Bartley received lessons in drawing, drafting, music, calculation, languages, classics and mathematics.
Edward received a solid grounding in drawing, drafting, music and calculation, in addition to the languages, classics and mathematics.
After two years, Edward Bartley left Jersey having acquired some work experience and the sale-able skills of building and carpentry.
Bartley made the decision to leave Jersey due to the flat local economy which had resulted in no further public building projects.
In June 1854, Edward Bartley departed from London with his older brother Robert and his family with their sights set on New Zealand.
Having made their plans to leave Jersey one year prior to their departure, the Bartley brothers would have felt their decision a timely one.
In March of that same year, conditions in Europe had begun to deteriorate, leading ultimately to Britain declaring war against the Russian Empire.
In some weathers this could be a hazardous and nerve-wracking end to a long sea journey, especially so for parents of young children who had been penned up for several months.
Bartley himself recorded his reminiscences of his first experience of this new environment: "We landed on a Thursday and commenced work on the following Monday, our first employer being A.
Bartley noted the extent of freedom allowed to the prisoners laboring on the site and their enterprise, particularly a shoemaker who undertook repairs to the worker's boots, for which payment was lodged with the authorities for collection at the completion of his term of detention.
Allowances were made, however, for men to substitute service in volunteer companies in satisfaction of their militia duties and a great number did so, enabling a continuation of business and trade while satisfying their obligations to the nation's defence.
By this time the American Civil War was underway and the growing international tensions made it difficult for the Governor to press his case for further resources.
Even the discovery of gold in Otago had not yet had an economic impact on the town, although wealth and influence were already moving inexorably southwards.
In 1862 Edward was now foreman for Mr Matthews and was engaged with his employer in demolishing the original St Paul's Anglican Church in Emily Place.
Active in the Taranaki, he returned to Auckland and set about organising recruitment, as well as supervising the provision of more satisfactory roads, so essential for improving troop movement to the Waikato.
Today it is difficult to appreciate the extent of the shock and grieving which affected Auckland when news came of the wreck of HMS Orpheus on 7 February.
A subscription was immediately taken up in the town for the relief of personal hardship occasioned by the tragedy and the newspapers of the day gave considerable coverage to the event and its aftermath.
In his memoirs Edward wrote: "I remember the wreck of the HMS Orpheus 7 February 1863, which took place on the Manukau Bar.
Three officers succeeded in reaching the shore on a plank of teak from the wreck, and from this I made for them several mementoes such as picture frames, paper knives ... " It was over the winter of 1863 that a war mentality began to characterise the Auckland community.
Eleven tradesmen were required to return to complete the Fort Britomart stores, as capacity was fast being outstripped by demand.
The goldfields of the south continued to pull people away to those areas of the country with more promise of wealth and few "native" concerns.
February 1870 saw Edward moving to a greater degree of independence with the lease of offices in Albert Street, on his own behalf.
On the evening of 9 April 1870 Edward laid aside commerce to pursue one of his cultural interests at the offices of Henry Partington in Queen Street.
Such a philosophy was widely held, not just within his Masonic connections, but also as a virtue of the Victorian attitudes of service and charity to one's community.
He firmly believed it was the responsibility of the community to provide an opportunity for even the poorest to pass to highest qualification in his chosen trade or profession.
The Devonport Free Reading Room was opened "to provide facilities for acquiring and disseminating literary and scientific knowledge".
Edward was to demonstrate his microscope at this venue often, along with lectures and participation in various scientific societies and organisations held in the library or council chambers of an evening.
The first meeting of subscribers was held in 1895 and the school was opened in Rutland Street by Sir Maurice O'Rork on 10 June 1895.
Only 9 of their children would survive through til adulthood: Edward was the great-uncle of Illustrator Harry Rountree, the son of his niece by his elder brother Robert, Julia Bartley.
[5] His obituary appeared in the Taranaki Daily News on 31 May 1919: "Mr. Edward Bartley, architect, aged 81 years, was found dead in bed on Wednesday.