By Cathy Jones
’Waitakerei’ was located on the south-western corner of Chalmers Road and Newton Road, Strathfield. The house was located on the 1841 Joseph Newton Crown Land grant. This land was conveyed to Joshua Josephson in 1854. In 1899, over an acre of land was purchased by Clara Edith Thomson, wife of Richard Thomson, from Josephson’s sons Thomas Josephson and Sydney Arthur Josephson.
Richard Thomson was a partner in Angus and Robertson from 1899 until his death in 1938 at age 80 years. Angus and Robertson, established in 1888, is one of Australia’s major booksellers and publishers of Australian literature including authors such as Miles Franklin and Thomas Keneally. The business closed its physical stores in 2011 and is now online. The store trades within the business Booktopia. It’s main warehouse is located in Cosgrove Road Strathfield South.
The house first appears in Sands Directory in 1901, indicating a build date in 1900. The house was a large federation style mansion, likely designed by architect Harry C. Kent which was named ‘Waitakerei’. The aerial photo from 1947 above shows the house and grounds.
In 1942, after the death of Clara Thomson, the property transferred to her daughters Edith Thomson and Dorothy Thomson as joint tenants. Edith died in 1947 and the full ownership transferred to Dorothy Thomson, wife of Alexander George Stanton.
In 1951, Dorothy Thomson transferred part of the land to James Thomson. The residue of the land including the house was transferred on 5 July 1955 to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, according to the land title. It is assumed this indicated the land was purchased by the NSW Government. This is now the site of Chalmers Road Special Education School, a public school, which had previously been located in Albert Road Strathfield.
References
Sands Sydney Directory
Booktopia Back in Business, 2024 August, viewed at https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2024/booktopia-back-in-business.html
NSW Land Title Register
PROBATE OF WILL (Richard Thomson). (1938, July 29). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 7. Retrieved November 4, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17471058
G. A. Ferguson, ‘Angus, David Mackenzie (1855–1901)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/angus-david-mackenzie-5030/text8375, published first in hardcopy 1979, accessed online 4 November 2024.
