Nugal Hall
Nugal Hall is a heritage-listed Gothic Revival style former private residence, ambassador's residence, boutique lodge, embassy and now private residence located at 16–18 Milford Street, in the Sydney suburb of Randwick on the boundary with the suburb of Coogee. Nugal Hall sits in the City of Randwick local government area as part of the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.
Nugal Hall was designed by Mortimer Lewis and Oswald H. Lewis and completed in 1853. Nugal Hall was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 and on the Register of the National Estate. Nugal Hall has had many famous residents including politicians, business magnates, ambassadors, judges/lawyers, and movie stars. The property is privately owned.
History
1851–1853: Land grant and design
The land on which Nugal Hall is built was granted to Alexander McArthur in Randwick, over the period 1851–1853, by Governor Fitzroy. The land grants to McArthur involved four lots aggregating to some 8.4 hectares acquired by private tender on both sides of Avoca Street. McArthur was likely investing the significant profits he had achieved at that time as a gold exporter and clothing importer in the great Australian gold rushes that started in early 1851. The aggregate cost of the four lots was around £1,300.The land granted to McArthur in Randwick extended from Judge Street to Belmore Road, and from Alison Road to Mear's Avenue. The land was bordered to the east by a 12.1 hectare block of land in Coogee owned by William Charles Wentworth, one of the leading figures in early colonial New South Wales and the richest man in Sydney at that time. Judge Thomas Callaghan bought a 2.1 hectare block to the south. Callaghan was another prominent Colonial figure and one of the first three judges in the Sydney Court of General and Quarter Sessions.
Callaghan described the land at the time as resembling Ireland for its picturesque beauty involving waterfalls and rolling farmland from the top of the Randwick ridge line down to Coogee Beach and the Tasman Sea. Callaghan named his house there as 'Avoca' after the 'Vale of Avoca' from County Wicklow in Ireland. 'Vale' means valley in Gaelic whilst 'Avoca' is said to mean 'meeting of the waters' or 'great river'. A number of streets in the immediate area were named after Judge Callaghan, including Avoca Street, Judge Street, Milford Street, and Ada Street.
Sandstone from the site on which Nugal Hall was located was used in the construction of a number of houses in the immediate vicinity. Most construction was undertaken by ticket of leave men under the supervision of Judge Callaghan. Callaghan presumably had an arrangement to use sandstone from the site of Nugal Hall for the construction of his own nearby sandstone residence 'Avoca' which was built at the same time. The stone for Nugal Hall was therefore quarried on the spot and the foundation of Nugal Hall is securely built on rock.
Nugal Hall was designed by the Colonial Architect, Mortimer Lewis who came to Australia and worked from 1830 to 1861. Nugal Hall was one of his last buildings and was designed at the same time that Lewis was designing and building his own Gothic Revival mansion, known as Richmond Villa on the site of the current NSW Parliament buildings. Lewis was a prominent architect in Colonial Sydney and involved in the design of many important government buildings, including the NSW Legislative Council Chamber, the Australian Museum, the Customs House on Circular Quay and the NSW Treasury Building and Premier's Office. Lewis' residential designs included Bronte House.
At the time of its construction during 1851–53, Nugal Hall was designed as a large two-storey Gothic Revival villa interconnected with a single-storey cottage. Both buildings were interconnected with a single-storey servants quarters. The cottage and servants quarters were later subsumed within the two-storey northern extension to the house in 1885-87. The residence sat on the top of a Randwick ridge line with a commanding view over the 'Vale of Coogee' to the Tasman Sea.
Other notable Gothic Revival mansions in Sydney's eastern suburbs from the same era include Vaucluse House, Carthona, Bishopscourt, Swifts, and Rona. Notable Gothic Revival buildings of the period include Government House and the impressive main hall and quadrangle of the University of Sydney which was the largest public building in Australia at the time.
Milford Street was originally a bridal track and not formally recognised as a street until the 1860s. The driveway to Nugal Hall swept back from Avoca Street around the north side to the coach house and stables. Milford Street takes its name from Justice Samuel Frederick Milford, Primary Judge of the Supreme Court in Sydney, who was the father-in-law of Callaghan.
1853–1878: Rockville
The southern portion of the house was completed in 1853 to Lewis' design in the Gothic Revival style for politician and businessman Alexander McArthur. Irish-born McArthur arrived in Sydney in 1840 from Derry, Ireland, with his older brother Sir William McArthur KCMG, who subsequently became a Lord Mayor of London and Member of British Parliament. McArthur had intended to stay in Sydney for 6 months to recover from illness, but stayed for 23 years, operating the Australian end of the import-export partnership 'W&A McArthur Colonial Merchants' while his brother operated the British end.McArthur was described at the time as a 'Manchester warehouseman', being a wholesaler of linen and clothes made in the factories surrounding Manchester in the North-West of England. However, much of his wealth was generated from the export of gold to Britain during the Australian gold rushes. He became a wealthy businessman, merchant, and shipping magnate importing British soft-goods into Australia while exporting Australian gold to Britain. McArthur became a Member of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales during two Parliaments and Magistrate of the Territory until he returned to England in 1863.
Construction of Nugal Hall commenced following two land grants to McArthur in 1851. McArthur was married the year the house construction was completed in 1853 to Marie Bowden. The McArthurs lived in Nugal Hall from 1853 until 1857 then relocated their primary residence to the grand three-storey mansion 'Strathmore' that McArthur had purpose-built in Glebe. McArthur's eldest son, William Alexander McArthur, was born in 1857 and later became a Member of British Parliament in 1887 for St Austell, ultimately becoming Junior Lord of the Treasury in 1892. Alexander McArthur himself returned to England in 1863 to take over the British end of W&A McArthur. Following his return to England, McArthur ultimately became a Member of British Parliament for Leicester in 1874, joining his older brother who was the MP for Lambeth at that time.
In the period 1853–1863, McArthur was involved in the subdivision of his landholdings in Randwick, working closely with Callaghan. 'MacArthur's subdivision' involved the subdivision of McArthur's important triangular land block on the west side of Avoca Street covering what is now the site of the Captain Cook Statute, Royal Randwick Shopping Mall and the associated Randwick shopping precinct. McArthur's land to the east side of Avoca Street became the Nugal Hall estate and was progressively subdivided over the period 1854 to 1857 in conjunction with Callaghan's estate. As part of the subdivision arrangements, Callaghan acquired the land on which Nugal Hall was situated in two transactions in 1854 and 1857, the latter conferring Callaghan with ownership of Nugal Hall. Callaghan paid around £2,000 in aggregate for the Nugal Hall estate at the time.
Callaghan likely leased Nugal Hall to the McArthur family as their second residence until they left Australian in 1863. He may well have then lived in Nugal Hall himself while expanding his own house 'Avoca' at the time. Callaghan owned Nugal Hall at the time of his sudden passing in 1865 when he was unexpectedly charged by a colt he had been training at his farm in Braidwood, NSW. Callaghan's widow, Eliza Callaghan, became a well-known property developer and wealthy landlord in the Randwick area, residing at 'Avoca' across the road from Nugal Hall until her death in 1915. She ultimately built the residences known as Corona and Hygeia nearby in 1893.
Magnus Jackson Peden and his wife Elizabeth Neathway bought Nugal Hall from Eliza Callaghan for £700 in 1865. Magnus Peden was a merchant and farmer, and became Mayor of Randwick while he resided at Nugal Hall and later in life became Mayor of Bega. The Peden family resided in Nugal Hall from 1865 to 1872 as the third owners of Nugal Hall after McArthur and Callaghan. At that time, Nugal Hall was known as 'Rockville', presumably because it was built on the site of the 'flag quarry' used to supply sandstone for houses in the immediate vicinity.
The famous residents of Nugal Hall continued. Sir John Beverley Peden KCMG MLC, barrister and professor of law, was born in Nugal Hall on 26 April 1871, second son and sixth child of Magnus and Elizabeth Peden. In 1902, John Peden was appointed part-time Challis lecturer in the law of property at Sydney University. He practised law until he succeeded Pitt Cobbett as Challis Professor of law and Dean of the Faculty in 1910. Under Peden the law school grew steadily in reputation and influence. He was President of the Sydney University Law Society, examiner for the Barristers' Admission Board and ex officio chairman of the Solicitors' Admission Board. Peden took silk as a Queens Counsel in December 1922. In May 1917, Sir John Peden was nominated to the Legislative Council.
Sir John Peden showed lively interest in such subjects as living wages, industrial arbitration, matrimonial relations, capital punishment and workers' compensation. He eventually considered that his most important contributions as a legislator had been his defence of free speech that led to the sedition bill being dropped during World War I and his modification of the Marriage Amendment Act of 1924. In 1921-31 Peden served as sole royal commissioner on law reform in New South Wales. In 1930 he was appointed K.C.M.G.
In May 1873, Magnus Peden sold the Nugal Hall estate to James Mennie Tarves, a surveyor, for £920, who in turn, just five months later following a further subdivision of the land to the west, sold Nugal Hall to the Budd family – William, Annie and daughters, most of whom had been given the names of flowers. In 1876, Nugal Hall was leased by the Budd family to William & Harriett Crane.
The subdivided western land between Nugal Hall and Avoca Street was used for the construction of a residence known as 'Urara' over the period 1873–1875. Urara was built and owned by John See who became NSW Premier in 1901–1904 while living at Urara. The subdivided land to the south-west of Nugal Hall was used the for construction of a residence known as 'Ventnor' over the period 1873–1875. Ventnor was bult and owned by George Kiss who became Mayor of Randwick in 1877–1879 while living at Ventnor.