Corrard/Haeremai, 78-80 Broughton Road, Homebush

Haeremai, 78-80 Broughton Road, Homebush, operating as an ‘unsightly boarding house’, 28 May 1963. Courtesy Strathfield Local Studies

August is Family History Month!

One house can reveal many stories about the people who made that house their home over the years as well as the society and district in which they lived.

Frances Smyth-King on the balcony at Corrard c.1890s. Courtesy Ancestry.com

This substantial five-bedroomed house, originally named Corrard, was built c.1888 on lot 5, section 14 of the Underwood Estate in Broughton Road, Homebush, for Canon Hulton Smyth-King, a retired Church of England clergyman. Corrard is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Canon Smyth-King was Irish himself and had first graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 1842. Sent to Australia in 1855, he served as the first rector of St. Michael’s Church of England, Surry Hills for more than 30 years. It was in that church that he married Fanny (Frances) Uther in 1858. By the time of his death at Corrard on 7 June 1897,[1] he held the position of Canon of St Andrew’s Cathedral.[2] After his funeral service at St Anne’s Church, Strathfield, Smyth-King was buried in the graveyard of St Thomas’ Church, Enfield.[3] Frances, the sister of Henry Alfred Uther of Marlborough, 94-96 Burlington Road,[4] died at Corrard on Christmas Day 1904.[5]

                  Frances and Hulton Smyth-King. Courtesy Ancestry.com

The Smyth-Kings had three sons and five daughters and there were many celebrations at Corrard. Isabel’s wedding feast was held there during November 1889 after her marriage to H.G. Freeman was solemnised at St Paul’s Church, Burwood.[6] ‘The guests stayed until 11 pm to enjoy a dance.’[7]

The wedding reception of her sister, Ada was also held at Corrard during April 1904.[8] Refreshments were held in a marquee ‘festooned with greenery, palms and white flowers.’ [9]Tragically, Ada’s happiness was short-lived. She was murdered by her husband, who then took his own life, in 1907.[10]

The house may have been leased out after the death of Frances Smyth-King in late 1904. William Ernest Bayley was in residence there when he died, aged 50 in late January 1908.[11]

Corrard was offered for sale during February 1908, boasting ‘a comfortable family residence, replete with every convenience; standing within its neatly laid-out lawns and flower garden, lawn tennis court, fernery etc.’

Sydney Morning Herald 24 February 1908 p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14940775

The Todhunter family made Corrard their home after 1908 when Henry Mallon Todhunter retired as bank manager of the Australian Joint Stock Bank in Parramatta.[12] In early September 1911 one of the several Misses Todhunter advertised for the return of her gold bangle lost between Corrard and Homebush Station. A reward was offered[13] although we do not know whether it was ever recovered. This may have been Miss Mabel Todhunter who was married at The King’s School Chapel during April 1913.[14] Henry Todhunter moved to Summer Hill before his death in late 1921.

By 1915 Corrard  had changed hands again. Mr John Greig Bisset, previously a resident of Gowan Brae, 62 Abbotsford Road, Homebush [15] became the new owner and also gave the house a new name – Haeremai – A Maori word for ‘welcome.’ Bisset was a railway station manager who had served at Homebush Station, among many others, having joined the railway service in 1869.[16] Upon his promotion from Homebush to Redfern in 1903 he was presented with a valuable gold watch and chain by the mayor of Strathfield on behalf of the citizens of Homebush.[17] This mayor would have been Thomas Dickson who happened to live just a few doors away from Haeremai at Ethelstone, which still stands.[18] Bisset later became the first stationmaster at Sydney’s new Central Railway Station, which opened in 1906, until his retirement in 1912.

John Greig Bisset of Haeremai. Courtesy Ancestry.com

Bisset was a keen gardener, bowler and rifle shooter. He had travelled to New Zealand in 1907 as a member of the New South Wales Bowling Association. No doubt it was this visit that inspired his choice of house name. He died in Homebush in 1932 [19] and his widow, Annie died at Haeremai in August 1934.[20]

After this time Haeremai was briefly owned by Harriet Morgan before being sold to Raymond Alfred Hinds of Beresford Road, Strathfield. The house appears to have been leased at this time but Hinds retained ownership until after World War II. Ernest and Elizabeth Storer owned the house for a short time until about 1950 when it was purchased by Ethel Constance White. The property was managed by A.M. Wilcoxon, a local estate agent, who leased it out. Many large houses in Strathfield and Homebush became boarding houses over the years. Haeremai was one of them, operating as a boarding house when this photo was taken by Strathfield Council in 1963. Much of the original decorative lacework was absent by this time. Wilcoxon was granted a boarding house licence for the year ending 30 June 1964 by Strathfield Council during September 1963.[21]

Broughton Road, Homebush, 1943 showing Haeremai (left) and Mia Mia. Courtesy Six Maps.

By the late 1960s the property had been purchased by local builder, George Ikin who already owned the property Mia Mia next door at 74-76 Broughton Road. Mia Mia had also been built during the 1880s and had first been owned by the Clayton family. Haeremai and Mia Mia were demolished, and the land subdivided and redeveloped during the early 1970s when Simone Crescent was formed and named after a member of the Ikin family.

Visit Strathfield Library to learn more about your own family history using the library’s subscription to Ancestry Library Edition. See: https://strathfield.spydus.com/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/MSGTRNGEN/WPAC/ANCESTRY

 

By J.J. MacRitchie

Local Studies Advisor

 

References

[1] Evening News 8 June 1897 p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/108056831

 

[2] Sydney Morning Herald 8 June 1897 p.1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14119323

 

[3] Daily Telegraph 9 June 1897 p.5 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/238386019

 

[4] Jones, Cathy ‘Marlborough’ https://strathfieldheritage.com/streetnames/burlington-road-homebush/marlborough-94-96-burlington-road-homebush/

 

[5] The Australian Star 26 December 1904 p.4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/228254035

 

[6] Australian Town and Country Journal 7 December 1889 p.36 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71126633

 

[7] Australian Town and Country Journal 7 December 1889 p.36 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71126633

 

[8] The Newsletter: an Australian Paper for Australian People 30 April 1904 p.13 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/119437275

 

[9] Sydney Morning Herald 23 April 1904 p.9 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14615302

 

[10] The Macleay Chronicle 21 November 1907 p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/181502273

 

[11] Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser 29 January 1908 p.317 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/164343206

 

[12] The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate 20 June 1908 p.4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/85977890

 

[13] Sydney Morning Herald 2 September 1911 p.28 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/15270810

 

[14] The Sun 21 April 1913 p.8 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/229833925

 

[15] Jones, Cathy ‘Gowan Brae’ https://strathfieldheritage.com/?s=gowan+brae

 

[16] Evening News 7 March 1912 p.6 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/113815580

 

[17] Lithgow Mercury 23 October 1903 p.4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22147837f

 

[18] Jones, Cathy ‘Thomas Dickson’ https://strathfieldheritage.com/local-government/council/mayors-of-strathfield-council/thomas-dickson/

 

[19] Sydney Morning Herald 16 August 1932 p.8 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16915027

 

[20] Sydney Morning Herald 14 August 1934 p.10 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17079910

 

[21] Strathfield Council minutes 24 September 1963