{{Short description|Australian politician}} {{distinguish|text=his father, also named Rowland Rees, mayor of [[Brighton]], England, grandfather of [[Ivy Compton Burnett]] and [[Margery Blackie]]}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{infobox officeholder|image=File:Rowland_Rees.jpg|birth_date=25 September 1840|birth_place=[[Gibraltar]]|death_date=13 October 1904|occupation=architect and [[civil engineer]]|assembly=South Australian House of Assembly{{!}}South Australian House of|constituency_AM=[[Electoral district of The Burra|The Burra]] |term=1873–1875|assembly1=South Australian House of Assembly{{!}}South Australian House of|constituency_AM1= [[Electoral district of Burra|Burra]] |term1=1875–1881|assembly2=South Australian House of Assembly{{!}}South Australian House of|constituency_AM2=[[Electoral district of Onkaparinga|Onkaparinga]] |term2=1882–1990}} '''Rowland Rees''' (25 September 1840 – 13 October 1904) was an architect, [[civil engineer]] and politician in [[South Australia]].
==Early life== Rees was born in [[Gibraltar]], the eldest son of Rowland Rees, of Sutrana House, [[Dover]], and later alderman of [[Brighton]], England. He was educated in Hong Kong and [[Sheffield]].<ref name=adb/> It has also been asserted that he was educated in Dover, where his father was for many years mayor.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5027600 |title=Death of Mr. Rowland Rees |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)]] |volume=XLVII |issue=14,350 |location=South Australia |date=14 October 1904 |accessdate=21 August 2017 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He emigrated to [[Adelaide]] in 1869; his brother, Dr. John Rees followed seven years later. Rowland ("something of a black sheep in the family"), along with his brothers Allen and Charles, "had all three received and squandered their inheritance" and were accordingly left nothing in their father's will; at any rate, having suffered "some kind of financial catastrophe" and moved into "a small terrace villa in Hove", the senior Rowland Rees left only enough to cover a few preliminary bequests.<ref>Ivy When Young- The Early Life of I. Compton-Burnett 1884-1919, Hilary Spurling, Allison & Busby, 1983, p. 135</ref>
He was described as "a voluble Welshman" in one Adelaide newspaper report.<ref name=unisa/>
==Career== Rees began his architectural practice immediately upon arriving in the [[colony of South Australia]],<ref name=adb/> initially in partnership with architect [[Thomas English (mayor)|Thomas English]], from 19 February 1870 until 1873. They practised as English & Rees, Civil Engineers, Architects and Surveyors, of Temple Chambers, [[Currie Street]], Adelaide.<ref name=unisa>{{cite web | website=Architects of South Australia |publisher = [[University of South Australia]] | title=Architect Details: English, Thomas| author=McDougall, Alison | date=2008 | url=https://architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=55 | access-date=18 April 2024}}</ref>
He was in partnership with Joseph Hornabrook from 1878 to 1881, when Hornabrook left for a life on the professional stage.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90104583 |title=Mr J. A. Hornabrook |newspaper=[[The Chronicle (Adelaide)]] |volume=LXXII |issue=3,834 |location=South Australia |date=13 March 1930 |accessdate=11 May 2019 |page=53 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
Rees' work was usually characterised by bold decorative elements such as capitals, pilasters and pediments.<ref name=adb/>
==Public office== He was elected to the [[South Australian House of Assembly]] as member for [[Electoral district of The Burra|The Burra]] (1873–75), [[Electoral district of Burra|Burra]] (1875–81) and [[Electoral district of Onkaparinga|Onkaparinga]] (1882–90).<ref>{{cite SA-parl |pid=3947 |name=Rowland Rees |former=yes |access-date=23 August 2022}}</ref> He advanced liberal ideas, such as free education, the regulation (rather than banning) of gambling, and equal divorce rights for women. Rees was a member of the [[South Australian Institute]] from 1878, and helped to select works for the [[South Australian Museum|South Australian State Collection]].
==Other roles== He was a director of the [[Holdfast Bay railway line|Holdfast Railway Company]], for which firm he also acted as engineer.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215205796 |title=Glenelg 50 Years Ago |newspaper=[[Glenelg Guardian]] |volume=XVI |issue=884 |location=South Australia |date=30 April 1930 |accessdate=21 August 2017 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
==Selected works== [[File:Essenside 1872 B10748.jpg|thumb|Essenside ca. 1873]] * [[Moonta, South Australia|Moonta]] Methodist Church (1873) * [[Essenside]], [[Glenelg, South Australia|Glenelg]] (1873) * [[Downer House]], [[North Adelaide]] (1877) * Kither's Buildings, [[Rundle Street]] (1879) * [[Holdfast Bay railway line]] (1879–80) * Huntsman (now Archer) Hotel, [[North Adelaide]], (1882) * [[Lobethal]] Woollen Mills (1883) * British Hotel, [[North Adelaide]] (1883) * Oxford Hotel, [[North Adelaide]] (1884) * Cumberland Arms Hotel, [[Waymouth Street]] (1884) * Newmarket Hotel, [[North Terrace, Adelaide|North Terrace]] (1884) * [[St Peters, South Australia|St Peters]] Town Hall (1885) * Fulton's Foundry, [[Kilkenny, South Australia|Kilkenny]] (1885–86)
==Family== In November 1870 he married Ada Caroline Sandford (1853 – 12 September 1930), daughter of William Mathews Sandford ( – February 1902), an Adelaide solicitor.<ref name=adb>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last=Feeney |first=Alan |year=1976 |id=A060020b |title= Rees, Rowland (1840 - 1904) |accessdate=30 January 2009 }}</ref> They had two surviving children: *Rowland John Patton Rees (1872 – ) moved to Perth, Western Australia *(Bagot) Sydney Rees (1873 – ) moved to Perth, Western Australia <!--failed to survive 1874--> Mrs. Rees lived for some time with her son Sydney in [[Perth]], and died in [[Subiaco, Western Australia]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29838750 |title=Obituary |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |location=South Australia |date=1 October 1930 |accessdate=20 August 2017 |page=17 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
His brother John Rees, JP. (c. 1849–1893) studied at [[Guy's Hospital]], and arrived in South Australia on 1 April 1876. He practised at [[Port Wakefield, South Australia|Port Wakefield]] for two years before moving to Hindmarsh. He was mayor of [[Town of Hindmarsh|Hindmarsh]] from December 1883 to December 1886, also serving as honorary Health Officer. He died of consumption ([[tuberculosis]]).<ref>{{cite book|author=Ronald Parsons|title=Hindmarsh Town|publisher=Corporation of the Town of Hindmarsh|date=1974|isbn=0959879307}}</ref>
His sister Kathleen Rees in 1883 married the widower Dr. James Compton-Burnett (c. 1840 – 2 April 1901), 15 years his junior (so she was born around 1855). She had seven children by him, of whom [[Ivy Compton-Burnett]] (1884–1969) was the eldest; there were also five children by his first marriage.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://hovehistory.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/hove-plaques-c-e.html |author= Judy Middleton |title= Hove in the Past: Local History of Hove, Brighton and surrounding area|date= 12 January 2016 |access-date=21 August 2017}}</ref>
Another sister Elizabeth Rees ( – 1941) married Robert Blackie (c.1852–1936). Their youngest daughter [[Margery Blackie|Margery Grace Blackie]] (1898–1981) was a noted homeopath.
==See also== *[[Hundred of Rees]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=28 Rowland Rees] from architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Rowland}} [[Category:1840 births]] [[Category:1904 deaths]] [[Category:Architects from South Australia]] [[Category:Australian civil engineers]] [[Category:Members of the South Australian House of Assembly]] [[Category:Gibraltarian emigrants to Australia]] [[Category:19th-century Australian politicians]] [[Category:20th-century deaths from tuberculosis]] [[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Australia]]