House

Parent Place or Precinct

25376 Duke Street Heritage Area

Statement of Significance

The Duke Street Heritage Area is of: Aesthetic Value • Duke Street has a distinctive urban character that has been primarily created by the local road closure and public landscaping of the late twentieth century. • Within this setting the heritage character is derived from the modest, single, storey suburban houses dating from the Federation and early Inter-War era (c.1902-1924). Only one of these houses has been replaced (#3, c.1980s) and the defined period and nature of development has resulted in a complementary palette of materials and design idioms. Historic Value • The subdivision of this area was undertaken by the Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company of Sydney. This represents part of a much wider role that this company took in the development of Subiaco in the 1890s and early 1900s. • The collection of houses in the study area helps to demonstrate the scale and standard of houses built and occupied by people such as small business owners, clerks and tradesmen in the early twentieth century. • The study area was generally the place of residence for people who left only a small mark on the written records. However, it also accommodated at least two men who were prominent in the local community or were otherwise public identities of the early to mid twentieth century (see Associations - Residents, below). Representativeness • The study area includes a good representative collection of modest early twentieth century brick and timber housing developed in close proximity to the Rokeby Road tramway.

Physical Description

2 Duke Street was built as a modest timber cottage with no overt Architectural style. Key elements include: • Plain, square-edged weatherboard cladding. • Gabled-hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting (with no remaining chimneys). • Projecting wing on the eastern side of the main facade. At the centre of this wing there is a single double hung window set under a raked awning. • Front verandah abutting the projecting wing and extending across the remainder of the façade. This has a dropped, bullnose roof, turned timber posts, and a raked timber valance with square balustrettes. Under the verandah there is the main entrance (a single door set under a plain highlight) and a pair of French doors (which open onto the verandah from the main front room). • Plain double hung windows along the eastern façade, which was built up to the eastern boundary (facing onto the side laneway). The font of the house is set back approximately 3m from the front boundary, which is defined by a scalloped timber picket fence. Based on a streetscape inspection the building appears to be well maintained and in a good condition.

History

A Certificate of Title for Perth Suburban Lot 277 and part Perth Suburban Lot 276 (totalling 5 acres and 18 perches) was issued in the name of The Intercolonial Investment Land and Building Company Ltd on 18 September 1901. This area was subsequently laid out as a new subdivision, including ten building allotments facing Duke Street (Lots 13 to 17 and 18 to 22 of Plan 2352). On 25 October 1904, Lot 13 was transferred to Mary Ann McRohan, although it appears that the family had already settled here as Edward McRohan (labourer) was listed as the owner/occupier in the 1903 Rates Book. About six years previously (in 1898) the McRohan’s oldest daughter, Eliza, had married Herbert Davenport, the son of a local building contractor, Andrew Davenport. It is therefore possible that the Davenport family were involved in the construction of this house. In June 1905 Mary Ann McRohan sought (and obtained) an order for separation from her husband, Edward, on the grounds that he had failed to maintain her or their children since they had arrived in WA eight years previously. Mrs McRohan stated that she had worked throughout that time to provide for the family - which included Eliza (born 1879), Mary (1881), Esther (1882), Edward (1887), Sarah (1894) and Ernest (1896). It is not known what work Mrs McRohan undertook in the earlier years, but in 1908 and 1909 room(s) were being offered in the house for expectant mothers, as illustrated by the following and a number of similar newspaper notices: FORD. — On January 9, at Nurse McRohan's residence, Duke-street, Subiaco, the wife of A. Ford — a daughter. Both well. She obviously continued in this trade with a degree of professionalism, as her name was included on the first government register of midwives, as printed in the Government Gazette of Western Australia on 7 February 1913. Mary Ann McRohan died in April 1913: The funeral of the late Mrs Mary Ann McRohan, of Subiaco, took place on Monday afternoon, and was numerously attended. Deceased - a very earnest Working Member of the Church of Christ - was born at Armidale, New South Wales, where she resided for 34 years, and subsequently lived in this State 16 years. In January 1916, ownership of 2 Duke Street was transferred to her oldest son, Edward Alfred McRohan - who had been living in the house, but appears to have moved away from Subiaco at about that time. By 1916, Eliza and Herbert Davenport had taken up residence at 2 Duke Street, and this then became the family home for this couple and their ten children (born in the period 1899-1917). Just over ten years later, in 1927, ownership of 2 Duke Street was transferred to Eliza. There were few references to the house and family during this period, but is known that in the early to mid 1930s, one of Eliza and Herbert’s daughters, Mary Davenport (LAB, LTCL, Registered Teacher and member of the Music Teachers Association), was offering tuition in pianoforte at this address. Herbert Davenport died in July 1939 and Eliza in December 1943, at which time they were still sharing the house with their youngest children, Eric and Leslie. At the time of Herbert’s death it was reported that: The deceased was born at Oldham, England, 64 years ago and migrated to Australia at the age of 8 years, his parents settling at Newcastle. N.S.W. Twelve years later he came to Western Australia where his father continued as a building contractor. After some time in Subiaco, where he married in 1898, there followed a period in Kalgoorlie, where he became associated with the Public Works Department as works supervisor, later transferring to Albany and Perth. For the past 26 years he had resided in Subiaco … In 1945 ownership of 2 Duke Street was transferred to their fourth child, Esther Mabel Davenport, who was by then the Matron of the Mount Barker Hospital. After that time the Post Office Directories listed the primary resident as a Miss Mary Sigley – who was probably the Mary Noelle Sigley, typiste, who had attended Mary Davenport’s wedding in 1937 and who travelled to America in 1948. However, the Electoral Rolls suggest that Eric and Leslie continued to live in the house for all or part of that time, and were still there in 1954 (with Leslie staying until at least 1958). By 1963 Esther Mabel Blechynden (nee Davenport) had moved into 2 Duke Street and she remained here until (or shortly before) her death in 1986. The property was sold following her death, ending the continuous relationship with the original owners and their descendants, which had commenced in c.1903. Occupants of the property from its time of construction until c.1986 included: 1903-1905 Edward McRohan, snr, labourer/carpenter 1903-1913 Mary Ann McRohan, nurse 1903-1915 Edward Alfred McRohan, jnr, driver 1916-1943 Herbert Davenport, supervisor, PWD (until 1939) and Eliza Davenport (until 1943) c.1945-1949 Miss Mary Sigley Eric Davenport, carpenter and Leslie Davenport, salesman 1954 Eric Davenport, carpenter, and Leslie Davenport, woodworker 1958 Leslie Davenport, woodworker c.1963 to 1986 Esther Mabel Blechynden (nee Davenport)

Integrity/Authenticity

Some elements have been modified as part of ongoing maintenance and conservation, but the place remains a good example of a modest timber cottage of the early twentieth century.

Uses

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