Rose Street Residential Precinct

Name Rose Street Residential Precinct Address Rose Street, Mackenzie Dates 1914- ca.1935 Street Golden Square Designer/s Various Builder/s Various Significance Local Survey 3 August 2020 Date Recommendation Inclusion in the City of Greater Planning Scheme as a Heritage Precinct

NOTE- As a result of the closure of several key research facilities due to COVID-19 it has not been possible to research the full history of the place. This has also caused some historical statements to be based on secondary sources where primary sources may have been available in other circumstances. It is also likely that additional historical information is available but inaccessible currently.

17 Rose Street, Golden Square

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Contextual History

As part of his general survey of the Bendigo Creek valley and its environs in late 1852, government surveyor William Urquhart chose a place for the township of Sandhurst on Bendigo Creek below the government camp, the site of some of the richest alluvial diggings on the field.

In 1853-54 R W Larritt, district surveyor, acting under instructions from the Surveyor-General Andrew Clarke, surveyed the alluvial diggings of White Hills, Kangaroo Flat, Golden Gully (including Golden Square), and Bendigo Flat laying detailed grids over the organic development of the existing gold workings.

The first survey of land in Golden Square was carried out in 1853-54 by Larritt as part of the survey of the Township of Sandhurst. Golden Square was divided into two parts: Portion A fronted the south side of High Street, and comprised the area of Golden Square between Ash and Booth streets, with a small section fronting the north side of High Street between Maple Street and Booth Street; Portion B fronted the north side of High Street, and comprised an area of Golden Square between Ophir and Thistle streets (see Figure 2).

Larritt’s survey of Golden Square named the streets crossing High Street after English trees: Ash, Elm, Oak, Poplar, Bay, Fir, Beech and Lombardy.1 Shamrock Street was named after the emblem for Ireland; Rose Street for the emblem of England; and Thistle Street for the emblem of Scotland.

Some of the first homes on the Bendigo goldfield were built by alluvial miners at Golden Point (Golden Square) in 1851-52. The first land sales at Bendigo took place in April 1854 at which allotments in Golden Square were sold. The construction of residences soon followed. In the 1850s, alluvial miners following the rushes often erected only temporary, rudimentary homes from tents or slabs close to the places they were mining.

The Miner’s Right was enacted in 1855 and for £1 per year gave the holder the right to dig for gold, vote at parliamentary elections, and reside on land claimed for mining purposes. By 1857, the Miner’s Residency Area was increased to a quarter acre. In 1859, the rating of properties at Golden Point carried out by the Sandhurst Borough council listed 47 dwellings (which would have included huts, tents, framed tents and slab dwellings as well as timber and rubble stone cottages) on Crown land, 12 at Golden Square Point also on Crown land, and at Golden Square 13 on Crown land, 4 privately owned, and 12 shops or stores which were all privately owned. Those on Crown land were on Miner’s Rights.

After 1865, the Residence Area could be registered and sold together with any improvements, for example, house, garden, sheds and fencing. The security supplied by the Miner’s Right was reflected at Golden Square, where by 1859, nine permanent houses had been constructed.

Because of the popularity of the Miner’s Right and its accompanying Residence Area for the construction of homes, some areas of Golden Square remained Crown land through to the 1980s and 1990s.2

1 The Argus, 30 June, 1854, p.3. 2 BRAC, Bundle 1, Item 549, undated, and various Title documents.

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With more permanent work provided through the establishment of quartz mines, workers from the 1860s built their homes near their places of work, mines located on the main reefs. Populations gathered in areas based on religion and national background; Golden Square, for example, featured a large Cornish population. Simple, small-scale timber miner’s cottages were constructed in Golden Square through to the 1870s, with brick cottages built from the 1860s. With the mining boom of the 1870s, more substantial homes were constructed.

Because of the rapid development of the Sandhurst area, surveying was undertaken by independent, private surveyors. An 1874 report to the Surveyor General noted that over 1,100 detached (unconnected) surveys existed of the district. A resurvey of Sandhurst to consolidate existing surveys was subsequently ordered and undertaken by Black ca. 1880.3 Black’s survey of ca.1880 shows that much of the area of Golden Square had been surveyed into allotments and sold by that time. However, large sections of Crown land also remained as part of existing mining leases.

Over the mining boom years of the 1880s-1890s, Golden Square’s residents of means, mostly wealthy mine or business owners, were able to construct substantial homes that were sometimes architect designed. Local active architects in the Golden Square area in this period included William Beebe, James Blair and F W Lehmann.4

With a decline in mining and closure of associated industries in the first two decades of the twentieth century, the City of Bendigo’s population almost halved between 1901 and 1911, falling from 30,774 to 17,883.5

As mines and associated industries closed, new areas opened up for residential development. In a number of cases these areas were on Crown land that had formerly been part of large mining leases that were no longer operating. A number of the individual blocks within these areas were originally held under Miner’s Rights giving the occupier access to land within the Miner’s Right Residency areas at very little cost. Secure occupancy of the land then allowed them to obtain housing loans to build new homes at a house and land price that was affordable.

By 1921 the Bendigo municipality’s population had reached 25,682, and from the 1920s, with a further decline in mining from 1918, only gradual population growth took place, with the tramways, the railways and the textile industry as major employers.6 Former mine sites in Golden Square, located in close proximity to transport routes and the city of Bendigo, were opened for suburban development. New infill housing development on reclaimed mine land occurred at this time.7

In the 1930s economic depression, the high price of gold led a mining revival. In the late 1930s, the State batteries at Eaglehawk and Golden Square were kept occupied practically throughout the year, as was the Sheepshead battery.8 Cyaniding old mine battery sands continued until the outbreak of World War Two.

3 Hull, R. 2006, p.6. 4 History Making, 2019, pp. 31,32. 5 Victorian Places, 2015. 6 Ibid. 7 , Heritage Design Guidelines, 2015, p.14. 8 Bannear and Annear 1990:np

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As , like the rest of the world, was recovering from the economic depression, the introduction of the Land (Residence Areas) Act 1935 allowed Victorians to occupy (lease) a Residence Area on auriferous land or, under Section 12, to purchase land if the holder had been in possession for at least two and a half years, that a habitable dwelling had been erected, and that there was no objection to the alienation of the land. This legislation played an important role in enabling Bendigo residents to become homeowners at a time of economic hardship. The Land Act 1958 wound up the granting of Residence Areas, and under Sections 173 and 174 of the Act, existing landholders in Residence Areas were able to purchase their properties from the government.

Precinct history

The residences in the subject precinct comprise mainly Interwar bungalows that reflect a wave of housing development in Golden Square in the period 1910-1940s. This development corresponded with a decline in mining and closure of associated industries, freeing up land for the construction of residences and making the area a more attractive place to live.

The subject precinct comprises part of Portion B, one of two parts of the first survey of Sandhurst undertaken by Richard Larritt in 1853-54 (see Figure 2). The precinct is also located in close proximity to the New Chum and Bellevue quartz reefs (see Figure 3).

Figure 1: Rose Street Residential Precinct boundary in red, contributory places indicated by green dots, non-contributory places by red dots.

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Figure 2:Showing part of Portion B of Larritt’s 1853-54 survey of the Township of Sandhurst. Portion B included that part of Golden Square north of High Street, bounded by Ophir, Thistle and Rowan streets, which includes most of the subject precinct (outlined in red). (Source: Philp 1854, SLV)

Figure 3: An extract from a map showing allotments surveyed and gold producing reefs and gullies in Golden Square (named Golden Point on the map) in 1873. The subject precinct, located within the red outline, is situated on parts of Sections 20, 21, 22, 23, 29 and 47, close to the alluvial diggings on Bendigo Creek (shown in yellow) and the New Chum and Bellevue quartz reefs (shown by pink dashed lines). (Source: Smyth 1873)

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The first land sales in the subject precinct occurred in 1854 with the first houses in Rose Street rated by the Bendigo City council in 1856.9

By 1874, the number of houses constructed in Rose Street increased, with many built on Residence Areas associated with Miners Rights. The increase in housing was no doubt linked to the establishment of two goldmines on the New Chum Reef: the Garibaldi in McKenzie Street in 1861 and Craven’s in Rose Street in 1861 (see Figure 3).10 It is likely that these mining companies experienced higher production during the boom years of the early 1870s, thus requiring more workers who made their homes nearby.

In addition, the Foundry was a major employer in the area. Owned solely by Andrew Harkness by 1875, the foundry commenced operations in 1858 in Shamrock Street, Golden Square, on an allotment behind the Foundry Hotel. The foundry manufactured many of the largest mining plants on the Bendigo field and supplied the first crushing plants for the Port Darwin rush and the Palmer River Diggings in 1871.11 In addition, the Victoria Foundry manufactured the widely used Irvine Patent Inlet Valve, the work of its chief patternmaker, Isaac Irvine, and had production rights to another local invention, the Mitchell Rock-boring Machine that became standard equipment in most mines from the 1880s.12 Andrew Harkness owned land near the subject precinct at the corner of Ophir and Mackenzie streets, and his family home can be seen today at 255 McKenzie Street (HO477) (not in the subject precinct).

In 1880, the houses in Rose Street continued to be occupied mostly by miners, who likely worked at the Garibaldi or Craven mines, as well as the Little (Young) Chum Gold Mining Company, opened near the corner of Rose and McKenzie streets in 1880; the Shamrock Gold Mining Company, opened in 1881 near Rose Street, or the North Shamrock Gold Mining Company opened in 1883, also in Rose Street13 (see Figure 3). All of the aforementioned mines worked the New Chum reef. Quartz mining slowed from the 1890s, with 1900 marking one of the last years of operation for both the Garibaldi Mining and Crushing Company and the North Shamrock Amalgamated Quartz Mining Company. As a consequence, from the 1890s the mining companies sold their assets. In 1895, the Little Chum Gold Mining Company advertised for sale freehold and leased land held by them in Ophir Street.14

According to the Bendigo Rates books, by 1856 there were three houses in Rose Street, including one described as slab and tent. By 1860 there were three properties described as house and land, one framed dwelling, a property described as House, store and land owned by William Craven at the corner of Mackenzie and Rose Streets, and Land and fenced ruins at the corner of High and Rose Street. In 1872/315 the Sandhurst, Castlemaine & Districts Directory had four residents on the west side of Rose Street, namely William Craven, Storekeeper, (who became a mine owner), Henry

9 Bendigo Historic Rates Index 10 Ibid. 11 Churchward, M., in Butcher, M, and Collins, Y. (eds) Bendigo at Work: an industrial history, 2005, National Trust of Australia (Victoria), Bendigo and District Branch. pp. 38,39. 12Cusack 1973, p. 176 13 Bendigo Historic Rates Index 1856-1903 14 Bendigo Advertiser, 13 March, 1895, p.4. 15 Sander, Emil and Treanore, John D., compilers, The Sandhurst, Castlemaine & Echuca Districts Directory for 1872-3: containing street, alphabetical and trade directories; and official, local and municipal information, J.W. Pearson & Co, Sandhurst.

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Clarke, Miner, David Roberts, Miner and John Bullen, Gentleman. John Bullen represents the changing fortunes of a number of residents of Golden Square at this time, as he appeared in the 1856 and 1864 rate books, with the occupation of Founder, and in 1867 as Miner, which could mean that he either worked in or owned a mine. On the east side of Rose Street, G. Denicker, miner, and Mrs. S Richards were the only occupants listed. By 1880 the Little Chum Gold Mining Company appears with Land and House (probably for a manager) at the corner of Mackenzie and Rose Streets.

Figure 4: Showing the subject precinct and surrounding landscape with gold mines (infrastructure of which is denoted by black squares) in c1880. MacKenzie Street across top left. (Source: Black’s Survey c1880)

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Figure 5: Rose Street from the Parish Plan. It is shown in two sections. The red arrow indicates the adjoining sections. A number of properties are shown as Residency Area Miner's Rights (RA) in red on the Plan.

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Figure 6: A detail from the Parish Plan showing the site of the Mackenzie Street properties.

In Rose Street in 1900 The Garibaldi Mining ang Crushing Company appears in the Rates, along with the North Shamrock Amalgamated Quartz Mining Company and nine properties described as land and house. Occupants included five miners, two widows, a mine manager, an iron founder, a labourer, and a groom. Most were renting. At least one of the miners and the mine manager lived in houses owned by the Shamrock and North Shamrock Companies.

According to the Sands and MacDougall directory for 1907-1908, there were still three dwellings on the north side of Rose Street, and on the south side the Young Chum gold mine, Craven’s Freehold mine, and four houses. It also notes that Craven’s Freehold mine in Mackenzie Street was no longer working. It is worth noting , however, that as listing in the Sands and MacDougall directory was neither compulsory nor free of charge, a number of less well off residents or those renting sometimes did not bother with it.

In 1911, the Shamrock Gold Mining Company advertised for sale a large block of land and a six- roomed dwelling on the corner of Old High and Ophir streets.16 Also in 1911, the Garibaldi Gold Mining Co and the Young Chum Gold Mining Co advertised for sale 14½ acres of leased and freehold land and associated mining plant located at the corner of Mackenzie and Rose streets.17 In 1913 the Victoria Foundry closed, having been affected by the decline of mining in the area. The workforce

16 Bendigo Advertiser, 3 March, 1911, p. 7. This could have been the mine manager’s house listed in the 1900 rates book as corner of Old High and Rose Streets. 17 The Bendigo Independent, 22 May, 1911, p.8.

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dependent on the nearby mines and the foundry would have moved on, as most needed their employment to be within walking distance, unless they were able to take advantage of a tram line.

With the cessation of mining in the area and the closure of the Victoria Foundry, the area in which the subject precinct is located became a more attractive place to live. Any miner’s cottages in the area were demolished, burnt down or relocated by the time the extant houses were constructed. The sole remaining miner’s cottage in Rose Street is at number 8, and it is not included in the precinct. It was probably constructed in the late 19th or early 20th century. By 1915 the weatherboard Edwardian villa at 28 Rose Street had been constructed, and another wave of building occurred in the period 1925-30, with bungalow residences constructed in the subject precinct at 11, 17, 32 and 34 Rose Street.18 Of these at least two properties, numbers 11 and 34 Rose Street, contained houses obtained from and Iser Property Limited where the company built the home and provided the mortgage19. Similar schemes were also offered by the State Savings Bank. Several of the houses are very likely to be “Bank Houses” constructed under the Credit Foncier Building Department initiated by the State Savings Bank of Victoria. George Emery, Inspector-General of the State Bank, is credited with working tirelessly to achieve the goal of greater home ownership in Victoria. One of his achievements was to instigate legislation in the Victorian Parliament (the 1920 Housing and Reclamation Act ) to facilitate loans on generous terms to people on an income of less than £400 per annum who did not already own a home through the Credit Foncier Building Department of the State Savings Bank. War Service Homes were also part of the scheme. Designs could be chosen from Design Books for Timber or Brick Dwellings produced by the Bank. The first loans were granted in 1921, and the scheme reached its peak in 1928 and 1929.20 It continued into the 1940s. The majority of residences in the precinct of interest were built in the period 1930-35, at 251 McKenzie Street; and 10, 18, 23, 25, 26, 27 and 36 Rose Street.21 Houses at 248, 249 and 253 Mackenzie Street and 21 and 24 Rose Street were built in the period 1935-40.22 Some time after the 1956 aerial photo was taken, Rose Street was reconstructed on two levels, probably due to it being along the side of the hill. Although it had been surveyed well prior to the extant houses being built (see Figure 2), it appears to have been a rather organic gravel road and not properly formed (Figure 5 taken in 1934) until it was sealed and realigned on two levels. It had probably been used to access mines in the area, such as the Young Chum and Garibaldi, before they closed down. As time went on the advent of the motor car would have been a factor in creating accessibility of driveways, resulting in a split level road rather than having a steep cutting on one side. Many houses in the Interwar period were provided with driveways, although it might be quite some time before their owners could afford a car.

18 Division of Bendigo Electoral Rolls, 1925-30. 19 Landata. Property Title and Bendigo Rate Book data 20 History Monash, Bank Houses, July 19, 2020, http://www.historymonash.org.au/ 21 Division of Bendigo Electoral Rolls 1930-1935 22 Division of Bendigo Electoral Rolls 1935-45

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Figure 7: Rose Street in 1934.The road is unsealed. MacKenzie Street at the top. Many blocks have been built on at this time. Image: VICMAP 7724 series 1:25,000 B. M. L. Air Photo Images 1934. Detail.

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Figure 8: By 1956 all blocks had been built on, and street trees established. Rose Street has still not been properly aligned. MacKenzie Street can be seen at the top. Image: Aerial Photo ADASTRAPHOTO BENDIGO VIC 1186-33, 1956, detail.

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Figure 9: Rose Street in 2020. The road has been realigned and separated into two levels. Image: Pozi 2020.

The houses in the subject precinct, all built in the period 1914-ca. 1935, reflect the changing employment and home-ownership patterns of Bendigo’s population. Compared to earlier dwellings built by miners, the majority of subject houses, often more substantial single storey residences referred to as bungalows, were erected for professional workers, clerks, and officers employed in private companies and government departments such as the railways; an engine driver, a fitter, a secretary, and business owners.

E G Ham, for instance, was the owner of 23 Rose Street, built in 1931, from which year he listed his profession as ‘secretary’. During World War I, Ham was campaign secretary for Prime Minister W M Hughes. Ham became the secretary of the Bendigo Agricultural Society in 1925 and was elected

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secretary and manager of the Bendigo Easter Fair in 1928. Under his management, by 1933 the Easter Fair had netted more than £15,000 for the Bendigo Base Hospital and the local Benevolent Asylum. In 1933, Ham was also secretary of the North District of Victorian Agricultural Societies' Association, which was responsible for having the freezing company's works reopened at Bendigo in 1931. In this role, Ham undertook several overseas tours to examine farming methods and by 1933, had been awarded an MBE. Ham died at his home in Rose Street in 1948 aged 66.23

Another resident, Frank Cowan, owner of ‘Grayleigh’ at 32 Rose Street, built in 1928, worked as the mains and private lighting superintendent for the Bendigo Electric Supply Co in 1916.24

From 1855 a Miners Right could be purchased for £1 entitling the possessor to mine for gold and construct any building in a Miners Residency area. Within the Rose Street precinct 6 allotments, 5 of which contain house that contribute to the precinct, were built on while held under that right. The houses at numbers 24 (1976), 26 (1988), 28 (1976), 36 (1980) and 21 (1985) are the contributing sites, all were built in the late 1920s or early 30s. The year in brackets is the year they each were converted from Miners Right to Torrens Title. During the Great Depression, 1929 to 1935, the Australian Government handed out Miners Rights to some unemployed.

It is also worth noting that as these areas were being built upon during the Interwar and early Postwar period, a number of residential and commercial buildings were constructed in and around the Golden Square shopping precinct, including the Plume petrol station, which reflects the new found mobility and relative affluence of the local population.

Description and Integrity

The Rose Street Residential Precinct is located on rising ground south west of the city centre. The precinct includes Rose Street, and a small portion of Mackenzie Street. Rose Street is relatively unusual for Bendigo in that a wide median strip separates the two sealed carriageways, which appears to have been formed since 1956.

The majority of dwellings within the precinct are “Bungalows”. This term covered a number of different styles including Californian, Craftsman, Tudor Revival, Spanish Mission and Moderne, and combinations of these, generally classed as Inter-War Bungalows. The term “bungalow” was used by the State Bank Housing Scheme to describe its range of detached single storey dwellings.

All have similar set backs from the street, and are a mixture of timber and brick construction, with either tiled or corrugated iron roofs. Most are intact and retain chimneys, wall and roof cladding, leadlight windows and verandah details contributing to a homogenous streetscape. Some fencing is not of the correct style for the time (recently installed Victorian style pickets and metal palisades), but all is low and unobtrusive in general.

Builders and architects of this period might construct a number of houses of what was basically the same plan but with different elements to the façade reflecting different fashionable styles, or combinations of styles, of the time.25 Thus we see transverse gabled timber framed homes such as

23 Sporting Globe, 12 April 1933, p. 12; The Argus, 19 March 1948, p. 5 24 Bendigo Advertiser, 29 March 1916, p. 5 25 Raworth, B. 1991, Our Inter-War Houses, National Trust of Australia (Victoria), p.10

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11 Rose Street, which shows the influence of the California Bungalow, and 17 Rose Street with a Spanish Mission Style portico. 11 Rose Street was constructed by Hume and Iser, but shows much in common with a plan from the State Savings Bank Design Book 1927, Type 3 (Figure12).

Many other houses in the area have similarity to bungalow plans produced by the State Bank Housing Scheme for its range of small detached timber and brick dwellings of the 1920s to 1940s. Numbers 10, 18, 26, Rose Street and 249, 251, 252 MacKenzie Street are all very similar to standard State Bank plans. Future research may show that a number of these houses were constructed as Credit Foncier Loans or War Service Homes. The fact that many of these properties were on Miner’s Rights into the second half of the 20th century has made determination of original mortgages difficult to track down under current restrictions, as titles only appear after Crown grants had been obtained.

All contributory properties are intact, have retained almost all of their original features and are in good condition with a number undergoing restoration or refurbishment at this time (2020).

Below are some examples from State Savings Bank of Victoria Types of Timber Framed Dwelling Houses Design Books. Some designs were included with minor alterations over a number of years, and some were offered in either timber or brick alternatives.

Figure 10: Design Type 45 from the July 1927 State Savings Bank of Victoria Design Book, and Figure 11: A similar house to those from 1927 seen in Figure 9, updated for the January 1936 State Bank Design Book for Timber Dwellings, page28. The kitchen and laundry have been moved to the opposite side of the house, and the footprint is a little bigger, otherwise the floorplan is similar. Source: NLA.

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Figure 12: Design Type 47 from the July 1927 State Savings Bank of Victoria Design Book, featuring a bow window. This house along with the previous two, has the WC at the far end of the back verandah. Source: NLA

Figure 13: Two timber bungalow designs. 3 and 41, from the July 1927 Design Book. These two houses do not include a WC under the same roof. It would have been constructed in the back yard. Source: NLA

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The Rose Street Residential Precinct contains the following contributory properties:

10 Rose Street. First title was issued on 15 November 1933 to William Stewart Michell, a clerk. In February 1934 he took out a mortgage to Agnes Michell, and constructed the house. It remained in his possession until 198226. It shows original presentation and fabric, and retains its chimneys. The front fence has an original rendered brick base and recent replica Victorian style pickets.

Figure 14:10 Rose Street August 2020 Image: Minerva Heritage.

11 Rose Street (formerly number 9). Constructed in 1928. It shows original presentation and fabric. First title was to Albert Nicholas Richards, Engine Driver on 23 April 1928. The property was mortgaged to Hume and Iser Proprietary Limited on 6 August 1928. Hume and Iser, a local timber merchant, builder’s supplies and hardware business financed house and loan packages. The house shows similarity to Type No. 3 in the July 1927 State Bank design Book, seen in Figure 13. The front fence in Victorian style and verandah balustrade are recent and not significant.

Figure 15: 11 Rose Street

26 Title documents.

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17 Rose Street. Constructed 1925-30. The property shows original presentation and fabric as seen from the street. It retains three chimneys. A large but unobtrusive extension has been built at the rear recently. The two palm trees in the front garden are original plantings and also significant. No front fence survives. The first Title (Crown Grant) was to Hedley Peter Gerdsen, Fitter, on 18 March 1952.

Figure 16: 17 Rose Street

18 Rose Street. Constructed 1930-35. The property shows original presentation and fabric, with a sympathetic addition to side. It has no front fence. It retains three chimneys.

Figure 17: 18 Rose Street

21 Rose Street. Constructed 1935-40. It shows original presentation and fabric including the rendered brick and wrought iron front fence. It is an unusual adaptation of the Spanish Mission Style. It retains three chimneys. The projecting front room with rendered finish and window shutters is in sympathetic style and may possibly have been added a little after initial construction, although the chimney matches the original. The brick wall to the front and side of the front porch is not significant. It does not appear in the 1934 aerial photo, appears indistinctly in 1945 aerial photo, but

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is clearly visible on the present footprint in 1956 (Figures 8). Residency Area. First title (Crown grant) to A.G. Doherty 29 August 1985. Marked RA on Parish Plan.

Figure 18: 21 Rose Street

23 Rose Street. Constructed in 1931. Original presentation and fabric. It retains three chimneys. Home of Mr E G Ham. No front fence. First title (Crown grant) to E. G. Ham on 14 July 1943.

Figure 19: 23 Rose Street

24 Rose Street. Constructed 1935-40. Original presentation and fabric. It retains three chimneys. Under restoration at time of survey. The front fence is new and not sympathetic. Residency Area. First title (Crown grant) to R. A. and N. B. MacDonald 1976. Marked RA on Parish Plan.

Figure 20: 24 Rose Street

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25 Rose Street. Constructed 1930-35. Original presentation and fabric, apart from 1960s front fence and handrails to front steps. It retains at least two chimneys. First title (Crown Grant) was issued to N. Francis in 1999.

Figure 21: 25 Rose Street

26 Rose Street. Constructed 1930-35. The house shows original presentation and fabric. It retains chimneys. It has no front fence. Residency Area. First title (Crown grant) was issued to Alexa Jean Collis on 12 February 1988. Marked RA on Parish Plan.

Figure 22: 26 Rose Street

27 Rose Street. Constructed 1930-35. Original presentation and fabric, sympathetic front fence. It retains two chimneys. A timber pergola and balustrade have been added to the front verandah.

Figure 23: 27 Rose Street

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28 Rose Street. It has original presentation and fabric and retains two chimneys. It is an Edwardian villa which is the earliest house in the precinct, constructed in 1915. It has a large extension to the rear which is not obvious from the street. It has a large palm in the front yard. It has a new front fence. Residency Area. First title (Crown grant) to W. E. Pinch 27 August 1976. Marked RA on Parish plan.

Figure 24: 28 Rose Street

32 Rose Street. ‘Grayleigh,’ Constructed for Frank Cowan in 1928. Original presentation and fabric and retains two chimneys. It has a new carport attached to the side, but set back from the front of the house, and a sympathetic front fence. The circular pond in the front yard is original. First title (Crown grant) to J. & C. Sayer 2 January 1987.

Figure 25: 32 Rose Street

34 Rose Street. Constructed 1925-30. Original presentation and fabric including the two chimneys with chimney pots. It has an unobtrusive extension to the rear and a modern garage.

Figure 26: 34 Rose Street

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36 Rose Street. Constructed 1930-35. Original presentation and fabric, with a sympathetic addition on the Mackenzie street side, but appears to have lost its chimneys. Recent Victorian style picket fence. Residency Area. First Title (Crown grant) to J. W. and L. D. Spence 28 October 1980. Marked R. A. on parish plan.

Figure 27: 36 Rose Street

248 Mackenzie Street. Constructed 1935-40. Original presentation and fabric, and retains two chimneys. Recent Victorian style picket fence.

Figure 28: 248 Mackenzie Street

249 Mackenzie Street. Constructed 1935-40. Original presentation and fabric including the front fence and gates. It retains a chimney.

Figure 29: 249 Mackenzie Street

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251 Mackenzie Street. Constructed 1930-1935. Original presentation and fabric, and it retains a chimney. Possible original plantings. Unsympathetic metal palisade front fence.

Figure 30: 251 Mackenzie Street

252 Mackenzie Street. Original presentation and fabric, including leadlight windows and front doors. It retains at least three chimneys. Original plantings likely including the front hedge.

Figure 31: 252 Mackenzie Street

253 Mackenzie Street. Constructed 1935-40. Original presentation and fabric. It retains two chimneys. Possibly original front fence. Large shrubs in the front yard are possibly an original planting.

Figure 32: 253 Mackenzie Street

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Comparative Analysis

A number of residential precincts in Golden Square, Bendigo and Eaglehawk are representative of residential growth in the late Victorian, Edwardian and Inter-war period whose history are not necessarily reliant on gold mining in Bendigo. These precincts are often located on rising ground providing a sense of more open space than that of the more industrialised surrounding valleys. These areas are not as prominent nor prestigious as sites such as areas of McIvor Road or Don Street, however offered affordable land for Bendigo’s growing more affluent middle classes. In a number of cases these areas were on Crown land that had formerly been part of large mining operations that had closed down. A number of the individual blocks within these areas were originally held under Miner’s Rights in the late 1920s and 1930s giving the occupier access to land within the associated Residency Area at very little cost. This secure occupancy of the land then allowed them to obtain loans to build new homes at a price that was affordable. At the same time there were a number of packages available through financial institutions such as the State Savings Bank, offering house plans and a mortgage, as well as private companies, such as Hume and Iser Property Limited, who offered plans, construction and a mortgage. For example number 11 Rose Street, which bears a similarity to a State Bank Design Book plan. Some owners lived in these houses for many years, as at 10 Rose Street where the same owners held the property from 1934 until 1982.

To keep the cost down, housing stock in these areas was often constructed of timber rather than brick but often exhibited the latest architectural features, or slightly more affordable versions of these features, as seen on larger more expensive houses in what were considered better areas. This often took the form of a masonry verandah or entrance portico on a timber house. The Rose Street Precinct has a more consistent streetscape of Interwar houses than other examples below.

The Tomlins Street Precinct HO14

Such precincts include the Tomlins Street Precinct (HO14), with an extension identified in the White Hills and Heritage Study,2016.27 The Tomlins Street Precinct is similar in that it represents a later phase of Interwar residential development in the city related to the growth of service industries nearby, such as the Electricity Supply Company, railway workshops and flour mill. It also retains several Edwardian buildings in Napier Street. The precinct is described as follows-

The houses in Tomlins, Wilkie and Cawardine Streets are a mixture of Edwardian, Inter-war and Post-war buildings, with the dominant view along Tomlins Street being that of the Flour Mill. On Napier Street, contributory houses are Edwardian in character [there are also several Interwar examples] with an incomplete avenue of elms on both sides of the street... The precinct is characterised by residential development that peaked between 1920 and 1938 corresponding with the development of industries. Many of the remaining residential buildings are associated with this time.28

27 White Hills and East Bendigo Heritage Study, 2016, Context Pty Ltd. Brunswick for the City of Greater Bendigo.. 28 Ibid, pp. 53- 56.

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Figure 33: Interwar houses in Napier Street in the Tomlins Street Precinct. Image: Streetview November 2019.

The Bridge Street North Precinct HO 893

Figure 34: Victorian and Interwar houses in Bridge Street North. Image: Google Streetview.

Figure 35: An intact Edwardian house in Bridge Street North. Image: Google Streetview.

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This precinct was identified in the White Hills and East Bendigo Heritage Study in 2016.29 It is located between Arnold and Nolan Streets to the north of the City Centre. The area is mainly residential with some small industrial activities, including the former Norfolk Brewery. The area developed after the decline of mining activity in the early 20th century and the establishment of industries such as the 1917 railway workshops, tramways, flour mill, saleyards and abattoir, among others, which generated employment opportunities. Like other areas in Bendigo, Golden Square and Eaglehawk, as mining became uneconomic and was abandoned, land became available for subdivision, filling in irregular spaces formed by mining activity. The number of residences expanded considerably during the Interwar period due to residential expansion away from the already built up area around the centre of Bendigo, combined with affordability and availability of land, and employment opportunities.

The Bridge Street North Precinct contains one of the most intact streets in Bendigo North, and its qualities include single storey detached dwellings with similar setbacks, low front fences, a mix of brick and timber used in construction, and a range of Victorian, Edwardian, Interwar and early Postwar residences. Mature elm trees form shady avenues along the streets in this area. 123 and 125 Bridge Street are regarded as key Interwar buildings and were assessed individually.

Statement of Significance

Assessment against criteria

The following analysis is based on Victorian Government Planning Practice Note 1: Applying the Heritage Overlay (August 2018).

Criterion A: Importance to the course or pattern of our cultural or natural history (historical significance).

Criterion B: Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of our cultural or natural history (rarity).

Criterion C: Potential to yield information that will contribute to understanding our cultural or natural history (research potential).

Criterion D: Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places or environments (representativeness).

Criterion E: Importance in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics (aesthetic significance).

Criterion F: Importance in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period (technical significance).

Criterion G: Strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. This includes the significance of a place to Indigenous peoples as part of their continuing and developing cultural traditions (social significance).

Criterion H: Special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in our history (associative significance)

29 White Hills and East Bendigo Heritage Study, Vol. 2: Place and Precinct Citations, Final Citations 27 April 2016, Context Pty. Ltd, Brunswick, for City of Greater Bendigo.

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What is significant?

The Rose Street Precinct, comprising the properties at 10, 11, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 34 and 36 Rose Street, and 248, 249, 251, 252 and 253 Mackenzie Street, is significant.

The following features contribute to the significance of the precinct:

• Houses constructed between 1914 and 1935 as shown on the precinct map. • The overall consistency and intactness of the housing form (gabled and hipped roof bungalows), materials and detailing (weatherboard cladding, terracotta tile and corrugated steel roofing, front verandahs facing the street, brick chimneys), and siting (detached houses with consistent garden setbacks). • The two mature Canary Island palm trees in the front garden of 17 Rose Street • Palm tree in the front yard of 28 Rose street • Circular pond in the front garden of 32 Rose Street • Original fences and gates at 249 and 253 Mackenzie Street, possible original plantings at 253 Rose Street, and front hedge at 252 Mackenzie Street.

Contributory buildings include: 10, 11, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 34 and 36 Rose Street, and 248, 249, 251, 252 and 253 Mackenzie Street.

Features that do not contribute to the significance of the precinct include non-original alterations and additions to the contributory buildings, the houses at 13, 15, 29 and 34 Rose Street, and the two-tier form of the Rose Street roadway.

How is it significant?

The Rose Street Precinct is of historical (Criterion A), representative (Criterion D) and aesthetic (Criterion E) significance to the City of Greater Bendigo

Why is it significant?

The contributory buildings in Rose Street form a consistent streetscape of intact single storey Interwar dwellings with consistent setbacks and complementary roof forms and finishes. The few non-contributory buildings are of a similar scale and not particularly intrusive. The effect appears to have been enhanced by a number of houses appearing to have been selected from State Bank or other similar design books. Local hardware and timber merchants Hume & Iser also loaned funds and built houses. A number of contributory properties in the Rose Street Precinct were built on former mining lease land owned by the Crown until the early to mid 20th century. While Crown land it was a Residency Area subject to occupancy under a Miners Right. For the cost of a Miner’s Right a miner could establish themselves on a quarter acre block and construct a dwelling. The Rose Street area was on such an area and several blocks had been occupied by small miner’s cottages built under the Miners Right system during the 19th century. By the early 20th century a number of these had been lost to fire, abandoned, or removed, however the land remained within a mining lease area where Miner’s Rights still applied.

As Australia was recovering from the economic depression, the introduction of the Land (Residence Areas) Act 1935 allowed Victorians to occupy (lease) a Residence Area on auriferous land or, under

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Section 12, to purchase land if the holder had been in possession for at least two and a half years, that a habitable dwelling had been erected, and that there was no objection to the alienation of the land. This legislation played an important role in enabling Bendigo residents to become homeowners at a time of economic hardship. The Land Act 1958 wound up the granting of Residence Areas, and under Sections 173 and 174 of the Act, existing landholders in Residence Areas were able to purchase their properties from the government. In the Rose Street Precinct a number of residents continued to take advantage of the Miner’s Right until the late 20th Century before converting to Torrens Title, long after the houses were constructed. (Criterion A).

The Rose Street Precinct is representative of typical Interwar housing and presents a relatively intact streetscape of single storey detached dwellings with similar setbacks, low front fences, and a mix of brick and timber used in construction. All contributory properties are intact, having retained almost all of their original features. (Criterion D)

In the late 1920s and early 30s the Rose Street area, with its elevated position, became an attractive area for housing development. At the time, despite the ongoing depression, some people were doing reasonably well with a number purchasing land in Rose St and building modern homes, some displaying the latest in architectural features. The blocks in Rose Street that remained within the Mining Lease area became particularly attractive as land prices in the area increased, and they were still available, subject to a few conditions, to anyone with a yearly Miners Right. Seven of the extant homes in Rose Street were obtained at that time and remained as leasehold until 1952, two in 1976, 1980, 1985, 1988 and one in 1999.

The collection of predominantly inter-war houses extant in Rose Street speak of those times and the changing nature of work and life during the transition of Bendigo from a mining town to a regional city. (Criterion E)

Representative

Additional Controls

External paint controls apply Yes Internal alteration controls apply No Tree controls apply Yes Outbuildings or fences not exempt under Clause 43.01-4 as noted above Yes Included on the Victorian Heritage Register under the Heritage Act 2017 No Prohibited uses permitted No Aboriginal heritage place No

References

1934 aerial images: VICMAP 7724 series 1:25,000 B. M. L. Air Photo Images 1934

ADASTRAPHOTO BENDIGO VIC 1186-33, 1956

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Bendigo Historic Rates Index 1856-1903, Goldfields Library Corporation, http://glcrates.ncgrl.vic.gov.au/, accessed 1 August 2020.

Bendigo Regional Archives Centre (BRAC), Historic Maps and Plans Collection, as cited.

Black, Alexander c1880, ‘Black’s Re-survey of Sandhurst, County of Bendigo’, S369H1.

Butcher, M. and Collins, Y. Eds. Bendigo at Work: an industrial history. 2005. Holland House, Bendigo

City of Greater Bendigo (CoGB) 2015, Heritage Design Guidelines, August 2015.

City of Greater Bendigo Building Permit Register, Bendigo Regional Archive Centre

Cuffley, P. Australian Houses of the ‘20s & 30s, 1989, Five Mile Press, Balwyn.

Cuffley, P. Australian Houses of the Forties & Fifties, 1993, Five Mile Press, Knoxfield.

Cusack, F., Bendigo: A History, revised edition 2002, Lerk and McClure, Bendigo.

Division of Bendigo Electoral Rolls 1910-1950, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.com.au/, accessed 8 August 2020.

History Making Pty Ltd 2019, ‘Golden Square Heritage Study Stage 1 Chronological and Thematic History’, Prepared for the City of Greater Bendigo, June 2019.

History Monash, Bank Houses, Article, July 19, 2020, http://www.historymonash.org.au/

Hull, R. Origins of Bendigo Street Names Book 1, 2006, Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies Inc, Bendigo.

Lovell Chen 2013, ‘City of Greater Bendigo Thematic Environmental History’, prepared for the City of Greater Bendigo.

Philp, James B 1854, Township of Sandhurst, portion B, Bendigo Creek, Surveyor General's Office Victoria, State Library of Victoria (SLV) Map collection.

Public Record Office of Victoria (PROV) 1921, Probate and Administration Files, VPRS 28/P3 unit 1177.

Raworth, B. Our Inter-War Houses, 1991, National Trust of Australia (Victoria), Melbourne

Sands and McDougall (S&Mc) directories, as cited.

Smyth, Robert Brough 1873, Sandhurst gold field, Melbourne, Department of Mines, State Library of Victoria (SLV) Map collection.

Sporting Globe, as cited.

State Savings Bank of Victoria Design Books, 1927, 1929, 1937 and 1941, State Library Victoria and National Library of Australia.

Titles: Landata. Victorian Land Registry Services, State Government Victoria

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Trove, National Library of Australia, Newspaper articles as cited

The Age, as cited.

The Argus, as cited

Bendigo Advertiser, as cited.

Bendigo Independent, as cited.

Victorian Places 2015, ‘Bendigo’, Monash University and The University of Queensland, https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/, accessed 10 August 2020.

Written by Minerva Heritage

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