'I was lucky in getting engaged by a well-known architect, but found he was most unprofessional - being an agent for Macfarlane's Castings and plate glass. Naturally every building had these materials freely used in them. The present expanse of plate glass shop fronts in Adderley (Street) is greatly due to old Charlie Freeman, the Architect, and a well known figure in those days, walking the streets in shirt-sleeves with his coat over his arm on hot days' (COPE CHRISTIE 1944:1). Freeman was born in Prestbury, Gloucestershire, England and was apprenticed for four years to George Clarke, an architect and builder at Wotton Haven near Warwick in England. He worked in Cheltenham and in Warwick for several years and supervised the erection of St Mark's Church in Cheltenham which had been designed by one Middleton. Freeman also apparently designed St Mark's Parsonage and several villas on Bay's Hill in Cheltenham. He arrived in Natal about 1863 to take up a position with the Government in Pietermaritzburg, supervising the erection of the Law Courts and Government House. He also apparently designed the Government Buildings in Durban and several bridges in Natal, spending about eight years in Natal before leaving for health reasons. He apparently intended returning to England when a job with the PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT in Cape Town was advertised and he was appointed draughtsman and surveyor (temporary) under the Chief Inspector of Public Works in December 1871. Picton-Seymour points out (DSAB IV:166-7) that Freeman never became a member of an architectural institution nor did he join any architectural society. His initial training with an architect/builder seems to have led him to adopt an architect/builder stance in his professional life. Freeman's most important work was his design for the new Houses of Parliament in Cape Town, a full account of which see Radford (1979:237-8). Freeman was one of seven competitors, and the only colonial, for the new building and in November 1874 he was announced the winner. His subsequent dismissal from this position in February 1876 led to the case being led before a select committee. The ensuing discussion centred on both unrealistic initial costs and general lack of experience in handling the commission by all involved. Freeman was not re-appointed architect and building was resumed only in 1879, the job being taken over by HS GREAVES. Freeman left the PWD in 1876 and went into practice on his own account. Wendland (SALQB Dec 1967:53-4) pointed out that Freeman's career did not suffer as a result of the publicity surrounding his dismissal. He went on to execute a great number of works, including most of Victorian Adderley Street. AG HOWARD remarked 'from 1876 his name became well-known in the town, in fact at first he had the field to himself' (SAAE&S Jnl Aug 1907:196). Freeman apparently employed a large staff once his business was established and, as already noted, he became an agent for MacFarlane's Castings and set up business in Cape Town as 'Freeman & Co' in 1894 dealing in hardware. His business premises in Strand Street were built in about 1902-1903 after his amalgamation with Thomas Ross. The Architect and Builder (May 1918:343) shows a large, five-storeyed building with a steeply pitched roof surmounted by sky-writing in cast iron advertising his wares and the building is comparatively free of surface decoration, representing a later trend in his work. Freeman was also a director of the Green Point Tramway Co. His vigorous practice and his flamboyant and eccentric personality was well-known. The builder Benning recorded that Freeman was known to be fond of pulling down yesterday's work, his eccentricity being that he freely paid for such rectifications. Freeman died at his home Thornhill, Green Point, Cape Town. (Juta's CT dir 1902; SAB Dec 1932:11, 13: Reminiscences by a pioneer builder, A Benning; SALQLB Dec 1967:51-59 by W Wendland; Day & De Wet Gift, UCT Libr) All truncated references not fully cited in 'References' are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon. List of projects With photographs
 With notes
Attwell and Co, alterations: 1876. Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Bank of Africa: 1892. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Baptist Church: 1882. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Bloemfontein Hotel (Masonic): 1904. Bloemfontein, Free State - Architect
| Darter's Booksellers: c1876. Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect *
| Erinville: c1880. Rondebosch, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Findlay and Co: c1876. Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Freeman & Co Bldg: 1902. Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Gaol: c1872. Beaufort West, Western Cape - Architect
| Garlick's Bldg: 1876. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Garlick's Department Store: 1893. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| General Post Office: c1872. Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Grand Hotel - First: 1894. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| House Freeman: Thornhill House: c1901. Green Point, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| JC Smith & Co: c1876. Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Lady Grey Bridge for PWD: c1871. Lady Grey, Eastern Cape - Architect
| Magistrate's Court: c1890. Makhanda (Grahamstown), Eastern Cape - Architect
| Metropolitan Methodist Church: 1876. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk: 1826 : 1890-1891. Durbanville, Western Cape - Architect
| Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk: 1860 : 1899. Malmesbury, Western Cape - Architect 1899
| Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk: 1898. Sutherland, Northern Cape - Architect
| Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk: 1896-1899. Worcester, Western Cape - Architect
| Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk - Second: 1892 : 1919. Beaufort West, Western Cape - Contractor
| Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk Tower: 1877. Malmesbury, Western Cape - Architect
| Parker Wood Building - First: 1895. Johannesburg, Gauteng - Architect
| Parliament Building: 1874. Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Post Office: c1871. Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape - Design Architect
| Round Church - St John's: 1878. Sea Point, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Sacred Heart Convent and School: 1877. Green Point, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| St Dominic's Catholic Church: 1877. Wynberg, Western Cape - Architect
| St John's Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk - the Round Church: 1878. Sea Point, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| St Peter's Church, prepared design for addition of transepts and a steeple: 1863. Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal - Architect
| Standard Bank: 1881 : 1897 : 1919. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Stuttaford's Bldg, heightened: c1894. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Stuttaford's Building: 1897 : 1903 : 1929. Johannesburg, Gauteng - Architect
| Supreme Court Building: 1865-1875. Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal - Contractor
| Theatre Royal, Burg St, rebuilt: 1874. Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
| Wesleyan Church: 1876. Stellenbosch, Western Cape - Architect
| YMCA and Tramway Co Building: 1883. Cape Town, Western Cape - Architect
|
Books citing FREEMAN Coates, Peter Ralph. 1976. Track and trackless : omnibuses and trams in the Western Cape. Cape Town: Struik. pp
| CPIA Committee. 1983. The Buildings of Cape Town 1983 : Phase Two. Volume Three : Catalogue and Classification. Cape Town: Cape Provincial Institute of Architects. pp
| Fransen, Hans. 2004. The old buildings of the Cape. A survey of extant architecture from before c1910 in the area of Cape Town - Calvinia - Colesberg - Uitenhage. Johannesburg & Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers. pp 36, 40, 41, 52, 57, 76, 127, 303, 314, 322, 509, 543, 549, 563
| HSRC. 1981. Dictionary of South African Biography Volume IV. Pretoria: Butterworth & Co (SA) for Human Sciences Research Council. pp 166
| Kearney, Brian. 1973. Architecture in Natal from 1824-1893. Cape Town: Balkema. pp 22
| Kesting, DP. 1978. Afrikaans Protestantse kerkbou : erfenis en uitdaging. Port Elizabeth: Unpublished PhD. pp
| Martin, Desmond. 2007. Walking Long Street. Cape Town: Struik. pp 32, 60
| Menache, Philippe & David, Darryl Earl. 2012. A Platteland Pilgrimage : 102 country churches of South Africa
. South Africa: Booktown Richmond Press. pp 12
| Menache, Philippe & Wolff, Helmut. 2021. die NG Kerk, ons erfenis : 'n fotoversameling van die argitektoniese skatte van 139 NG kerke in SA. Not identified: Not identified. pp 11, 62, 102, 123, 124
| Parker, Howard. 2015. John Parker, 1866-1921 : architect and mayor of Cape Town. Wellington, New Zealand: Howard Parker. pp 6
| Picton-Seymour, Désirée. 1977. Victorian Buildings in South Africa. Cape Town: AA Balkema. pp 20, 27, 33, 38, 46-54, 57-58, 61-63, 65-66, 68, 70-73, 79, 81, 85, 90-91, 131, 139, 143, 146-147, 149, 164-166, 169, 171-173, 237, 254-255, 269, 298, 346, 347-349, 355, 369, 371
| Picton-Seymour, Désirée. 1989. Historical Buildings in South Africa. Cape Town: Struikhof Publishers. pp 17-18, 20, 22, 25, 54, 92-93, 134, 139, 142
| Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1972. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 5 For-Hun. Cape Town: Nasou. pp 33
| Radford, D. 1979. The architecture of the Western Cape, 1838-1901. A study of the impact of Victorian aesthetics and technology on South African architecture. Johannesburg: Unpublished Ph.D thesis. Dept of Arch. University of the Witwatersrand. pp
| Rennie, John for CPIA. 1978. The Buildings of Central Cape Town 1978. Volume Two : Catalogue. Cape Town: Cape Provincial Institute of Architects. pp
| van der Waal, Gerhard-Mark. 1987. From Mining Camp to Metropolis - The buildings of Johannesburg 1886-1940. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. pp 78 ill
| Walker, Michael. 2012. Early architects of Cape Town and their buildings (1820 - 1926) with postcard illustrations, The. St James: Michael Walker. pp 19-22
| Walker, Michael. 2015. Old hotels of Cape Town (1890-1911), The : A history long forgotten, seldom told. St James: Published Privately. pp 20, 40, 42, 69, 76
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