Local Government
Gosnells
Region
Metropolitan
Location
8-34 Homestead Rd Gosnells
Location Details
Incudes; City of Gosnells Museum (Wilkinson Homestead), Wilkinons Orchard (Former), Francis Harriet Davis and John Okey Davis Graves, Site of Original Davis Homestead, Chenies, Jarrah Tree, Almond Tree.
Other Name(s)
Includes Site of Original Davis Homestead
John Okey Davis Group
Construction Date
Demolition Year
N/AStatutory Heritage Listings
| Type | Status | Date | Documents | More information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heritage List | Adopted | 09 May 2017 |
Heritage Council Decisions and Deliberations
| Type | Status | Date | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| (no listings) |
Other Heritage Listings and Surveys
| Type | Status | Date | Grading/Management | More information | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Description | ||||
| Municipal Inventory | Adopted | 13 Sep 2016 | Category 3 |
Category 3 |
|
| Municipal Inventory | Adopted | 13 Sep 2016 | Category 2 |
Category 2 |
|
| Municipal Inventory | Adopted | 22 Mar 2011 | Category 2 |
Category 2 |
|
| Municipal Inventory | Adopted | 13 Sep 2016 | Category 1 |
Category 1 |
|
Statement of Significance
Wilkinson Homestead has historic value as it is representative of the development of the Gosnells district from the turn of the Twentieth Century, both as a residential area and a major citrus producing area
The place is important for its historic associations with John Wilkinson, one of the first fruit growers in the district
Wilkinson Homestead provides a good example of the type of dwelling owned by a middle class businessman who, by virtue of his personal wealth, could subscribe to the popular Arcadian ethos of the period, whilst contributing to the agricultural development of the district
The mature Almond Tree, Jarrah Tree and remains of the citrus orchard have aesthetic and historic values as they illustrate the past use of the place
The grave site has historic value as a demonstration of the short and isolated lives of the early settlers
The original Davis homestead site has research value as the potential site of archaeological finds which could provide evidence of settlement in Gosnells in the early 19th century.
Physical Description
The John Okey Davis Homestead group of properties includes a restored homestead used as a museum, a 1980s shed, a small citrus orchard, grave and two significant trees set amidst the landscaping of the John Okey Davis Park which backs onto the Canning River.
The Homestead is a single storey brick and iron building with a steeply pitched hipped and gablet roof with two tall masonry chimneys with decorative corbelling extending from the east and west sides of the property. The brickwork has been painted white with contrasting cement render sills. The windows are timber framed sashes with security bards to all windows.
The façade is simple in its presentation with one full size sash windows and two smaller windows together with the timber panelled entrance door and side lights positioned towards the eastern end of the elevation.
The verandah extends around the house with the canopy being formed by the broken pitch of the main roof. The roof has been reclad with red Colorbond. The verandah is open, with the canopy supported on timber columns with a timber valance to three sides of the building. The rear section of verandah does not have the valance but the verandah has been altered to incorporate ramped accesses which are enclosed with colonial style cross balustrading.
The former Wilkinson’s Orchard has been removed but a small number of citrus trees have been replanted to the rear of the homestead as interpretation of the original orchard, known as the ‘Heritage Orchard’. Additional lemon trees were planted in 2002.
To the eastern side of the homestead, a substantial timber workshop/office has been constructed c. 1980s and a Colorbond shed has been constructed to the east of the Heritage Orchard. Neither of these buildings have any cultural heritage significance but do form part of the overall operation of the site.
A mature Almond tree is positioned within close proximity of the orchard and a Jarrah tree is located in the parkland to the west of the homestead.
The Francis Harriet Davis and John Okey Davis grave is a replica and was erected in 1998 as a memorial to the Davis’ and to ensure the original gravestone is preserved. The memorial stone was erected in 1983.
History
The Wilkinson Homestead is situated on a 27 acre property, on a portion of the land allocated to John Okey Davis in 1829. Associated with the Homestead are the remains of the Wilkinson Orchard (fmr), the grave of Frances Harriet & John Okey Davis, and the archaeological site of the original Davis mud brick house. Two significant trees, an Almond Tree and Jarrah Tree, are located within the parkland.
The Davis property, Location 16, which he named 'Chenies', was sold in 1862 to Charles Gosnell, director of a London perfume company, who purchased it for speculative purposes. Subsequently, after subdivision, the name Gosnells was adopted for the district.
In 1905 John Wilkinson, with his wife Emma, bought the property. John Wilkinson was a tailor from Ballarat. He got a job as a cutter in Fremantle in 1896 and later, in partnership with W.W. Middleton, an old associate from Victoria, became the proprietor. He returned briefly to Ballarat in 1901, to marry Emma Tippett. His business flourished and he bought into a Perth tailoring firm as well. In 1905, he and Emma purchased Gosnells Lots 1130 and 1134 on the river’s edge.
John built a small temporary structure on the place for his family and commuted to his Perth tailoring business. Wilkinson Homestead was built in 1912 by Mr Pope. The Homestead was associated with a successful citrus orchard and remained in Wilkinson family ownership until 1963. Citrus orchards, particularly oranges and lemons, once dominated the district and the produce was renowned for its excellent quality. Some of the trees have been transplanted to a location nearer the Wilkinson Homestead. Near the orchard is an almond tree thought to have been planted by the Davis family on the site of their mud brick home of the 1830s. In the current park is a very old Jarrah tree (estimated to be 500 years old). In the 1980s the agricultural shed was constructed utilising the roof trusses from the old Maddington Centenary Hall, windows from the 1928 Gosnells Road Board offices and timber poles from the Orange Grove brickworks.
In 2002, the Homestead became known as City of Gosnells Museum – Wilkinson Homestead. It is well known for its education programs and activities representing lifestyles of the past.
Several plaques are attached to the Museum, noting its development:
City of Gosnells Wilkinson Homestead
Renovated under a joint project between the City of Gosnells and the Apex Club of Gosnells as a community resource centre opened by Mayor R D Harris, on Sunday 9 Nov 1980.
And:
City of Gosnells Museum. This building was officially opened by Mayor Lyal Richardson, JP, Freeman of the City of Gosnells on Sunday 17 April 1988 as part of the Bicentennial Year Celebrations. In 1829, John Okey Davis was granted the 7026 acre Canning Loc 16, where he settled with his wife Frances and their seven children. The property was called 'Chenies'. The Davis' struggled to clear and develop their land, but amidst hardship and deprivation they managed to build a mud brick home and plant a vegetable garden. Frances Davis died on 14 March 1835, aged about 52, and a year later, on 5 March 1836, John Davis died, aged 59 years.
There is some doubt about the location of John Okey Davis' actual burial site as there is supposed to be another grave in the East Perth Cemetery with the name John Okey Davis. Whether it is simply a record in the Cemetery Register or not, has not been made clear, but a death recorded in the Register in the early years of the Colony did not necessarily mean a burial there, and it is considered unlikely that a body would have been transported to East Perth from the Canning district for burial in the heat of March. This is definitely the site of Frances Davis' grave and it is considered more than likely that John Okey was buried here as well. A search in the Perth Gazette failed to find a notice of death and burial, placing more evidence on this site.
The gravesite was first officially secured in 1927. The force behind the gazetting of the site was Chief Inspector of Fisheries, C. F. Gale, who had earlier discovered that the grave was that of his great-grandparents. The gravesite had earlier been used as a poignant site of interest during the marketing of the area by the Gosnells Estate Company in 1903. In 1962 the Council created the John Okey Davis Park to protect the site against the encroachment of new housing development.
A plaque marked the site during Foundation Day celebrations on 6 June 1983. Sponsored by the City of Gosnells Historical Society, City of Gosnells and Readymix Group (WA). The plaque reads:
This memorial near the site of their original home honours the districts first settlers John Okey Davis, his wife Frances Harriet and their seven children who on the 14th Nov 1829 were granted 7026 acres being Canning Loc 16.