‘Seeroma’ 6-8 Elwin Street Strathfield

By Cathy Jones

‘Seeroma’ 6-8 Elwin Street Strathfield was locally known as the Taubman house, the long term home of paint and varnish manufacturer Claude Taubman. The house is located on the historic 1880 Bushy Hill Estate, one of Strathfield’s oldest subdivisions.

The original owner was Harry Seears, a grazier. The house was approved for construction in October 1921 at an estimated value of £1550. The house was described as a brick bungalow of six or more rooms and built by M C Groat, Patterson Street Concord. The house name appears in directories as ‘Seeroma’ or Searoma’, obviously a reference to the owners surname.

Seears died in 1926 at the young age of 53 and the house transferred to his widow, Elizabeth. In 1931 the house was sold to Claude Percival Taubman (d.1970), paint manufacturer, for £2500. Claude was the son of Nathanial Taubman (1864-1931), who established Taubman’s Ltd, paint and varnish manufacturers with his brother George. In 1914, George Taubman sold his interest in the firm and with his son Claude, formed the Sterling Varnish Company.

Taubman was still listed as the owner and occupant in the mid-1960’s. He died in 1970.

References

Death of Mr N J Taubman (1931, December 22). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 13. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1682727

Department of Valuer-General, Valuation Lists, Municipality of Strathfield

Fox & Associates, Strathfield Heritage Study, 1986

Sands Sydney and Suburban Directory 1920-1932

Strathfield Council Building Register

Walsh, G. P., ‘Taubman, George Henry (1862–1938)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/taubman-george-henry-8750/text15329, published first in hardcopy 1990, accessed online 17 September 2020.