Guido Schwartz

Guido Schwartz was born in Hamburg, Germany. He was articled to Theo Necker in 1871, worked as an assistant in offices in Hamburg, Wiesbaden, Frankfurt, Saarbrucken, and Stuttgart in Germany. He moved to New Zealand in 1879 to join his brother J H Otto Schwartz who was employed as an actuary for the Government Life Insurance Department, Otto later became the company secretary for Equitable Building Society. Both Otto and Guido were keen musicians who both later helped found the Wellington Orchestral Society.

Guido Schwartz worked in offices in Timaru and Christchurch, until he moved to Wellington about 1886. In 1897 Schwartz had premises in Lambton Quay with a private address of Hawker Street. He later moved to Lower Hutt, but kept his business premises in Lambton Quay.

Schwartz was proposed for membership of the RIBA in 1912 by fellow architects Alfred Atkins, Roger Bacon and Frederick de Jersey Clere. Other buildings by Schwartz on the WCC Heritage Inventory include 360 Lambton Quay, 149 Cuba Street, and a row of cottages at 2-8  Footscray Street, and a fine house at 23 Pat Lawlor Close and several Wellington hotels.

 

Sources:
Brodie, Antonia (ed), “Schwartz, George Guido, b. 1853”, Directory of British Architects, 1834-1914: Vol. 2 (L-Z), (British Architectural Library: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001)Kelly, Michael and Russell Murray, 2 Footscray Ave (unpublished report for Wellington City Council, April 17, 2007).
Mew, Geoff & Adrian Humphris. “Raupo to Deco: Wellington Styles and Architects 1840 – 1940” (Wellington: Steel Roberts Aotearoa, 2014) 
“Personal Matters”, Evening Post, 25 May 1926
“The Cyclopedia of New Zealand: Wellington Provincial District” (Wellington: The Cyclopedia Company Limited, 1897)
“The Equitable Building Society's Permanent Offices”, Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 192, 31 December 1886, Page 3