Jacob Street 44
| Place type: | Building |
|---|---|
| Address: | 44 Jacob Street |
| Town or Locality: | Gawler |
STATEMENT OF HERITAGE VALUE:
The cottage at 44 Jacob Street, Gawler, constructed around 1868 by prominent local businessman, James Busbridge, as a residential component to his local brickmaking company, Busbridge and Bright is associated with the largest local brickmaking operation in Gawler. The business had been based at the site since the mid-1850s and the attached dwellings are associated with its ongoing success. Unusually for Gawler, and reflective of their location and ownership, the use of brick rather than stone for the predominant construction material is significant.
BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The Gawler township was planned by Colonel William Light and laid out by William Jacob in 1839. The original landholder for Allotment 33 is recorded as John Reid, one of the twelve original shareholders of the Gawler Special Survey and the first to settle at Gawler.
In 1858 Allotment 33, at that stage one parcel containing a cottage and brickyard, was listed as under ownership of Walter Duffield and occupied by Busbridge and Bright, brickmakers. The company had first established brick kilns in Wright Street Gawler in 1857. Bright was also partner in brick kilns with Weaver in Paxton Street Willaston (1866), and with Samuel Snell in Howard Street; the business flourished to provide local bricks to the burgeoning township and district. It appeared Duffield may have retained the property until 1865 when the earliest available Certificate of Title indicates that the property was transferred to James Busbridge. In 1868 rate records indicate that two houses owned by James Bright and James Busbridge, each of four rooms, were located on Lot 33. The adjoining Lot 34 to the east, also owned by Busbridge and Bright, was described as ‘land and brickyard’. From that point for at least the next 20 years, the brickmakers owned and occupied the subject and adjoining properties, amassing land and developing property across the whole town block.
In 1890 Mrs James Bright is listed as owning a large number of these properties including the subject land. In 1894 the title for Pt Lot 33 was transferred to George Bright, Gawler Wheelwright and in 1896 to James McLean.
Please <click here> to view photos of 44 Jacob Street.
Acknowledgments
This report has been prepared by the following people:
• Nancy Cromar (Flightpath Architects)
• Deborah Morgan (Flightpath Architects)
• Kate Paterson (Flightpath Architects)
• Douglas Alexander (Flightpath Architects)
The study team would like to acknowledge the assistance of the following people:
• David Petruzzella (Strategic Planner; Town of Gawler)
• Jacinta Weiss (Cultural Heritage Centre Coordinator; Town of Gawler)
• Jane Strange (Senior Development and Strategic Policy Officer; Town of Gawler)
Gawler History Team Inc. thanks:
Flightpath Architects, Ryan Viney and the Town of Gawler for allowing us access to this important document of Gawler History.
www.flightpatharchitects.com.au
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Related Articles
References
- Gawler Rate Assessment Books South Ward
- ‘Gawlertown’ map LTO GRO 138/1863
- Hignett & Company Gawler Heritage Study 1981
- LTO Certificate of Title CT 75/8 1865
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