In 1859, an enterprising young Thomas Humphreys of Islington, London, aged 24, sailed to the colony of NSW via Hong Kong on the Atalanta. He was the ship’s carpenter. During this period, many men sought work in the goldfields of North East Victoria where work was aplenty. With his transferable skill, one highly sought after in the fledgling rural towns such as Beechworth, Thomas Humphreys offered labour in order to make his way in life.
With the imbalance of men and women in the colony (5:1) it is not surprising that Humphreys met and married Annie Malvina Harvey by 1861. Annie was from Cornwall and emigrated with her sister Jane earlier that year. The marriage is registered as having occurred in the Beechworth Courthouse. Annie was listed as a 22 year old house servant and Thomas as a 25 year old carpenter. Both were residents of Spring Creek, possibly indicating the tent city which existed on the banks of the creek. Thomas is listed as originating in Portland which suggests an overland route to the gold fields. He had possibly been in the employ of a wealthy squatter in the settlement of Portland. Thomas’ father was a bricklayer and Annie’s was a miner. Both came from working class roots possibly those facing employment shortage in England. Their choice of the courthouse as their place for the solemnisation of their marriage is interesting as Thomas is buried in the independent section of the Beechworth Cemetery and Annie lies in the Wesleyan section of the Melbourne General Cemetery after having died in Collingwood at the house of her daughter Sophia Levy. Interestingly, the marriage certificate has Annie’s sister’s signature as witness. She signs in her married name ‘Jane Warren’, having married into the illustrious Warren family of which one brother would run the Ovens and Murray Advertiser for decades.
In 1872 Thomas purchased the block of land in Mellish Street Beechworth which was to become the inspiration for the Little Beechworth Kitchen. He built a four roomed timber cottage with skillion and carpenter’s shed to the rear of the block. His last Will and Testament indicates the presence of the carpenter’s shed but shows that the house was a four roomed brick cottage. This change occurred on 1st December 1877 when the original structure burned to the ground. The Ovens and Murray Advertiser reports that Thomas Humphreys was away on work in Wangaratta whilst the house was destroyed in half an hour at 2am. Even though fire authorities attended the site, the calico linings of the walls had caught fire by a kerosene lamp having either ‘burst or been upset’. According to a very early photo which shows the top half of Mellish St, it would appear that the new house was built on the same site as the old structure but no record was left to suggest what happened to the ‘adjoining tenement’, another structure on the large double block purchased by Humphreys, which also burned when the fire broke out. We know that Humphreys let this other structure out at some point to a ‘Mr. Morton, the railway contractor’ but that it was to let at the time of the fire. As there is no mention of rebuilding on the site next door, it may be possible that no new structure was built until 1892, after Annie sold the properties. The magnificent property now adorning that other site is dated to this time.
Earthworks would indicate that the new house built by Thomas Humphreys was limited to the old site. The prevalence of handmade red bricks in the garden beds currently, may represent remnants of old fireplace. The new house was built in solid brick, similar in architectural style to that of the Mayday Hills asylum. It was double walled, with the Silverlock method which involved header bricks placed from wall to wall in between locking the walls together. Examples of this can be seen in a photo taken at the time of bathroom renovation whereby the rear external wall was exposed. We are informed that Beechworth does not boast many examples of this fine architectural style. The exterior was rendered and patterned to appear as though made of large blocks. It was painted white and the roof was originally shingled. The timber shingles appear to be well preserved under the steel roof which was recently replaced. The house was surrounded by a colonial verandah on three sides. This was replaced in the 1970s when some aesthetically inconsistent renovations were undertaken. The current verandah (awaiting renovation) has steel posts and only covers two sides. It was also constructed too low.
TBC
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