By Cathy Jones
‘Widgewong’ 89 Abbotsford Rd Homebush is a one and a half storey brick Interwar California Bungalow style face brick house.
The houses located at 85, 87 and 89 Abbotsford Rd land once made up the rear grounds of the house ‘Marlborough’ 96 Abbotsford Road, then owned by Henry Uther. After the sale of the land, the three houses at 85, 87 and 89 Abbotsford were built between 1923 and 1926.
The land on which 89 Abbotsford Road is built was bought by Cassie Amy Lundie, wife of Ernest Lundie of Homebush from Henry Uther. A building application was lodged and approved in November 1922 to construct a brick dwelling with tiled roof with more than six rooms. The builder was A E Gazzard, of Abbotsford Road Homebush. The estimated value of works was £1300.
The owners of the house Ernest Lundie, a grocer and his wife Cassie Lundie (nee Hart), named the house ‘Aerodrome’. Mrs Lundie was the sister of early aviator William ‘Billy’ Hart (1888-1943). On 1 December 1911, prior to her wedding, Cassie flew with her brother, making her the first Australian woman to fly with an Australian aviator.
In August 1929, ‘Aerodrome’ was sold to retired storekeeper Sidney Roland Thompson for £2500. The Thompson family remained the owners until 1976. The house was later renamed ‘Wingewong’.
References
Department of Valuer-General, Valuation Lists, Municipality of Strathfield
Fox & Associates, Strathfield Heritage Study, 1986
Issacs, K. (1983), ‘Hart, William Ewart (Bill) (1885–1943)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hart-william-ewart-bill-6592/text11347, published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed online 20 August 2021.
Land Title Search, NSW Lands and Title Office
Lundie-Hart Wedding. (1912, February 5). The Sun, p. 6 (Final Extra). Retrieved June 14, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222000475
Strathfield Council Building Register vol.2
Sands and Suburban Directory, Strathfield Council area, 1920-1932/3
Wise’s Post Office Directory 1936
Strathfield Heritage 