Roadworks on the corner of Redmyre and Homebush Roads, December 1959. Courtesy Strathfield Local Studies
This Council photo shows the road building works taking place on the corner of Redmyre and Homebush Roads during December 1959. Council minutes suggest that the photo may have been taken during the concreting of Redmyre Road. ‘Concrete vehicular crossings’ – or driveways – were also constructed at this time. The photo has clearly been taken from the front of the Council Chambers on a sunny, summer’s day. One noticeable difference today is the tree cover. The street trees have grown significantly and provide much greater shade in our attractive tree-lined streets. The other obvious differences are the traffic lights and dedicated left-hand turn lane onto Redmyre Road. Needless to say the road traffic has increased significantly over the last 64 years.
The same view, 16 August 2023. Courtesy Strathfield Local Studies
The houses in the background are 68 and 70 Redmyre Road which still stand, with some additions. You can read more about Dalehurst, now a medical practice, at number 68 Redmyre Road at: https://strathfieldheritage.com/streetnames/redmyre-road-strathfield/dalehurst-68-redmyre-road-strathfield/
Renumbered in 1966, number 70 Redmyre Road, on the corner of Homebush Road, is currently named Arcadia. It was once numbered 48 (and even earlier, number 52) Redmyre Road.
Arcadia, 70 Redmyre Road, Strathfield, 16 August 2023. Courtesy Strathfield Local Studies
One house can tell many stories. Built during the late 1890s by John Vernon, Arcadia was first named Iona. John Vernon was living there when he was appointed a JP in 1901.[1] The following year he became Auditor-General of NSW. [2]
John Vernon, Auditor-General of NSW, 1915. Courtesy NSW State Archives and Records
By 1908 Mrs Wyld was in residence at Iona when she advertised a number of times for servants, including for a ‘respectable little girl’ to be trained as a ‘General’ servant.
Sydney Morning Herald 8 February 1908 p.16 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14934728
Sydney Morning Herald 12 February 1908 p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14914429
Sydney Morning Herald 6 May 1908 p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14942627
Sydney Morning Herald 18 May 1908 p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14936111
By 1909 the home was occupied by the Sutherland family and had been renamed Thurso, probably after the town in Scotland. Mrs Sutherland also advertised for a ‘general’ servant at this time.[3]
Sands’ Street Index of 1910 lists both father, John and surgeon dentist son, Keith Sutherland, as the main residents of Thurso. John Sutherland was the ex-superintendent of the NSW Police Force[4] and had retired to Strathfield, becoming honorary secretary of the local progress association.[5] He died during April 1918 and his cortege departed from Thurso for his funeral At St Anne’s Church before he was buried in Berrima Cemetery.[6] Keith Sutherland later served as an alderman on Strathfield Council from 1937 to 1959. He also practised his dentistry locally in both Liverpool Road and Churchill Avenue.
Valuation records show that by 1924, Thurso had been given the unusual name of Wifethel or Wiefethel and was owned by Mrs Jean McNeill Hooker. She was married to George Thomas Hooker, master butcher. George Hooker’s first wife had died in 1899, leaving one very young son, Wilfred. George remarried Jean McNeill Morris and their only child, daughter Ethel Jean, was born in 1902. So it seems likely that the name of the house was actually Wilfethel, named for both children of the family.
In 1928 Ethel Hooker married Norman Verne Bush of the local A.J. Bush & Sons butchering family, still in business today.[7] Ethel and Norman settled in Barker Road, Strathfield. Tragically, Norman and his niece, Helena were killed when the Wackett monoplane he was piloting from Bankstown Aerodrome crashed shortly after take off in January 1947.[8] George Hooker died in 1957 but Jean remained the owner of Wilfethel until the early 1960s when the house was purchased by Mr Alexander Soboslay and his wife, Charlotte.
Interestingly, by the time this photo of the roadwork was taken, Alderman Keith Sutherland was nearing the end of his service with Strathfield Council. But according to the minutes of Council’s meeting held on 1 September 1959, Alderman Sutherland asked ‘Could cement be placed around bus seat at corner of Homebush Road and Redmyre Road, outside Mrs Hooker’s. At the present time water remains around the seat in wet weather.’ The bus seat is not visible in the photo and must have been behind the red truck on Homebush Road. However it seems fitting that Alderman Sutherland should have taken an interest in the house that was once his own home.
By J.J. MacRitchie
Local Studies Advisor
[1] Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales 3 September 1901 p.6896 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/226385279/13688050
[2] The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser 12 November 1902 p.1250 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/165385819
[3] Sydney Morning Herald 11 September 1909 p.25 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15102514
[4] Sydney Morning Herald 7 May 1908 p.4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15775866
[5] Sydney Morning Herald 29 January 1910 p.6 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15155264
[6] Sydney Morning Herald 26 April 1918 p.5 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15764968
[7] Daily Telegraph 21 May 1928 p.19 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/246776074
[8] Queensland Country Life 9 January 1947 p.4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/97096449