Tops to Tails
157-159 Gray St and Eastside of McGuigar Lane HAMILTON, Southern Grampians Shire
Gray St Commercial Precinct Hamilton
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Statement of Significance
SIGNIFICANCE: Early building in Gray Street which was always used for commercial purposes. Owned by EW Stapylton Bree, a leading merchant and public figure. Later shop window by Gill.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
Tops to Tails
157 Gray Street
This building has local significance for its architectural interest as an early Gray Street shop with a 1920s Gill shopfront and for its possible historical associations with the merchants R S Bree and A T Dickens. A rate book search suggests that the shop may date from the late 1870s when Bree & Dickens owned stone stores and an office in Crown Allotments 12 & 13, Section 4, in Gray Street. ([i]) In 1865, Bree (1839-1907) from Cornwall, became the manager of S G Henty's Warrayure property and in 1871 married his daughter, Annie Henty. ([ii]) The site of No. 157 Gray Street was owned by S G Henty in 1852. A 1938 drainage plan confirms that the front portion of No. 157 Gray Street was stone with brick additions at the rear. ([iii]) Bree came to Hamilton in 1872, purchased an auctioneer's business, and became a leading townsman. He was a councillor, Mayor, and he owned the substantial Bewsall property. ([iv]) His partner, Arthur Tennyson Dickens, was the son of the celebrated author, Charles Dickens. ([v]) The owner of the property in the 1930s was G Strangio. ([vi])
The building shows a restrained Classicism in its architecture. It must have had a two storey verandah ([vii]) which has been replaced by the Council's standard 1960s cantilever design. The 1920s shopfront has suffered only superficial changes. The building is in fair condition.
[i] Hamilton Rate Book 1877, No. 69,; 1887, No. 90 (office, NAV 40 pounds).
[ii] Garden, Don, Hamilton, p 72.
[iii] HSA DP No. 8, for G Strangio. A verandah, now removed, is shown on the front of the building.
[iv] Garden, Don, Hamilton, pp 72-74.
[v] Ibid., p 73.
[vi] HSA DP No.8, for G Strangio; The builder of the additions may have been Reg Williams. A conversation with Williams' daughter, Mrs Christie, on 16 May 1991, referred to work for Strangio, but alluded to another Hamilton building, Scullions, at 196 Gray Street.
[vii] This appears in early photographs but indistinctly. See note 3 above.
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Tops to Tails - Physical Description 1
MATERIALS:
Roof: corrugated iron
Walls: rendered brick
Dressings: cement render
Plinth: glazed green tiles
Windows: nickle/plate glass
Paving:
Other: aluminium windows at
first floor
NOTABLE FEATURES:Middle window originally French doors to verandah but now missing.Tops to Tails - Historical Australian Themes
ASSOCIATED HISTORIC THEMES
Secondary Industry: Merchants & Auctioneers.
Tops to Tails - Integrity
Integrity: F
Tops to Tails - Physical Conditions
Conditions: F
Heritage Study and Grading
Southern Grampians - City of Hamilton Conservation Study
Author: Timothy Hubbard with Carlotta Kellaway & Michael Looker (plus Francis Punch)
Year: 1991
Grading: C
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MECHANICS INSTITUTEVictorian Heritage Register H2171
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HAMILTON BOTANIC GARDENSVictorian Heritage Register H2185
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FORMER HAMILTON TUBERCULOSIS CHALETVictorian Heritage Register H1066
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