Walter Bagot
Illustration — Barr Smith Library Walter Hervey Bagot (17 March 1880 – 27 July 1963) was a South Australian architect. He was one of the last great proponents of the traditional school of South Australian architecture. He founded Woods & Bagot in 1905.
Also recorded as Walter Hervey Bagot
Walter Bagot

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- Born
- 1880 · North Adelaide.
- Died
- 1963
- Nationality
- Australia
- Occupation
- architect
- Education
- King's College London
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Illustration — Barr Smith Library Walter Hervey Bagot (17 March 1880 – 27 July 1963) was a South Australian architect. He was one of the last great proponents of the traditional school of South Australian architecture. He founded Woods & Bagot in 1905.
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Walter Bagot (1880–1963) was an architect, of Australian nationality. The architect was born in North Adelaide. Walter Bagot was educated at King's College London.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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wikidata · Q7964227
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Early life and education
Early life and education
• Illustration — Bonython Hall • Illustration — Bonython Hall Bagot was born in North Adelaide, the son of pastoralist John Bagot MHA, and Lucy Josephine Ayers; his grandfathers were Charles Hervey Bagot and Sir Henry Ayers He was educated at the Collegiate School of St Peter. After serving an apprenticeship with the architect Edward John Woods in Adelaide for four years, in 1902 Bagot went to England where he studied architecture at King's College London. He won the silver medal of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters, and in 1904 was admitted as an associate member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Career
Career
Bagot returned to Adelaide in 1905, and was taken into partnership with Woods, forming Woods & Bagot. The practice grew to include other prominent architects as members over time, including Louis Laybourne-Smith in 1917, Herbert Jory in 1915, and James Campbell Irwin in 1932. Bagot preferred classical architecture and despised Modernism. He was appointed architect for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide in 1905, and architect in charge of St Peter's Cathedral in 1907, remaining in that position until 1945. He was architect for the University of Adelaide from 1910 until 1945.
Selected works
Selected works
Bagot's work includes: • Chapel of the Convent of Mercy (1920) • Additions to St Francis Xavier's Cathedral (1922) • War Memorial (1924 design destroyed by fire; contributed to final design built 1931.) • Waite Institute Building (1927) • Elder Smith & Co. Ltd (1929) • Union Buildings (1929 and 1937) • Barr Smith Library (1932) • Bonython Hall (1936)
Family and personal life
Family and personal life
Woods bought the McMinn-designed Waterhouse House on North Terrace in 1906, selling it in 1926. On 18 November 1908 at St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide, he married Josephine Margaret Barritt (1889 – 7 June 1946), a granddaughter of Joseph Barritt. They lived at "Forest Lodge", a house near Aldgate built by Bagot's father, John Bagot. The couple had three children, one being John Hervey Bagot (1910–2008), a prominent lawyer.
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Berry, Dean W. Walter Hervey Bagot (1880–1963). 1979.
- 2.Parr, S. R. Sir Henry Ayers (1821–1897). 3. 1969.
- 3.Architect Details: Harrold Herbert (Herbert). Architects of South Australia.
- 4.University of South Australia. Architect Details: Bagot, Walter Hervey. Architects of South Australia.
- 5.Convent of Mercy. Adelaidepedia. 22 November 1922.
- 6.Union Building Group. City of Adelaide.
- 7.City of Adelaide. Assessment of heritage value: Union Building Group, Adelaide University. 25 July 2002.
- 8.Josephine Margaret Barritt, www.austlit.edu.au
- 9.John Hervey Bagot, 1910–2008.
References
Citations
References
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Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q7964227: Walter BagotWikimedia Foundation
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This entry is compiled from 3 catalogued sources across 3 independent registers. The registers consulted are Wellcome Collection, Wikipedia and Wikimedia Foundation. Every statement above is held against the register that stated it; where the registers are silent, the entry is silent.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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