by Cathy Jones 2024
26 Firth Avenue Strathfield is substantial interwar brick Old English style two storey corner house with gabled terracotta tile roof featuring gabled wings projecting towards each street frontage. The house was built in 1940 to a design by architects Robertson and Marks for its owner Mrs Annie Williams.
The house is located on the 1841 Joseph Newton land grant. Newton’s land came under the ownership of the Strathfield Land Company who subdivided the land into residential lots which was marketed as the Josephson Estate No. 1 in the 1920s. This western area of Strathfield mainly developed from the late 1930s and featured many substantial architect designed residences.
By August 1939, Lot A (resubdivision of Lots 114 and 115) was owned by Mrs Annie Williams, wife of Alexander Forbes Williams, a commission agent[1]. The land title contained a requirement that a building was to be residential, to be built in brick or stone and to be valued at minimum £600. A contract was issued for the erection of a house in Strathfield by the architectural firm of Robertson and Marks[2] to the builders Alex Speers Pty Ltd. The build application was approved in March 1940 by Strathfield Council for Mrs Annie Williams and builder Alex Speers Pty Ltd of Rushcutters’ Bay to construct a two storey dwelling of ten rooms costing an estimated £4000 to construct.
Mrs Williams was the owner of the house until her death in 1958. In October 1958, the property was transferred to her children Margaret Forbes Boardman and Kenneth Forbes Williams, Company Director, both of Sydney[3]. The property was transferred to William Bruce Hales of Strathfield, engineer[4]. In March 1976, the property transferred to Consuelo Hales, of Strathfield, married woman[5].
References
Death Notices (1958, March 2), Sydney Morning Herald (Annie Williams)
Department of Valuer-General, Municipality of Strathfield, Valuation Lists
CONTRACTS LET. (1940, March 12). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 6. Retrieved August 9, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17670602
NSW Land Registry, Certificate of Title v.5065 f.240
Strathfield Council Building Registers
Footnotes
[1] Certificate of Title v.5065 f.240
[2] CONTRACTS LET. (1940, March 12). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), p. 6. Retrieved August 9, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17670602
[3] Certificate of Title v.5065 f.240
[4] Certificate of Title v.5065 f.240
[5] Certificate of Title v.5065 f.240
