'Maadi' - Early cottages

'Maadi' is located in Charles Street, one of the oldest subdivisions in Springwood.  Originally part of the Hon. Charles Moore's extensive land holding - where his mountain home 'Moorecourt' was constructed - Charles Street is one of the prettiest and most sought after locations in Springwood lined, as it is, with mature crepe myrtle trees and other period cottages. 

Built c1918/1919, the weatherboard cottage has had limited owners.  Mary Price, the first, purchased the land from real estate agent Mr Godfrey and erected the cottage shortly after.  (Mary's name has been immortalised on the reverse side of the timber mantle in the lounge room)  The Acland family were the next owners until Miss Irene Acland sold the cottage to the present owner and moved into a retirement village approximately 20 years ago.  Period features like timber lined walls, high ceilings and six inch floorboards remain unchanged in the original cottage.  The present owners erected an addition to the rear of the property in 1994.

The name of the cottage is somewhat obscure however given the age of its construction it is feasible to suggest that it has some connection to World War One because Maadi - in Egypt - was the site of the Australian Light Horse camp.  

Interesting facts: Maadi (sometimes spelled Ma'adi) is the name of one of the first fully excavated predynastic sites in Egypt and the site for Maadi culture.  It is located on a rocky ridge next to the Nile River floodplain.


Pamela Smith

Cottages - Ailsa

Owned or rented by Miss N. Hayes in 1942.  Miss Hayes was involved with the CWA Younger Set.

Cottages - Heatherbrae Hawkesbury Road Winmalee (formerly North Springwood)

Two views of Heatherbrae

Recently an approach was made to the Springwood Historical Society for their views on the de-listing of the above property from Blue Mountains City Councils Heritage Register.  Unfortunately, the society decided not to take the matter further i.e. advocating for retention of the property on the said list given its cultural and historic significance.

The land on which Heatherbrae was built was once owned by Sir Henry Parkes who reputedly traded it off to pay a debt owed to wine and spirit merchant, Mr William Fesq. In 1889 the business premises of Fesq was located at 257 George Street, Sydney.[1]  Fesq had succeeded his father and continued with the wine and spirit business until he retired in 1911.  He died in 1919.[2] Fesq retained ownership of the property some years before he built the sandstone and weatherboard cottage that eventually became known as Heatherbrae, 1893/94.[3]  In 1907 the cottage was sold to William Wallace, a police sergeant, and it was Wallace that gave the home the name that it retains until this present day.  However, Wallace may have been leasing the property prior to that time because his name appeared on the electoral roll for 1903 and he was a member of the local Progress Association 1905-06.

George McKillop of Buddah Station Narromine purchased the property in 1908.  McKillop, who died in 1934, was related to Sister Mary McKillop and the Boland family of Springwood.  Various members of the family of graziers and horticulturalists operated Buddah until it was sold in 1974.[4]  Royden and Norman McKillop were his sons.   Heatherbrae was sold to a Mr. R. McDonald in 1915 and in 1918 to Edward Augustus Beeby who was a Sydney solicitor.  Beeby was secretary of the Starr Bowkett Society and the family ran an electrical business in Springwood.  In 1927, the cottage was sold to Aaron Webb who was born in Forbes in 1886. There is some evidence to suggest the cottage accepted guests and that the proprietor, thought to be Webb, met the trains to pick up his guests.[5]

William M. Reid purchased the property in 1930. An article that appeared in the Australian Women’s Weekly stated that Reid was a softgoods manufacturer.  The couple were still living at Heatherbrae some thirty years later when this article was published.[6]  According to the article William and wife Constance were globetrotters extraordinaire who had visited every country in the world except for ‘Formosa, Russia and the continent of South America.’[7]  William Reid had been around the world forty times while Constance had twenty eight around the world trips under her belt.  Both husband and wife were proficient in several languages including French, Italian and Spanish and could make themselves known in Portuguese, Dutch, German and Norwegian.[8]  As a consequence Heatherbrae contained a unique assortment of treasures collected on their trips including a ‘polar bear skin and stuffed crocodile,’ a ‘dagger made from a human thighbone,’ ‘a Scottish whisky horn...and a brass gong from China.’[9]  The couple had travelled in cargo ships and luxury liners and considered the most important requirement for any traveller was the need to be adaptable to any situation and to eat the local food.

A newspaper article indicated that the Reids were affable hosts and in their mountain home entertained on a somewhat grand scale.  In1932 they entertained a large gathering of members of the English Speaking Union.[10]  Guests played tennis on Heatherbrae’s courts or amused themselves ‘inspecting the curios’ their hosts had collected from a trip to Tahiti.  The English Speaking Union was an organisation founded by Sir Evelyn Wrench after the First World War.[11] The object of the Union was to promote human achievement and understanding through education throughout the world.[12]  It is of interest to note that in 1941, while on a visit to Australia, Sir Evelyn was kidnapped in Sydney by a group who passed themselves off as journalists employed by the Australian Broadcasting Commission.[13]  Fortunately, he came to no harm after being taken and left at a crematorium.  Sir Evelyn implied that, in retrospect, he thought they could have been members of the ‘fifth column’ who wanted to prevent him broadcasting a speech on the radio station 2FC.[14]  Wrench, interestingly, had been blacklisted by the Germans for opinions expressed about Hitler when he visited the United States, thus his kidnapping could have been attributed to any one of several political groups. A luncheon meeting of the Union in Sydney in 1940 included people of note such as Sir Henry Braddon, Sir Kelso King, Dr. Ben Edye, James Moyes and Harry Twigden.

The Reids hospitality also extended to their neighbours in North Springwood. The present owner is thought to be M/s Bronwyn Hickey and family.

Despite a reduction to the original land holding of Parkes and alterations to the original house, it is unfortunate that Blue Mountains City Council does not pay due respect to Heatherbrae and the evolving character of this heritage listed item.  The listing should be retained and represent the way that the Springwood district has progressed since the 1880s.

Pamela Smith

 

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[1] Sydney Morning Herald, 12.7.1889, p. 4.

[2] Sydney Morning Herald, 12.5.1919, p. 8.

[3] Nepean Times,18.11.1893.

[4] Noel Butlin Archive Centre, McKillop and Sons, 1849-2005, Ref. Code AU NBAC Z376.

[5] Sydney Morning Herald, 19.10.1929, p. 28.

[6] Australian Women’s Weekly, 13.12.1961, p. 15.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Sydney Morning Herald, 1.11.1932, p. 4.

[11] The English Speaking Union, How ESU Began, www.esu.org.au/?fbk_module_id=cms&fbk_page_id...,

   cached, accessed 17.9.2011.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Examiner (Launceston), 25.7.1941, p. 1.

[14] Ibid.

Cottages - Cloyne Lodge/Phoenix Lodge/Coomassie House & Knock-y-Theina

Phoenix Lodge taken from what is now Coomassie Avenue.
Members of the Chapman family seated on the verandah.
 Statues in the right of the photograph were moved to
the smaller cottage & only recently re-discovered.

Originally built as gardeners cottage and known as
Phoenix LOodge & Knock-y-Theina

Cloyne Lodge, situated in Grose Road Faulconbridge, burnt down in 1884.  The house was built on a portion of the land owned by city Alderman, Michael Nason Chapman, sometime prior to 1884.  The house was re-built by Chapman and renamed Phoenix Lodge for the insurance company that honoured the fire damage claim. Some years later the house was given the name Coomassie House while the name Phoenix Lodge was attached to the small cottage – built originally for the gardener – diagonally across the road.  The smaller cottage had been known as Knock-y-Theina.

Michael Nason Chapman’s grandson – of the same name – moved into the smaller cottage following financial difficulties.  Both cottages, built of local sandstone, are still in existence. 
Pamela Smith  

 

Cottages - Chatsworth

Chatsworth.  Seated on verandah are Mr & Mrs J.D. Ewens,
John Noake, Ruth Conway, Miss Humphries, Henry John Noble
& wife, Reg Noble, Harold Noble, Ruth Waterhouse (nee Noble)
daughter of Harold Noble, granddaughter of Henry John Noble,
great grand-daughter of John Daniel Ewens. 

The cottage known as Chatsworth was built by John Daniel Ewens c1898/99.  The residence was located on the main Western Highway just west of Springwood in that area of land now occupied by Buttenshaw Park.  The photograph illustrates that it was a substantial home with wide front and side verandahs.  Unfortunately, the house burnt down in 1908.

Not a great deal is known about the origins of John Daniel Ewens, however, a birth which appeared in the registers of St Martins in the Field Middlesex England in 1838 for John Daniel Ewens, may have referred to this gentleman.[1]  In 1871, when Ewens was fined for non-attendance of jury duty, his occupation was listed as writing clerk.[2]  In 1874 he was elected as auditor for Petersham borough and eleven years later, he was elected at auditor for Ashfield.[3]  Ewens was the assistant Council clerk for Newtown for a period of two years until resigning in 1876.[4]  During this time his occupation was variously listed as accountant and boot manufacturer.

He is known to have been involved with several other gentlemen in the Esperance Gold Mining Company which was wound up in 1875.[5]  In 1884, he appeared before Hon. James Martin Justice of the Supreme Court and T.W. Garrett (LS).  He and Alfred Tompsitt (Ewens & Tompsitt boot importers) were appealing for the proceeds of a deceased estate for monies owing to their company.[6] 

In 1886 the Rev. J.C. Corlette assisted by Rev Canon Kemmis vicar of St Mark’s Church Darling Point officiated at the marriage of Henry John Noble of Sydney to Ruth Eunice second daughter of Mr and Mrs John Daniel Ewens of Montrose Ashfield.[7]  Noble was the elder brother of Montague Alfred Noble (1873-1940) who had a brilliant cricketing career.  His nick-name was Mary Ann and he captained Australia in 15 test matches. 

The Ewens family were still in possession of Chatsworth until 1905 when a Mrs Wheeler took over the rental of the property to run as a boarding house. It would seem that Mrs. Wheeler may have purchased the property from Ewens in 1906.  Unfortunately, a house fire destroyed the residence in less than two hours, in 1908, despite the best efforts of local residents.  A local newspaper report at the time stated that the stone walls were all that was left of Chatsworth.[8]

A 1907 tourist guide suggested that the establishment of Mrs. Maude Wheeler never failed to attract attention nestling, as it did, in a cluster of old trees and neatly kept gardens.  Tennis courts, a large playground, a croquet lawn and orchards completed the pleasant ‘home-like picture.’  Chatsworth, the guide stated, served an excellent cuisine, and its airy bedrooms added to the other appointments which were all first-class.  In a short time Mrs. Wheeler had gained the reputation of being a most cheerful and obliging hostess.[9]

Fortunately the house was insured with Australian Mutual Fire Society for about £1100.[10] 

Pamela Smith 

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[1] Ancestry.com, Birth records.

[2] Empire, 20.12.1871, p. 2.

[3] Sydney Morning Herald 9.2.1874 & 7.2.1885.

[4] Newtown Project, http://www.sydneyarchives.info, Mr. John Daniel Ewens, accessed June 2011.

[5] Sydney Morning Herald, 21.8.1875, p. 10.

[6] Ibid, 28.11.1884, p. 2.

[7] Ibid, 17.7.1886, p. 1.

[8] Nepean Times, 18.1.1908.

[9] BMCC vertical files.

[10] Nepean Times, 18.1.1908.

See also The Making of a Mountain Community, A Biographical Dictionary of the Springwood District

Cottages - Aldgate House

The weatherboard dwelling began life as Egroeg and later became Rothesay Farm before the name was changed to Aldgate House.   The cottage, which still stands in Macquarie Road, was built in the 1930s to a Varney Parkes (son of Sir Henry) design. 

Originally, the land upon which it stands formed part of the Fels property before it was sub-divided by Dora Fels in the 1920s.  Albert Thompson, land developer, purchased the portion where Aldgate house now stands but by the 1930s David and Florence Drake were the owners.  The Drake family built Egroeg (George backwards) which is thought to have been named for their son. 
Drake only owned the property for a couple of years because Richard Bowles was the owner by1933.  Bowles altered the name of the home to Rothesay Farm, which perhaps better reflected its use as a farm style guesthouse.  The situation remained unaltered until 1942, when the residence became a holiday home for children from the far west.

Its use changed again in 1989, when it was opened as an art/craft gallery by Barbara Ryder and Anne Marvell. The name was altered by the new proprietors to Aldgate House.  Aldgate is thought to have been their previous home in South Australia. 

Pamela Smith

Ref: Meryl Lees & research material of author

       Photograph by courtesy of BMCC Image library, photographer Murray Views, Gympie Qld.  

Cottages - "Aberfeldy"

Aberfeldy is said to mean ‘over the fields’ in the Scottish language however a search of The Dictionary of the Scots language failed to corroborate that assumption. 

Given that the cottage was built by Henry Charles Lennox Anderson c1890, it is much more likely that the origin came from the small market town of the same name located in the Highlands of Scotland.  Anderson was said to have been granted the 50 acre property - located in the vicinity of present-day Whitecross Road Winmalee - for services rendered in the Sudan War.  That must be taken at face value however because the entry for him in the Australian Dictionary of Biography does not mention any war service.

In 1906 Aberfeldy was rented by a Mr. Cook who is thought to have been the post-man.  Henry Goddard purchased the cottage in 1911.  The Goddard family took over the postal duties, and by 1925/26 Cecil Goddard is listed as the owner of the cottage on the electoral rolls for the district.

Aberfeldy remained in the ownership of the Goddard family until after World War Two.

Ref:

Springwood Historical Society Bulletin Newsletter No. 1. 
See post on Henry Charles Lennox Anderson