But the allotment on the corner of Kent Street and Richmond Road, later to become Number 76 Richmond Road, was purchased in 1884 by Reverend Hawkins, who intended to retire to Blacktown after an illustrious career in the Manning Valley.
Reverend Hawkins was born in Staffordshire, England, in 1824 and came to Australia in 1849. He met his wife, Maria in Australia and married her in 1852 at West Maitland. Their first child was born at Cassilis, NSW.
They settled in St Alban’s where three children were born, before Reverend Hawkins was ordained by Bishop Tyrrell at Morpeth in 1858. Hawkins then rode 200 miles with his family from St Alban’s to Taree, where he became the Manning Valley’s first resident clergyman.
In his daily role he often rode or rowed up to sixty miles a day to see his parishioners, and was responsible for the construction of eight Anglican churches in the Taree area. He set the plans and laid the foundation stone for the rectory at Taree, on the banks of the river.
When he retired he decided to move to Blacktown, and had the house built for himself and his wife. ‘Nallis’ is an old term for ‘private residence’, hence the name, ‘Rosenallis’. Reverend Hawkins used the rear of his property to establish fruit orchards and vegetable gardens, which he sold at his front gate. He continued to write religious essays during his retirement.
The ownership of “Rosenallis” was also unique in that it was owned and occupied by descendants of the same family from 1885 to 2006, when it was sold out of the family.
Reverend William Hawkins died in 1917, aged 93. His wife Maria pre-deceased him in 1911 from a burst appendix.
Both are buried in St Bartholomew’s Church cemetery at Prospect. The house then passed to one of his daughters, Florence Hawkins. She remained unmarried, but took in destitute orphaned children, adopting one of them, Jack Hope.
There are letters of glowing praise for the wonderful work and love she gave to those unfortunate children. Jack, in turn, cared for Florence in her declining years.
Florence died in 1950, aged 88, and was buried with her parents at St Bartholomew’s. ‘Rosenallis’ then passed to Jack Hope.
At various times he, or his son, lived in it. Jack Hope was well-known as the caretaker of Blacktown Showgrounds for many years. He died in 2006 and the house was sold out of the family after some 122 years of ownership.
After that it began a period of neglect, sometimes having up to 15 people living in the house at one time. The orchards were long gone, having been subdivided for houses along Kent Street years before. But even with the lack of maintenance, it was quite restorable, being constructed of brick.
It featured a long hallway as its entrance, with rooms off to each side, and a kitchen at the rear. It was in no way as bad a condition as the Prospect Police cottage or Exeter Farm at Parklea.
In April 2008, an extensive heritage submission was made to Blacktown City Council for the house to be afforded heritage protection under its Local Environment Plan. Unfortunately, Council took no action on this submission for two years, by which time the house had again been sold.
In a classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing, the new owner was told that she could demolish the house, at the same time that heritage officers within Council confirmed that Rosenallis had significant heritage value, with its associations to the showground, to St Bartholomew’s, to the church, and even to the Manning Valley.
It was a rare example of a Victorian era cottage close to Blacktown’s CBD.
Council was now in a quandary, having told the owner it could demolish, and being urged by three local historical societies, as well as the National Trust of NSW, to preserve the house.
It was also suggested Council purchase Rosenallis and the also the house at 70 Richmond Road, and incorporate them into its showground redevelopment scheme as a heritage precinct.
In September 2010, Council placed a temporary six-month heritage order on Rosenallis, but failed to make this order permanent.
As soon as the six-month order expired in March 2011, the owner made an application to demolish the house. It was shamefully demolished a few months later.
Nearby the house had a twin cottage at No. 70 Richmond Road, and this still stands today, with heritage protection.
Sadly, the contribution to our history made by Reverend Hawkins (pictured below) and his wife Maria, and daughter Florence, has today been all but forgotten.
