Sir George Shenton's Highgate Estate

Statement of Significance

Sir George Shenton’s Highgate Estate has considerable social significance because of its associations with these highly influential figure of the Late Colonial and early Federation period. The estate demonstrates a range of dwelling types within variations of the Federation Bungalow style, giving a coherence lacking in the contemporary John Hyde Estate.

Physical Description

The group is comprised of attached and semi detached dwellings that are in variations of the Federation Bungalow style. The places are all single storey structures with hipped roofs parallel to the street frontage, with separate verandahs supported on simple posts, valences and decorative brackets, Articulation is provided by decorative gables, generally over protruding bays. All are modest brick buildings with corrugated iron roofs. There is a variety of detail within an overall character, unlike the contemporary John Hyde Estate. Consistent minimal setbacks. Wholly residential. Various

History

Lincoln Street is part of the Highgate Hill subdivision, developed by surveyor Charles Crossland in 1874, and named for his birthplace in London. It was one of the first suburbs on the north side of Perth. Sir George Shenton owned Suburban Lot 140 on Lincoln Street from at least 1893, when he was listed in the City of Perth rate books for the north ward. He has previously owned some houses in Roe Street but sold them and invested the money in building the subject properties in Lincoln Street. The three large duplexes, which also have frontages onto Court Street at the rear, were constructed on the land for rental purposes between 1898 and 1899. They were shown on the 1900 PWD sewerage plans but not on the 1897 plans. The Wise's Post Office Directory entries for 1905 to 1915 show most of the tenants moved on within a few years. One who was in residence for more than five years was Constable William O'Brien. who may have been based at the nearby Highgate Hill Police Station at No. 57 Lincoln Street. Sir George Shenton was a prominent resident of Perth, described as 'powerful in the political, economic and social life' of the city. According to Stannage: 'Before the gold rushes of the 1890s, George Shenton was probably the wealthiest man in Western Australia, with a large merchandising and pastoral empire. ' Shenton was Chairman of the Perth Town Trust form 1857 - 58 and Chairman of the Perth City Council 1875 - 77, 1880 - 84 and 1886 - 88. In the 1890's he was Colonial Secretary in Forrest's first Ministry and then became President of the Legislative Council, which position he held until 1906.' Sir George Shenton died in 1909. The Directories for the period up to 1949, when they ceased, indicate that the houses were consistently occupied. Although the occupationsof the residents were not listed for these properties, others in the street were noted: storekeeper, painter, gun makier and importor and detective. In most of these years two or three of the occupants were women and in 1941/42/43 (the middle years of World War II when many men were away in the armed forces) , there were more women listed in the street but not for the subject places. An application for a two-storey extensions at the rear of No. 24 (Lot 2, Strata Lot 2) was approved in 2002. This work was carried out by P.G Johnson of Glen Forrest.

Integrity/Authenticity

Moderate to High

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.