Western Australian Heritage
Tom Collins House & Mattie Furphy House
In 1949 Samuel Furphy, youngest son of the novelist
and poet, Joseph Furphy, who wrote under the pen-name of Tom Collins,
presented a small wooden worker's cottage in Servetus St, Swanbourne
to the Fellowship of Australian Writers (WA).This cottage had
been built and lived in by his father in 1908, after he came to
join his sons in Western Australia in 1905. Felix and Samuel had
established a foundry in Grey St, Fremantle. Joseph and his wife
Leonie, came to help them with the business. For seven years until
his sudden death in 1912, Joseph wrote very little. He described
himself as a 'grafter, pure and simple'. However, he maintained
his correspondence with Miles Franklin and Kate Baker, among others,
as well as with his mother in Shepparton. Joseph hoped to the
end to return to the writing which had already brought into being
the novels Such is Life, Rigby's Romance and The Buln-Buln and
the Brolga together with numerous poems which had been published
in The Bulletin.
Joseph's grand-daughter Emily Main describes the building of
what is now known as Tom Collins House - 'the boys, that is my
father and Sam, helped him put in the stumps, but Joseph designed
the wooden building himself, constructing sections of the timber
framework on the ground. As lifting these into position was too
heavy for one man he enlisted the aid of Thomas Reinfield, a German
builder who also helped him with the finer cabinet work such as
making the window frames. Joseph constructed the roof timbers
and put on the galvanised roof.'
After Joseph's death, Leonie remained in the house. When she
died in the late thirties, Sam and his artist wife Mattie moved
into the small cottage after making alterations of their own.
These included the installation of doors and fireplace overmantle
which Mattie had made during her studies at Perth Technical School
with James Linton. Featuring panels of beaten copper, these provide
a dramatic example of the excellent craft work produced in the
early days of the school.
In 1949 Samuel Furphy gave the cottage to the Fellowship on the
condition that it be maintained as a memorial of his father. At
the same time he bequested funds to the University of Western
Australia for an ongoing essay prize and the purchase of art works.
In order to provide more space for meetings, the Fellowship opened
up the front two rooms where some of the Furphy memorabilia is
displayed. A third room was opened in 1994 as the Bert Vickers
Library to house a large collection of books by Western Australian
authors as well as first edition copies of Joseph’s books..
The house was registered by the National Trust in 1978. Its historic
significance lies not only in the fact that it was built and lived
in by Joseph Furphy, sometimes called the Father of the Australian
Novel, but also the collection of original copper work by his
daughter-in-law Mattie as well as its long association with leading
Western Australian writers. As one early member, Jean Lang, affirms,
it is the only house that was built and lived in by a writer and
has since then been associated with literature almost continuously.
In 1996 Government plans to develop West Coast Highway required
that the Fellowship relocate the house. After years of discussion
it was moved to its new home in the bushland of Allen Park, only
one kilometre from its original site. Restoration was undertaken
with proceeds from the sale of the Servetus Street land to the
Government plus a Government grant of $50,000. Now Tom Collins
House has become the main feature in a Heritage Precinct which
is under the jurisdiction of the Nedlands City Council. Next door
to playing fields, it is in sight of the large weatherboard house
which Joseph helped to build for his son Samuel, on the corner
of Clement and Marmion Streets. In his letters to his mother Joseph
frequently reported on projects he worked on for his son as well
as the bush through which he took his regular walks. So the new
locality is not only ideal for writing workshops and readings,
but still historically authentic. In recognition of the successful
resiting, the Heritage Council of Western Australia granted Tom
Collins House Heritage Listing in 1999.
Further information on Tom Collins House can be found in the
Conservation Report, a copy of which is in the Vickers Library.
The report was prepared by consultants Drs Dorothy Erickson and
Robyn Taylor and architect Murray Slavin.
Refs:
Barnes, John (1990) The Order of Things: A Life of Joseph Furphy.
Oxford University Press.
eds Barnes, J. & Hoffmann, L. (1995) Bushman and Bookworm.
Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia.
Erickson, D. & Taylor, R. (1995) Heritage Assessment &
Conservation Plan for Tom Collins House. Perth: Fellowship of
Australian Writers (WA) & Heritage Council of Western Australia.
Lang, Jean (1987) At the Toss of a Coin. Joseph Furphy: The Western
Link Tom Collins Press. Swanbourne, Western Australia.
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