View allAll Photos Tagged Mitcham
James Corpe. 1841- 1925. Granite Celtic Cross headstone. A presentation was made to James R Corpe at Moonta mines in 1877 as he was the manager of the Moonta copper mines. His obituary was in the Register in 1915 as a resident of North Adelaide. His obituary in the Observer referred to him as a financier. He was a businessman/financier and the manager of the major copper mine of 19th century South Australia. His wife laid the foundation stone of the Wallaroo Town Hall in 1885. Corpe was President of the Moonta mines Company. She was the niece of the owner of Moonta mines, Sir Walter Watson Hughes. He was also a bank manager in Moonta and a local councillor. He married Thomasina in London in 1877 but his address was given as Moonta and hers was London. He was a Justice of the Peace in Moonta also from 1876.
The driver of Go-Ahead's E198 waits in his cab for Croydon Garage's E200 to arrive on the 127 to take over the rest of the journey to Tooting Broadway.
London General PVL106 (W506 WGH)
Volvo B7TL / Plaxton
Route 280
Mitcham (Upper Green)
29th December 2001
Mitcham. Brownhill Creek. Roger’s Quarry and Mundy’s Quarry.
This quarry was first worked in 1860. By 1879 this was the biggest of three sandstone quarries near each other along Brownhill Creek. This was Roger’s Quarry and was worked until 1900 when the lease expired. The quarry was worked for several hundred feet across and forty feet deep. Many of the old buildings of Mitcham including St Michael's Anglican Church and the Mitcham Institute were built with stone from this quarry. Although half-filled in the quarry face is steep and colourful.
Nearby are the remains of the crushing plant of another sandstone quarry along Brownhill Creek. Mundy’s quarry obtained bluestone which was crushed for gravel used for road building and house construction. The site is marked by a random bluestone rubble retaining wall near the remains of a concrete crushing plant. Mundy’s quarry operated from the mid-19th to the end of the 19th century.
Not to be outdone by it's larger competitor on London tendered services, Mitcham Belle, who were once primarily a coach operator, also tendered for London area services and also took a batch of Pointer Darts, as they were generally known, that were similar to the London Central/London General LDP class, one of which can be seen in the previous photo. 039 is seen here on the one way system, A219, at Wimbledon Bridge, on 31/07/2001. It was new in a large batch of twenty-four delivered in 06/2000. The Mitcham Belle business was taken over by Centra London, in 08/2004, together with the operational fleet at the time. This Dart was re-numbered DP38. In 05/2006, Centra ceased trading and the Dart passed to Comfort-DelGro Metroline, in 11/2006, working out of Brentford and still carried DP38 as it's fleetnumber. In 07/2008, it moved onto Perivale then to North Wembley, in 01/2009. Four months later, it was back to Perivale then in 10/2011, it was written off for scrap. More details can be found at the excellent www.countrybus.org/Dart_SLF/MBelle/MBelle_a.htm#fleet.
The camera being a Pentax MZ-M with the film being a Boots Colourslide.
I would request, as with all my photos, that they are not copied or downloaded in any way, shape or form. © Peter Steel 2001.
Mitcham History.
•Land surveyed and some sold in 1838. David McLaren bought up lots of the land for the SA Company and set up a village on 17 December 1839 on section 248. William Giles was next Manager of SA Company and he called it Mitcham. Original purchasers include: Harrison, Hogg, McLaren, Mugg (first school teacher) Playford, Thornber, Traegar etc.
•The Wheal Grainger mine set up in Brownhill creek- named along with Greenhill and Black hill. Led and silver and some copper. No great finds.1852 the District council of Mitcham had a review, and Council first in state formed in 1853. Covered Great eastern Road to Glenelg (and Glenelg) to South Terrace of city and in the hills around Government Farm at Belair. Included Crafers too. This is why this cemetery is so important- main general one apart from west Terrace and early. Roads to Mitcham important as they went further into the hills to Coromandel Valley and beyond. So Mitcham was on the way to somewhere. The other early villages of Adelaide were Woodville and Port Adelaide and Burnside. Once roads survey and partly made, they used roads for dual destinations, so hence up great eastern Road, then turn off along Fullarton Road to Mitcham. It was late 1850s before a road through the south parklands to link up with Unley road- too swampy and boggy in winter for carts to get across the parklands. Mitcham in the 1840s the most important village along with Port Adelaide.
•The Village Grows. Thomas Playford had the 20 acres at corner of Mitcham Road (now Fullarton) and Delamere Road. William Bartley lived in Delamere House. Arthur Hardy had a mansion at Glen Osmond- now St Pauls Retreat. There were in 1852 seventeen houses along what is now Cross Road between Glen Osmond and Glenelg Road. There were some buildings where the Torrens Arms Hotel is now located (it started 1857), and 56 houses in Mitcham village proper.
•Between Cross Rd and Springbank Road- a large property the Grange (hence Grange Road) and another worked by Captain W.L.S. O’Halloran, a brother of the celebrated Major. He had a mansion. Henry Taylor was licensee of Brownhill creek Inn and member of St. Michaels Anglican Church.
Mr F.H Faulding lived at Mitcham. And Mr Alexander Elder.
•Union Chapel- the SA League building chapels for various denominations in 1846-48. Playford arrived in Mitcham 1844 and used the Union Chapel. It was used as village school.
•St Michaels, 1848. Thornber donated the land and Mitchell. Opened in 1852. Many of opening congregation in the Anglican cemetery.
•Baptist Church where Playford preached. Services in his house from 1844 onwards; church opened 1860 on land previously owned by Playford; later enlarged. Playford first minister. This is the church PM Gillard attended.
•First school was Mr Muggs, opened about May 1847 on Mitcham reserve where bandstand is. Mr Mugg was a retired carpenter. In 1848 Mugg had 39 pupils. Thomas Playford, later Premier, attended Muggs School in 1848. Thomas Mugg remained in charge until 1877 at the age of 83 years when the government took over the school but gave up teaching in the 1860s.He built a cottage at the top of Muggs Hill Road where the Scotch College tennis courts are now located. It was in the old Union Chapel until 1871 when it moved to the Mitcham institute, then new state school erected in 1877-79. It accommodated 200 children. When was the chapel demolished?
•From 1878-1930 Mitcham’s water came from a weir on Brownhill creek and a deep well and pipe works. From 1917 water also pumped from Kensington to tanks at top of Fullarton Road. Connected to Millbrook reservoir from 1923
The 355 is one of two Brixton to Mitcham links and mostly runs with Wrightbus Streetlites which is a little odd considering it doesn’t deviate down any small estates or take a loop around Mitcham Common.
Seems like the call for more double decks have been partly answered with Croydon (C) usually chucking on a few frogs every now and then during the week and the busy Saturday shopping periods.
In reality, it’s a matter of when, not if the route will fully convert to double decks but TfL have to realise this or the Streetlites will continue to suffer from overcrowding during busy times.
BP15OMF (WHV59) is at Brixton Station starting its journey to Mitcham via Clapham Park and Tooting.
Solo Redhen railcar 435 at Mitcham station with an early morning Adelaide to Bridgewater service during January 1987.
1979. The London Brighton & South Coast Railway signal box dating from 1891 at Mitcham, between Wimbledon and West Croydon. It was closed on 23rd May 1982 and the route is now part of the Croydon tram system.
Late C18 detached house in brown brick. Wing to LHS is C20. Grade II listed. Now occupied by an independent school. London Borough of Merton.
GAL Merton is home to the first 16 out of 290 Enviro 200s, spanning from 2007 to 2016.
They serve many routes in the vicinity, including the 200 from Mitcham to Raynes Park but with a planned reallocation with their existing hybrids in 2021, their time on the route will be nearing its end.
St Pauls Passionist Monastery church and gardens Urrbrae Adelaide.
This acreage was originally owned by Arthur Hardy of nearby Claremont House. In 1847 part of his property was sold to Joseph Montefiore and he planted the giant Moreton Bay Fig around the time be built a grand two storey residence called the Glen. In 1855 the residence and property passed to the Boothby family of judges and writers. Members of the Boothby family remained there until it was sold to the Passionist Brothers in 1896 for use as a monastery. At the same time a new residence or bishop’s palace for the Adelaide Bishop was built across the road from the monastery in 1897. This was handed over to the Carmelite nuns in 1935. Meantime across Cross Road Glen House was demolished in 1927 and the new St Paul the Cross Catholic Church was built that year on its site. It opened in 1928. The architect was Herbert Jory who had many commissions for the Catholic Church in South Australia at that time. A new monastery was attached to the church in 1929 and it was also designed by Herbert Jory in the same Romanesque style with Mediterranean influences such as terracotta tiles, arches, long verandas etc.
The Australian Passionist Brothers commissioned 14 Carrera marble statues depicting the station of the cross to be built in 1953 for their Goulburn Monastery in New South Wales. They were created in the Ferndinado Palla Studio in Tuscany. All the figures in the statues are half-life size and weigh at least half a ton. It took six to eight months to complete each finely detailed statue and they were shipped to Australia over several years and then trucked to Goulburn. All had arrived by 1955. Each statue cost around £500, a considerable sum in those days when you could buy a suburban house for around £1,000. The Passionist Brothers sold their Goulburn property in 1974 and the statues were kept in storage. In the year 2000 the marble statues were moved to the Passionist Monastery at Glen Osmond. They are complemented there by beautiful gardens with an air of serenity and peace.
Torrens Park. Mitcham Lawn House.
The land here was taken up early in 1838 by the Reverend William Finlayson (1813-1897.) The first history of Mitcham was written by William Finlayson in 1885 just before he died in 1897. He arrived in SA on 14 February 1837. He walked from Glenelg to Adelaide and then to Port Adelaide to meet his wife he had arrived at the port! Finlayson was appointed to the SA Company sheep station at Brownhill creek in 1838. His “home” was a tent 15 feet by 8 feet. The sheep farm also had cows and the milk was sent to Adelaide every Sunday. Within a short time William Finlayson rented land from the SA Company. He built a small cottage of three rooms on this leased land. His wife Mary climbed gum trees to catch possums- presumably for eating. He erected a new home in 1852 called Helenholm with is in Finlayson Street Netherby on his originally 67 acres section. Helenholm is still there in Finlayson Street with a huge Bunya Bunya pine at the front gate. Finlayson was involved with the Baptist Church and he bought another section of 80 acres at Torrens Park in 1838. This land was sold to Dr Woodforde in 1853 who subdivided it. Six acres of Woodforde’s section was sold to Edward Manton in 1854. At that time Manton was leasing a further 53 acres from Dr Woodforde.
Manton’s wife Caroline Manton opened a school at Mitcham Lawn in 1853 when they were leasing the six acres from Woodforde. Her school had boarding facilities and the original stone school room still stands on the southern side of Mitcham Lawn House. It was built in 1854 when the main part of Mitcham Lawns House was also built. Mitcham Lawns has French doors opening onto an east facing veranda. Mrs Manton’s school seems to disappear around 1856 as there were many private and a village school at Mitcham by then. The Manton’s sold their property and school room in 1874. The new owner John Love named the property Mitcham Lawns as that was the name for that area of the Mitcham district which is now known as Springbank. Around 1880 he added a substantial two storey stone addition to the original house. One of their daughters Margaret married John Tennant the eldest son of the wealthy Eyre Peninsula pastoralist Andrew Tennant 1898. The 1880 house is Italianate in style with pretty cast iron lacework on the veranda and bay windows. It has a north facing entrance which affords views over the Adelaide Plains to the coast the city centre. In 1950 the Lutheran Church purchased the house and by then a suburban block which they ran a hostel for “new Australian” post war immigrants. It opened to house 13 families. It is now privately owned as a fine residence.
Thirties House. Built in 1930s in modern style. Two storey, brick parapet hides terracotta tiled roof. Double storey rounded glass brick wall for internal staircase. Very Poiret in style. Very European. Built 1937. Lines cut clean.
Train and station fittings still display the colours of Network Southeast, but we are just into the privatisation era as a Connex South Central-allocated Class 455/1 EMU unit arrives at Mitcham Junction.One year later, the franchise passed to Southern. Later rebuilding its stock of Class 455s for South London Metro services by eliminating the gangway connections between units, Southern withdrew the final class members in May 2022.
July 2000
Rollei 35 camera
Kodak Ektachrome 100 film.
Anne Keynes 1824-1903, the widow of Joseph Keynes of Kkeyneton South Australia.
As the son of a Ccongregational minister, Jospeh Keynes who was a sheep breeder in England, wrote to George Fife Angas in the 1830s about the new colony of South Australia. Angas invited him to come to SA and work for him. He arrived with his wife Ellen in 1839. He leased land from Angas; then he went bankrupt; then he re-built his empire as a pastorlist by 1850. His wife Ellen left him and he remarried Anne in 1866. She had been a Scammell, the wealthy SA chemical company before her marriage. Joseph and Anne Keyneton established a huge property called Keyneton just east of the village of Keyneton on the outskirts of the Barossa Valley. Joseph died in 1883 and was bured in Keyneton. Anne was buried here, perhaps to be near her Scammell relatives? Keyneton estate is still in the family.
The S1 extended back in 2014 from the Fair Green up to Lavender Fields just North of Mitcham seen here approaching the one way system en-route to Sutton.
Land at what is now the suburb of Springfield was purchased by Charles Newenham in 1841. His section of land was about 40 acres in area. Because of the springs flowing from the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges it is believed he named the area Springfield. Charles Newenham began built a six roomed house on the site between 1843 and 1853. By 1870 Charles Hardy had purchased the house and property and in 1870 he began major extensions turning the modest house into a grand Victorian bluestone mansion. He employed architects Soward and English to design the extensions. Hardy also developed the gardens at that time. In 1896 the property was sold to John Taylor who in turn sold it on to Mary Anna Rymill in 1897. They immediately engaged architects Soward and English to add a second storey to the house. Although they kept ownership Frank and Mary leased the house to other parties in 1908.
Frank Rymill was a keen horseman and pastoralist. He died on his way to the races at Morphettville in 1924. He had pastoral properties on the Broken Hill line and Bungala at Yankalilla. A few years after Frank’s death his widow Mary Anna Rymill subdivided their Springfield estate in 1927 into a new suburban development. The Springfield Limited Company purchased the land and created the garden city exclusive suburban development of Springfield in 1928.
He was the son of Henry Rymill who lived in the Firs Mansion in East Terrace Adelaide. Henry Rymill and his brothers came to South Australia in 1855. Henry obtained work as a bookkeeper for Sir Henry Ayers the main owner of the Burra copper mines. He soon established his own financial services business in 1862 and in 1865 invited his brother Frank into a partnership. Henry became a part owner of Canowie Pastoral Company and a director of the Bank of Adelaide, the Adelaide Milling Company and other companies. His son Frank was born in 1866. Frank’s brothers included the politician Sir Arthur Rymill and one of his cousins John Riddoch Rymill owned the Coonawarra winery and Yallum Park estate.
In 1928 the house was then sold to Francis Villneuve a city solicitor as the new suburb grew up around the mansion. Gradually its extensive gardens were subdivided too. It has had many owners since 1928 and some modifications making it a 33 roomed heritage listed mansion today. The Springfield subdivision was planned as a private commission by Walter Scott-Griffiths the Government Town Planner at that time in 1928. Trees were not felled and retained in the middle of roads if necessary and quaint stone bridges were built over the creeks. Street design took account of the contours of the land. In keeping with the garden city movement streets were named Woodland, Elmglade, Glenwood, Meadowvale, Hillside and Brookside in a rather English tradition although the landscape was dominated by magnificent old River Red gums. The subdivision was to have no electricity or telephone wire or posts and it is believed to have been the first such suburb like that in Australia. Quaint wrought iron standard lamps and street signs were erected for the suburb. The lamps and bridges were designed by architect E Danker. Despite these attractive features the suburb grew slowly until the 1950s.
Network Southeast Class 455 unit No. 5801 stands at Mitcham Junction working a Victoria to Leatherhead service
Route 219 was introduced in 1987 and it replaced the southern section of routes 19 and 88, running Sloane Square to Mitcham, Cricketers. It shrunk down and by 1995 only ran from Clapham Junction to Tooting Broadway.
However in 1999 it was extended from Clapham Junction to Wimbledon replacing route 155 over this section. I think this was one of worst decisions I have seen in my time in London. Personally, I've always thought the 155 was a far more useful route to run on this section, the 219 creating a very indirect route. I guess the 219 is cheaper run over this section, being less frequent, but these savings would have been fake as subsequently routes 493 and then 131 have shadowed that Wimbledon to Tooting working (with route 57) that the 155 would have continued to provide adequate capacity for.
The route runs with a batch of Wright Streetlites of the door forward variety. I'm not sure how happy Go-Ahead London have been with these as subsequent orders for similar requirements have reverted to ADL Enviro 200s.
Eynesbury House.
William Letchford purchased 14 acres at Mitcham in 1854. Letchford 1821 to 1880 was one of the first land brokers in South Australia. He also had successful manufacturing enterprises such as a soap and candle-making factory. On his Mitcham estate he built a large but not grand two-storey house around 1854. He sold this to George and Fannie Wilcox of Gawler in 1872.
Wilcox had arrived in SA in 1857 and set up as a draper in Gawler. He later diversified into groceries, wool buying and hides and skins. He was also a director of the Moonta Mines at Hamley. He also had a soap works, Apollo Soap, at Hindmarsh. When he purchased the Mitcham house in 1872 George Wilcox named it Eynesbury House after the birthplace, in England, of his wife Fannie. He greatly enlarged and embellished the house. The three storey tower and the classical façade is very typical of late 1870s and early 1880s buildings. George Wilcox died in 1908 and his widow and her second husband lived on in the house for many years. In the 1970s and 1980s the Hare Krishna movement obtained the property for residential and worshipping purposes. Then in 1990 an upper secondary college was established in the house and on the two-acre property which was called Eynesbury College. Since then the College has moved into the city of Adelaide but they are still known as Eynesbury College in Franklin street Adelaide. Eynesbury House is now owned privately and it is a significant mansion along Belair Road at Mitcham with an impressive front fence and gates. Attached to the house is a two storey stable, coach house and stable block.
Bosley Ware Art Pottery Mitcham South Australia.
Staffordshire brothers George and Thomas Bosley arrived in South Australia in 1865 and 1866 respectively. Both brothers were potters and they moved into brick making at Hindmarsh on their arrival in SA. They were soon employed on making pottery, terracotta pipes and household utilitarian ware and chimney pots. By 1886 George Bosley was teaching pottery at the School of Design where he was praised greatly by the master potter there. George Bosley left the Hindmarsh Pottery in 1890 and concentrated on teaching pottery especially wheelwork and exhibiting when possible until his early death in 1892. It was not until 1931 that George Bosley’s nephew Thomas established his Bosley Ware Pottery in Abbotshall Street Mitcham. This nephew Thomas had become became George’s step son when George married his brother’s wife. Thomas Bosley the younger had worked in a pottery and brick yard in Western Australia for twenty years before his return to SA in 1913. He then worked for the Eden Hills brickyard. These Eden hills brick works closed during the Depression of 1929 and in 1931 Thomas Bosley set out on his own by establishing his own pottery. By 1932 Thomas was making art work pottery for sale. Lady Bonython was a patron his wares. The pottery began in a garage. His son Alfred worked in the pottery and he took on his first employee in 1935. In that same year he began producing “centenary souvenirs” for the forthcoming SA centenary of 1936. By that time he had six employees. The business was going well and in 1937 Thomas built a new bungalow across the street from his pottery which naturally had a Bosley green chimney pot, glazed air vent tiles and multi coloured glaze tile decorations. The Bosley family owned this house until 1977. Unfortunately Thomas Bosley died in 1945 and the business changed. A company Mitcham Potteries Ltd was formed in 1946 with Ron Bissett in charge and the pottery premises were much expanded. By 1954 the Mitcham potteries which still used the name of Bosley Ware was making 10,000 bread crocks a year. But the pottery struggled and ceased producing ornamental wares in 1954. The former Bosley pottery closed in 1964. These former pottery premises are now the St Vincent de Paul opportunity shop.
The Bosley Pottery was known for its distinctive art wares which included a 1936 Centenary of South Australia plaque, magpies, kookaburras, koalas, kangaroos, penguins, gnomes and the famous logo of MacRobertsons Chocolate - the bi- coloured Freddie the frog. They also produced many urns, vases and bread crocks often in their distinctive Bosley green or in their multi coloured glazes.
Farr House in Springfield Adelaide is linked to the story of Julia Farr. Julia Farr arrived in Adelaide with his Anglican vicar husband in 1854. Her husband had come to Adelaide to work for the Bishop of Adelaide Augustus Short as the headmaster of St Peters Boys College. Julia Farr took over the running of the boarding school for the boys. Then in 1860 she organised a committee to look at the welfare of destitute and orphan girls. The orphanage opened later that year in Carrington Street in Adelaide. In the meantime Julia had six children of her own. Some years later it moved to Fullarton Road (now Carrick Hill Drive) at Springfield. The grand stone house there with outbuildings and stables was built around 1880 when the property was owned by General Downes. Around 1890 Major Thomas O’Halloran Giles of Glenthorne Farm O’Halloran Hill purchased the property. Then in 1908 the house was purchased by the Anglican Church as it was just across the road from the Mitcham Anglican Church where Julia’s husband had served as the local vicar after shirr retirement from St Peters Boys College.( He died in 1904). It was then converted into the Home for Orphan Girls which Julia Farr had established many years before. Twenty years after Julia’s death in 1914 it is was renamed Farr House in 1934. One of her daughters and granddaughters continued working with and for the orphanage. Most of the acreage around the orphanage was subdivided for housing in 1970. The orphanage continued here until final closure in 1982. Farr House then became a private residence.
Julia Farr was also interested in working with people with disabilities and in 1878 she founded an organisation to provide accommodation for them and the committee and its sponsors purchased a large property in Fisher Street Unley. It was known as the Home for Incurables. Julia Farr laid the foundation stone of a new wing at the Home for Incurables in 1906. This facility was renamed the Julia Farr Centre in 1981 to honour the work that Julia had done to establish this home and the orphanage for girls.
Architect: George Smith, 1822, in the Perpendicular Gothic-Revival style. Master-Builder: John Chart. Channelled, Roman-cement render with some Bath stone dressings. Grade II*-listed. Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul, Church Road, Mitcham, London Borough of Merton.
Network Rail’s station design team and consultant architects, 2008. The modular system was constructed off-site and lifted into place at the station in sections. Image shows the passenger footbridge and lift tower. Mitcham, London Borough of Merton.
Rossendale Transport Limited 724 HV52 WSN, a Dennis Dart SLF built 2002 with a Caetano Nimbus B34F+26 body on Drake Street in Rochdale heading towards Rochdale Interchange with the destination already set for the following service, the 10:49 Rochdale Interchange to Wallbank (Westgate) via Shawclough, Lower Healey and Whitworth 446 service. Friday 6th July 2018
Note, HV52 WSN was originally operated by Wimco Group Coaches Limited (a Mitcham based operator who traded as Mitcham Belle) as number 073. Wimco Group Coaches Limited was purchased by Centra Bus Limited on 27th August 2004 with HV52 WSN being renumbered DC23 in October 2004. Centra Bus Limited ran its last passenger services on 19th May 2006 and HV52 WSN was acquired in June 2006 by Dawsonrentals Bus and Coach Limited (a Milton Keynes based dealer). It was purchased by Rossendale Transport Limited in June 2007 and entered service as number 170 after the seating was altered from B31D by North West Bus and Coach Repairs Limited. Rossendale Transport Limited was purchased by Transdev Blazefield Limited from Rossendale Borough Council on 12th January 2018, HV52 WSN being renumbered 724 in late February 2018
HV52 WSN was possibly working the 10:16 Wallbank (Westgate) to Rochdale Interchange via Whitworth
Ref no Nikon D7200 2nd series - DSC_8235
The 200 has normally been with single decks for the longest time with occasional double decks working shifts, first with Gemini B7TLs and now old E400 Tridents provide the extra capacity.
Main roads and town centres are the core of the route, although Wimbledon Village is very pleasant but Phipps Bridge Road and Haslemere Avenue provide the estate deviation.
Next year will see its contract renewed and a full conversion to electric double decks. They will likely be E400ev City units but let’s see what the decision is.
LX56ETZ (E52) is at Mitcham Fair Green starting its journey to Raynes Park via Colliers Wood and Wimbledon. Based at Merton (AL) Garage.