By Cathy Jones (2025)
‘Wychwood’ 42 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.
‘Wychwood’ 42 Churchill Ave Strathfield is built on a 1903 subdivision that was marketed as the ‘Kings Estate’. The estate was subdivided by Robert Joshua King (d.1934) and Mary Ann Balmain (d.1943), the wife of surveyor and Town Clerk of Strathfield Council, John Hope Balmain. The Kings Estate created the western end of Churchill Avenue (then called The Avenue), Redmyre Road (part) and Homebush Road (part).
The land was sold to Catherine Granger, the wife of James Granger, on 8 August 1910. The following year the house ‘Chelsea’ was built for James and Catherine Granger.
James Granger (d.1926) was a Master Baker. His family operated J Granger Bakery, advertised as the ‘oldest established bakery in Australia’ at Parramatta. It was established in 1826 and was multi generational business. Granger was for many years, an Alderman of Parramatta Council. The Parramatta Heritage Centre have prepared an informative article on the history of the bakery and the Granger family. https://historyandheritage.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/research-topics/parramatta-people/j-granger-and-son-bakery-parramatta
Granger lived with wife Catherine (d.1933) (née Brodie) at ‘Chelsea’ until 1918. They then moved to ‘Home’ 42 Broughton Road, Homebush (now 50 Broughton Rd) where they lived until their deaths.
In 1918 ‘Chelsea’ was sold to Eliza Agnes Yansen, the wife of Frederick Arthur Gordon Yansen (d.1948), a storekeeper. The Yansens lived at ‘Chelsea’ until 1949 when ownership transferred to Maud Farrell and Joan Gloria Price who retained the property until 1962.
The house is presently known as ‘Wychwood’
References
Family Notices (Frederick Yansen), The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954) 17 December 1948: 14. Web. 27 Aug 2020 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18094517>.
“Death of Mrs. C. S. Granger” The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate (Parramatta, NSW : 1888 – 1950) 28 December 1933: 4. Web. 27 Aug 2020 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107803165>.
Tsang, Anne (2019), J Granger & Sons Bakery, Parramatta Heritage Centre, https://historyandheritage.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/research-topics/parramatta-people/j-granger-and-son-bakery-parramatta
Spurway, John, ed. Australian Biographical and Genealogical Record. Series 1, 1788-1841, with series 2 supplement, 1842-1899. Sydney: A.B.G.R., 1992
Land Title searches, NSW Land and Property Information
Society of Australian Genealogists, 2002, Rookwood Cemetery Transcriptions (electronic resource)
Sands Sydney and Suburbs Directory 1881-1933
Strathfield Council Valuation Lists
