18 Duxford Street, Paddington
The house at 18 Duxford Street Paddington is still standing in 2023.
It is mentioned as the home of a number of members of the Merrin family so I will list the references to it here in an attempt to cross-reference and work out who lived there when. Was it owned by John George Merrin, who seems to have been reasonably well-to-do? Or did John George rent in and allow other family members to live there? Did several family members live here together?
I suspect the answer is that John George Merrin owned the house at 18 Duxford Street with his wife and children and that various family members lived there with them, perhaps only for short periods of time.
1. Charles Michael Andrew Merrin
Died 27 April 1909 at this address, given as his residence.
2. John George Merrin, son of John A Merrin
He was living at this address in 1909 when he registered the death of his younger brother, Charlie, and in 1913 when he was made an honorary magistrate. Sands Directory has him living here with his family between 1906 and 1917. The Linley Merrin mentioned below was John George Merrin's then-14-year-old son.
It is mentioned as the home of a number of members of the Merrin family so I will list the references to it here in an attempt to cross-reference and work out who lived there when. Was it owned by John George Merrin, who seems to have been reasonably well-to-do? Or did John George rent in and allow other family members to live there? Did several family members live here together?
I suspect the answer is that John George Merrin owned the house at 18 Duxford Street with his wife and children and that various family members lived there with them, perhaps only for short periods of time.
1. Charles Michael Andrew Merrin
Died 27 April 1909 at this address, given as his residence.
2. John George Merrin, son of John A Merrin
He was living at this address in 1909 when he registered the death of his younger brother, Charlie, and in 1913 when he was made an honorary magistrate. Sands Directory has him living here with his family between 1906 and 1917. The Linley Merrin mentioned below was John George Merrin's then-14-year-old son.
3. John Lesley Gunnell, husband of Gertrude Mary/Mary Gertrude (nee Merrin)
Died of disease 7/1/1917. Gave this as his address when enlisting in WWI. He also gave it as the address of his NOK, daughter D Gunnell, whose mother had died in 1912. In 1914 when John probably enlisted, his children would have been aged about 14 and under so perhaps they lived with their uncle and aunt during the war years.
Note the following entries in the Sands Directory for John Gunnell:
1905-1908 (3 entries): John Gunnell, 44 Glenview Street, Paddington (about 750m from Duxford Street)
1909: John L Gunnell, Queen Street, Auburn
Gertrude and John had three children:
Dorothy M, born 1900 in Annandale, NSW BDM 19503/1900
John C, born 1901 in Annanadale, NSW BDM 29341/1901
Kathleen M, born 1907 in Paddington, NSW BDM 38765/1907
History of the area around 18 Duxford Street
In 1833 John Gurner, a solicitor and Chief Clerk of the Supreme Court, received a grant of over seven acres which came to be known as Gurner's Paddock. Glenmore Road, originally formed in the 1820s as a bullock track to and from the Glenmore Distillery and South Head Road (renamed Oxford Street in 1875), came into existence at about this time as one of the earliest thoroughfares in Paddington.
In about 1843 Gurner built his house, Duxford House, on the property. In 1881 the Crown resumed about two acres of Gurner's land off Glenmore Road for use as a new public school for Paddington.
In 1882 John Gurner died and Duxford House and its landholdings was bought by Thomas Stafford Broughton. The land was subdivided, renamed the Duxford Estate for marketing purposes and the plots offered for sale in 1885. Duxford Street, Cambridge Street and Gurner Street were formed as part of the subdivision. The Sands Directory lists only two houses in Cambridge Street in 1887. Two years later there were over 40 houses, indicative of the construction boom of the time [1].
Duxford House was demolished in about 1898.
From The Dictionary of Sydney:
Much of the building activity in late nineteenth-century Paddington was the work of 'spec' builders, who financed the construction of each new house from the sale of the last. The 'terrace' form of development typically found in Paddington suited this modus operandi, while also allowing economies of land use and building materials. The resulting housing was nearly always tenanted, and occupied, as entries in the Sands Sydney Directory show, by a peripatetic population. Conversely, as entries in the Paddington Council Rate Books indicate, landlords often held onto their investments for decades. [2]
I suspect the house at 18 Duxford Street was built some time between 1885 and 1890. This is because the land was originally offered for sale in 1885 and, by October 1891, a family named Bell was living at 18 Duxford Street.
In December 1904 the house was occupied by a Mrs A Diamond. She was recently bereaved so, if her husband had died, she may have had to move out of the house shortly after this.
A search on trove.nla.gov.au for 18 Duxford Street Paddington returned only these searches.
In about 1843 Gurner built his house, Duxford House, on the property. In 1881 the Crown resumed about two acres of Gurner's land off Glenmore Road for use as a new public school for Paddington.
In 1882 John Gurner died and Duxford House and its landholdings was bought by Thomas Stafford Broughton. The land was subdivided, renamed the Duxford Estate for marketing purposes and the plots offered for sale in 1885. Duxford Street, Cambridge Street and Gurner Street were formed as part of the subdivision. The Sands Directory lists only two houses in Cambridge Street in 1887. Two years later there were over 40 houses, indicative of the construction boom of the time [1].
Duxford House was demolished in about 1898.
From The Dictionary of Sydney:
Much of the building activity in late nineteenth-century Paddington was the work of 'spec' builders, who financed the construction of each new house from the sale of the last. The 'terrace' form of development typically found in Paddington suited this modus operandi, while also allowing economies of land use and building materials. The resulting housing was nearly always tenanted, and occupied, as entries in the Sands Sydney Directory show, by a peripatetic population. Conversely, as entries in the Paddington Council Rate Books indicate, landlords often held onto their investments for decades. [2]
I suspect the house at 18 Duxford Street was built some time between 1885 and 1890. This is because the land was originally offered for sale in 1885 and, by October 1891, a family named Bell was living at 18 Duxford Street.
In December 1904 the house was occupied by a Mrs A Diamond. She was recently bereaved so, if her husband had died, she may have had to move out of the house shortly after this.
A search on trove.nla.gov.au for 18 Duxford Street Paddington returned only these searches.
[1] https://cambridgest.blogspot.com/search/label/Early%20history
[2] Kelly, M. Paddington: Paddock Full Of Houses: Paddington 1840–1890, pp 41–61 via https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/paddington
[2] Kelly, M. Paddington: Paddock Full Of Houses: Paddington 1840–1890, pp 41–61 via https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/paddington