John Loughborough Pearson and the Lady Hamilton Gordon chapel (1893–94) : Gothic Revivalism and eclecticism at Ta’ Braxia Cemetery, Malta

Abstract

The subject of this contribution is the Lady Hamilton Gordon chapel at Ta’ Braxia Cemetery, Malta (1893–94), designed by the Victorian architect John Loughborough Pearson (1817– 97). Although Pearson’s ecclesiastical works in England, spanning an architectural career of over six decades, are well known, his memorial chapel in Malta, which together with St John’s Cathedral in Brisbane (1901–2009) constitute his only overseas works, has to date not been comprehensively researched. This contribution sheds light on the chapel’s historical origins, contextualising them within Pearson’s extensive corpus of Gothic Revival churches in England, while citing the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore and the basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna as potential architectural models. A closely knit familial network featuring Lady Hamilton Gordon’s brother, George Shaw Levefre, his brother-in-law Arthur Hamilton Gordon, and the architect John Loughborough Pearson was the catalyst for the commission, design, and execution of the Ta’ Braxia chapel. This Shorter Notice also challenges but does not resolve the traditional attribution of John Loughborough Pearson as the sole designer of the Ta’ Braxia chapel. As the chapel was designed a few years before Pearson’s death, it could well be the case that his son, Frank Pearson (1864–1947), played a leading role in its design. This argument is further buttressed by drawing upon architectural similarities between the Hamilton Gordon chapel and Frank Pearson’s St Matthew-in-the-City Church, Auckland (1902–04), completed a few years later.