Citation

Willingham A. Victorian Historical Journal 2022; 93(1): 69-98.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

Recently, in the course of writing about the Austin family of 'Barwon Park', Winchelsea, I reviewed two of my earlier publications concerning the 'Barwon Park' mansion and the architecture of Alexander Davidson and George Henderson. This time, I quickly identified the basalt lion's head grotesque in the entry keystone at 'Barwon Park' as being the work of sculptor Benjamin Brain, but found identifying 'Mr Dyson', the patternmaker associated with the 'Barwon Park' cast iron balcony verandah in 1870, to be problematic. It is now my contention that 'Mr Dyson' was the former Southampton sculptor Benjamin Brain, who came from Sydney to Geelong in 1869 under the auspices of Thomas Austin's architects and worked for the Vulcan Foundry on the 'Barwon Park' project under a pseudonym, seemingly to protect his reputation. The lonely intemperate life of Benjamin Brain, as well as his personal tragedies and haphazard career as a sculptor in England and Australia, has now been thoroughly investigated, my research ending with his tragic suicide at Ballarat in September 1877. This is Brain's story. © 2022, Royal Historical Society of Victoria. All rights reserved.

Language: en