Thomas Forrester had trained in Scotland as a plasterer before emigrating to Dunedin in 1861, where he was a draughtsman for the firm of Mason and Clayton. In the early 1870s Forrester moved to Oamaru, which was destined to be one of the colony's leading provincial centres. Here he became Secretary and Inspector of Works for the Oamaru Harbour Board. In 1872 he established, with pioneer businessman John Lemon, a prodigious and highly successful architectural partnership that took advantage of the influential circle of business contacts both men enjoyed through their positions on the Board. Forrester, who was chiefly responsible for the firm's architectural achievements, was a capable architect, and designed a wide variety of building types in a surprising range of styles, and produced a handful of accomplished buildings. Forrester and Lemon were far from major architects, but they did make an outstanding contribution to the architecture of their region. Their greatest achievement was the virtual creation of the Oamaru townscape during the key period of the town's growth and prosperity. In the first chapter there is a biographical account of Thomas Forrester and John Lemon, outlining their careers and varied activities, alongside a description of the development of Oamaru itself. In the second chapter the practice's commercial work is examined, in particular its importance to the development of streetscape in the town. In the third chapter public buildings, churches and schools -Forrester and Lemon's monuments to civic pride,-are assessed. In the fourth and fifth chapters their industrial and domestic architecture is discussed, and placed in its context within the work of the practice. Throughout the study the focus is on Forrester's adaptation of Victorian architectural models to meet the needs of the colonial community. Maps and photographs provide evidence of Forrester and Lemon's impact on the town, a list of buildings tabulates their work, and a list of plans documents the material surviving from the firm.