by Cathy Jones (2023)
‘Inveresk’ 26 Coventry Road Homebush is a single storey Federation brick faced house located on the historic Village of Homebush Estate. ‘Inveresk’ was built in 1906 for its owner George Begg Vickery and his wife Elizabeth. The house was originally set on over 6 acres of land, which was reduced by subdivision after Vickery’s death in 1938. However, the house maintained its frontage to Coventry Road until the subdivision of its front gardens and erection of a new house in 1970 at 24 Coventry Rd which is now located in front of ‘Inveresk’.
Coventry Road Strathfield is situated on land originally granted in 1793 by the NSW Colonial Government to a group of free settlers, including Frederick Meredith, Edward Powell and Thomas Rose, in an area known as Liberty Plains. The intention of the land grants was to establish farms and food supply for the growing colony. The land proved difficult to farm and the settlers abandoned farming activity and moved from their land. Eventually, this land and other land located in the current day Homebush West and Homebush (both sides of the railway line) came under the ownership of James Underwood, Edward Powell’s son-in-law. The land became known as the ‘Underwood Estate’.
By 1878 when the section of the ‘Underwood Estate’ known as the ‘Village of Homebush’ was subdivided, residential development of the suburbs of Strathfield (then Redmire) had already commenced. The large ‘Redmire Estate’ commenced residential subdivision in 1867 and by the late 1870s, large homes for wealthy merchants and businessmen were being built in Strathfield. In 1877, a rail halt and later a station was established at Redmire.
A railway halt and later a station was established at Homebush in 1855, which was intended to service the Homebush Racecourse, sited north of the current railway line. There is little evidence of development on the south side of the Homebush Railway until the development of the ‘Village of Homebush’ estate from 1878 onwards.
‘The Village of Homebush’ estate is a section, measuring 306 acres, of the ‘Underwood Estate’. it is located south of the railway. The land was purchased by a group who intended to subdivide the land for residential development. The group included: William George Pennington, William Henry Mackenzie Snr, John Piper Mackenzie, Robert John King, and Charles Wye Weekes.
The ‘estate’ created Burlington Rd, Beresford Road, Abbotsford Rd, Bridge St, Coventry Rd, Meredith St, Homebush Crescent and Bellevue Street. Parts of Coventry Road have been renamed. In July 1918, the section of Coventry Road from Elsie Street (now Shortland Avenue) to The Crescent was renamed Mackenzie Street. Bellevue Street was renamed Homebush Road and Homebush Crescent was renamed The Crescent.
Lots 2-7 of Section 6 of the Village Homebush Estate (DP 400) came into the ownership of Sarah Hogg and David Kirkcaldie and were sold to George Begg Vickery on 11 August 1905[1]. This land was over six acres in size and fronted Coventry Road, parts of Dickson Street and Merley Road (which was created when Vickery’s land was subdivided in the late 1930s).
The house ‘Inveresk’ was built in 1906 and designed by architect Charles Slatyer, a well known Sydney architect and architect of many homes in Strathfield during the Federation period. Slatyer issued tenders for builders in September 5 1905 for the erection of a villa residence in Coventry Road Homebush[2]. Strathfield Council valuation record of 1906 noted the recent erection of the house owned by Vickery in Coventry Road Homebush[3]. There are no other houses erected in Coventry Road during 1905 or 1906, other than ‘Inveresk’. ‘Inveresk’ first appears in the 1907 Sands Directory for George Vickery.
George Begg Vickery (1865-1938) was the son of Jane Vickery (née Begg) and Ebenezer Vickery MLC (1827-1906), a prominent and wealthy businessman with interests in mining and farming and one of Australia’s wealthiest men. Ebenezer Vickery was also known for his philanthropy and devotion to the Methodist Church. Upon his death left a vast estate. Many of Vickery’s children lived and/or built prominent homes in Strathfield, which included ‘Tiptree’ (daughter Elizabeth Vickery Newman) and ‘Lauriston’ The Boulevarde (daughter Amy Alfreda Vickery) and ‘Strathfield House’ (Joseph Vickery). ‘Lauriston’ and ‘Inveresk’ are still standing.
George Begg Vickery was prominently associated with the coal-mining industry and was for more than 20 years managing director of E Vickery and Sons Pty, Ltd. He was chairman of directors of Coal Cliff Colleries Ltd from its formation in 1909 and for many years a member of the board of management of the Southern Coal Owners Agency and a director of B Byrnes Propty Limited. He was a member of the Southern Colliery Proprietors’ Association and chairman for several years until 1927. At the time of his death in 1938 he was chairman of directors of the Sydney branch of the Alliance Assurance Co Ltd.
George Vickery married Elizabeth Rossbach (1867-1923) and had four children including Ottamar (1899-1980), Frederick (1901-1981), Bertha (1905-1982) and Joyce (1908-1979). Like his father, he was a devout Methodist and contributed to the Church, particularly the Homebush Methodist Church (now Homebush Uniting Church), Burlington Rd, Homebush. Vickery was also an amateur microscopist and member of the Royal Society of New South Wales. His daughter, Dr Joyce Vickery was a renowned botanist and conservationist. Joyce was the first woman research officer hired by the New South Wales Herbarium. Before DNA analysis and other more sophisticated forms of forensic technology, Joyce Vickery identified the scraps of plants and soil which were used to convict the murderer of kidnap victim Graham Thorne in 1960.
Following Vickery’s death in 1938, ownership of ‘Inveresk’ passed to his son Ottamar Vickery. At this time, the house and grounds measured over 6 acres with a 600 foot frontage on Coventry Road with the rear boundaries near Beresford Road and Dickson Street.
Ottamar Vickery initially approached Strathfield Council to consider the purchase of the ‘Inveresk’ Estate, which the Council declined. Vickery then developed plans to subdivide the grounds of ‘Inveresk’ for residential development. This subdivision created residential lots on Coventry Road and Merley Road and was marketed as the ‘Inveresk Estate’.
The estate also dedicated land for public recreation. During the 1920s and 1930s, Strathfield Council sought dedication or acquisitions of open space where large estates were being subdivided due to under supply of public open space. A number of neighbourhood parks were dedicated via this process such as Kessell Square from the Crown of Strathfield estate. Vickery’s donation of land for public recreation was renamed ‘Inveresk Park’. Given the Vickery family association with interest in botany, it is notable that parts of Inveresk Park contain some of the few remaining examples of indigenous remnant populations of the Strathfield area, which includes trees such Grey Box (Eucalyptus moluccana), Wollybutt (Eucalyptus lognfolia), White Stringybark (Eucalyptus globoidea), Broad-leaved Ironbark (Eucalyptus fibrosa) and Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera) These trees represent the last vestiges of the once extensive Turpentine-Ironbark and Tall Forest which were indigenous to the Strathfield district.
Following subdivision, the land occupied by ‘Inveresk’ was reduced to a lot that measured 120 foot frontage with 225 foot depth[4], a still very substantial area of land in a suburban area of Sydney. The property was transferred to Harold Charles Fearon Wheeler on 16 November 1944[5]. Wheeler, a retired solicitor from Narrabri NSW, lived at ‘Inveresk’ with his wife Thelma (née Garrard) (1890-1979). Wheeler died on 22 August 1945. His notice of death states:
“WHEELER.- August 22, at his home, 26 Coventry Road, Homebush, Harold Charles Fearon, elder son of the late William and Grace Wheeler, husband of Thelma, father of Penelope (deceased), Lieut. W. G. Wheeler, D.S.C. (R.A.N.), killed in action; Sergt. J. G. Wheeler, A.I.F. (killed in action), Elizabeth (Mrs. C. C. Deakin), and Helen (Mrs. Peter Birch). Cremation at Rookwood this day (Thursday) at 3.30 p.m.”
An application of transmission was lodged on 11 December 1946 by the Permanent Trustee[6]. It appears that the property was not transferred from the estate until 1969, when the registered proprietor was registered as G W Ikin & Sons Pty Ltd. However, based on electoral information, the house continued to be occupied by Mrs Thelma Wheeler to at least 1968, where she is recorded as resident of 26 Coventry Road on the 1968 electoral roll for the Division of Lowe[7].
A new Certificate of Title issued in March 1970 (which is not available at present). However it likely recorded a further subdivision of the land occupied by ‘Inveresk’ into two lots. The house ‘Inveresk’ was now located on a battle-axe block at the rear. An application for building approval (BA 231/70) to erect a dwelling was lodged by G W Ikin & Sons in August 1970[8]. ‘Inveresk’ is now numbered 26 Coventry Road.
References
Advertising (1905, September 7). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 3. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14728844 (Slatyer tender)
Electoral roll, Division of Lowe, 1968
Family Notices (1945, August 23). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 14. Retrieved August 6, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17951029 (death H Wheeler)
Fox & Associates, Heritage Inventory Sheet No.106, Strathfield Heritage Study, 1986
Claire Hooker, ‘Vickery, Joyce Winifred (1908–1979)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/vickery-joyce-winifred-11926/text21367, published first in hardcopy 2002, accessed online 6 August 2023.
MR. G. B. VICKERY. (1938, June 22). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 8. Retrieved August 6, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17483084
LATE MR. G. B. VICKERY (1938, June 25). The Methodist (Sydney, NSW : 1892 – 1954), p. 4. Retrieved August 6, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155350708
NSW Lands Register, Certificate of Title v.168 f.94
Sands Sydney & Suburban Directory
Strathfield Council, Building Application 231/1970
Strathfield Council Valuation Records 1948, 1951, 1957
[1] NSW Land Register, Certificate of Titles v.676 f.123, v.686 f.230, v.718 f.102
[2] Advertising (1905, September 7). The Sydney Morning Herald
[3] Strathfield Council Valuation Lists 1906-1907
[4] Strathfield Council Valuation Records 1948, 1951, 1957
[5] NSW Lands Register, Certificate of Title v.168 f.94
[6] NSW Lands Register, Certificate of Title v.168 f.94
[7] Electoral roll, Division of Lowe, 1968
[8] Strathfield Council, Building Application 231/1970
Strathfield Heritage 