Santa Maria Del Monte - 'Lauriston'
In
1894, the Roman Catholic Dominican Sisters opened Santa Sabina Convent and
School on The Boulevarde Strathfield. Following a bequest to the Dominican
Sisters of the house ‘Brunyarra’ (later known as ‘Del Monte’). Santa Sabina
relocated their junior school to ‘Del Monte’ and the new primary school of Santa
Maria Del Monte was established in 1951. ‘Lauriston’, the former home of Amy
Vickery was acquired by the Dominican Sisters from Trinity Grammar in the 1960s
and with ‘Brunyarra’, it has become part of Santa Maria Del Monte, the junior
school of Santa Sabina College.
‘Lauriston’ is located on the corner of The Boulevarde and Margaret Street
Strathfield. The site is located on part of Lot 35 of the Redmire Estate, which
was subdivided and offered for sale in 1867. The original purchaser of Lot 35
was Frederick Wherritt. Wherritt then commenced further subdivision of this
allotment (including the creation of Margaret St) and sold lots 1-3 and 13-19 to
Donald Vernon, Traffic Manager, Railways (later the Secretary for NSW Railways).
Vernon built the home ‘Parkstone’ in c.1872-73, which become his home residence.
He sold this house in 1883 to Rebecca Fraser, wife of Henry Crickard Fraser, an
estate agent and auctioneer. Fraser was also an Alderman on Strathfield Council.
In 1906, the grounds of ‘Parkstone’ were subdivided and lots facing The
Boulevarde were offered for sale as the ‘Parkstone Estate’. Amy Alfreda Vickery
purchased Lots 1-3 of this Estate and commenced building ‘Lauriston’ in 1907.
The Frasers continued to live at Parkstone for many years, though ‘Parkstone’
was demolished in the late 1970’s and is now the site of Marion Court and Marion
Villa in Margaret Street Strathfield.
Amy Vickery (1867-1942) was the daughter of Jane Begg (d.1904) and Ebenezer
Vickery (1827-1906), who was one of Australia’s wealthiest men. Vickery, a
prominent merchant, manufacturer, philanthropist and politician, built a vast
financial empire and was one of the largest station owners and property
speculators in the New South Wales, owning property throughout Sydney and
Waverley. Vickery owned steam colliers and acquired interests in seven coal
mines, owning the colliery at Mount Keira. He was Chairman of South Greta Coal
Company and of Mount Kembla Coal and Oil Company; took over Coal Cliff Company
in 1896. Vickery had interests in tin, copper, gold, silver and bismuth mines in
New South Wales. Vickery took his sons Ebenezer and Joseph into partnership in
1881, incorporating the business as E. Vickery & Sons Limited in 1902. Ebenezer
Vickery held many director positions including Director of City Bank of Sydney;
Pacific Fire and Marine Insurance Company, Perpetual Trustee Company, Mutual
Assurance Society of Victoria. He was Chairman of Trade Protestant Society of
New South Wales, Commissioner of international exhibitions in 1880 and 1883,
Director of Benevolent Society of New South Wales from 1904 until 1906.
Like other prominent merchants of his era, Vickery was appointed to the NSW
Legislative Council, the upper house of the NSW Parliament. He served from 1887
and until his death in 1906. Vickery was also noted for his devotion to the
Methodist Church. He purchased the Lyceum Theatre in Pitt St Sydney in 1905 (now
the Wesley Mission) and was associated with the Central Methodist Mission. Many
years after his death one of Vickery’s daughters, Mrs Elizabeth Newman, built
the E. Vickery Memorial Chapel at Leigh College on Liverpool Road Strathfield
South. The small Chapel was dedicated to the memory of Ebenezer Vickery and
located in Leigh College, then a training centre for Methodist ministers. Upon
his death, Vickery left a vast estate sworn for probate at £483,354.
Presumably with the proceeds from her father’s vast estate, Amy Alfreda Vickery
built ‘Lauriston’ in 1907, which she resided until her death in 1942. Amy
Vickery is best known for her interest in stamp collecting. Her main area of
interest was collecting stamps of the British Empire. She bequeathed to the
Australian Museum in 1942. Since 1982 the Vickery collection has been on
permanent loan to the Powerhouse Museum and consists of over 1,800 mounted
pages. Amy Vickery won gold medals in stamp exhibitions in Sydney in 1932 and
1938 and her entire collection has now been remounted on archival paper and is
available to researchers.
Many of Ebenezer Vickery’s children settled in Strathfield in the late 19th and
early 20th Century including Joseph Vickery (1857-1930) who lived at
‘Strathfield’ (1907-30), George Begg Vickery of ‘Inveresk’ Coventry Road and
Elizabeth Vickery Newman, who with her husband Rev. Charles Newman built
‘Tiptree’ in Kingsland Road.
After the death of Amy Vickery, her estate passed to the children of her brother
Joseph Vickery, Lilian Emily Vickery, Mary Burgess Vickery and Mr Harland
Lamplough Vickery. In 1942, during World War II, the Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) requisitioned use of the Presbyterian Ladies’ College (PLC) at Croydon.
The School Council, requiring property for school use, rented ‘Lauriston’.
Though PLC relinquished use of ‘Lauriston’ after the War, PLC maintained a
presence in Strathfield for many years. ‘Braxton’ at 16 Margaret St was
initially leased but purchased in 1944 by PLC as an infants school. PLC
continued this school until 1997, when it was purchased by Meriden. This
property is now known as ‘Lingwood’, the original name of the house when it was
a private residence.
In 1946, ‘Lauriston’ was leased by Trinity Grammar Preparatory School as a house
for their school boarders and a sub-primary school during the day. In 1951, the
Church of England Property Trust purchased ‘Lauriston’ for £21 000 and it
continued use as Trinity’s Junior School.
By the mid- 1960’s, enrolments for the Trinity Junior School boarders had
declined sharply and the ‘Lauriston’ junior school was running at an annual
deficit. Trinity’s Headmaster believed that demand for junior boarding schools
was in national decline and Trinity decided to close ‘Lauriston’ as a boarding
school and relocate the Lauriston preparatory school boarders to Summer Hill
from the start of 1966. ‘Lauriston’ continued to operate as a sub-primary school
until 1967, when they purchased ‘Milverton’, a home located close to their main
preparatory school site at ‘Llandilo’, The Boulevarde Strathfield. Subsequently,
their sub-primary school was relocated there. As ‘Lauriston’ had become surplus
to their requirements, Trinity Grammar sold ‘Lauriston’ in 1967, after
protracted negotiations with Strathfield Council, developers and Roman Catholic
educational authorities, to the Dominican Sisters for a price over $200,00013.
The Dominican Sisters incorporated this building into Santa Maria Del Monte, the
junior school of Santa Sabina College.
Heritage Significance
‘Lauriston’ was built during an era of change in architectural styling but the
red brickwork, red tiling, broken roof line, dwarf tower, mock conical turret
top and wide verandahs are predominantly Federation style features. The design,
though somewhat severe, is greatly enhanced in appearance by the modest size of
the numerous columns and the abundance of white trimwork. The styling of the
exterior is reflected internally. ‘Lauriston’ is a heritage listed item on
Strathfield Council’s Local Environment Plan.
References
Emilsen, Susan., ‘Dancing on St Dom’s Plot A History of Santa Sabina and Santa
Maria Del Monte’, Santa Sabina College Limited, 1994
Fox & Associates, Strathfield Heritage Study, Strathfield Council, 1986.
Heath, Phillip., Trinity the daring of your name: A history of Trinity Grammar
School Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1990
Jones, M., Oasis in the West, Allen and Unwin, 1985.
Kennedy, Reg., ‘Splendour of an epoch’, Strathfield District Historical Society
Newsletter, vol. 12 no. 11, July 1990
Malcolm, CS., ‘Old homes of Strathfield’, Strathfield District Historical
Society Newsletter, vol. 3 no. 14, 1981
Malcolm, CS., ‘Old Homes of Strathfield’, Strathfield District Historical
Society Newsletter, Vol. 4 No. 4, Jan-Feb 1982
‘Parkstone Estate’ sub-division poster dated 1906
Sands Sydney Directory
Strathfield Council Valuation Books 1945 and 1948
G. P. Walsh, 'Vickery, Ebenezer (1827 - 1906)', Australian Dictionary of
Biography, Volume 6, Melbourne University Press, 1976, pp 333-334.
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