‘Virginia’ 81 Redmyre Rd Strathfield

by Cathy Jones

‘Virginia’ 81 Redmyre Road Strathfield is a large two storey Federation Queen Anne style face brick mansion with hipped unglazed terracotta tiled main roof and two street-facing imitation half-timbered gables.  The house was built in 1906 to a design by architect Charles Slatyer.  The house was built for and owned by Charles Ingram Todman (1881-1958).

Todman was the son of George Todman (1849-1924), a wealthy tobacco merchant and philanthropist, who lived at ‘Milroy’ Albert Road Strathfield until his death. Charles Todman was born and raised in Strathfield.  He was a successful businessman, who began his career in the tobacco industry at W D and H O Wills but later moved into paper production and media.  Todman was the managing director of Sydney Paper Mills ltd (1909-1920), Australiasian Paper and Pulp Company (1920-1940), Chairman of Cumberland Paper Bd. Mills (1936-1940) and Director of the Australian Paper Manufacturers Ltd (1926-1940).  He was the director of Associated Newspapers Ltd (1941-1953).  Associated Newspapers Ltd, publishers of ‘The Sun’ (Sydney) was taken over by John Fairfax Pty Ltd in 1955.  Charles Todman served as Alderman on Strathfield Council from 1914 to 1917.

The architect Slayter was married to Elsie Todman, sister of Charles Todman.  Slatyer and George Todman developed the Kensington Estate in 1906, which comprises most of the Sydney suburb of Kensington today.  Many streets on this estate are named for the Todman family and reference the name of their homes in Strathfield including Virginia Street and Ingram Street (reference to Charles Ingram Todman and his Strathfield home), Milroy Avenue, Todman Avenue, Winkurra Street (brother-in-law’s Walter Buzacott’s home “Winkurra”, 15 Florence Street Strathfield) and Carminya Street (Charles Slatyer’s home “Carminya” 25 Homebush Rd Strathfield).

Todman married Nellie B Gray (1883-1967) youngest daughter of the late Andrew Gray of Richmond, Virginia, USA in March 1907.  The marriage took place in Richmond and the couple returned to Strathfield, moving into the completed home ‘Virginia’. The name of the house ‘Virginia’ is an obvious reference to Mrs Todman’s birthplace.  The Todman’s lived at ‘Virginia’ until c.1921 with their children Frederick (1911-1972) and Ida (1918-2006). Court reports record dissolution of the marriage and a divorce in 1922.  Records note that Nellie Gray Todman and the children moved to Richmond, Virginia, USA.  All three are buried in Richmond, Virginia.

The house was briefly rented to Frederick King but in November 1922, the house was sold to warehouseman and merchant Robert Henderson-Smith.  Todman moved from Strathfield to Bellevue Hill.  He married Madge Browne Slaney in 1924 and was widowed after the death of wife in 1927.  He married Phyllis Stuart in 1928.  Charles and Phyllis Todman were the parents of Charlene Todman (1931-2018) (later Meade), who was the first Australian woman to participate at the Stoke Mandeville Games, precursor of the Paralympics, and an advocate for disability services. Charles Todman died in 1958 and is buried at Rookwood Cemetery.

In 1928, Henderson-Smith transferred ownership for a nominal fee to his sisters Elizabeth Moran Henderson-Smith and Edith Margaret Henderson-Smith.  The Certificate of Title also records that the house and grounds were over 2 acres in area.

In March 1937, the Henderson-Smith sisters sold ‘Virginia’ to Mrs Veronica (Vera) Catherine Forde, wife of Frank Forde, Member of the House of Representatives (MHR) for £2500. During Forde’s ownership, ‘Virginia’s’ grounds were substantially reduced.  In late 1937, Frank Forde submitted a subdivision plan which was approved. The plan created two lots (Lots A and B) facing Oxford Street and Lot C contained the house ‘Virginia’.  Forde remained the owner of the property until the 1970s.

Forde was the Federal Member for the Queensland electorate of Capricornia, but lived at ‘Virginia’ at Strathfield from 1937 to 1946.  Forde served as Prime Minister for eight days in 1945, following the death of John Curtin.  He served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1941-46 under Prime Ministers Curtin and Chifley, Minister for Defence during WWII and also lead the Australian delegation to establish the United Nations in 1945.  Forde lost office in the general election of 1946 but was appointed High Commissioner to Canada from 1946-1953 and was elected to the Queensland State Parliament from 1955-57.  Forde died in 1983 at the age of 92.

Lloyd and Saunders (2007) describe the achievements of Frank Forde in his Australian Dictionary of Biography article:

“Forde is typically remembered as the man who was prime minister for a week or, even more patronisingly, as ‘always the bridesmaid, never the bride’. Such expressions obscure the fact that his parliamentary career was characterised much more by success than failure. Although not associated with any particular achievement—he was an administrator rather than a legislator or decision-maker—he not only won most of the electoral contests he fought but also spent most of his adult working life in State or Federal parliament. Moreover, while he was neither prime minister nor party leader for long, whether in government or Opposition he was a principal in the counsels of the Labor Party. In truth, he perhaps suffered less disappointment than most of his fellow parliamentarians, many of whom were far more ambitious. Most importantly, he was as loyal to his leader as he was to the party”.

In 1946, Forde moved back to Queensland and his home in Strathfield ‘Virginia’ was leased until it was sold in the 1970s.  The house operated as registered boarding house in the 1960’s.

In the early 1970’s, ‘Virginia’ was purchased by solicitor Geoff Edwards.  Edwards served as an Alderman on Strathfield Council from 1970-1974.

References

Charles Ingram Todman (1955), Who’s Who in Australia, Herald & Weekly Times

Fox & Associates, (1986), Strathfield Heritage Study

‘Death of George Todman’ (1924 June 9), Sydney Morning Herald, page 6

Forde, Frank, 1950s correspondence to Strathfield Council re: subdivision of ‘Virginia’, Council file G/5 566 and G/5 899.

Gorman, Michael. (1983) ‘The life and work of Charles H. Slatyer FIA’, BArch Thesis UNSW, 1983.

‘In Divorce’, (1922 May 27), Sydney Morning Herald

Lloyd, N. and Saunders, M., (2007), ‘Forde, Francis Michael (Frank) (1890–1983)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/forde-francis-michael-frank-12504/text22477, published first in hardcopy 2007, accessed online 8 October 2021.

‘Marriage Notices’ (1907 May 22), Sydney Morning Herald

Advertising (1921, February 2). The Sydney Morning Herald, p. 17. Retrieved July 6, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16886591 (Notice of sale of Virginia)

Strathfield Council Valuation lists

 Author:  Cathy Jones (2011, updated 2021)

Citation:  Jones, C (2011) ‘Virginia 81 Redmyre Road Strathfield, Strathfield Heritage, https://strathfieldheritage.com/streetnames/redmyre-road-strathfield/virginia-redmyre-road-strathfield/