House

Statement of Significance

The place is recognised as having significance through its association with Phillip Collier who was MLA for Boulder and Premier of Western Australia during the Inter-War period. The place has some historic value as it demonstrates the growth of suburban areas in Perth that occurred as a direct result of the Gold Boom and the associated increase in the population. As a weatherboard dwelling the place has some rarity value as it represents a building material that is no longer widely used in the construction of residential buildings in Perth.

Physical Description

The subject dwelling at No. 24 Daphne Street is a single storey weatherboard cottage located between Angove and Farmer Streets in North Perth. The dwelling is timber clad with a hipped iron roof. The dwelling has a double room frontage with the lounge room on the north of the dwelling protruding the width of the front verandah. The verandah is bull nosed supported by turned timber posts and is decorated with a timber valance. Entrance to the dwelling is through a wooden door with paned glass windows either side of the door and a fan light above. The dwelling is setback behind a low timber picket fence. The are a few small plantings within this front setback. There is a right of way that abuts the northern boundary of the property. Daphne Street is small in length located between Angove and Farmer Streets in North Perth. The streetscape represents the changing face of development that has occurred in this area of North Perth from the first subdivision in the 1890's to the present day. Some of the original weatherboard cottages dating from the late 1890's to the early twentieth century are located on both the east and west side of the street. The rear of the dwelling has undergone various additions and alterations.

History

Daphne Street is a direct product of the Gold Rush Period experienced in Perth between 1893 and 1919. The triangle formed by Angove, Farmer and Parker Streets, was part of the Woodville Estate, a residential subdivision in North Perth developed on Swan Location 653in 1898 by Solomon Hermann and Thomas Whitton Williams. The blocks cost from £15 upwards on a 25% deposit with a 12 month period of grace for a payment interest -free. The cost of the blocks represented approximately 8 week's wages for a working man at the time. In these early days the subdivision offered cheap land to working class families. With the discovery of gold, resulting in a rapid rise in the population throughout the latter part of the 1890's, the blocks in Daphne Street sold quickly with 14 of the 22 blocks being sold by 1899. By 1903, five years after the subdivision, the essential character of the street was already established, its residents being almost entirely skilled tradesmen, their wives and children. Two early purchasers along the street were Patrick Kelly and his wife Bridget who built a weatherboard cottage at No. 13 and Mr Charles Kirkwood and his wife Margaret, who built a weatherboard cottage at No. 5 in 1898 and in 1903 built the subject property at No. 24 Daphne Street. The Kelly's came to Western Australia from Victoria in the 1890's. This single storey painted weatherboard cottage at No. 13 is still in extant and is a fine example of a Federation Georgian workers cottage. Charles Kirkwood was a carpenter who also came to Western Australia during the 1890's. He was a very active member of the colony's infant Labor Party and took a number of contracts in the goldfields and pursued trade union activities, leaving his wife Margaret in their dwelling in North Perth for long periods. Kirkwood briefly held the position of president of the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labour Party and was the holder of many executive offices. This block had a laneway running along its north side in order to provide rear access to the houses which backed onto it from the south side of Farmer Street, as well as the laneway at the rear. The house at No. 24 was erected in 1903 and as was the case with a number of the properties along the street, No. 24 Daphne Street was primarily occupied by tenants whose turnover was fairly consistent, with few staying more than a year or 18 months. This is well illustrated by the Wise's Postal Directories which reveal that Mr Michael O'Conner resided at the place in 1905. For a short period in 1906/07, owner Charles Kirkwood (through his Labor Party affiliations), rented No. 24 to Mr Philip Collier who had then just been elected to the Legislative Assembly as the Member for Boulder. He was looking for a place to rent with his wife and 4 small children before acquiring their house in Mount Lawley. Collier held the position as Member of Boulder until his retirement in 1947 and served as Premier of Western Australia 1924 - 1930 and from 1933 - 1936. Following the short tenancy of the Collier family, Mr Cort and his wife, music teacher, Mrs Madge Cort resided in the house until 1913. Mrs Cort was also a notable figure in the early Labor movement, being one of the founders of the Union Orchestra, and she later moving to Kalgoorlie to stimulate music making circles there. In 1912 Charles Kirkwood sold the subject place to Mr Hope and established himself as a farmer and post master in Dulbelling in the Quairading District. The subject property continued to be rented and was occupied by Mr Charles Letcher a mercantile clerk and his wife and children from 1913. On the death of Mr Letcher in 1916, his widow remained renting the property until moving across the road. Mr Vincent Wilson rented the place in 1920 and Mr Les Donegan in 1923. Throughout the latter part of the 1920's and during the 1930's Mr William Pascoe resided at the place. In 1939 Mr Fred Phillips and his wife Fanny became the proprietors of the place and they resided there until Mr Phillip's death in 1960. The Australian Pensioners League acquired No. 24 at the death of Mr Phillips and in 1965 the League disposed of the property to the State Housing Commission, which also acquired the old shop next door at No. 22 Daphne Street. Mrs Winifred M. Penglase ran this shop as a mixed business in the 1930's and 40's and in 1949 it was a mixed business but the proprietor was George Thomas. In 1972 the State Housing Commission, now Homeswest, released Kirkwood's original weatherboard cottage onto the private market, where it went rapidly through several owners.

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