House

Statement of Significance

The house at No. 22 Myrtle Street is a rare surviving example of an intact weatherboard Convict & Late Colonial Austerity cottage.

Physical Description

The single storey cottage has a symmetrical frontage with a central front door flanked by double hung sash windows. The place is timber framed and clad with weatherboard. The gable roof is clad with corrugated iron and has a separate skillion verandah supported by square timber posts. Minimal garden setback None apparent

History

Myrtle Street, one of a number of streets in the area with a woman's name, is situated in the area immediately north of Lake Henderson between Palmerston Street and Randell Lane. In the early years of the 1890s when No. 22 was built, there were few houses in the area and much of this northern side of Perth was still sparsely settled. Market gardening activities had been carried out on the bed of nearby Lake Henderson by the Europeans after it was cleared and drained in the early 1870s. They were followed by Chinese market gardeners who operated until the early 1920s at both Dorrien Gardens (to the west) and Robertson Park (south) where Lee Hop's cottage remains today. The 1890s gold rush changed the situation with the demand for housing for new settlers (attracted to WA by the rush), leading to several subdivisions in nearby areas. Although Myrtle Street was always a short, dead-end street running parallel to Bulwer, it was also close to Third Swamp, which would have been seen as a plus following its development as Hyde Park, which began in 1898. Unlike many of the other subdivisions in the area, this section between Bulwer and Randell streets did not have rear laneways. No. 22 Myrtle Street appeared on the 1897 PWD City of Perth & Suburbs sewerage plan (Sheet 8, 18.8.1897), together with its neighbours at Nos. 18 and 24. Other houses in the street at this time included a mirror-image pair with bay windows at Nos. 1 and 3, and Nos. 4, 6, 9 12, and 17. The street was not listed in Pierssene's 1893-94 edition of The Western Australian Directory and, although it appeared in the 1895 edition, no street numbers were given. The street was listed in Wise's Post Office Directories in 1897 and, although there were no street numbers included, Bernard R. Gallagher (who was listed the following year at No. 22), was included amongst the names on the right-hand side of the street. In 1910 and 1915, the place was occupied by Michael O'Donnell. There were 16 dwellings in the street in 1915 (eight of which were of weatherboard construction) and four vacant lots. This situation remained until at least 1953. The Directories show that Mrs Laura Jenkins was the resident of No. 22 in 1925, Ed Croker in 1935 and in 1949, the last year they were published, it was Mrs L.G. Duckett.

Integrity/Authenticity

High degree

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

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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.