northernsuburbs

I wandered around these streets collecting empties for the cubs. My earliest memory of St George and the dragon, is of a large muralon the wall of a staircase in this school, which I attended for a couple of early years with "Biscuit", Mr Arnott, a fondly remembered teacher who in addition to teaching us to sing a round, "Ah poor bird, take thy flight, far above the sorrows of this sad night", he took us on a tour of the Arnott's Bisccuit factory. Here is a little Poem below, about the nearby suburb of Chatswood, from my Faves... This house was owned by Edward Carr Hordern. He named it “Chislehurst”. He died in Chatswood in 1940 aged 87. Edward was related to the retailer Anthony Hordern. The Hordern family controlled a significant retailing empire a hundred years ago. They rose to prominence with Anthony Hordern & Sons. Subsequently the Horderns were notable in Australian society in diverse areas such as stockbroking, fashion, rural pursuits, breeding animals, fashion, parliament and cricket. One of the Horderns settled in Wahroonga, Edward here in Chatswood. The Horderns owned many impressive properties in Sydney and the Southern Highlands. The Horderns were known as fitness enthusiasts, and enjoyed tennis, horse riding, walking and other outdoor pursuits. The house was built in 1892, originally called “Maroomba” by John de Villiers Lamb. Described as a fourteen roomed double storey house with stables, on fourteen acres. Hordern bought it from a K. Weidlmann in 1906, after he bought it in 1900 after Lamb's death. The house was re-named after the birthplace of Edward’s wife, Lillie Carr Hordern. The city of Sydney was named after Baron Sydney of Chislehurst (United Kingdom). Hordern made additions to the house, including a billiard room, a ballroom, hothouse, a lift and stained glass windows. Edward Carr Hordern lived in the house until his death in 1940 and his widow and sister remained there until the house was vacated in 1953-4. My mother remembers the house, and says the front veranda was covered in the Hawaiian Bell Flower vine. The property was resumed by the Department of Education. Chatswood High School opened on the site in February 1959. Regrettably, the house was demolished some little time later. A brainless decision by a government bureaucrat. A new school was needed. However, a better idea would have been to preserve this grand historical house, and incorporate it as school offices or something similar. This is what happened with another Hordern property. Shubra Hall is now part of the Presbyterian Ladies College at Croydon. The stained glass window over the school Principal's door is all that remains of the house. The local council tried to save Chislehurst, but the cost of seven thousand pounds was excessive. They argued that the remaining tall trees and “spacious flower gardens” should have become a botanic garden for Chatswood. There are tiny remnants of Blue Gum High forest at the school now. The council also mentioned “a miniature rainforest” at the site, which has also now disappeared. Just imagine that, a Botanic Garden close to the centre of Chatswood, it would be magnificent and very popular today. There's some 22,000 office workers in Chatswood now. They'd love it for a lunch time stroll. Famous people living nearby when this house was standing include Errol Flynn (movie star), Kenneth Slessor (poet), Roger Woodward (pianist) and Victor Trumper (cricketer). They would all have seen it. Prime Minister Tony Abbott also lived nearby, but this was after the house was gone. When the house was standing, Henry Lawson wrote this poem about Chatswood: CHATSWOOD Henry Lawson (1918?) “Twas an old respected settler, in the unrespected days, Who had land along the North Shore and – we’ll say his name was Hayes; And he came there as a young man, when great work was to do, And his young wife’s name was “Chattie” (and, no doubt, she chatted, too). ‘Twas a “small place in the country”, where they went to be care free, Out beyond the pleasant suburb that they now call Willoughby; And a little wood was on it, and the trees were tall and good, And his young wife used to dream there, so he called it “Chattie’s Wood”. “Chattie’s Wood” has long since gone, and shops are standing in a row Where the young wife went a-dreaming in the days of long ago; How the pretty name was altered doesn’t matter anyhow; But the wife is still remembered, as they call it Chatswood now. PHOTO: Courtesy of Willoughby City Library

Hey, under the CC license, I used this photo as the main photo for my new blog www.ilivedhere.wordpress.com - just let me know who you'd like me to credit it to :)

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/geneabailey] Thanks for letting us know. You can credit the image with "State Records NSW". If you'd like to quote the digital ID so other users can find the image in our catalogue it is "Digital ID: 14086_a005_a005SZ844000022r" Thanks again. AB

It's a lovely style Federation residence.