Source:
The Aldine centennial history of New South Wales illustrated / W. Frederic Morrison Morrison, W. Frederic Sydney. The Aldine Publishing Company, 1888
Details:
FREDERICK B. MENKENS, F.I.A., N.S.W., Architect and Surveyor, was born in 1855 at Oldenburg, Germany, and received his early education in that place. In accordance with the rules in Germany, Mr. Menkens worked for five periods, each of six months, at different branches of the building trade to practically qualify himself for his profession. During the intervening periods between each half-year he studied at the building academies of Nienburg and Holzminden, and after five years of such education, entered the Royal Polytechnicum at Hanover. He studied at this institution for four years, at the expiration of which he received his diploma. For six months he travelled in the company of professors and students to the principal places of Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, and Milan (Italy), and collected sketches of architectural monuments. He afterwards went to England to add to his knowledge, and in 1878 arrived in Adelaide. He visited Melbourne, Sandhurst, and Echuca, made a short tour through Tasmania and New South Wales, and in about the year 1882 settled in Newcastle, and commenced the practice of his profession. In this he has been successful, and has obtained more than an ordinary share of local support. He is a member of St. George s Lodge, E.C., 1845, and a patron of all athletic sports
