Richard Bate built ‘Avondale’ at 176 Union Road in 1883 as a display home for subdividers of the Windsor Park Estate auction in that year. Richard built many homes in the locality – probably including No.101 Guildford Road, almost identical to his home. Richard also built the Box Hill Shire Hall in the 1880s (replaced in 1934 by the Box Hill Town Hall). Richard junior and family retained this house until the 1950s. Occupied in 2000 by Julie Ellis. In May 2000 Richard's grandson Jack Bate and great-grandsons Alan and Geoff (all of whom are builders) visited 7 Norris Street and lent this photo for copying. Demolished after subsequent sale. A black and white photograph of a Federation/Edwardian style timber house with detailed lacework around the veranda. There is a man standing on the right side of the photo. He is wearing a hat and is sporting a long white beard.norris street, surrey hills, house names, avondale, camelford, windsor park estate, box hill shire hall, builders, federation style, edwardian style, richard bate

Ref: Alan Holt records - This property was part of Lot 25 in the Windsor Park Estate which was subdivided in 1883. The house of 12 squares was built in 1888 for John Abernethy, an engineer. He also built 62 Windsor Crescent as a coachhouse and cottage. 1888-1891: Owners = John & Sarah Abernethy. John Abernethy died while on a trip to Hong Kong in 1891. 1891-1909: Owner = Mrs Sarah Abernethy 1910-1917: Owner = H Jenkinson The properties at 62 and 64 Windsor Crescent were separated during WW1 (by H Jenkinson). See Alan Holt records for other short term owners. 1970-1975 = Plymouth Bretheren Meeting Hall In 1976 it became a private home again.This is one of the earliest surviving houses in Surrey Hills.A colour photo taken from the street at the rear of a Victorian-style house with rendered walls and a slate roof. The house sits behind a timber fence.victorian style, windsor park estate, merthyr, plymouth bretheren meeting hall, mr john abernethy, mrs sarah abernethy, mr h jenkinson, surrey hills

Ref: Alan Holt records - This property was part of Lot 25 in the Windsor Park Estate which was subdivided in 1883. A house of 12 squares was built in 1888 at 64 Windsor Crescent for John Abernethy, an engineer. The property at 62 Windsor Crescent was built as a cottage and coachhouse associated with the main house at 64 Windsor Crescent. 1888-1891: Owners = John & Sarah Abernethy. John Abernethy died while on a trip to Hong Kong in 1891. 1891-1895: Owner = James Gibbon 1896-1897: Owner = John Steele See Alan Holt records for other short term owners. The properties at 62 and 64 Windsor Crescent were separated during WW1(by H Jenkinson). 1914-1923: Owner = Miss Dulcie Burchett, music teacher 1930-1953: Owner = William Langley & family.A colour photo taken from the street of a simple timber cottage with a brick chimney and green corrugated iron on the roof and verandah. The house has no front fence and is partly obscured by garden shrubs.victorian style, windsor park estate, cottages, timber houses, mr john abernethy, mrs sarah abernethy, mr james gibbon, mr john steele, miss dulcie burchett, mr william langley, surrey hills

Includes copy of will of William Clark. Resident of the property at 9 Wolseley Close in 1910. Includes copy of the Alan Holts home occupier / tenant records - names from 1920 - 1980. Includes photo of Wolseley Close house, taken 1888/1889 plus colour photo of Wolseley Close house taken by Lin Merry, 2010. Land Title information, surveys, subdivision Includes list of occupants of the house, p.17Includes some plans of houses built in Wolseley Close, Mont Albert, Victoria. Outlines details of property at 9 Wolseley Close19p : col illcragg family, windsor crescent, surrey hills, (mr) william ainger, (mr) isaiah ainger, whitehorse road, noorn hill, house names, koonda, d j maloney, (mrs) louisa clara maggs, taramera, union road, st.abbs, york street, (mr) william henry cleverdon, wolseley street, windsor park estate, tarawera, merry family, clinton family, adams family, tel-el-kebir, farrell family, (mr) william clark, trafalgar street, (mr) (sir) matthew davies, (mr) c h james, (mr) james munro, (mrs) elizabeth clark, langdale, (mr) stanley dewar, (mr) john jose, (mrs) emily hampton, potton, (mr) alexander potton, (mr) john atkinson morris, freehold investment & banking co., mont albert, windsor park surrey hills, dalton family, (mr) henry wood, wolseley close

Sourced via conversations with those interested in Surrey Hills History. Including Alan Holt, Jack McLean, Frank Bamford, Jocelyn Hall. Includes: Topographical maps, first Elgar Survey. First Wesleyan Church in Surrey Hills. Bibliography on P.50 (last numbered page) Provides a chronological history of Surrey Hills. Includes: First settlers, location, early land sales, commerce and trade.Provides a chronological history of Surrey Hills. Includes: First settlers, location, early land sales, commerce and trade.Back of Title page: To the Surrey Hills Historical / Arthur E. Tonkinfreehold investment and banking company, windsor park estate, (mr) dennis delany, mont albert village, surrey hills - history, royal hotel, surrey hills, humberstone's hotel, chatham state school, holy trinity church, lydswood, lugano, (mr) john butler maling, (mr) john hanlon knipe, mont albert primary school, (mr) james sneddon, (mr) arthur tonkin

The house was built in 1883, possibly to encourage development of housing on the first urban land subdivision in Surrey Hills, the Windsor Park Estate (in the Windsor Crescent area). This coincided with the opening of the Surrey Hills Railway station. The first occupant was John Brown Nicholson, police magistrate. In 1884 the foundation meeting of the Wyclif Congregational Church was held in the house.Colour photo of the front door and verandah of 101 Guildford Road taken from the street. The house is Victorian in style with ornate lacework along the verandah. It is painted white and has a slate roof. There is a well-maintained garden with flower beds and shrubs, which partially obscure the house.victorian style, wyclif church, houses, guildford road, john brown nicholson

The AFB were aware that accommodation options for blind people were limited and sought to open a hostel to assist with this.The first hostel opened in Lara Street, South Yarra but could not meet demand. In 1926, a suitable property 'Egremont' at 54 The Avenue, Windsor, came on the market. The price was £2650. Lack of funds to purchase seemed an insurmountable barrier. With assistance from the Trustees of the Edward Wilson Estate and the Felton Bequest a deposit of £650 was raised. In a huge step of faith the Committee took out a mortgage of £2000. The interest on the mortgage and its repayments weighed heavily on the Committee. The Avenue, as 'Egremont' was commonly termed, was also a seven roomed house. Mr Paterson and the Architect, Mr Parkes of Oakley and Parkes, immediately began planning an extension, fourteen single bedrooms were added. They were filled from the Waiting List. A Windsor Auxiliary was formed and worked to reduce the mortgage of £2000. An active programme of dances, card evenings, theatre nights and the like took place under the leadership of Mrs. Robertson. The Auxiliary also took an interest in the boarders, arranging entertainment and social activity. £1500. was still owed in 1930. Living side by side is no easy task for a group of people, and the Hostel meeting minute books are filled with stories of disputes over wireless sets, telephones, hot water bottles and wardrobes. In 1958, with rising costs and the growth of aged care centres, the Hostel was closed and the house sold to a succession of private buyers. In 2016 it still stands and has been refurbished as a guest house.B/W copy of newspaper photographThe hostel for blind women at 54 The Avenue, Windsor was established in 1926 to provide a place where sightless women may live together to their mutual advantage under proper and sympathetic supervision. The Windsor Hostel was sold in 1958. This building still stands today and has been refurbished.egremont, blind womens hostel, tilly aston

This record is the Parent Record for researching the subdivision of Reaghill, 139 Bedford Road, Ringwood, compiled by Richard Carter. "Reaghill" is part of an older larger holding of sixty acres which came to comprise Vista Avenue, Vista Court, Homebush Court, Rawson Court and Wombalano ParkTranscript: Researching “Reaghill" The property “Reaghill” originally stood at 139 Bedford Road, Ringwood East before the property was subdivided in the 1950s and took a new address and frontage to Vista Avenue, Ringwood East. The purpose of these notes is to trace the origins of the property from the year 1900 to the present day. Information in the notes is sourced from the archives of Carter Real Estate, from Land Titles Office records and from the book of the history of Ringwood, “Ringwood, Place of Many Eagles” by Hugh Anderson. “Reaghill” is part of an older larger holding of sixty acres. It Is the story of those 60 acres, which now comprise Vista Avenue, Vista Court, Homebush Court, Rawson Court and Wombalano Park, which Is the subject of these notes. Earlier Times A convenient starting point for these notes Is the year 1900. On 11th June 1900 Wallace Bruce of 68 High Street, Windsor became registered as the proprietor of “sixty acres or thereabouts” (24.28 hectares) being part of Crown Allotment 43 Parish of Ringwood County of Mornington. That title. Volume 2773 Folio 485 did not name the streets to which the property abutted but clearly they were Canterbury Road at its intersection with Bedford Road. Title records a lease of the property from Wallace Bruce to Thomas Oates, with the lease endorsed on title on 22 July 1903 and removed 16 June 1908. Wallace Bruce subsequently subdivided the land Into three parcels, two of which he sold to Dora Stanisforth Davies during 1909 and the balance he sold to Frank Leslie Walker in 1914. The Era of the Davies Wallace Bruce firstly sold the western portion of the property, containing twenty four acres three roods and 20 perches (24.875 acres or 10.0667 hectares) on 6 October 1909. The new title, Volume 3381 Folio 021, records the new proprietor as “Dora Stanisforth Davies, wife of Seymour George Pilkington Davies of Burwood Road, Hawthorn, Bank Manager”. Shortly thereafter, Wallace Bruce sold a further parcel of “ten acres or thereabouts” (4 hectares) being the north eastern portion of his original holding. That title, Volume 3384 Folio 795, showed the purchaser once again as “Dora Stanisforth Davies, wife of Seymour George Pilkington Davies of Burwood Road Hawthorn, Bank Manager”. It is noteable that the second, title which is dated 8 December 1909, had no abuttal to any road, nor was it at any time (even when subdivided in the 1950s) consolidated with Davies' adjoining title. Both titles then recorded that Dora Stanisforth Davies died on 19 February 1945 with probate of her will being granted to John Seymour Davies of 69 Grantham Street West Brunswick, Medical Practitioner, and Hugh Percival Hall of 339 Collins Street Melbourne, Solicitor. Almost two years later, on 6th December 1946, both parcels of land were transferred by the Executors to Geoffrey Francis Seymour Davies of 20 Albert Road Strathfield N.S.W, Medical Practitioner. From this chronology it could be surmised that one of Dora Davies’ executors, John Seymour Davies, was probably her son. Was Geoffrey Francis Seymour Davies another son, or was he her grandson? In any event Geoffrey Francis Seymour Davies set about subdividing what was then the property “Reaghill” and its 34.875 acres (14.11 hectares). The Subdivision of “Reaghill The subdivision of “Reaghill” was made more viable by the subdivision in 1931 of the property to the north and the creation of Scenic Avenue, Vista Avenue and Grandview Avenue, all of which abutted “Reaghill’s” northern boundary. In fact Geoffrey Francis Seymour Davies bought the freehold to Grandview Avenue, Scenic Avenue and Vista Avenue in July 1955 for £84-9-0 to give him legal rights over those roads. Title to those roads and the newly created Vista Avenue, Vista Court and Homebush Court remain in his name to this day. It is particularly interesting to note that whilst those streets had typical allotments of about 1000 square metres, the subdivision of Reaghill was into blocks of one to two acres or more (4000 square metres to about one hectare) except for the blocks fronting Bedford Road. That speaks volumes about Davies’ attitude to the land, its natural beauty, its topography and vegetation. “Reaghill” was subdivided into twenty two lots by Plan of Subdivision LP 41463. The first eleven lots came off Vista Avenue and formed an extension of Vista Avenue and a newly created Vista Court. Lot sizes ranged from 1 acre 1 rood 1½ perches (5097 square metres) to 2 acres 3 roods 21½ perches (1.167 hectares). A further four lots came off Homebush Court, a newly created court off Bedford Road. Those lots ranged from 1 acre 1 rood 29 perches (5792 square metres) to 2 acres 1 rood 39 ®/io perches (1.01 hectares). Seven further lots, parallelogram in configuration, fronted Bedford Road and had a typical area of 1518 square metres. The names of the streets (“Vista” Avenue/Court and “Homebush” Court) give an insight into the elevation of the land, the views it offered and the bushland it featured. The Covenant As evidence of Davies’ desire to maintain the bush setting of the property, covenants were imposed on the transfers of Lots 1 to 15 (the acreage lots). That covenant allowed for only one dwelling house to be erected on each of those lots for a period of 15 years from sale. Effectively it froze subdivision for 15 years. But 15 years came around quickly. The Sales “Reaghill” 139 Bedford Road, Ringwood was offered for Private Sale as “22 Excellent Residential Allotments” by estate agents Anderson & Hickling of 239 Collins Street Melbourne (telephone Central 25!), with a “protective covenant” of one dwelling house only on lots 1-15 for a period of 15 years. Solicitors for the vendor were Messrs Meares, Duigan & Hall of 139 Collins Street Melbourne. Sales commenced in 1955 and went through to 1967. Prices were typically from £1350, the price paid for Lot 13 in 1957. The Role of Frank Leslie Walker These notes have so far recorded that of the sixty acres originally owned by Wallace Bruce in 1900, some 34.875 acres were sold to Dora Davies in 1909 and subdivided and sold by her descendants. The balance of Wallace Bruce’s land was sold on 6th April 1914 to Frank Leslie Walker. This is the land at the south east corner of Bruce’s holding fronting Canterbury Road and which now comprises Rawson Court and Wombalano Park. Frank Leslie Walker “of Albany Chambers, Collins Street Melbourne” was described as an Art Decorator. In “Ringwood - Place of Many Eagles” he is shown as living on his land “in a house which was surrounded by a four foot high brick wall and the long drive of rough cream-coloured Lilydale gravel was entered through handsome wrought iron gates obtained from some building wrecker”. The “old rambling house" had been extended and renovated using secondhand doors, windows and timber. “Every inch of wall space seemed to be crammed from floor to ceiling with oils, watercolours, etchings and drawings of all sorts by well known artists”. On 13th August 1954 Frank Leslie Walker transferred an area of 12 acres 3 rood 21 perches (5.213 hectares) to The Mayor Councillors and Burgesses of the Borough of Ringwood for no consideration as a Gift “for the providing of pleasure grounds on places of public resort or public recreation”. That is now Wombalano Park. The balance of his property, containing 6 acres 1 rood 5 perches (2.54 hectares) and including the original homestead (named Wombalano?) was gifted by Frank Leslie Walker to his nephew on 25 November 1955. It was later subdivided as Rawson Court in 1956. The house no longer survives. The “Reaghill” Homestead The original homestead on Wallace Bruce’s holding, as has just been described fronted Canterbury Road in the area which is now Rawson Court. The age of the house is unknown but is described in 1914 as being “old and rambling”. The “Reaghill” homestead is likely to have been built by the Davies and was retained on Lot 11 of their subdivision. Its date of construction is not known but might have been soon after the Davies bought the land in 1909. Lot 11, with “Reaghill” was not sold in the 1950s as part of the land subdivision and sale. It remained as the family home of Dr. Davies until its sale in 1968 (without the 15 year covenant) to James Hamilton Kelly of New York, USA for $15,000. In time, Lot 11 was resubdivided. The house today remains on a reduced site of 7112 square metres, still on the highest point in the locality with fine views. Further Subdivisions Once the 15 year time frame of the covenant expired, the various owners of the lots, having built homes, proceeded to subdivide their surplus land. Lot 1 was first, followed by Lot 7. Only four of the original 15 acreage lots have not been subdivided. Some subdivisions were less respectful of their environment and neighbourhood than others. Maroondah City Council's planning scheme provides for a minimum lot size of 864 square metres in the locality. But the horse has already bolted. Summary “Reaghill” in its heyday, and the acreage properties which later surrounded it, contributed some of the finest and most exclusive properties in Ringwood East. Notably, the locality was home to a significant number of local medicos over the years. Its location dose to the newly relocated Tintern CEGGS gave it added exclusivity. Subdivision over the years has impinged on the beauty and the environment. However it is still a most important part of Ringwood East, with a rich history. R.A Carter January 2005