{{Short description|Australian architectural historian}} {{Use Australian English|date=November 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}} {{Infobox person | name = James Semple Kerr <small>AM</small> | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1932|7|6}} | birth_place = Rockhampton, Queensland | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2014|10|15|1932|7|6}} | death_place = Willoughby, New South Wales | other_names = | known_for = ''The Conservation Plan'' | occupation = Architectural historian }}
'''James Semple Kerr''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (6 July 1932 – 15 October 2014) was an architectural historian and heritage practitioner in Australia, who was prominent in the drafting of the original Burra Charter and its subsidiary documents, and developing standards for conservation practice, particularly in relation to conservation assessments and management reports such as conservation management plans. Kerr's influence in the conservation movement is most notable for his publication of the ''Conservation Plan'', which has guided building conservation in Australia and around the world.<ref>[http://australia.icomos.org/publications/the-conservation-plan/ Australia ICOMOS > Publications > The Conservation Plan]</ref>
==Work and contributions==
Kerr undertook a doctorate at the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies, at the University of York in 1974. He graduated in 1977 with a PhD titled Design for convicts in the Australian colonies during the transportation era<!--Q115494559-->.<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=Design for convicts in the Australian colonies during the transportation era |url=https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/11039/ |publisher=University of York |date=1977 |degree=phd |language=en |first=James Semple |last=Kerr}}</ref> In 1978 he took up the position as assistant director at the Australian Heritage Commission in Canberra.<ref>[https://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/steggall-rev.pdf Tradition and its transformation: Joan Kerr, housewife to historian, Susan Steggall]</ref> He was also an assistant director of the National Trust of Australia (NSW).<ref>[http://australia.icomos.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Conservation-Plan-7th-Edition-reduced-file-size.pdf Conservation Plan online edition, Australia ICOMOS > Publications, 2013, author details p.83]</ref>
Kerr was prominent in heritage conservation in Australia for over 40 years and was an early member of Australia ICOMOS, taking a major role in the formulation of the Burra Charter and its Guidelines. His publication in 1982 of ''The Conservation Plan: A guide to the preparation of conservation plans for places of European cultural significance'' was a landmark in Australian conservation. ''The Conservation Plan'' is widely used by heritage practitioners and property owners in Australia, and worldwide as a primary guide to the process of researching, documenting and managing historic places in accordance with the Burra Charter, through a logical process. First published by the National Trust of Australia (NSW) in 1982, it has subsequently been reprinted in expanded form over seven editions and twelve printing impressions.<ref>{{Cite interview | author1=Kerr, James Semple |interviewer=Hanna, Bronwyn J. | title=James Semple Kerr interviewed by Bronwyn Hanna in the Burra Charter oral history project | publication-date=2011 | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/160040650 | accessdate=25 October 2014 }}</ref> The concept has been adopted worldwide as a critical process for conserving heritage places, for example in the British Heritage Lottery Fund guidance note ''Conservation Plans for Historic Places''.<ref>[http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/consplans/conserve.htm 'Conservation Plans, Benefit or burden?' reproduced from The Building Conservation Directory, 2000]</ref>
{{Blockquote| For Kerr, "the seven deadly sins of heritage assessment were: the Timorous; the Inarticulate; the Aesthetes and Moralists; the Indiscriminate; the Egotists; the Slothful and the Muddled".<ref name=Clark>{{cite news|last1=Clark|first1=Kate|title=Obituary: Jim Kerr's heritage legacy forms guard of honour|url=http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/obituary-jim-kerrs-heritage-legacy-forms-guard-of-honour-20141121-11r4nu.html|accessdate=22 November 2014|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|issue=22 November 2014}}</ref>}}
==Life and family==
Kerr was born on 6 July 1932 in Rockhampton, Queensland, son of grazier James Kerr and Iris (née Rudd), and he and his sisters were raised on Hampden Downs Station. Initially home schooled by his mother, he later attended Toowoomba Preparatory School and then King's School Parramatta. He joined the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1952, leaving in 1956. He became an accomplished oarsman in Queensland and later NSW state competitions, but missed out narrowly on selection for the 1956 Olympics.<ref name=Clark/>
Kerr married Joan Lyndon (1938–2004), an art and architectural historian, whom he had met in 1957. They wed on 30 November 1960 at All Saints Anglican Church, Brisbane, moving to Sydney soon after. Kerr was working in management at Qantas at the time. In 1963, Qantas posted Kerr to Geneva,<ref>[http://www.daao.org.au/bio/joan-kerr-2/biography/ Design & Art Australia Online, 'Professor Joan Kerr' Biography]</ref> and then to London, where Joan enrolled them both in a history of art course run by Nikolaus Pevsner at Birkbeck College. They returned to Australia in 1968, settling in Cremorne in Sydney.<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/03/1078295446185.html?from=storyrhs 'Sparkling mind lit up the art world' Obituary Professor Joan Kerr, ''Sydney Morning Herald'' 4 March 2004]</ref> They had two children, a daughter, Tamsin and a son, James.
Kerr's wife Joan died in 2004, and James published "Joan Kerr, A Pictorial Biography, 1938–2004" in 2006.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Kerr, James Semple | author2=Torrance, Joan, 1867–1943 | title=Joan Kerr : a pictorial biography, 1938–2004 | year=2006 | publication-date=2006 | publisher=Cremorne, N.S.W. J.S. Kerr | isbn=978-0-9775454-0-7 }}</ref> He also published letters from his son (also James Semple), who worked as an outback stockman.<ref>Stockman's Progress: 1982–1989: Letters of James Semple Kerr (born 1963), to His Parents from the Northern Territory and The Kimberleys, James Semple Kerr, 2005</ref>
Kerr died on Wednesday 15 October 2014 at Elizabeth Lodge nursing home, Willoughby, New South Wales. His final project had been to catalogue the works of his wife and of his own.<ref name=Clark/> His personal papers, along with those of his wife, and records of his family history have been deposited, in bound volumes, in the National Library of Australia in Canberra.<ref>[http://australia.icomos.org/e-news/australia-icomos-e-mail-news-no-654/#1. Australia ICOMOS E-Mail News No. 654 17 October 2014]</ref>
==Awards==
Kerr was made Honorary Life Member of the National Trust (NSW) in 1992 and was awarded the NSW National Trust Heritage Award with his wife Joan in 1995, and they received the lifetime achievement award in 2007,<ref>[http://www.nationaltrust.org.au/Assets/16074/1/TrustHeritageawardpastwinners.pdf Professor Joan and Dr James Kerr for their outstanding contribution to heritage over many years Sydney Electricity National Trust Sponsor's Award]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and he was made an Honorary Life Member of Australia ICOMOS in 2003 and International Honorary Life Member in 2011.<ref>[http://australia.icomos.org/about-us/australia-icomos/honours-and-awards/ Australia ICOMOS > About Us > Australia ICOMOS > Honours And Awards]</ref> He was also made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1999, "...for service to heritage conservation through organisations including the Australian International Council on Monuments And Sites, and The New South Wales Branch of the National Trust of Australia".<ref>[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/878243 Australian Honours Secretariat, Database]</ref>
==Selected publications==
[[File:The State Savings Bank building 1.jpeg|thumb| State Savings Bank building, Martin Place, Sydney (1930)]] * 1981: ''Fannie Bay Gaol Precinct conservation management plan'' * 1984: ''Design for convicts: An account of design for convict establishments in the Australian colonies during the transportation'' Sydney: Library of Australian History in association with the National Trust of Australia (NSW) and the Australian Society for Historical Archaeology {{ISBN|0908120540}} * 1984: ''Cockatoo Island, penal and institutional remains: An analysis of documentary and physical evidence and an assessment'' Sydney: National Trust of Australia (NSW), {{ISBN|0909723397}} * 1985: ''Goat Island: An analysis of documentary and physical evidence and an assessment of significance'' * 1986: ''Fort Denison: An investigation for the Maritime Services Board of NSW'' * 1986: ''Fort Denison: an investigation'' for the Maritime Services Board of NSW * 1987: ''Admiralty House: A conservation plan prepared for the Department of Housing and Construction'' * 1988: ''Out of sight, out of mind: Australia's places of confinement, 1788–1988'' Sydney: S.H. Ervin Gallery, National Trust of Australia (NSW), {{ISBN|0947137807}} * 1989: ''Elephant castle: an investigation of the significance of the head office building of the Commonwealth Banking Corporation of Australia, Sydney'', Sydney: National Trust New South Wales {{ISBN|0947137173}} * 1990:''The Haymarket and The Capitol: A conservation plan for the area bounded by George, Campbell, Pitt and Hay Streets, Sydney'' * 1990: ''Tamworth Gaol: its development, use, significance and conservation'' * 1991 & 2002: ''Sydney Observatory: a conservation plan for the site and its structures'', Sydney: Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, {{ISBN|1863170286}} * 1992: ''Fremantle Prison: A policy for its conservation'' * 1992: ''Anderson Stuart’s Medical School: A Plan for Its Conservation'' * 1993: ''Sydney Opera House: an interim plan for the conservation of the Sydney Opera House and its site'', published by National Trust, second edition 1999, third (revised) edition 2003 published by The Sydney Opera House Trust, Sydney, NSW. * 1993: (revised 2001), ''Yungaba Immigration Depot: a plan for its conservation'' * 1994: ''Goulburn Correctional Centre: A Plan for the Conservation of the Precinct and Its Buildings'' * 1995: ''Parramatta Correctional Centre: Its Past Development and Future Care'' * 2000: ''Conservation plan: a guide to the preparation of conservation plans for places of European cultural significance'' (5th edition) Sydney: National Trust of Australia (NSW) {{ISBN|1863640266}} * 2002: ''Sydney Observatory: a conservation plan for the site and its structures'', 2nd rev. ed. Sydney: Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences {{ISBN|1863170286}} * 2004: ''Conservation plan: a guide to the preparation of conservation plans for places of European cultural significance'', Sydney: Published by J.S. Kerr on behalf of the National Trust of Australia (NSW) * 2006: ''Joan Kerr: a pictorial biography, 1938–2004 '' Cremorne, NSW {{ISBN|0977545407}}
==References==
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==External Source==
* [http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/eha_magazine_vol1_no5_december_2014.pdf Bronwyn Hanna "Obituary – James Semple Kerr, Conservationist 6th July 1932 to 15th October 2014" ''Engineering Heritage Australia Magazine'' Volume 1 No.5 December 2014] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926155549/https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/eha_magazine_vol1_no5_december_2014.pdf |date=26 September 2015 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, James Semple}} Category:Conservation architects Category:Alumni of the University of York Category:Australian historians Category:Australian architecture writers Category:1932 births Category:2014 deaths Category:Historians of Australia Category:Members of the Order of Australia