’Brooklyn’ 1 Hornsey Rd Homebush West

By Cathy Jones (2025)

‘Brooklyn’ 1 Hornsey Road Homebush West is a single storey Victorian Georgian style cottage built c.1891.

This house is located on the 210 acre land granted to John Fleming in 1806.  Part of the Fleming land was acquired to build the western rail line from Sydney to Parramatta.  Flemington Rail Station is built on this land grant.  Ownership of Fleming’s grant was acquired by James Underwood and the land became part of the Underwood Estate.  The trustees of the estate William George Pennington, William Mackenzie Snr, Robert John King, James Clegg Taylor and Charles Wye Weekes subdivided the land in 1881 as deposited plan 827 and marketed it as the Flemington Estate.

In August 1882, Lot 18, Section 11 on which ‘Brooklyn’ is located was sold to George Michael, of Sydney, a merchant[1]. Michael (1837-1911) was born in England and migrated to Australia.  He married Ellen Murray (1840-1902) in 1858. Michael is listed as a Cement and Slate Merchant operating from premises at 812 George Street Sydney in Sands Directory 1885, with his private residence in Pitt Street Sydney.  By 1890, Michael listed as Importer of Building Materials, 812 George Street and Pitt Street and his private residence as Liverpool Rd, Summer Hill[2].  In 1891 Sands Trades Directory, he is listed at his George and Pitt Streets but no private residence.

In June 1891, Michael transferred the land in June 1891 to his mother Maryann Michael[3], perhaps to protect his personal assets.  In August 1891, he voluntarily applied for bankruptcy[4]. This occurred likely as a consequence of the severe economic depression in 1890s where the local economy collapsed following bank failures, severe reduction in the availability of capital and widespread unemployment.

It is likely that a cottage was built around 1891.  Prior to 1892, Hornsey Road was not part of Strathfield Council, it does not appear in Sands Directory nor are there records available which would reference a possible building date.  However, in October 1891, Michael is listed as a ‘freeholder’ and also an organiser of a petition to annexe the unincorporated area of Flemington to Strathfield Council.[5] The area of Flemington was added to Strathfield Council in February 1892.  The house is listed on the Strathfield Council valuation record of 1892-1893.

In February 1893, the property was transferred to George Michael, then in May 1893 to his wife Ellen Murray Michael.  Michael nominated as a candidate for Alderman at the 1896 and 1897 Strathfield Council elections representing the Flemington Ward but lost both times by small margins.

The house was originally numbered 1 Hornsby Road.  The street was renumbered in 1961 but this house was not renumbered. The house name ‘Brooklyn’ appears on various records.

In 1902, after the death of his wife Ellen, George Michael became the sole proprietor of the property.  In 1906, Michael remarried Harriet Schmidt (née Jenkins) (1880 – 1972), a widow.  Following Michael’s death in 1911, the property transferred to Harriet Michael and David Lindsay Aitken, a solicitor in 1912[6]. Michael is buried in the Old Church of England Section of Rookwood Cemetery.

Harriet Michael married Joseph Miles (-1924) at Granville in August 1912. Following the death of Harriet Miles in 1972, the property transferred by transmission in May 1973 to her son, Oswald Miles of Homebush.  Miles died in 1983[7] and in October 1984, his widow Edna Amy Miles was made the registered proprietor through transmission. In January 1985 the properly was sold.

The land on which ‘Brooklyn’ was built was rezoned for units.  The rear of the site was developed in the early 2000s with a multi-unit development, while preserving the house ‘Brooklyn’ facing Hornsey Road.

References

[1] Certificate of Title v.590 f.214

[2] Sands Sydney Alphabetical Directory 1890

[3] Certificate of Title v.590 f.214. Mary Ann Michael was George Michael’s mother.

[4] IN BANKRUPTCY. (1891, September 4). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 – 1900), p. 7102. Retrieved April 15, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222128678

[5] NSW Government Gazette 6 October 1891.  Michael is listed as petition organiser and signatory.  Mary Ann Michael is noted as a freeholder (by her attorney).

[6] Certificate of Title v.590 f.214

[7] Miles was born in 1902, son of Carl Schmidt and Harriet Miles (Schmidt was her first husband)