Midland Radiology Clinic

Statement of Significance

The place is a good representative example of a professional rooms and residence of the early 20th century to accommodate a family and a medical practice. This place has aesthetic value as a good representative example of the application of the materials and details of the Federation Queen Anne style in the early 20th century. For its association with the rapid development of Midland in the early 20th century. For its association with the many doctors who served the Midland community throughout the 20th century.

Physical Description

Federation Queen Anne brick and iron former residence on a corner block creating two principal elevations. Although the street address is Stafford Street, the front entrance faces The Avenue. Alterations have occurred which impact on its authenticity but the underlying design intent of the place remains discernible. The house is of red brick construction with black tuckpoint finish and a single rendered and painted string course extending around the two front elevations at sill level. The main entrance facing The Avenue is a traditional three section ensemble comprising a timber panelled and glazed door and matching side panels. A fanlight extends across the entire but this is not the original. A port hole window is position in the wall adjacent to the entrance. The Avenue frontage presents as a stepped elevation with a further timber and glass door positioned in the western stepped section of the elevation. The Stafford Street frontage also presents in a stepped manner with a projecting bay at the south end of the elevation. The elevation contains four timber framed sash windows, all with security grilles attached. The roof is hipped with a separate hipped verandah canopy positioned approximately 4 brick courses below the eaves. Both elements are clad in corrugated sheet metal. The canopy is supported on turned timber posts on top of brick piers with rendered cappings. Early photographs show a steeper pitched hipped roof with vented ridge gablets and gables above the entrance and the bay window. The roof form has been altered with a shallower pitch hip and the gables have been removed leaving only the section between the top of the verandah canopy and the eaves. Additions have been constructed to the eastern side of the property.

History

In 1886, the Midland Railway Company took up significant landholdings in the area and established its operations to build its planned railway north to Geraldton. The townsite of Midland Junction was gazetted in 1890 and private investor James Morrison, subdivided and sold large parcels of land to new settlers. With gold discoveries in the mid 1890s, Midland Junction became a hub of the state road and rail system and was a logical site for the government railway workshops which relocated there in 1904. As the community grew, essential services were needed for the population. Local researchers have determined this house and surgery were built in 1903 for Doctor Thomas John Lonergan (1879-1923). Lonergan, who was born in Melbourne, studied at Edinburgh University and worked in regional Western Australian before moving to Midland Junction in 1903. The same year he married Victoria May Reid (1885-1965) and built this house and professional rooms. No detail of the architect or builder of the place has been found in this research. Dr Lonergan, his wife, two daughters and servant lived here until 1908. It was noted in the local press in 1906 that a storm destroyed the wood and iron stable on the property, and one of the chimneys on the house was blown onto the servants room. These elements of the property demonstrate the home was of a scale and detail suited to a professional man. In 1908, the medical practice was taken over by Dr Thomas Denman Dawson (1875-1912), originally from Nottingham England, who travelled to Australia in 1905 and by 1907 was working in Wiluna where he married Helena Auguste Meyer (1876-1933). Thomas Dawson died suddenly in 1912. The practice and premises then passed to Dr Arthur Badock (1869-1939) who married Violet Flora Emily Angelo (1875-1963) in 1894. Arthur Badock was born in London and trained at Durham University and settled in Western Australia in the 1890s. The Badocks had two children and during World War One, all members of the family joined the war effort. Violet and her daughter Daisy were nurses in London, Arthur was a medic and their son Clennell served with the AIF in France. While the Badock family were away, 18 Stafford Street was leased to Nurse O'Farrell and Nurse Hosking, Dublin trained midwives. On returning to Midland Junction after the war, Dr Badock resumed his practice until 1933. In the late 1930s, the practice and premises were occupied by Dr Cecil Cook. Between 1940 and the 1970s, the practice was taken over by Dr Roy Iverach Greenham (1906-1983) who lived there with his wife Stella Tampion Pola (1909-1984). The place continues to be used for medical rooms although it no longer serves as a private residence. A survey of the property in 1939 shows that access was via two paths, one to the medical rooms and the other to the family home. At that time a large galvanised iron shed adjoined the rear of the building alongside a small verandah and a weatherboard addition. These structures were all removed and a new additon constructed to the rear c1984. The addition was incorporated under the roof which altered the existing rear roof structure. Further additions were undertaken in 2004.

Integrity/Authenticity

Authenticity: Moderate due to retained original fabric and detail externally. Integrity: Low to moderate as the place is now used for offices and professional rooms.

Condition

Based on a streetscape inspection the building is in excellent condition.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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