American architect
Date of birth	July 24, 1798
Place of birth	Ravensdale, Ireland
Date of death	October 3, 1866
Place of death	Cape Hatteras

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