Durham Hall, Surry Hills

In 1792 Governor Phillip established the boundary of the Sydney Cove settlement when he drew a line from the heads of Cockle Bay to Woolloomooloo Bay. East of that line was set aside for the township and the west, which included the present-day Surry Hills, was considered suitable for farming and granted to military officers and free settlers.[1]

The first land grants in the Surry Hills are situated on the south-eastern outskirts of the settlement, were made in the 1790s. In April 1794 Captain Joseph Foveaux received 105 acres, naming it "Surrey Hills Farm", in 1800 Palmer purchased Foveaux's grant. Olmer's return from England to give evidence about the Rum Rebellion, financial circumstances forced the sale of the land. The sale of Palmer's Estate in 1814 was the first subdivision in Surry Hills.[1]

The few villas were built in the late 1820s; however the area was considered remote and much of the terrain "inhospitable". The suburb was one of contrasts with the white housing of wealthy merchants mixed with that of the commercial and working classes. Living conditions differed, varying from houses on the scale of Durham Hall to 1-2 room shacks.[1]

Towards the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century the population of the area increased, small factories moved into the suburb and as the nature of the area changed the living conditions of many of the residence deteriorated. Post World War II saw an influx of migrants to Surry Hills followed by their gradual displacement in the 1970s and 1980s by largely middle class population.[4][1]

Durham Hall is located on part of the land grant of 28 hectares (70 acres) to John Palmer on 1 April 1794. Isaac Nichols purchased part of Allotment 20 in August 1814. After subdivision in 1833 the land was bought by Thomas Broughton and subsequently by George Hill, in 1835[5] who built Durham Hall on this and adjoining lots. A description in 1899 states that the house was, ... built of brick on stone foundation, slate roof, verandah front and two sides containing hall, 8 rooms, dining room, pantry, kitchen, servant's room over, bathroom, and a detached laundry of brick, stabling being 3 stalls man's room and two coach houses - value A£2,300. "Garden yards and enclosures" were also reported to be part of the property. Between 1840 and 1850 Hill built a pair of cottages at 203-205 Albion Street, on the corner of Nichols Street, adjacent to Durham Hall.[6][1]

George Hill, c. 1870

George Hill was born in 1802 near Parramatta. He was the son of William Hill and Mary Johnson both of whom were convicts. His father obtained a pardon in 1813 and became a butcher. Hill also became a butcher and acquired considerable wealth by owning his own abattoir, purchasing several inns in Pitt Street and holding tracts of land.[2]

In 1832 he married Mary Ann Hunter who was the recently widowed wife of Alexander Hunter, a warehouse owner in Pitt Street.[7]

In 1835 Hill built Durham Hall on several lots of land that he had purchased. A few years after moving into Durham Hall his wife died aged 26 years.[8]

On 24 March 1841 he married Jane Binnie,[9] the daughter of Richard Binnie and Jane Studdart.[10] Over the years the couple had a very large family. Three of their daughters married into notable families of that time. The eldest daughter Mary Jane married Fitzwilliam Wentworth, the son of William Charles Wentworth in 1868. The youngest daughter Helen Mary married Edward Pomeroy Rundle, the son of Jeremiah Rundle in 1897. Another daughter Alice Helen married Sir William Charles Cooper, the eldest son of Sir Daniel Cooper.[11]

In 1842 Hill was elected to the Sydney Municipal Council and two years later became a magistrate. For a short time he was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council[3] and returned to municipal politics and in 1850 was elected Mayor of Sydney.[12][13]

Hill died in 1883 at age 81 after his buggy collided with a tram.[2] His wife Jane lived at Durham Hall for another six years and in 1889 rented the home to women who used it as a boarding house. Jane Hill died on 25 January 1896.[14][15]

Advertisement for a boarding house at Durham Hall 1894

Durham Hall was used as a boarding house for ten years between 1889 and 1899. The first landlady was Mrs Cecilia Anderson who was there from 1889 until 1893. Shortly after she left Durham Hall there was a sensational Court Case which involved her and one of her boarders at Durham Hall.[16]

The next landlady was Mrs Mary Parker. She was the widow of Henry Parker who had died in 1993 in Queensland.[17] She advertised frequently in the Sydney Morning Herald for boarders and mentions that there was a tennis court.[18] One of her early advertisements is on the right.

In 1899, three years after Mrs Jane Hill's death in 1896, Durham Hall was sold. It was bought by Charles Anderson.

Charles Anderson, c. 1900

Charles Anderson was born in Scotland in 1838. He came to Australia in about 1880. He and his wife Mary Jane had five children.

He established a large hat factory called Anderson and Co in Surry Hills. It was a five-story building right behind Durham Hall in Nichols Street.[19] It has since been demolished and replaced by residential units.

Charles Anderson was also a director of City Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd and was said to be a philanthropist and generous to many charities.

Advertisement for the sale of Durham Hall 1924

His wife Mary Jane died at Durham Hall in 1910.[20] Charles continued to live at Durham Hall until his death in 1924. The property was then sold. The advertisement for the sale describing the house in 1924 is on the left.

In 1924 Durham Hall became the German Concordia Club and over the next decade extensive unsympathetic alterations and additions were made. Some of these included a bowling alley and gymnasium. A new façade on the street frontage was also constructed.[1] The Concordia Club closed in 1939 and for the next few years the Master Bakers Association used it as an educational and social club.[21]

In 1943 the American Red Cross turned it into a club for U. S servicemen and added further major additions. This club closed after the War and in 1949 The Commonwealth Bank acquired the premises and made further alterations. In 1979 the National Trust classified the property and in 1982 a Permanent Conservation Order was placed on it.[1]

In 1983 major restoration of the building was made and unsympathetic additions were removed. Before this work was done the building was unrecognisable. A photo of it at this time was in the Sydney Morning Herald and a link to it on the internet is at this reference.[22]

Today the building is utilised by the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.[23]

Durham Hall gives a significant contribution to a rare colonial Georgian group of buildings in Sydney and exemplifies the gentleman's town residence. The house demonstrates the 1st phase of development subsequent to the subdivision of the early land grants and hence the development of European settlement (LEP).[1]

A palisade fence surrounds the property, with capped stone pillars at the entry (built in the 1980s).[24][1] A sympathetic recreated garden fronts the property to Albion Street and partly to its east on Nichols Street (1980s).[25][1]

Durham Hall, 207 Albion Street is a two-storey, Colonial Georgian, stuccoed, brick residence with stone dressings, built c. 1835 by George Hill. The architect and builder are not known.[1] It is an archetypal colonial Georgian two-storey brick house with stone dressings and ground floor verandahs (LEP).[1] The house is symmetrically arranged. A ground floor verandah with skillion roof returns at each side abutting the rear wings of the building. The verandah features Doric columns. Double columns flank the entry. The hipped roof is slate (1980s) with boxed eaves.[1]

The first floor windows are 12-paned, double hung, timber in Georgian style with shutters. French doors with shutters flank the centrally positioned entry.[1] The verandah with the same detailing as that at the front, links the two wings at the rear of the house. It opens onto stone flagged courtyard.[1] A palisade fence surrounds the property, with capped stone pillars at the entry (also 1980s).[1]

The basic structure of the building is original, however many of the architectural components, such as the roofing, joinery and verandah are evidence of the extensive 1980s "restoration" work.[26][1]

'A badly mutilated, once fine, Georgian house...'.[27][1]

Inside the house few original fittings remain although some cedar windows are still there, and part of the black and white marble-tield floor in the entrance hall has been uncovered. There are still extensive stone cellars. The detached kitchen block and stables no longer exist.[28][1]

Durham Hall does not lie within an identified archaeological zone. The site of Durham Hall has been significantly disturbed. Due to extensive alterations to the site it is unlikely that it would provide useful evidence of occupation, however old infrastructures such as drains and cisterns might have survived.[29][1]

• 1925–1933 Concordia Club made extensive additions and alterations that included an annexure with a banquet hall, gymnasium and bowling alley (1925–1926) and new facade (1933), all on the street alignment.[1]
• 1949 Commonwealth Bank converted parts of the premises for their use. An area above a garage was leased to the Department of Labour and National Service.
• 1959 Further demolition and alterations[1]
• 1983 extensive alterations and reconstruction including removal of previous additions and replacement of much surviving 1835 fabric. A 75-unit development was proposed for construction on the southern and western portions of the site. The restorations of Durham Hall, a change in zoning of the land and alterations to the design of adjacent unit development were influenced by consultations with the Heritage Council. The subsequent design was of lower scale and more sensitive to that of Durham Hall. Site inspections at the time revealed that prior to restoration some of its joinery was still intact, however other parts of the house had not survived, or had been dismantled or damaged.[1]
• 1987 garden reconstruction.[26][1]

• Clive Lucas, Stapleton & Partners (2003). Statement of Heritage Impact.
• Dawson, Jonathan (1981). 'Developers to save faceless Durham Hall'.
• Moffitt, Peter (2010). "Vale Hugh Fraser", obituary prepared for publication.
• Paul Davies P/L (2016). Heritage Impact Statement, Durham Hall 2017 Albion Street Surry Hills - Section 60 Application.
• Paul Davies P/L (2016). Heritage Impact Statement - Durham Hall, 207 Albion Street, Surry Hills - section 60 application - Air conditioning system upgrade, office fitouts and bin store.
• Ross, John (2016). When Bebop came to Durham Hall – 1943-1945'.

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This Wikipedia article contains material from Durham Hall, entry number 221 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 13 October 2018.