House

Statement of Significance

The house at No. 6 Randell St is a good example of a 1901 weatherboard Federation Queen Anne workers dwelling, built for John Good, of which few remain in the Town of Vincent.

Physical Description

The one storey modest weatherboard dwelling has a bullnose verandah with a cast iron frieze and is supported with stop chamfered posts. The weatherboards are rusticated to the front and side facades. The bargeboards of the gables are scalloped. Garden setting behind the brick and picket front fence Some decorative elements may have been added.

History

Randell Street was named after George Randell, a builder and prominent elder in the Trinity Congregational Church. He had an illustrious career in politics becoming a Perth City Councillor as early as 1870 and in 1874 he was elected Chairman and the City's first Mayor in 1885. He became a Member of the Legislative Council in 1877 and Leader of the Opposition in 1894 and a member of John Forrest's cabinet. He was a member of the Central Board of Education, a founder of Perth High School and much involved in the foundation of Claremont Teachers' Training College. Randell Street is situated in the area immediately north of the main body of Lake Henderson, now Robertson Park Reserve. Market gardening activities were carried out on the bed of the lake after it was drained in the early 1870s, and the surrounding areas developed early. European gardeners were followed by Chinese market gardeners who operated until the early 1920s. The material used to erect No. 6 on Town Lot Y239 was weatherboard but all the other homes in the street were of brick construction. It was previously believed that it was built in 1901 for John Good but when street numbers were first allocated in Wise's Post Office Directories in 1898, the subject place was listed and the resident was Marcus Wilkins, a builder. This was also the first year that his name appeared in the listings, indicating that possibly the house was built circa 1897. In 1900 the entry in the Directories for the subject place was John Turner. In 1910 it was occupied by Henry William, in 1915 by George Bergstrand and in 1920 John A. Evans. Evans was still there in 1940 and in 1949, the last year of the Directories, the resident was listed as Mrs A.E. Evans (possibly John's widow or another relation) indicating that the subject place may have been occupied by the same family since 1919. The Directories for 1898 showed that there was a resident next door at No. 2 Randell Street (Mrs L.N. Fairfield) but from 1906 that block was unoccupied, with the exception of a cool drink factory for a few years in the 1920s, until at least 1949 when they ceased to be published. In the late 1990s Nos 2-4 were redeveloped with a modern three-storey duplex which contrasts with the subject weatherboard cottage.

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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