By Cathy Jones
Churchill Avenue Strathfield is located between The Boulevarde and Homebush Road. Part of this street is located in the Strathfield Town Centre. The construction of Raw Square, in the late 1960s, had the effect of bisecting the residential area of Churchill Avenue from Strathfield CBD.
Churchill Avenue was originally known as ‘The Avenue’. The name was changed due to duplication with a street with the same name in Homebush. The name Churchill was adopted after World War II and named after British Wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.
Churchill Avenue, between Elva Street and Homebush Road contains primarily Federation styled buildings. The relatively late development of this estate occurred, because the much of the land was considered unusable due to the presence of a large watercourse, created by overflow water from Powells Creek (which runs at nearby Elva Street and finishes at Strathfield Square).
Most of the houses in Churchill Avenue were built in the early 1900s. The area between Elva Street and Homebush Road was listed as a heritage conservation area in 1987 in Strathfield Council’s Local Environmental Plan.
82 Churchill Ave Strathfield is located on land originally granted to Thomas Rose. Part of the land was acquired by James Richard Powell, who in 1903 sold nine acres to Robert Joshua King (1934) and Mary Anne Balmain (d1934), the wife of surveyor and Town Clerk of Strathfield Council, John Hope Balmain. King and Balmain subdivided the land into residential lots which was marketed as the ‘Kings Estate’. The Kings Estate created the western end of Churchill Avenue (then called The Avenue), Redmyre Road (part) and Homebush Road (part).
Mary Hunter, the wife of James Hunter JP, of Marrickville purchased Lot 30 from the Kings Estate in March 1909. By 1910 the house ‘Normanhurst’ was constructed.
‘Normanhurst’ was sold in August 1912 to Ethel May Bracher, the wife of George Bracher, an accountant for her ‘sole and separate use’. The former owner James Hunter, of independent means, and his wife Mary moved to Redmyre Road Strathfield.
Mr and Mrs Bracher lived at ‘Normanhurst’ until 1923 when it was sold to Cecil Magnay Wilkinson, a stockbroker. Thomas J. Wilkinson lived at the house before it sold in February 1941 to Austin Montague Anshcau, a traveller and Anne Mary Williams, Florence Elizabeth Anshcau and Catherine Maud Anshcau. In 1958, Florence and Catherine Anschau were registered as the owners, likely after the deaths of elder family members. In March 1976, Gary Cormick and Juleen Cormick, teachers were registered as owners.
References
Strathfield Council Building Registers
NSW Electoral Roll, Division of Burwood – Strathfield Polling Place 1913
Land Title searches, NSW Land and Property Information
Sands Sydney and Suburbs Directory 1881-1933
