Old subdivision map - 1896

Here is a great old subdivision map from the National Library.  Cambridge street is shown but the properties for sale are those shaded pink, which is the former quarry on Cascade street.  Interesting that Hampden street was called Tannery Road back then.

Glenmore Road Public School

The local history centre has an excellent little publication called "Paddington Heritage".  Written by local historian Libby Watters in 2004, it provides an overview of the 18 listed heritage sites within the Woollahra council part of Paddington.  One of those listings is for Glenmore Road Public School.  The following is an extract ...

"By the 1880s the population of Paddington has increased considerably since 1856 when the first public school, the Paddington School, had been built. A second public school was needed and in 1881 the Crown resumed about 2 acres of land in Glenmore Road for this purpose.  The resumed land was part of John Gurner's Duxford Estate.

While the Department of Public Instruction (later Education), established in 1880, had appointed its own architect William Kemp, it also commissioned private architects to design schools. The architects Charles Blackmann and Varney Parkes submitted plans to the Public Architect for the new Glenmore Road School and residence in March 1882. The builder G W Lander was awarded the tender and completed both buildings by July 1883. The school building was built as a single storey in brick with a slate roof. It accommodated 421 pupils and contained both the infants and primary departments. The first pupils commenced attendance at the school in August 1883. The building was originally adorned with a bell tower, which was later demolished.

John Carden was appointed the first headmaster of the school on 27th June 1883 and he took up residence in the new cottage on the grounds. The cottage was constructed as a single storey, brick dwelling with slate roof in the Victorian Italianate style. It consisted of five rooms with a kitchen. The cottage continued to be used as a residence until about the 1970s and it remains significant as one of the few existing school residences in the eastern suburbs.

The site of the school was sandy and the terrain uneven. It was not until some years after the school was opened that work began on upgrading the playground. When Cambridge Street was formed in 1886 a retaining wall had to be constructed to secure the landscape. Another retaining wall was built in 1895 between the school and the residence, as well as a new wash house and shed and an entrance gate and steps at Cambridge Street.

Continuing population growth in the area meant that a new building for the infants department was erected in 1902. The two storey building is brick with cement tile roof. Another wing was added in 1910 constructed of red face brick with stucco gable ends also with a cement tile roof. After 1896 the design and supervision of large school buildings was placed under the control of the Government Architect's Branch. It is believed that both the 1902 and 1910 buildings were designed under the direction of the Government Architect, Walter Vernon. Vernon was Government Architect from 1890 to 1911. Both buildings were designed in the Federation Arts and Crafts style.

By 1957 the condition of the old building had deteriorated to such an extent that the Department of Education considered demolition. In the end it was decided to save the building and major repairs and renovations were carried out. The building was under threat again in 1976 when it was damaged by fire. The building was repaired and renovated and a new roof installed. In 2002 tenders for a new library were called. Today there are 262 children enrolled at Glenmore Road Public School."

Paddington Variations

I sometimes trawl the auction websites for old pictures of Paddington as you never know what will pop up.  Here is a great view of Cambridge Street by Essie Nangle.  It is titled "Paddington Variations" and certainly shows the differing architectural styles of the east side of Cambridge Street between Westbury and Langlo.  There is no date on it and there isn't much biographical detail available on Essie.  She does have a couple of works in the State Library, they are views of Kings Cross from 1969 so I'd guess this is from somewhere around then.  This work sold at Bay East auctions in November 2009 for $120.  Not a bad buy and certainly one I would make if my house featured.

Paddington conservation area streetscape assessment - character area 7

Did you know you lived in character area 7?  Neither did I until I trekked down to the local history centre and started snooping around the materials they have tucked away down there.  This summary was done at some stage by a mob of consultants (Mayne-Wilson and Associates).  You can ask the centre for a full copy.  Some extracts below ...

Streets included:  Norfolk, Suffolk, Stafford, Duxford, Union, Broughton, Hopetoun, Gurner, Cambridge, and Central Glenmore Road.

Historical precis: This area was created from the break up of two of the 'gentry estates' granted to John Gurner and Thomas Broughton in 1843 and 1845 respectively. The western sector of the area was granted to George Savage in 1835. Gurner's estate was subdivided in 1885, Broughton's in 1898 and Savage's in 1906, well after the greater part of Paddington had already been built and its pattern of small plots and terrace housing established. Some housing is arranged to exploit sea breezes from and views to the Harbour. The width of the roadways, footpaths and rear lanes reflect the 'best planning practice' of the day.

Physical determinants: The area lies on the mid slopes of the sandstone ridge that tilts down toward the Harbour. Houses on the higher side of some streets have good views out to the harbour.

Street pattern: The awkward, irregular layout of the streets (compared with the gridlike layout of the adjacent Underwood estate) reflects the adjustments and compromises required when the grounds surrounding these mansions were split up and the need to accomodate the topography.

Perceptual qualities: Most streets have a quiet, spacious, enclosed, tree-lined quality, with short vistas and few views out. The housing stock is consistent in quality, and mostly intact, demonstrating the late Victorian character.

Fencing: Mainly cast iron palisade fencing, sometimes above a sandstone retaining wall. Occasional brick fencing.

Garden types: Typical small plots with random plantings of frangipani, hibiscus, palms, ferns and creepers.

Built forms and period: Typical terrace row housing of the 1890s, with substantial decoration. Remarkably intact. Some rows of single storey cottages in Victorian gothick and pseudo-Queen Anne Federation styles. A few modern intrusions of apartment blocks (but not on Cambridge st!). Terraces on the high side of the street have good views out.

Setback and enclosure elements: Nil setbacks in some streets. 1-2m in others. Enclosure good in some streets and interrupted in others. Tree canopies sometimes assist, but is often spotty.

Materials, colours and textures: Mostly rendered brickwork, painted white, rich cream, ochres, pinks or greys. Trims are in white, dark green, brown and black. Some later buildings have natural brick surfaces.

Sands Directory - 1894

We'll get there eventually.  Here is the Sands Directory from 1894:

Paddington pictures - 71 to 79 Cambridge

Here is an illustration of the row of cottages from 71 to 79 Cambridge Street contained in the book 'The Paddington Pictures' published by the Paddington Society in 2007.  The book contains a number of architectural illustrations by John Haycraft in both black and white and colour.  Paddington Library has a number of copies but if you are interested in adding it to your library I have even seen some second hand copies on ebay.

Cambridge street after-party ...

Another random nugget thrown up on the intrawebs when you google search for 'Cambridge Street Paddington'.  I wonder which house it was on Cambridge Street that was so very interesting ...

"Pit Boy, the third song in my ordering of the trilogy, is evocative and lyrical, a song at the edge of memory. I can only recall hearing Colin Dryden sing it ‘live’ twice. The first time was in the winter of 1970 at a Sydney Folk Song Club Saturday night after-party at a very interesting house in Cambridge Street Paddington. The second occasion was at the Sydney Folk Song Club a year or so later" 

Here is the link to the full article.

More corner store ...

As a follow-up to the illustration of the corner store up the north-west corner of Cambridge and Gurner here is an archive picture from the City of Sydney.  This was taken in January 1971 and is tagged by the council as being a restaurant (it is also tagged as being 'currently Wagner Art Gallery', which is across the road but hey that is close enough).

I can't make out any name but I guess it was the Spanish place La Bodega that I had read about earlier.  Rob Hillier has a good black and white photo of it in his book "Let's Buy a Terrace House" (published in 1968).  In the 1969 book, 'Paddington: an area of special architectural interest', the authors provide some brief notes in the back for a walking tour.  Back then the shops at the corner of Cambridge, Gurner, Cascade and Hargrave were described as "along here you will find a print shop, a boutique, a Spanish-style restaurant and a Mexican art shop, newsagent, interior decorator, most of these are in charmingly restored old shops and houses".

Following is that vista taken in July 2012 ...

More house names

As a follow-up to the house name post we have sleuthed a couple more to add to the list.  A birth announcement from the SMH on 13 July 1895 listed Peter Carter's wife giving birth to a son at "Arcadia", Cambridge Street Paddington. 

We checked the Sands Directory to see if we could see which house Peter Carter was living in and according to the 1896 edition he was at 81 Cambridge street.  Arcardia seems a pretty apt name for this house given that in the 1890s it would've commanded a vision of pastoralism in the form of the nearby dairy and the chinese market gardens!

The house was still referred to as "Arcadia" into the 1920s.  The funeral notice for August Danker from the 4 October 1922 SMH says that it "will leave his late residence, Arcadia, 81 Cambridge street, Paddington, this day (Wednesday) at 2.00pm for the Waverley Cemetary.  Masonic and other friends please accept this invitation."

The only trouble is that 81 Cambridge is now known as "Elgin".  Looks like the etched glass above the door isn't original (I never really trust a name that isn't set in the render, although "Langlo" shows that you can tamper with that as well). 

Another name to add to the list is for 48 Cambridge street, which was apparently known as "Perim" back in the day.  Given that 46 - 52 were all on the same title, and built by the same builder, it made sense that 48 would've had a name although I don't know why it wasn't listed with the others in the Sands Directory.  This name was sourced from the Paddington council rate books which also referenced the name occasionally.  For the record, the north west end of Cambridge street ran "Candelo" (46); "Perim" (48); "Golspie" (50) and "Kibworth" (52).  That is quite an international line up: Candelo is a municipality in Piedmont in Italy, 60 kms from Turin (okay, its also on the South Coast as we revealed earlier); Perim is an island at the entrance into the Red Sea; Golspie is a town in Scotland; and Kibworth is in Leicestershire, England.

Corner store sketches

Here is a Cedric Emanuel sketch of some corner stores, including the Gurner / Cambridge shop in the top right.  You can just make out the "La Bodega" name on the door.  Darcy's is still there although I cannot place the rest.

Charles Swinbourne

Charles Swinbourne lived in Cambridge Street in the 1890s.  From 1894 to 1898 he lived at 25 Cambridge Street and then he moved down the hill to take up residence at 55 Cambridge Street until the early 1900s.  The Sands Directory doesn't give much more information than that, apart from the fact that by 1900 he was listed as 'Swinbourne Charles, J.P." This last fact is confirmed by the SMH of 21 October 1899 listing Charles Swinbourne of 55 Cambridge Street Paddington in the roll of the magistrates of the colony of New South Wales that had been recently gazetted (JPs actually had a few powers and responsibilities back then and could sit in court for small matters unlike the "mere witnessing machines" they were to become by 1920s, that quote was a complaint of JPs back in the 20s).

In looking up Charles' details on Trove there is reference to a Charles Richard Swinbourne who was an Alderman of the Botany Municipality from 1888 to 1892 and Mayor from 1891 to 1892.  He was apparently instrumental in setting up the municipality and is likely the same Charles Swinbourne who took over the Banks Meadow Store in 1886 as referenced in the following advert from the SMH in June of that year.

Usually I would think that it was a coincidence but Charles Swinbourne is unique enough of a name to make me think that it could be the same person.  You can double check this in the Sands Directory because in addition to the suburb listing they have a section which then lists everyone alphabetically where I confirmed my hunch that there was only one Charles Swinbourne around town in those days, and it looks like he also had a wool scouring business in Botany as well.  Charles Swinbourne was also convinced to run for NSW parliament in 1898 for the seat of Botany.  You can actually find the results of all old elections online, here is the link to the 1898 Botany election.  There were 1,802 formal votes cast in the election, Swinbourne receiving 465 of them (26% of the vote).  It was first past the post back then and the Labor candidate won with only 568 votes.  Swinbourne, running as a National Federal, was hurt by the two independent federalist who combined for 248 votes between them, effectively costing the Federalists the seat.  The overall NSW election of 1898 was won by the Free Trade Party of Sir George Reid with only 33% of the vote.  The National Federalists received 43% of the state vote and the Labor Party 12%.  The National Federalists were led at the 1898 election by Edmund Barton (later to be Australia's 1st Prime Minister).  He was challenged by Reid to contest the seat of East Sydney, which Reid won.  Francis Clarke was then required to vacate his seat of Hastings so that Barton could win the by-election and return to Parliament.  Whilst campaigning as the National Federalists they were otherwise known as the Protectionists.  Anyway, whilst I am sure you will agree this political history lesson is an interesting sidebar when do we get back to Swinbourne?  Well, following is an extract account of a Swinbourne rally of July 1898 which gives some more details of his background.  He gives the impression that he is not a resident of the area but a businessman and large employer of labour in the district.  To me, this is consistent with him living on Cambridge Street in the fancy Langlo (or Glenelg as it was then known).  Also, given his aspirations for public office in 1898 it is conceivable that he decided to become a JP in 1899.

Woollahra Council Plaque Scheme

Woollahra Council has just launched a plaque scheme, kind of like the Blue Plaque scheme in London. Here is the link to Woollahra's.  Now the plan is for council to put up four plaques during 2013, and community nominations for the first round of plaques are due in February.  You can find the nomination forms on the council website.  

I would love to see some plaques on Cambridge Street so encourage everyone to put in an application.  There are quite a few notable residents that I have written about so far, the distinguished soldier, the famous poet, and the boxing champion to name but a few. There are even a few others I haven't got around to posting about yet, the diplomat, the Australian cricket captain and the accomplished artist (with work in every State Gallery and the NGA).  

40 to 48 Cambridge Street

Here is another Cedric Emanuel sketch of Cambridge Street, again taken from his Paddington Sketchbook published in 1975.  46 Cambridge has the enclosed balcony look which has since been reversed.

Sands Directory - 1892

And here is 1892:

Sands Directory - 1891

Some more Sands Directory screenshots.  Here is 1891:

White City - 1971

Here is an old photo from the City of Sydney archives.  It is pretty easy to search the archives but you have to be a little creative.  The above photo is described "Victor Trumper Oval: view across the oval to the harbour in the distance".  Hopefully the date is correct!  It is listed as January 1971. 

It is a pretty nice shot of White City, taken from an apartment building in Rushcutters Bay by the looks of it.  Whites apartment building on Glenmore rd is quite prominent.  Across the road from that, to the left of White City in the photo is what I understand was the old Firestone tyre factory.  The big green awning of White City is sporting a nice Ampol banner and then behind that you see Cambridge street snaking up the hill.

Michael Tuite

Michael Tuite is listed in the Sands Directories as living at 43 Cambridge Street in the early 1890s.  The directory also lists his occupation as "musketry instructor". Intrigued, I ran his details through internet and Trove and came up with some more of his story.

Tuite had quite the distinguished military career.  Attaining the rank of Warrant Officer, Tuite served with the NSW contingent that went to the Sudan in 1885 (which they spelt 'Soudan' back in the day, hence the patriotic naming of the lane just off Hampden Street).  Prior to joining the colonial forces, Tuite was originally part of the 12th Suffolk that was sent to Australasia in the 1850's. Regiment records indicate that he wasn't present in Ballarat for the Eureka Stockade but he was with the 12th when they were sent from Sydney to break up the Lambing Flat Riots in 1861.

The SMH of 18 December 1886 reports that the Governor of NSW presented Tuite with a medal "recently received from Her Majesty the Queen, for long and highly meritorious service (including the New Zealand war 1863-6, and the Afghan war 1870-1880). Mr. Tuite, besides being in possession of medals for the above campaigns, wears that for Egypt, and the order and medal presented to a selected soldier from each regiment serving in India at the time the Queen was proclaimed Empress of India, at Delhi, on 1st January 1877."

The Australian War Memorial also has in its collection a silver tray that was "presented by his worship the Mayor of Sydney Thomas Playfair Esq. To Segt. Major Michael Tuite for Distinguished Service rendered at the Soudan on the recommendation of Colonel Richardson Commandant NSW Contingent, 1885". He had also been mentioned in despatches for his service in the Sudan.

Frampton

This simple drawing appears in 'Paddington: An area of special architectural interest', published by the Paddington Society in 1969.  You can find it in the local history section at Paddo library if you are ever up there (the local history section is mostly available for reference not for loan unfortunately).  The accompanying text reads ...

"The later estates often had the terrace house dressed up into a most pretentious form. The example given here could, I suppose, be called Baronial, is dated 1889 and is called Framton [sic], it is 59 Cambridge Street.  Behind this extraordinary faceade lies the typical terrace house plan.  It is interesting to note the gothic pointed arch motif in the cast iron on the balustrade as this was contemporary with more completely gothic buildings.  In 1893 there were 3,774 dwelling houses in Paddington with an average of 4.8 persons per house"

Cambridge Street sketchbook ...

In their 1975 book, "Paddington Sketchbook", the artist Cedric Emanuel and author Patricia Thompson devote a couple of pages to Cambridge Street.  The illustrations come from that book as does the following extract:

"Paddington is surrounded on three sides by first-class parks and sportsgrounds.  Its own municipal council created, or helped to create, those to the north and east - Weigall Ground, White City, and Trumper Park. There was also Sydney Stadium which, until it was demolished to make way for the Eastern Suburbs railway, stood at the corner of Neild Avenue and New South Head Road.

In the early days, terra firm began at Lawson Street and lower Glenmore Road. Then New South Head Road was built and the land between came into use. A family named Ridley cultivated vegetable gardens very successfully. For a time Paddington was Sydney's main supplier of fresh vegetables. Later the land was leased to Chinese market gardeners, who were gradually dispossessed as the council pressed forward with its reclamation programme.

Near the foot of Cambridge Street, which runs into Glenmore Road behind White City, was a dairy. During the great storm of 1900 there was an abnormally high tide and the unfortunate cows were washed into the bay, bellowing mournfully."

'Sir' Robert Bear

The 1891 Sands Directory listing has "Bear Robert, bookseller" as the resident of 26 Cambridge Street. I thought that his occupation might provide a little help in tracking down some biographical information, and I was right. It turns out Robert Bear was reasonably well known back in the day, in an infamous way. His book shop was the first commercial outlet for radical literature and I've read that he apparently had the largest sales of pornographic material in Sydney. If that is not enough he apparently sold birth control appliance and items of feminine hygiene. The photo below is of his shop, at 16 Park Street Sydney. I presume that Robert is the chap on the left.

As befitting such a interesting fellow he has a few mentions in the press at the time, usually relating to going to court.  There is one great article in the SMH of 2 May 1888 (link here). In this instance, Robert had been charged with a breach of the Obscene Publications Act for selling a book entitled "The Fruits of Philosophy, or private companion for married people, and those about to marry". The defence contended that it was a medical work. However in giving judgement the Judge said that he had carefully read through the book (of course!) and he certainly thought it was a case where the volume should be treated as an obscene book. He had looked at the dictionary to learn that 'obscene' was 'anything that was offensive to chastity and delicacy'. In the judges opinion the book was undoubtedly offensive to chastity and delicacy and if allowed to fall into the hands of young people would cause immorality. I tried to track down a copy of said book, it looks to be the work of Charles Knowlton who first published it in 1832, and from the snippets that google had posted it did seem to be quite a medical explanation of facts for those about to marry, which makes me question contemporary descriptions of him selling pornography.

There is also little about his 'knighthood', except for the fact that another source believes it was invented just to sell more books. I would've thought you could get away with impersonating a knight at the time (especially if you couldn't even publish some sexual health books) so maybe he bought it, but eBay wasn't around then!

One other random link to the present is through his correspondence. Being a radical book shop owner he was receiving letters from all over the globe, and those letters are now worth thousands to stamp collectors! Here is a random link to the Australian Postal History Society showing five letters addressed to Sir Robert from a chap in New Guinea and Nauru with rare postmarks. One of them sold for $3,000 at auction in 2007.

Corner of Cambridge street and New South Head road ...

That address might not have been so fanciful if the government had acceded to the requirements of Paddington Council back in the day.  Published in the SMH of 1 October 1887 (copied above) was an article reporting that the Mayor of Paddington was looking to resume the Chinese market gardens in Rushcutters Bay (now White City) so that he might let Cambridge street run down and join up with New South Head rd.

For anyone with a passing interest in government decision making it would be no surprise that this very issue kept going for a number of years.  On February 10, 1894, Mr J. C. Neild MLA took the case to the Minister of Lands who didn't have the cash for it and suggested the railways department, as they had the power to make resumptions. 

The issue was still hot years later in 1896.  By that time the Chinese market gardens had been resumed and given to the Water and Sewerage Board for that dirty big stormwater drain that still exists today.  The 20 November SMH reported that Paddington Council still wanted the land given to it and still didn't want to pay the State Government. 

New South Head road was the big attraction due to the cable tram that operated along it.  The cable tram's main stop was down at Rushcutters Bay, you can see a sign about this near Reg Bartley oval. The Paddington councillors had a grand plan to get the Rushcutters Bay tramline extended into the heart of Paddington (via Cambridge street!) and then on towards Centennial Park.  As an aside, the Bellevue Hill Tramway (which ran along Hargrave street and Gurner street) was not announced until 1908.

For those interested in the price of what became White City (and more) back in 1896?  7,000 pounds baby.  The interwebs tells me that would be about $1,027,666 in 2010 money.  Substantially less than the cost of a single terrace.  Not a bad deal really.

The Terrace Houses of Paddington

There is an excellent chapter on terrace houses in the book 'History, Walking Tour and Map of Paddington' published by New Edition Bookshop and available in Paddington Library.  An extract is below:

"These rows of small houses were not built by big property owners as in London, but by small builders - carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers - who would buy one lot at auction, build themselves a house, then move in with their family. Using their first house as security, they would purchase a second lot and on it build a house for letting. You can imagine a row of terraces in the middle of the building boom, with some houses completed, others half-built, and some not yet started.

Each builder tended to try to make his house match its neighbours, at least in the main details on the front facade. He used the same design of cast iron, the same plastering tools and so on. But often the plans of the houses in a single row vary quite markedly.

The plan of the Paddington terraces was simply that of the London terrace (or any inner city terrace for that matter). The majority have five or six rooms on two floors. Indoors, the rooms into which visitors were invited - notably the hall and the 'front room' - were intended to impress, their finishes emulating the homes of the rich. They included marble fireplaces, ornate ceiling roses and cornices and deep skirting boards. Further into the house, the finishes became more humble, although ceiling heights were invariably generous, ranging from ten foot in the smallest to twelve foot in the grander dwellings.

Every back garden boasted an outside toilet - the great Aussie Dunny.  In the absence of any sewers, Paddington was built with a warren of narrow 'dunny lanes' which gave access to the Night Soil Men who emptied the dunes in the dead of the night.

The backs of the houses might have been humble. But the fronts were ornate in the extreme. On the front steps was an intricate patchwork of terracotta and turquoise tiles. Elaborate plasterwork top the windows, with plaster scrolls on each side. Lace frills hang beneath the balconies, and intricate cast iron entwined with heraldic emblems, wattle blossom and galahs form a balustrade. And surmounting the whole wedding cake confection were pediments topped with rampant lions, plaster vases, busts of classical figure and scalloped shells.

The builders vied with each other to give a greater impression of opulence. Many a humble terrace was given a romantic neo-classical name - Ion, Isis, Leona, Ariel and Ceres. Others bore the name of the builder himself - or his long suffering spouse.

Because Paddington was not being built for a big land owner, there was no estate manager to cry Halt to these builders for whom the beauty of their architecture was directly proportional to the quantity of ornament." (the illustration above ends the chapter, the author giving the impression that Cambridge Street has some examples of over-ornamentation)

Glen Avon Smuggler

This can go in the "random things that the internet throws up when you google 'Cambridge Street'" file.  The above is an endorsement given by William Austin of Cambridge Street in the Southland Times of New Zealand from 1900.  If it is too small to read the gist of it is that he used "Bonnington's Carrageen Irish Moss" on his prize dog and it made the dog better.  A little bit more googling on Glen Avon Smuggler turned up some more information.  This scotch collie won the puppy category of the NSW Poultry, Pigeon, Canary and Dog Society's 22nd annual show in April 1899  and then came out at the 23rd show in June 1900 and won in the open category.  What a champion!  Unfortunately there are no photographs extant (that I have been able to track down).

For the record, Glen Avon Smuggler (and William Austin & family) lived at 3 Cambridge Street per the Sands Directories.  And you can still buy Bonnington's Irish Moss, maybe I should try it ...

Aberdeen Villas - 61 to 69 Cambridge Street

The group of terraces from 61 to 69 Cambridge Street were built by James Dillon c1887 as part of his growing property portfolio.  They were named "Aberdeen Villas".  It is not uncommon for groups of terraces to be jointly named and you can see plenty of examples walking around Paddington where they have memorialised the name in render. This is the only example of a group name I know of on Cambridge Street, and when you don't put the name in concrete it does make it easier for the original name to fall out of use.

Here are some advertisements from the SMH for the Villas back in the day.  The top one is from 24 October 1887 and the below from 23 January 1888.

In a typical Paddington terrace development an owner may buy two blocks from a subdivision and build three or more houses.  So one issue for being the first to build on the street was that you wouldn't definitively know your actual house number until the whole street had been built out (which for the east side of Cambridge Street was by 1890).  In that sense, it helped to have a house name to identify your residence. For the residents of Aberdeen Villas they actually had 'sub-numbers' as this advertisement from May of 1888 shows. I would guess that No. 2 Aberdeen Villas would now be known as 63 Cambridge Street.

The name Aberdeen Villas gradually fell from use, the latest reference I found was from a funeral notice from December 1902. In it, the late resident of 65 Cambridge Street refers to his house as 'Aberdeen Villa'. 

State Election 1894.

Given today is the local government elections I thought it fitting to look at some past results.  Here are the results from the State Election of 1894 for the Division of Paddington (remember there were no Federal Elections back then):

Candidate (Party) - Votes

Byrne, Stephen Albyn (Labor Party) 309 

Cowper, William (Ind. Free Trade) 2 

Dillon, James (Ind. Free Trade) 77

Godfrey, Alfred (Ind. Free Trade) 4

Kirby, Roger Thomas (Ind. Protectionist) 38

Robinson, John (Ind. Protectionist) 7

Shipway, William Charles (Free Trade) 731

West, Thomas John (Ind. Free Trade) 390

White, John (Protectionist) 420

Whysall, Maitland Edwin Smedley (Ind. Free Trade) 15

Formal votes - 1,993

The first thing I noticed is that it didn't take much to be elected to Parliament back in the day.  But you need to remember that not everyone got to vote back then. Certainly not women, they were to get the vote in NSW in 1902. To get an "Elector's Right" (see photo above for an example) you had to be "qualified in respect of Manhood and in Residence of such Division". Qualifying for manhood was simple, you needed to be a bloke and over 21. Of course, you did need to be a natural born citizen or a naturalised person who had resided in NSW for three years. Residence is also fairly straightforward but the 1894 election was the first to happen without "plural voting", which was being able to vote anywhere you qualified, this meant if you were a landowner in multiple electorates you had a vote in each, from 1894 onwards it was only one vote per man (or from 1902 per person) where you lived. If you think this governance set-up was primitive remember that prior to the Electoral Reform Act of 1858 only landowners could vote (only an estimated 25% of the male population). The 1858 Act also brought in secret voting which was such a novelty it was referred to as the "Australian ballot" worldwide.

The second thing I noticed was that these elections were first past the post so Shipway was returned for Paddington with only just over 36% of the vote. Another thing is the proliferation of candidates nominally attached to one of the major parties.  Despite that, it appears Paddington was definitely a bastion of free trade back in the day with the Protectionists not doing so well (the Free Traders won the election of 1894 with Sir George Reid becoming Premier).

Eagle-eyed readers may recognise a name from the Sands Directory of 1893.  That is Cambridge Street's own Roger Kirby of "Candelo", 46 Cambridge Street.  He only garnered 38 votes but that placed him a respectable 6th place (out of ten).  Local landlord and alderman James Dillon fared only marginally better with his 77 votes securing 5th place.  I did a little more research on Roger as I figured he must have been fairly well known to throw his hat in the ring and I was right.

Turns out Roger was an Alderman on Paddington Council. The following extract from the SMH of 10 February 1886 has the electoral results. Roger Kirby remained on council until 1890.

In 1899 he attained a little notoriety from an incident when he appeared at the Water Police Court before Mr GH Smithers Stipendiary Magistrate, charged with drunkenness and "maliciously injuring the uniform cape" of Constable Linegar. He was ordered to pay a fine of 5s for the drunkenness and a fine of 10s, with 27s 4d amount of damage, or go to prison for 21 days for the uniform discretion. At the time he was 62 years old and described of independent means.

But it turns he was a bit of a political animal back in the day.  In the NSW election prior to 1894, held in 1891, Roger Kirby also threw his hat in the ring. Strangely not for the Paddington electorate but for the South Coast electorate of Eden (despite being a Sydney resident). At the time it was actually quite common to contest electorates as a non-resident but even today that 450km journey from Paddington is estimated by google maps as taking 6 hours.

A little more digging turns up that Roger had earlier set himself up down there. In a little southern NSW town called Candelo no less (which is in the Bega shire and would've been in the Eden electorate back then). The following is from the Australian Town and Country Journal from November 1877:

So it looks like you can take the boy out of Candelo but you can't take the Candelo out of the boy, and solves one question as to why 46 Cambridge Street was named "Candelo" in the first place.  

Emeline Carter

Miss Emeline Carter lived on Cambridge Street back in the day. Emeline Carter was the daughter of Mrs Mary Carter, who was both a resident and landlord on Cambridge Street - owning 46-52 Cambridge Street and 81 Cambridge on the other side. (As an aside, it is interesting looking at how Mrs Carter changed her principal place of residence through the years but that is for a separate post)

The Carter's landholdings in Paddington at the turn of the century when it was quite the respectable place to live suggest they were relatively well off.  This evidently gave them the means to send their daughter to Paris for two years to learn singing at one of the world's top schools.  Emeline studied under Madame Mathilde Marchesi.  Madame Marchesi was a renowned teacher of singing who operated a school on the Rue Jouffroy in Paris.  She was well known in Australia due to her instruction of Dame Nellie Melba. If you are that way inclined you can learn more about Marchesi here.

Emeline Carter returned to Sydney in 1903 and gave a series of concerts.  Her debut, at the Town Hall, was on 20 August 1903 and the advertisements set a high benchmark for the young soprano (the one below from the 8 August SMH).

The reviews were mixed.  You can find the SMH review of 21 August 1903 on Trove.  It is quite long so I'll provide some excerpts ...

"The interest of a debutante's concert may be due entirely to the rare quality of her own performance, though such occasions are unfortunately few and far between, yet it should always be possible for a young singer to ensure an enjoyable evening's entertainment. This can be done, as it was done by Miss Emeline Carter at the Town Hall last night, by introducing new music, by keeping the general standard of selection to a good level, and by engaging competent artistic support. The young soprano must be congratulated upon the result in this way achieved."

"As regards, the singer herself, she showed in the long excerpt from "La Sonnambula" the well known fact that a naturally fine voice must be the first basis of success, and that two years at the Marchesi School in Paris, even with the hardest study, can only carry the student up to a certain point."

"Miss Emeline Carter made her success, however, in Guy d'Hardelot's "Invocation". This captivating piece of music was charmingly given by the singer, whose French was pronounced with exquisite clearness. This delightful ensemble was encored with enthusiasm and the soprano also responded to plenteous floral presentations after Amina's scena."

Despite the SMH reviewer predicting the new soprano's domain of "light comic opera numbers, ballads and such pieces of general sentiment" it doesn't appear as though Emeline developed her singing career, giving only a handful of concerts before switching to focus on teaching. Through to 1909, Miss Carter gave singing and voice lessons both in the city and at her residence at 52 Cambridge Street Paddington as attested by the following SMH advert.

1958 streetscape ...

Here is a photo of 52 Cambridge taken c.1958.  This is part of the Woollahra Local History centre collection.  This is one of the few photos they have of the street that you can get online.  We've taken a photo (below) to show the same view today.  Pretty similar although you can see a wooden lean to in the 1958 photo that isn't there today. Some of the landscaping has changed with the street trees being the most noticeable in todays photo.

34 Cambridge Street

34 Cambridge Street is currently on the market so of course we went to have a look at the layout on this great terrace house.  It is marketed by Di Jones who describe it is "architecturally recreated, featuring an expertly conceived layout designed to accommodate a family's changing needs, this custom-finished terrace enjoys an elevated setting on one of Paddington's best streets". We agree with Di on the street! My favourite feature was definitely the finished basement wine cellar, a great use of space.

We have had a quick look to see if we could turn up any interesting historical things about this house. According to the Paddington Rate Books, the group of terraces from 22 to 34 were all owned by a JH Rowe and appear to be constructed c.1890.  These were the last group of houses to be built on the west side of the street. Its neighbour at 36 Cambridge was built c. 1888, you can see quite clearly the "double wall" on the right hand side of the property in the above photo where the two terrace groups meet. These group of terraces were built to be rentals, some advertisements in the 1896 Sydney Morning Herald describe 34 Cambridge Street as having "6 rooms, folding doors, bathroom, washhouse and every convenience, asphalt yard, nice locality, sanitation perfect, harbour view, near school and a minute to Hargrave St bus" (the tram came, and went, later).

Of course we will try to answer the question of "Who's been sleeping in my house?" for the future owners. Being a rental there were quite a few tenants through here back in the day according to the Sands Directory. One such tenant from the 1890s was listed as "Lane B. J., artist" so we tried his details on Trove and came up with an interesting article (link here). Benjamin James Lane certainly lived a full life, born in 1846 in Great Yarmouth he lived into his 90s before passing away in Hobart in 1939. He originally moved out to New Zealand before arriving in Sydney in 1890 where he took up a position as an artist on the Illustrated Sydney News (which was published up to 1894). In 1894 he moved down to Hobart where, except for a stint at the Melbourne Zoo, he remained until his death. He and his wife had 12 kids, I am not sure how many were living with him and his wife whilst they were at 34 Cambridge but it does show you can fit a big family there! The photo below is from the Hobart Mercury when he was 89.

Another random hit was that 34 Cambridge Street was one of 50 two bedroom houses which were allotted to former WWII servicemen by ballot in November 1946. Over 5,000 former servicemen applied for the houses and Seamen William Henry Dexter, who had served on HMAS Napier in 1943 whilst it protected convoys on the Africa - Bombay route, was lucky enough to score 34 Cambridge Street. There are some other random hits you get on other residents so have a look at some of the photos we've put in here from the Sands Directory if you want to try your own!

Sands Directory - 1900

Here is the Sands Directory from the turn of the century, 1900 ...

Nurse Bell-Boyd's testimonial ...

One of the sources of information for this blog is old newspapers which you can search via Trove.  It often throws up some random finds, like this testimonial given for Fisher's Phospherine by Cambridge Street's own Charlotte Bell-Boyd who is listed as living at 41 Cambridge Street in 1915 and gives her profession as Nurse.  It looks like Ms Bell-Boyd's testimonial was used for a number of years, at least 1911 through 1913. I have included her endorsement below and an extract of an advertisement. 

"The problem of Brain Fag, Nervous Prostration, and Backache. Fisher's Phospherine the true solution. Nurse Bell-Boyd's story: I was completely run down through overwork, and suffered severely from Brain Fag. I had to give up my occupation altogether. As a nurse of course I knew something of medicine, and I tried numerous powerful tonics, but gained no relief. A sister nurse said, "Never mind, you try, Fisher's Phospherine". I did. In one day I experienced a feeling of restful repose that I had not felt for months. In a week I felt as though I had been taking six weeks' rest cure at the Mountains or the seaside I was in perfect health. Fisher's Phospherine is far and away the most powerful nerve strengthener and rest giver that can be had, no matter what you pay I am convinced of that - Charlotte Bell Boyd."

Well I looked up Fisher's Phospherine, expecting it to be unavailable like many remedies of that age but it appears it was manufactured right up to this year, only recently being discontinued.