House, Shed & Windmill, Bunbury

Statement of Significance

House, 12 Preston Street, a single storey timber and iron house has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
the place is a good early example of the Victorian Georgian style of architecture;
the place has landmark qualities and contributes significantly to the streetscape and the community's sense of place; and,
the windmill is a rare surviving example of an early form of domestic water supply in Bunbury.

Physical Description

House, 12 Preston Street is a single storey timber and iron house constructed in the Victorian Georgian style of Architecture. The walls are timber framed and clad with timber weatherboards. The roof is hipped and clad with corrugated iron. The verandah is under a continuous corrugated iron roof supported by timber posts. The symmetrical front façade has a central front door with timber framed windows. The house is situated at street level. There is a timber fence to the front boundary line. Proliferate foliage makes further description difficult. There is a windmill evident.

History

House, 12 Preston Street, was one of the original farmhouses in the Rathmines area and is the former home of E. H. Withers. It is located next to St Patrick’s Anglican Church (fmr). The windmill is now one of a few original remaining within the City of Bunbury and is located to the side of the house, most likely in its original position.

E H (Ted) Withers was a well known diarist who regularly contributed to the local newspaper under the byline ‘E H W’ or ‘Old Bunbury’. Ted maintained that he was a personal friend of the bushranger Moondyne Joe (Joseph Bolitho Johns) and had met with him on several occasions. Ted died in 1942.

Ted Withers had arrived in Western Australia with his brother, Frederick, his parents and cousin on the Dalhousie in January 1864. His father was the Reverend Joseph Withers, who served as chaplain on Dalhousie, which was a convict transport. In February 1896, the family moved to Bunbury where Reverend Withers was the chaplain from 1864 to 1880 and again from 1889 to 1893. The intervening years were spent at Williams.

Between 1872 and 1883, Reverend Withers purchased Portion 11 of Location 16. Withers subdivided the land in 1895. The area was called Rathmines after the Withers’ home town in Ireland.

House, 12 Preston Street had been built for Ted Withers by this time and was originally a farm house.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was common for householders to have a windmill in their yard. The windmill converted the energy of wind to rotational motion by means of vanes (called sails). Domestic windmills provided energy to wind pumps to lift water from an underground reservoir.

No entries for this place could be found in the available rate books at the Bunbury Local Studies Collection.

Integrity/Authenticity

Medium-High degree of integrity (original intent clear, current use compatible, high long term sustainability).
High degree of authenticity with much original fabric remaining.
(These statements based on street survey only).

Condition

Condition assessed as poor (assessed from streetscape survey only).

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

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.