wardell was born in england in 1824 and became a distinguished designer of churches in his homeland before he moved to melbourne in 1857. here, in his position as inspector general of public works in victoria, he prepared designs for many public buildings including st paul's cathedral, the melbourne mint and customs house, and the english scottish and australian bank in collins st melbourne. wardell later moved to sydney where he worked as an architect for the remainder of his life. wardell died in 1899. wardell designed st mary's cathedral, sydney as well as st johns college at the university of sydney. whilst living in nsw he was commissioned to design a number of bank buildings for then e.s.& a bank. berry museum is the only surviving bank building of a group of 5 suburban and regional branches of the e.s. & a bank in nsw designed by william wilkinson wardell with a north european architectural influence.