2021 Selden Society lecture-Richard Kirk on Merthyr House-the home of Sir Samuel Griffith

Named after Griffith’s Welsh birthplace of Merthyr Tydfil, Merthyr House was designed and built in 1880 by architect George Cowlishaw. This grand riverfront estate in Brisbane’s New Farm suburb was lavishly furnished with Chippendale furniture and Italian objets d’art, and included a high-ceilinged ballroom at its centre in which Sir Samuel and Lady Julia Griffith held their official and social engagements.
Architect Richard Kirk will explore Griffith’s life through the lens of his New Farm home, and tell Merthyr House’s story-emblematic of the evolution of Brisbane, from colonial outpost to its emergence today as a future Olympic city.