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Jesmond, or Dixon house, 8 Stanley Street, West Melbourne

Butler, Graeme9 Jan 1985

Record details

Title:

Creator:

Butler, Graeme (Name details)

Date of work:

9 Jan 1985

Reference number:

BIF-NORTH 109051

Level of description:

Item from Collection: Heritage Collection (HC)

Type of materials:

Graphic materialsTextual material

Part of:

Series: North Melbourne and West Melbourne (BIF-NORTH)

Access restrictions:

UnrestrictedOpen access.

Use restrictions:

UnrestrictedPlease contact City of Melbourne Libraries about obtaining permission to reproduce images.

General notes:

GRAEME BUTLER 1983, CONSERVATION STUDY FOR THE CITY OF MELBOURNE OF NORTH AND WEST MELBOURNEGrading as at 1985 : BPeriod : Early VictoriaGrantee : J Huggins, 1865HistoryJames Dixon, an accountant, was the first owner/occupier of this house in 1867, but two years later he sold it to David Blair who owned and resided there for about twenty years, when it passed to John Proud who lived there after 1890. The long-standing owner and occupier of this house, David Blair, was well known in the commercial world as a timber importer and ship owner. (He is not to be confused with David Blair M.L.A. who lived in Fitzroy and later East Melbourne) [sic]. The next owner, John T. Proud belonged to the family whose firm operated large grinding mils in Dudley Street, West Melbourne. They crushed all sorts of substances such as plumbago, coal dust, etc. and were the largest concern of that kind in Australia.DescriptionA two-level, parapeted and stuccoed brick house with a single-level verandah which is decorated with panelled cast-iron friezes and rosettes and elegant curved brackets. A segment arched entablature, cornice mould and string-mould at the upper sill-line create horizontals which are broken by corner and central pilaster pairs. Architraves surround the windows and an unusual basalt masonry garden wall supports iron pickets between the masonry fence piers. Notable features include the fence; verandah decoration; verandah roof and structure.Integrity - Generally original; parapet urns may have existed.Streetscape - Corner-sited next to the similarly aged 2 Stanley, 1-3 Chetwynd Street (qv) buildings and facing a reserve.SignificanceArchitecturally, an early and original residence of an uncommon form with elegant details and proportions and set in a similarly aged neighbourhood: of high regional importance. Historically, associated with prominent industrialists in the area and in typically building allied fields: of regional importance.RecommendationsRepaint in original or typical colours. Verandah roof reclad (inappropriate - reinstate original design/sympathetic alternative).References:(RB= Rate book; D= Melbourne or Victoria Directory; C of V = Cyclopedia of Victoria)1. RB 1867. 1737; RB 1871, 2041; R9 1890-91, 26682. C. of V. Vol.1 p.3963. D. 1881-824 . C. of V. Vol 1. p. 562___________________________GRAEME BUTLER & ASSOCIATES, 2015. WEST MELBOURNE HERITAGE REVIEWWhat is significant?James Dixon, an accountant, was the first owner/occupier of this house in 1867. Two years later, he sold it to David Blair who owned and resided there for about twenty years, when it passed to John Proud whose family lived there until just before his death in 1898.The first owner, Dixon, was caught up with an embezzlement case of Henry Clarke in the 1870s, linked with the West Melbourne, Hotham, and Carlton Permanent Building and Investment Society and later the West Melbourne Building Society. Dixon was one of the auditors and was implicated as being complicit with Clarke's activities.The long-standing owner and occupier of this house, David Blair, was a nationally known journalist. David Blair (1820-1899) was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, son of Thomas Blair, soldier, and his wife Jane, both Scottish. David Blair arrived in Sydney 1850 as one of J. D. Lang's trainee clergy but, after a clash of wills, he arrived in Victoria in 1852 and was elected as secretary of the Anti-Transportation League. He was the Sydney Morning Herald's correspondent and sub-editor on `The Argus' until 1854, when he tried unsuccessfully to start a more radical paper. He joined Thomas Bright, on the `raw, outspokenly egalitarian 'Age'. He advocated such principles as `fully representative responsible government, totally free selection and the complete separation of church and state especially in education, while attacking inequality, the squattocracy and corrupt politicians'. He also attacked `illegal and unjust actions of government' at public meetings as well as in print, and joined the radical Land Reform League of 1855. He entered politics himself in 1856. During his political career, he served on the Royal Commissions examining penal and prison discipline in 1870, and technological and industrial instruction 1886-1887 (appointed commissioner 1869). He was also secretary for several other Royal Commissions.Working as a journalist, politician, and provocateur, Blair married Annie Macpherson Grant in 1852, the sister of James Grant, later minister of lands. `His articulate involvement in his intellectual milieu, local and British, established him as a man of quality'. `His public career culminated in the publication of three historical works: in 1876 writing the introduction to Henry Parkes, Speeches on Various Occasions Connected With the Public Affairs of New South Wales 1848-1874; in 1878 the pioneering work, The History of Australasia; and in 1881 the Cyclopedia of Australasia, presented as the `essential reference book.'The next owner, John T. Proud belonged to the family whose firm operated the large Melbourne Grinding and Blacking Mills in Dudley Street, West Melbourne. They crushed all sorts of substances, such as plumbago and coal dust, and made or provided charcoal, blacking, coal and coal dust. The firm, Proud Brothers, was the largest company of that kind in Australia.Contributory elements include:a two-level, parapeted and stuccoed brick house, with face brick side (bricks painted over) and rear walls, set on basalt footings;siting adjoining a stone pitched lane;a rare single-level verandah on paired circular section posts with cast-iron acanthus leaf capitals, which is decorated with panelled cast-iron friezes and rosettes and elegant curved brackets;a segment arched raised entablature, in a simple Italian Renaissance Revival style;cornice mould and string-mould at the upper sill-line, creating horizontals that are broken by corner and central pilaster pairs;double-hung sash windows and four-panel door with top light;cemented architraves surround the windows and doorway, flared at base;elegant cemented cornice with brackets to chimneys placed at the apex of each gabled roof form, also chimney pots;an unusual, deeply scrolled basalt masonry garden wall, supporting iron pickets between the masonry fence piers; andcontribution as a corner-sited house next to the similarly aged 2 Stanley Street and 1-3 Chetwynd Street also facing the Eades Place reserve and the bay.Parapet urns missing, bricks painted over.How is it significant?Jesmond, or Dixon house is significant historically and aesthetically to West Melbourne and the City of Melbourne also Victoria.Why is it significant?Jesmond, or Dixon house is significant.Aesthetically, a well-preserved and prominently sited example of an early and original Victorian-era residence of an uncommon custom designed form, with rare and elegant details and proportions and set in a similarly aged neighbourhood; andHistorically, associated with a number of prominent figures in the area, each (Dixon and Blair) achieving national publicity in their time of residence, while Proud represented the noxious trades associated with the West Melbourne area.

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City of Melbourne

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