By Cathy Jones
Adjoining ‘Mount Royal’ (now the Edmund Rice Building of Australian Catholic University) at the western end of Albert Road Strathfield, once stood the homes ‘Ovalau’ and ‘Andross’.
‘Ovalau’ was built in 1888 for a George Morgan, a planter from the Fiji Islands. The house was located on the northside of top of Albert Road. One of the later occupants of the house was James Edmond (1859-1933), of ‘The Bulletin’ (Edmond also has an Australian Dictionary of Biography entry).
In 1917, the Christian Brothers, who had already acquired ‘Mount Royal’, purchased the house from Morgan for £3250. ‘Ovalau’ was later renamed ‘St Enda’s’. It was demolished in 1962.
References
Stewart, D.(2004), Mount Royal to Mount Saint Mary: A history of the Christian Brothers at Mount Saint Mary 1908-1992.
Strathfield Heritage 