32 Austral Avenue
Leonard and Winifred Fereday purchased Lot 547 York Road in 1923. Sometime between 1930 and 1949 the street was renamed and their address became 32 Austral Avenue.
Their large block of land (approx. 3 acres) had a rough hewn timber dwelling on it at the time and photos reveal a bushland setting with no evidence of development. It appears that the Feredays lived in this dwelling until their new home was completed in 1928. A member of the Fererday family continued to occupy the home until 1993 by which time the great grandchildren of Leonard and Winnie were visiting the home.
Leonard was born in Tunstall in England on the 26th October, 1882. When he was 1 year old his family migrated to Sydney. At 4 years of age in 1886 his mother died and within a short period of time his father remarried. By 1888 Leonard, at just 6 years of age, had seen the passing of 3 younger siblings and by 1893 three step brothers had arrived. Little is known of his life until 1904 when he travelled to England and was listed as employed in the manufacture of Pianoforte having worked at the Beale’s factory in Annandale. On his return to Australia in 1906 his occupation was listed as cabinet maker.
While he was in England, he met Alice Winifred Capper. Winnie was born in 1884 at Cobridge in the Burslem Parish. In the 1901 census Winnie, aged 16 was working as an apprentice pupil teacher at Middleport Infants School. Winnie was a talented pianist. She played for family gatherings as well as at school and community events in England and entertained family and friends in their Beecroft home later in life.
After returning to Australia the relationship that Leonard had established with Winnie while he was in England continued to grow through years of letter writing.
One of Len’s letters to Winnie in 1908 tells us that Len had sent his marriage proposal and engagement ring to Winnie and anxiously waited for her reply. In his letters he talked of returning to work at Beale’s factory, concerned about the future economic situation if a depression should develop in Sydney as it had in England and America. The sale of pianos, a luxury item would be adversely affected if this should happen. We do know however that he continued to work at Beale’s, becoming the foreman of the of the finishing room. Oral history says that Winnie had not wanted to be a school teacher. She had hoped to be an accountant. It is not known why she became a teacher but at the time this would have been regarded as a more “suitable” occupation for a female. It would also have made good use of her talent as a pianist.
Leonard received the answer he had hoped for and Winnie arrived in Sydney on 12th November 1909 on board the SS Runic Leonard and Winnie were married on 15th November 1909 at the Stanmore Baptist Church
They had four children, Leonard Alan Fereday (Alan), 1912-1960, Charles Ronald Fereday (Ron), 1914- 2007, Thomas James Fereday (Jim), 1916-1976, and Winifred Elizabeth Fereday (Betty), 1920- 2000.
Jim , Leonard, Ron, Winnie, Alan and Betty in the 1920s
The eldest child, Alan, suffered from Epilepsy which significantly affected his life. Ron and Jim went to Beecroft Primary followed by the Metropolitan Central Junior Technical School at Ultimo completing their Intermediate Certificate. Betty also attended Beecroft Primary and then went to Hornsby Girls High School.
Ron trained and worked as a cabinet maker. He married Juen Margaret Winley in 1941 and went on to purchase land at Carlingford where he commenced growing cut flowers in addition to working as a cabinet maker. Later Ron sold the land and moved to a larger property in semi-rural Glenorie. He then worked solely as a grower of cut flowers, selling them at the Sydney markets. They ended their life at a retirement village at Cherrybrook with Ron’s death age 92, in 2006 and Juen age 90 in 2007.
Like his father and brother, Jim went into the cabinet making trade; working for Beales, piano manufacturer. He enlisted in the army during WW2 serving in New Guinea, using his trade skills for equipment maintenance and construction. Jim Married Lillian Gladys Stephens at the Waitara Gospel Hall on 6th November 1943.
Like his father and brother, Jim went into the cabinet making trade; working for Beales, piano manufacturer. He enlisted in the army during WW2 serving in New Guinea, using his trade skills for equipment maintenance and construction. Jim Married Lillian Gladys Stephens at the Waitara Gospel Hall on 6th November 1943.
At the end of the war building materials were very scarce but Jim and Lillian were able to purchase land on the opposite side of Austral Ave near the corner of Austral Ave and Kedron Ave, and build a modest home, while living with Jim’s parents. The post war economy once again did not support the luxury industry of piano manufacturing. Jim tried several different work options before returning to his trade skills working for the NSW railways as a carriage builder. Sadly, Jim passed away on the second day of his retirement on 2nd Sept 1976.
Austral Ave 1940s home of Jim and Lillian
Betty worked until retirement in secretarial positions. She enjoyed photography and sewed most of her own clothes. In later years she took an interest in maintaining her garden. After the death of her parents, despite her view that she had a weak heart, Betty continued to enjoy good health until the onset of dementia made it unsafe for her to continue to live alone. She moved to Mowll Village at Castle Hill where she died at age 80.
Details of Property Purchase and Building of York Road/32 Austral Avenue Home.
It is not known when Leonard & Winnie first became Beecroft property owners. Correspondence dated 21st March 1914 records the sale by them of land; Lot 50 in Abbotsford Park Estate, in Abbotsford Parade Abbotsford. The land was sold for £118 & 15shillings sterling with a deposit of £5. In April 1914 they paid £215 for a house and land at Beecroft. Another letter, dated June 1914 records the family living at Hannah St, Beecroft. In June 2nd 1914 they arranged a mortgage for £50, presumably the balance for the purchase with funds from the Abbotsford sale. On 6th June 1923 they were given the keys to another house and land at York Rd Beecroft. The purchase price for this home and land was £900 with a deposit of £25. The picture below shows this property. The original Austral Ave home was demolished after a new family home was built on the land. It is assumed that the family lived in this home from 1923 while the new home was being built.
Construction of the new home commenced on December 26th 1927. Leonard’s record of the purchase of building materials indicates that he managed the construction of the building. Total expenses were £582 14s 3d which included insurance for a mason and a carpenter to be on site for three months. Hand drawn plans show that Leonard was obviously involved in the design of the building. He also contributed to the building with days of labour done by him recorded and the cost of his labour [a little more than £1 per day when the basic wage for 1927 was £356/year] added to the building costing.
The new home was weatherboard with two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, pantry and living room with a fireplace. A verandah on three sides provided a sleeping area for the boys, A free standing wash house was located at the back of the house with a fire heated copper and washing basin. At a later date the verandah was enclosed with glass windows and a laundry with power and hot water added. Leonard established vegetable gardens, planted fruit trees and had a large flock of hens which created income and fed the family. At this stage the immediate area was still basically rural with large areas of open paddocks and untouched bushland with only a small number of houses in the immediate area.
Adjacent to the property in the 40’s was a poultry farm owned by Mr & Mrs Gillett. Jim’s son Richard recalls that this was a free range farm with the chickens able to roam into the bush. Oral history says that Richard used to cross the road to visit Gill’s farm to go “hunting tigers in the bush”.
In 1955 Leonard made an application to Hornsby Shire Council to subdivide the land at Beecroft. He had a surveyor’s report to confirm the boundaries for six blocks of land including the block for the house. Four of the blocks were to be on the street and two large blocks would be battleaxe blocks with an access lane.land and proposal for subdivision 1955
The NSW government intervened and purchased part of the land from the battleaxe blocks for the future development of the M2 Motorway which was not opened until 1997. The government was acquiring undeveloped land for this future project. Leonard was frustrated by this change and the need to recommence the planning of the subdivision and decided not to proceed. The subdivision did not take place until after his death when his sons Ron and Jim worked to implement a revised plan.
