Mowbray House Explained

Mowbray House School
Established:1906
Closed:1954
Type:Independent, day and boarding school
Status:Closed
Founder:Lancelot Bavin
(Founding headmaster)
Key People:Sandy Phillips (Co-headmaster)
Location:339 Mowbray Road, Chatswood, Sydney, New South Wales
Country:Australia
Pushpin Map:Australia Sydney
Pushpin Mapsize:250px
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Sydney

Mowbray House is a heritage-listed historic building that was an independent, day and boarding school for boys, located in Chatswood, on the North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.[1] More recently, it was part of an Ausgrid depot site.[2] The school buildings included a chapel that is now the Holy Trinity Anglican Church.[3] The building is listed on the local government heritage register.

History

The school was opened in 1906 as the Chatswood Preparatory School by Lancelot Bavin (1881–1956), who would later be an alderman (1925–1932) and three-term Mayor (1927–1930) of Willoughby at the start of the Great Depression.[4] [5] [6] [7] Bavin initially ran the school with his wife, Ida, and his mother, Emma (1845–1931), the widow of Methodist Minister the Rev. Rainsford Bavin (1845–1905).[8] [9] In 1914 Sandy Phillips, until then a master at Sydney Grammar School, became co-headmaster with Bavin and the institution became known as Mowbray House School. Phillips remained at Mowbray House until his return to Sydney Grammar in 1924, where he ultimately became Headmaster.[10] Bavin continued as Headmaster of Mowbray House until the school closed in 1954 due to his ill-health.[11]

Several notable Australians received primary education at Mowbray House School, including Norman Lethbridge Cowper in its first few years,[12] Kenneth Slessor from 1910 to 1914,[13] and Gough Whitlam in the early 1920s.[14]

In the late 20th century and until 2016, Mowbray House was part of an Ausgrid depot site. It was then acquired by Transport for New South Wales. As of December 2017, a planned tunnel entrance for the Sydney Metro was nearby, and the John Holland Group was preparing the building to be office space for the construction project.[15] [16]

Buildings

Mowbray House was built in 1906 and is a two-storey tuck pointed face brick building with a hipped tile roof and cream cement render on the upper level. It is in the Federation Arts and Crafts style, with regular multi-paned windows and a symmetrical form. The building has timber eave brackets and unusual corner chimneys. It originally contained a dormitory accommodating twenty-five boarding students. In 1917, a dining room was added to the northern end of building, and modifications to the kitchen and eastern façade were made.[17]

In 1874 the Mechanics' Institute built a School of Arts on the site. From 1878 until 1903, Willoughby Council used the ashlar sandstone building as its council chambers. The building became the school chapel in 1906. In 1957, due to public pressure, the Sydney County Council took possession of the site, and the building was dismantled and relocated stone-by-stone to 44Beaconsfield Road, Chatswood, where it is now Holy Trinity Anglican Church.[18] [19]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/IgnitionSuite/uploads/docs/08Chatswood%20Chats%20West%202007.pdf Willoughby City Facts
  2. Web site: Di Biase. David. Land Acquisitions By Transport For NSW For Sydney Metro Project. Willoughby City Council. 14 December 2017. 187. 14 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170623221323/http://willoughby.nsw.gov.au/DownloadDocument.ashx?DocumentID=12321. 23 June 2017. live.
  3. Web site: Holy Trinity Anglican Church (including original interiors). environment.nsw.gov.au. NSW Environment & Heritage. 17 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181118082843/https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=2660080. 18 November 2018. live.
  4. Web site: Willoughby Heritage Plaques . 27 April 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080821080511/http://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/Content.aspx?PageID=687&ItemID=10 . 21 August 2008 . live .
  5. News: SELECTION OF MAYORS . Evening News . 18868 . New South Wales. 13 December 1927 . 21 June 2016 . 16 . National Library of Australia.
  6. News: RE- ELECTED . The Sun . 5639 . New South Wales. 4 December 1928 . 21 June 2016 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
  7. News: Municipal Council Notices. . 28,693 . New South Wales, Australia . 20 December 1929 . 18 December 2017 . 11 . National Library of Australia.
  8. Web site: Bavin Family History . 27 April 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110723175016/http://www.lackfamily.net/genealogy/names/whole%20family/f250.html . 23 July 2011 . live .
  9. [Hugh Gemmell Lamb-Smith]
  10. Frederick Phillips, School is Out, Angus & Robertson (Syd, 1957)
  11. News: PARENTS TOO "KIND" . . 249 . New South Wales, Australia . 1 November 1953 . 18 December 2017 . 72 . National Library of Australia.
  12. Alfred. James. Sir Norman Cowper. Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society. 1 June 2000. 86. 1. 74–84. 0035-8762. 14 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171214124324/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sir+Norman+Cowper.-a062684596. 14 December 2017. live.
  13. Web site: The Papers of Kenneth Slessor. nla.gov.au. National Library of Australia. 27 April 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20100909182254/http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/ms3020/bioghist.html. 9 September 2010. live.
  14. Web site: Australia's Prime Ministers: Gough Whitlam: Before. National Archives of Australia. https://web.archive.org/web/20090515062944/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/meetpm.asp?pmId=21&pageName=before. 15 May 2009.
  15. News: Metcalfe. Caryn. Concerns for historic house's future. 15 December 2017. The Daily Telegraph. North Shore Times. News Corp Australia. 11 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171014062934/http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/north-shore/sydney-metro-plans-made-to-protect-historic-mowbray-house-at-chatswood-dive-site/news-story/7d6af2abde9409c8f91ca5c5e09fa143. 14 October 2017. live.
  16. News: Metcalfe. Caryn. Willoughby Council angered by tree removal at Chatswood dive site. 15 December 2017. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). News Corp Australia. 29 November 2017.
  17. 14 December 2017.
  18. 14 December 2017.
  19. Book: Russell. Eric. Willoughby: a centenary history of the municipality from earliest times. 1966. Council of the Municipality of Willoughby. Chatswood, NSW, Australia. 76. 15 December 2017. en.

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