Provenance

Various parties

Purpose/Function

Reference, Research, Information

Arrangement

Secondary Values (KHS Imposed Order)

Content

Subject file containing research related to George Wharton and his house Fernhurst, originally situated on the corner of Princess Street and Studley Park Road, but later subdivided. The house was in the 20th century converted into flats and later bought by the Catholic Church, who established St Paul’s School for the Blind on the site. The situation was complicated as the Church also bought the neighbouring Neama and Mandalay. Villa Maria and St Paul’s School currently occupy the site. Part of the site was later subdivided to create Elphinstone Court. The file contains photocopied extracts from histories and detailed research and correspondence between the School, the Kew Historical Society, the National Trust of Victoria, and the Historic Buildings Preservation Council relating to both Neama and Fernhurst. There is a reference in a letter from St Paul’s inviting the Society to collect artefacts from the site. There are no known current items in the collection relating to the collection of these.