Murray Street 161-163 - Deland House
| Place type: | Building |
|---|---|
| Also known as: | Deland House |
| Address: | 161 - 163 Murray Street |
| Town or Locality: | Gawler |
Please <click here> to view photos of Deland House, located at 161- 163 Murray Street.
DESCRIPTION:
This large, double-storey, triple-fronted quality Victorian villa is set well back from the street on a generous corner allotment. It is constructed of coursed rubble sandstone with a tuck-pointed finish, and red brick quoins and dressings. The roof is a hipped construction, with projecting gable and hipped bays to the front, and gables to the rear. The overpainted brick chimneys feature corbelled caps. The windows are timber-framed, double-hung sashes, with leadlight glazing and the door is timber-framed leadlight glazing to the fanlight and sidelights. The main entrance is elevated from ground level, accessed via timber steps to the north and south of the large timber porch. The straight verandah is clad with corrugated metal and supported on plain timber posts which support the porch structure. The porch is enclosed by a timber balustrade with decorative cast-iron lace infill panels. Early stone and brick additions to the south and north (rear), frame a courtyard to the rear of the house and are also of note.
STATEMENT OF HERITAGE VALUE:
Constructed around 1902, the dwelling and connected rear wings are associated with the establishment of a large combined residence and medical practice during the early twentieth century by prominent local physician and surgeon, James Maher. This reflects the growth of the Gawler township as a service centre which was based on the flourishing agricultural, mining and commercial economy. Located at a prominent Murray Street address, the dwelling and rear wings present an extensive building constructed of local stone and brick in the picturesque Edwardian style, marking the gateway to Gawler’s central township area from the north.
BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
Allotment 193 was first allocated as a lot held in trust for special use as a school. At this time an additional portion of land to the east, unnumbered and part of Section 4 appears not to be included in the rateable area. The vacant property was owned by the Free Church School in 1868; by 1875, the property was rated to the Presbyterian Church Trustees. While still under church trust, the property, now fenced, was occupied by William Miller from 1887 until at least 1890, when last recorded. The earliest Certificate of Title indicates transfer of the property, including the land to the east, part Section 4, to Pauline Maher, wife of James Patrick Maher, a surgeon and physician in 1902. At the time James Maher held a ten year lease (1895-1905) over a neighbouring property, the coach house, stables and attached cottage at 1 Warren Street. It is likely that the subject dwelling was constructed towards the end of this time. In 1913 the title transferred to Joseph Richard Tobin, Physician and Surgeon. Tobin was Maher’s nephew who had been practising alongside him for around three years. It later passed to John Besley Gillen, Physician and Surgeon in 1929.
Doctor James Maher had arrived in Gawler in 1890, thereafter employed by the local branch of the Hibernian Australasian Catholic Benefit Society, a church-based support network, as their surgeon. Maher was also engaged as surgeon to the local societies of the Druids, Athenians, Oddfellows, Foresters and Rechabites and doctor to the poor for the Gawler, Mudla Wirra South and Munno Para East municipalities. He was a member of the local Hutchinson Hospital Board. On Maher’s death in 1912, the papers reported:
‘There was an unusually large congregation, testifying to the esteem in which the deceased was held by them…The funeral was one of the largest ever seen in the district. It was representative of all classes of the community and showed the high esteem in which the late doctor was held by, not only his own co-religionists, but by members of all denominations. All the medical men of the town, by their presence, testified to the great regard in which he was held by the medical profession."
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
.
References
- Duval ‘Plan of Part Gawler Town’ n.d.
- LTO Certificate of Title CT 685/55
- 1902
- Gawler Rate Assessment Books East Ward
- [[‘Gawlertown plus details of original ownership of Gawler lots’ [Edited from LTO GRO 138/1863]]]
- Pierce ‘Plan of Gawler South Australia
- surveyed and drawn by T Pierce’ 1886
- ‘Obituary’ Southern Cross (Adelaide
- SA : 1889 - 1954) 15 November 1912: p.10.
Memories of Murray Street 161-163 - Deland House
Do you remember Murray Street 161-163 - Deland House ? Then Join up and add your memory here.
Support our sponsors!
