William Pitt 1855-1918

Over the years Pitt’s style changed little. His theatres were fashionably ornate but comfortable,
and even the largest provided a satisfyingly intimate exchange between audience and performer. Their design reflected the then accepted strict social divisions: the more affluent patrons made their way through glittering foyers to their upholstered chairs, while the less well heeled entered discretely through side doors, and climbed stark staircases to reach their hard benches in the ‘gods’, or peered from behind the forests of supporting pillars that were inevitable in those pre-cantilever days. Only Pitt’s Hoyts Picture Theatre reflected a more democratic approach: a single entrance and no pillars – but this was a purpose-designed cinema, not a playhouse.

But Pitt was not only an extremely busy architect. He loved sport. For many years he was a leading coursing judge and a prize-winning marksman. As Patron of Collingwood Football Club he built the first grandstand at Victoria Park free of charge. He  served as a Collingwood city councillor from 1888 to 1894 and was mayor in 1890-91. He represented the council on the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works in 1891-92. He was a member of the Melbourne Harbour Trust from 1894 to 1913, and its chairman from 1901 to 1905). A staunch protectionist and Federationist, Pitt represented the seats of North Yarra and, later, East Melbourne in the Victorian Legislative Council from 1891 to 1910. He was chairman of committees from 1908 to 1910. He was vice-president of the Victorian Institute of Architects in 1887-88. He was also prominent in Freemasonry and an active member of the Australian Natives’ Association.

‘A stout, warm-hearted, genial man with generous mutton-chop whiskers,’ ‘Billie’ Pitt died in Melbourne on 25 May 1918 at his Abbotsford home, ‘Mikado’ – named for the production that had opened his celebrated Princess Theatre three decades before. His practice was continued by his associate, Albion H. Walkley, who had joined him as an assistant in 1900. Walkley later shared his expertise with the young Charles Neville Hollinshed when they designed the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne (1928) and rebuilt the burnt out interior of that city’s Her Majesty’s (1934). Hollinshed went on to work on many more theatres throughout Australia and New Zealand.

A large collection of Pitt’s plans is preserved in the State Library of Victoria. Many of his fine buildings can still be seen in Melbourne but, sadly, little of his theatrical work has survived. The theatrical storehouse he built behind Her Majesty’s in Melbourne is now the Chinese Museum. The exterior and grand foyer of the Princess in Melbourne and the interior of Her Majesty’s in Ballarat are fine examples of his work, but the one remaining complete Pitt theatre is not in Australia: it is the beautifully restored Grand Opera House in Wellington, New Zealand. 

Frank Van Straten 2007