F and W Ferkins

F & W Ferkins, also known as the “Ferkins Brothers”, were builders, financiers, land speculators and developers who were active in Wellington in the early 20th century.  The company was established by brothers William Joseph and Frederick James, and operated from offices at Cuba Street, and later, from Ghuznee Street.  Frederick died in 1904, but his interest in the company appears to have transferred to his wife Anne (or Annie). Annie was listed as the company’s “administratrix” and was also the owner of the Brooklyn general store and post office in Brooklyn from at least 1893.

The business has an association with at least two local architects. The first was James Oliver Galbally (1881 – 1917) who designed over 120 buildings for the Ferkins Brothers in the period from 1902 – 1911. Galbally moved to Wanganui in 1911 to work as an independent architect, enlisted in the army in WWI and was killed at Messines in 1917. The other was architect George Lake Austin (c.1860 – 1909) who worked with F & W Ferkins from 1905 – 1908. Austin worked in Levin and Palmerston North in the early 20th century before moving to the Wellington suburb of Brooklyn in 1905. He was reported as being the honorary secretary for F & W Ferkins before his death in 1908.

Sources:

Evening Post, 17 April 1906; 5 July 1913
Free Lance, 8 October 1904
Mew, Geoff & Adrian Humphris. “Raupo to Deco: Wellington Styles and Architects 1840 – 1940” (Wellington: Steel Roberts Aotearoa, 2014)