Historical information

‘Reno’, stood on the east side of St John’s Parade. Its earliest recorded owner was the architect Samuel Cocking who lived there from c.1865 until his death in 1888. The original landholding was bordered by Cotham Road, Glenferrie Road, Wellington Street, and Charles Street. The garden including rare plants supplied by Baron Von Mueller, surrounds the cottage in a tangled frenzy. Despite a ‘local significance’ classification by the National Trust, the house was demolished in 1977.

Significance

This work forms part of the collection assembled by the historian Dorothy Rogers (1905-1973), donated to the Kew Historical Society by her son in 2015. The manuscripts, photographs, maps, and documents were sourced by her from both family and local collections or produced as references for her print publications. Many were directly used by Rogers in writing ‘Lovely Old Homes of Kew’ (1961) and 'A History of Kew' (1973), or the numerous articles on local history that she produced for suburban newspapers. Most of the photographs in the collection include detailed annotations in her hand. The Rogers Collection provides a comprehensive insight into the working habits of a historian from the 1960s to the 1970s.

Physical description

Original monochrome photograph of Reno, St John's Parade, Kew. Pictured are the garage in the distance at left, the weatherboard house with its simple verandah, and the overgrown front garden.

Inscriptions & markings

Annotation verso: "Reno. St Johns Parade. Reno. Miss Green".