A B Spark's other house - Tusculum

Tusculum is located at 1-3 Manning Street Potts Point.

photograph from NSW State Library

Tusculum was named by its original owner, Alexander Brodie Spark (1792-1856), after a town in the Alban Hills, 10 kilometres south-east of Rome where wealthy Romans built luxurious villas - that of Cicero being especially famous. The name of A.B. Spark's other property, 'Tempe' also has classical origins.

The building of the house signified Spark's rise to good fortune during the 1820's. He arrived in Sydney as free settler in 1823. His success in shipping and commerce meant that he was quickly accepted as an influential member of colonial society. Spark had received a literary education, which may account for the naming of his villa. His 1828 grant of over 9 acres was one of the few original grants made to a private citizen. John Verge's plan for Tusculum was approved by Governor Darling in 1830. Spark probably built it as an investment property, as he only lived there for a brief period. The villa was under construction from 1831-5.

His failure to occupy it symbolised Spark's financial decline, the collapse of the Bank of Australia and the depression of the 1840s. Spark sent a plan of his proposed house to the Colonial Secretary on 1st June 1830, explaining that the plan had been prepared for some time, but that he had wanted to make it more 'ornamental'. This is 10 months prior to the first reference to Spark's house in John Verge's ledger. It is possible that Spark may have had the earlier plan prepared independently, and engaged Verge to assist in making it 'more ornamental'. John Verge's Ledger records details of the commission from 'Plans' in 1831 to 'Details for Pilasters front door of' shortly before completion in 1836.

Alterations were made in 1836 to suit its first tenant, Bishop Broughton. The Broughtons made Tusculum a centre of hospitality and, after Government House, it was the most important domestic building in the colony. (State Library, 2002). The Broughton papers contain several references to the unfinished state of the house when he moved in during 1836, and the alterations and improvements he undertook 'to bring the premises into a state of decency.'

In Broughton's early years at Tusculum a garden was established - there are references to a kitchen garden, rose trees from England etc. In 1839 he had shelves put up for his library so that his books could be 'released from captivity, and placed in security from damp and dust'.

An interesting letter from Emily Crawley (nee Broughton) to Phoebe Boydell, dated 22nd September 1850, describes the accommodation arrangements at Tusculum for the Conference of Australasian Bishops held in October that year. Bishop Broughton lived at Tusculum from 1836 to 1851 - for almost the full length of his episcopacy. He appears to have been occasionally unsettled by his accommodation, with numerous references in his letters to his desire to relocate. Broughton had difficulty in obtaining suitable alternative accommodation, and became resigned to the circumstances of Tusculum.

Broughton took out another lease on the property for seven years in 1848 at (Pounds)300 p.a. (letter to Coleridge, 16th February 1848) - 'lt is a sad, imperfect place and anything but episcopal in pretensions: but it is in a cheerful situation and good air, and answers my, purposes tolerably well.'

By 1843 there was a serious financial crisis in the colony, and the Darlinghurst grantees suffered. They pressed for the freedom to subdivide their land, and Sydney's first exclusive suburb opened up to investors. From the early 1850s, the Gold Rush boosted the economy, and interest in the land available at Darlinghurst grew. The first subdivisions occurred around the edges of the original grants, with blocks of a size that allowed other grand houses to be built and new streets formed. In the 1870s, heavy land taxes imposed by the administration of the Premier, Sir Henry Parkes, led to another wave of subdivisions of the original grants. The late 19th century saw the final demise of the grounds surrounding the original villas, and in some cases, the villas themselves.

Broughton was no longer living at Tusculum in 1851, the year prior to his departure. Tusculum was then purchased by William Long. (Clive Lucas & Partners P/L (Ref 1), 8-9)

The authorship of the substantial alterations undertaken at Tusculum for William Long is not certain. It is likely that John F. Hilly may have been the architect. Hilly did a lot of work in the Potts Point, Darlinghurst and Woolloomooloo areas and owned a local quarry. The cast iron balustrade design on the verandahs at Tusculum is very similar to those at Fiona, Edgecliff (1864), Guntawang (1869-70) and the Prince of Wales Theatre (1863) all works of Hilly.

Tusculum was auctioned on 21st October 1904. Lewis Edward Isaacs bid (Pounds)3,750 for Lot 1 which included the house. Isaacs engaged the architect, John Burcham Clamp to undertake extensive alterations to the staircase and stair hall and a tender was let to Mr. John White. Tusculum was purchased by Orwell and Alfred Phillips in 1906. Orwell later purchased his brother's share in the property. It is likely that Burcham Clamp was also responsible for the Billiard Room addition. He did other work for the Phillips family (such as a house at Moss Vale, c.1915).

In the 1920s and 1930s, the original villas and the later grand 19th century residences were demolished to make way for blocks of flats, hotels and later, soaring towers of units. Today only 5 of the original 17 villas still stand, with the lost villas and other grand houses commemorated in the names of the streets of Potts Point, Darlinghurst and Kings Cross.

Following its use as a serviceman's club during WW2 and a private nursing home, the building fell into disrepair and was the subject of a compulsory resumption in 1983, being the first under the provisions of the (then) recently gazetted NSW Heritage Act 1977.

Subsequently, the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter) leased Tusculum for 99 years, on the condition that it will be responsible as custodian for the restoration and maintenance of the building and for making it available for public enjoyment. In addition, the Government sold the freehold of the back section of the Tusculum site to the RAIA and the Heritage Council gave permission for a new building to be constructed adjoining the villa. The new building, which was the subject of a national competition, won by the architectural firm Levine & Durbach, houses the RAIA and subsidiary organisations, a 143 seat auditorium, and offices.

The restored villa is used for meeting rooms, a gallery and for

The beautiful Mrs Frances Marie Spark

Frances Maria Spark – The lady of Tempe House.

 Portrait by Dr Maurice Applebee Felton 1840, painted in the grounds of Tempe House - on display in the Colonial Section of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Frances Maria Biddulph was born 5^th October 1807 in the town of Tamworth Staffordshire, her parents were Simon and Ann Biddulph (nee Burnet) and her maternal Great Great Grandfather was the celebrated Gilbert Burnet – Bishop of Salisbury and Chancellor of The Order Of The Garter. Her family migrated to South Africa when Frances was aged 12, and here she met Dr Henry Wyatt Radford of His Majesty’s 62^nd Regiment on leave from India. According to her death certificate, they were married on 5^th June 1823 at Graaff Reinet (South Africa) when Frances was almost 16 years old.

The Radfords came to Australia aboard the Greenock arriving in January1824, they settled in the Hunter Valley having been given a land grant. The Radfords returned to India in 1829 with the 62^nd Regiment, where tragedy struck the family losing 5 children – two sons to cholera in Bangalore, two sons were lost aboard the Lady Munro in October 1833 when the boys were returning to school in Sydney from Madras in the company of Lieutenant Clark of the 62^nd Regiment, the ship was wrecked on Amsterdam Island (Indian Ocean) with only 21 survivors, a baby daughter was burnt to death in Bangalore.

Henry and Frances Radford sailed aboard the William Metcalfe, returning to the Hunter Valley in October 1834 due to the declining health of Dr Radford. Their 3 surviving children were Alicia Maria, John Robert and Henry Wyatt Moore. Dr Radford died 15^th January 1836 and was buried at the Anglican Cathedral Newcastle he was aged 44.

Frances Maria Radford and her 3 children moved to Sydney in June 1837, firstly living at Miller’s Point, then for 2 years in a two-story house in Elizabeth Street overlooking Hyde Park. In 1839 the family moved to a house named Erskine Villa (the suburb or Erskineville gained its name from this house) for a number of months.

A good friend of Dr Radford was a very wealthy Sydney merchant Alexander Brodie Spark who owned property near the Radfords in the Hunter Valley; he also administered the Will of the late Dr Radford. Frances Maria Radford and A B Spark attended numerous social functions together including lavish balls held at Government House. A B Spark sent a letter of proposal to Frances Maria Radford on 9^th April 1840, which she accepted in writing the same day. They were married 18 days later on 27^th April 1840 at St Peter’s Anglican Church, St Peters.

Their 6 children were:

1.      Alexander Brodie (Alick) 1841-1912

2.      Frances Maria Ann (Fanny) 1842-1908

3.      Mary Gordon 1843-1893

4.      Edith Burnet 1845-1920

5.      Stanley Herbert 1846-1929

6.      Florence Sophia 1850-1932

It would have been a sublime life at Tempe House; Frances would fill her days being lady of Tempe House. She would manage the household staff, she enjoyed embroidery and reading plus attending to her growing family. When her daughter Alicia Radford asked permission to marry, Frances agonised over whether or not the groom was suitable, eventually she gave her blessing before Alicia sailed to England to be wed.

Sadly during the great depression 1840s, A B Spark was declared insolvent in 1843. Fortunately the family were able to live on at Tempe House, but sadly the halcyon days were gone. The family managed to be self-sufficient from the numerous fruit orchards which grew on the estate, A B Spark speculated well when gold was found in Bathurst and he also resumed business as an exporter.

Alexander Brodie Spark died of heart failure on 21 October 1856 at Tempe House and was buried at St Peter’s Church. Tempe House was sold to the Gannon Brothers (local land owners) in 1859 and the Spark family left Tempe House for South Head Road. There is a record in Sands Directories of a school for young ladies being run by a Mrs and Miss Spark at their home on South Head Road which eventually became 69 Oxford Street when Old South Head Road was divided by suburbs.

In 1879 Frances Maria Spark moved to “Glenara” 172 Victoria Street Potts Point where she lived until her death in 1887. She was buried in an impressive grave at Rookwood Cemetery; later other members of the Spark family were buried with her.

The man who had Tempe House built for him... Alexander Brodie Spark

Spark, Alexander Brodie (1792–1856)

Alexander Brodie Spark (1792-1856), merchant, was born on 9 August 1792 at Elgin, Scotland, the son of a watchmaker. He had a literary education at Elgin, studied French and acquired an interest in astronomy. After some experience in business he went in June 1811 to Tod's counting house in London, where he also started a small literary society. Though aiming at 'that Scottish modesty united to English confidence which is the character I admire', he found living difficult on £50 a year and sought parental help. In reply he was lectured for overspending and for bad grammar in his letters, but won his father's favour by finding supplies of low-priced watches and a design for a 'Patent Warning Clock'. In 1817 he was still with Tod, captivated by his work in the shipping department. In 1820 he went on a continental tour, during which he spent some days with William Wordsworth and the poet's wife and sister.

Confident that he could do better with a business of his own, Spark obtained a letter of recommendation as a free settler, sailed in the Princess Charlotte and arrived at Sydney in April 1823. He took over a store in George Street and was soon selling sugar, drapery and wines, and supplying salt meat to the commissariat at Sydney and Parramatta. By 1825 he was chartering ships for coastal trading and having the Sydney Packet built for him. Next year he started a shipping agency, selling incoming cargoes, sending stores to Hobart Town, colonial produce to Calcutta, and the first of his many wool consignments to London, backloading when possible with merchandise. He also acted as agent for country settlers, selling their produce and supplying them with livestock, stores, overseers and ploughmen. Although he owned more than 6000 acres (2428 ha) on the Hunter River and a nine-acre (4 ha) grant at Woolloomooloo his passion for buying and selling had extended to land.

However pressing his business, Spark had found time to serve in Sydney on the Grand Jury, becoming its foreman in 1826 and a justice of the peace in 1827. He also joined the committee of the Agricultural Society and the Chamber of Commerce, subscribed to such worthy causes as Scots Church, the Benevolent Society and the Female School of Industry, and readily signed petitions for the maintenance of law and order and congratulatory memorials to the governors. Despite two unsuccessful attempts to be elected a director of the Bank of New South Wales he joined the first board of the Bank of Australia in 1826 and became its managing director in 1832. By then his business activities had increased, especially his wool exports. He continued his court work and land dealings, and in 1836 became the first treasurer of the Australian Gaslight Co., a director of at least two insurance companies and an active investor in several steam navigation companies. Although Spark had several houses in Sydney, the site that pleased him most for a country residence was his farm, Tempe, at Cook's River. There in 1831 he had begun a garden, planted an orchard and vineyard, and carefully planned a new home. By 1836 it was a rendezvous for bankers, merchants and large landowners, among them James Mudie and other magistrates whom he also met on his regular visits to the Hunter River. Through this association Spark incurred the wrath of Governor (Sir) Richard Bourke and narrowly escaped removal from the Commission of the Peace. Unrepentant, he became the private distributor of Mudie's The Felonry of New South Wales when copies arrived next year.

Disturbed by divisions among the Presbyterians in Sydney, Spark turned to the Church of England and actively supported the building of St Peter's Church at Cook's River. It was consecrated in 1839. In that busy year he entertained 778 visitors at Tempe, was agent for twenty-two ships, had a third share in the steamer Victoria, won prizes at the Horticultural Show, extended his land dealing to Melbourne, continued his court work, imported stallions for his Hunter River stud, became agent of the South Australian Co., vice-president of the Commercial Banking Co. of Sydney and a director of the Australian Loan Co., and attended meetings of the Savings Bank trustees each month, concerts, dances, theatres, races, innumerable auction sales, and a Government House ball, where he met Lady Jane Franklin, whom he thought 'by no means the Amazon supposed, but a gentle affable woman'. He also patronized the arts, played golf, cards and chess, read widely, undertook works of benevolence, fished and bathed in Cook's River, visited outlying centres, and passed huge quantities of produce and merchandise through his stores; his only complaint was his rheumatism.

In 1840 Spark bought land in New Zealand and took pastoral leases in the New England district, although he already had more than fifty title deeds to land. On 27 April at St Peter's Church he married Frances Maria, née Biddulph, the widow of Dr Henry Wyatt Radford, who had owned Ravensfield station on the Hunter River. But the halcyon days were over. By September drought and the running down of the pastoral boom had created nervousness in the money market. Spark had guaranteed loans for friends who now became bankrupt. To find cash to help them he mortgaged, for the first time in his life, a town property, Tusculum, for £6000. He also had to sell some of his land, shares and ships to meet bills of £21,000 that fell due in March. His diary records at length the melancholy he felt at this divine judgment for his sins, but his first son was born in April and he could not fail his wife by reducing the establishment at Tempe, where he employed thirty-five servants. Unable to collect his own debts he continued to sell his assets and in 1844 he was certified insolvent. He recovered slowly and in 1846 was shipping copper ore to England and horses to India, although his fortune and his place in society were chiefly re-established by successful speculation after the discovery of gold in 1851. He died at Tempe on 21 October 1856 from a heart complaint, survived by his wife, two sons and four daughters.

Despite his activity in public affairs Spark was too patronizing to make much impact on colonists less wealthy than himself. His severe judgments on wrongdoers were rarely matched by self-criticism and his oft-expressed piety seemed meaningful only when he was distressed. His knowledge of shipping and commerce was undoubtedly a boon to New South Wales, but his personal detachment prevented any deep identity with his adopted country.

The man who designed Tempe House - Colonial Architect John Verge

John Verge (1782-1861), architect, builder and pioneer settler, was born in Hampshire, England, the son of Nicholas Verge, a Christchurch builder who later worked at Bloomsbury in London, and his first wife Mary, née Best. On 5 December 1804 at the Priory Church, Christchurch, John Verge married Catherine Bowles; of their three children, only Philip George survived. In 1826 Verge had retired through ill health from his successful practice as a London builder to farm his recently acquired country estate, when he was lured by the opportunities of the new colony of New South Wales. He sailed from London in the Clarkstone and arrived at Port Jackson on 27 December 1828 with his son, a shepherd, a flock of Hampshire sheep, various supplies and agricultural equipment; with his capital these assets amounted in value to £2738. Upon settling at 70 Pitt Street, Sydney, Verge applied on 12 January 1829 for a land grant, and was allowed the maximum of 2560 acres (1036 ha). After some confusion he finally located his land near Dungog, which he called Lyndhurst Vale. A secondary grant in 1838 added a further 2560 acres (1036 ha) on the Macleay River, named Austral Eden, while a further 140 acres (57 ha), now part of Kempsey, were purchased. Catherine Verge did not emigrate, and after her death, Verge married Mary, aged 50, daughter of John Alford, at Austral Eden on 8 March 1858.

Verge's activities as a farmer seem not to have been spectacularly successful at first, though he had built up a considerable practice as architect and builder; on 24 July 1831 because of the paucity of skilled architects, he was invited by Governor (Sir) Ralph Darling, unavailingly, to tender for government contracts. Verge had bought land on the site of 346 Sussex Street in February 1831 and he built his house there immediately afterwards. Most of his architectural work in Sydney appears to have been done between 1830 and 1837, when he retired to Lyndhurst Vale and later to Austral Eden.

His architectural work after 1837 was more restricted and is difficult to attribute, but in his time of maximum activity, 1830-34, as indeed throughout his whole professional life, Verge was patronized by many prominent colonists, officials and businessmen. Most of his practice was in domestic and professional architecture, in which he was the most prolific figure of his period in Australia. A far from comprehensive list contains more than eighty commissions, some trifling but many of considerable magnitude and local importance, suggesting that Verge was clearly the man the times required. His achievements, which indicate a considerable rise in sophistication when compared with the general run of previous designs, are distinguished by exceptional sureness and competence allied with painstaking craftsmanship. His domestic buildings were the colony's high-water mark of the Regency style, in its austere stucco vernacular, and in this context he was one of the earliest and most important practitioners of the Greek Revival in Australia. Although on superficial examination his design may seem to be conceived within a certain copy-book correctness of taste, this predictability is sometimes varied with personal mannerisms such as the free use of classical members in the groined Doric dining-room of Camden Park. Verge brought a more comprehensive range of Regency 'styles' to Australia than any contemporary architect. Gothic (Tudor) designs were made in 1832 as alternatives to Greek and plain classicist plans for The King's School, Parramatta, and while Verge's ecclesiastical output was small, he is credited with part-authorship of the country churches at Bungonia (Christ Church, 1834-36, abandoned and rebuilt) and Cobbitty (St Paul's, 1840-41, in plain Gothic); the latter is attributed to a partnership with John Bibb, with whom Verge was occasionally associated. His simple pre-Gothic Revival gothicism is seen most clearly in the chapel of St Mary the Virgin, at Denham Court, Ingleburn, designed in 1833-35 and built between 1836 and 1838. Other Sydney churches such as the Independent Chapel, 1830-31, and the Baptist Chapel, 1835-36, revealed more felicitous symmetrical classicist elevations. For Frederick Hely, superintendent of convicts, and his wife, Verge designed not only the major house Engehurst (1834-35, part remains) but also between 1832 and 1837 a sequence of plans of office and garden buildings: Regency cottages ornées with trellising, and picturesque pavilions in playful 'Gothick' and in the Chinese taste (the latter the only known example of this period in Australia) all of high quality; a design also exists for what Verge termed a house in 'the Russian style'. Another curiosity was the wooden Treaty House at Waitangi, New Zealand, designed for James Busby in 1832, on his appointment as British Resident, and shipped over after modification by Ambrose Hallen, the next year.

The pre-eminent early nineteenth century country house in Australia, and Verge's masterpiece, is Camden Park, Camden, designed for John Macarthur in 1831-32 and built in 1832-35 under Verge's supervision for his son William (there are some discreet, harmonious additions). A house of paramount importance with exquisite details and in the Greek Revival manner was The Vineyard, Rydalmere (later the Subiaco convent) designed for Hannibal Macarthur in 1833, built about 1835-36 and demolished in 1961. Another outstanding Regency stucco and stone house is formed by the two-storey additions to Denham Court, 1832-34, built for Richard Brooks, in which a finely composed elevation is allied to an impressive stone-flagged central hall. One of the richest and most spatially dramatic interiors in early Australian colonial architecture is seen in the hall at the massive Elizabeth Bay House (exterior somewhat altered) designed in 1833, and built in 1835-37 for Alexander McLeay, the colonial secretary, a notable house which, with its former spacious ornamental grounds, was much praised. Other distinguished houses remaining, of the many erected, are Rockwall, Pott's Point, for John Busby and H. C. Semphill, 1830-35 (drastically altered) and near-by Tusculum, 1831-36, surrounded by Ionic colonnades commenced for the merchant Alexander Brodie Spark and completed for Bishop William Grant Broughton, again considerably altered. Also for Spark was designed in 1834 the small Regency villa, practically a ferme ornée, Tempe House, Tempe, built in 1835-36 (now St Magdalene's Retreat, with accretions). Other houses were Toxteth Park, Glebe, for the solicitor George Allen, about 1830-31 (now the Convent of the Good Samaritan, much enlarged and modified), Barham, for Edward Deas Thomson, 1833 (later part of Sydney C. of E. Girls' Grammar School, built in and mutilated) and Lyndhurst, for James Bowman in 1833-35 (now part-demolished). The important terraces, shops and bazaars designed for such businessmen of Sydney as Samuel Lyons and John Edye Manning, father and son, have all disappeared. The only surviving Verge terrace house is the pair designed and built for the Sydney tradesman Frederick Peterson in 1834-36, 39 and 41 Lower Fort Street, which remains as an example of Verge's many routine commissions for city frontages. Finally several of Verge's skilful and apposite additions to earlier buildings exist, such as the additions of 1833 to Elizabeth Farm, commenced about 1793, and the vestries added in 1832-33 to Francis Greenway's St James's Church, Sydney. A number of works from the late 1830s and early 1840s may be attributed to Verge when he also worked as a surveyor, but they lack the quality of carefully supervised execution, suggesting that designs were perhaps furnished after his retirement from an active architectural career.

Verge died on 9 July 1861, aged 79 at Austral Eden and was buried, as an Anglican, in the burial ground of St Thomas's, Port Macquarie.

The man who had Tempe House created

My first attempt at blogging....

Welcome to my very first attempt at a blog.... and welcome to the blog site for the Friends of Tempe House. For you out there in cyber space who aren't aware of Tempe House.... please read on !

Ross Berry
Honorary Historian,
Tempe House Estate.

Tempe House & St Magdalenes Chapel

Tempe House is of exceptional historical significance as a remarkably intact 1830s villa still within its largely unaltered landscape setting. Designed by John Verge, Tempe House is an exceptional and rare example of Neo-Classical Georgian architecture, self-consciously designed as an 'Arcadian villa" for a picturesque setting and the only such example in the Sydney Metropolitan area. The site's association with the historical figures of A.B. Spark, Tempe's original owner, and following occupants, Caroline Chisholm and the Sister's of The Good Samaritan Order is also of significance.
The sites intact nature makes it a valuable technical and research resource.
As the only remaining building from the long period of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan Order's ownership, the St. Magdalen's Chapel, is of high social significance and represents the philosophy and religious beliefs of what was a large and rare charitable institution operating throughout the late 19th and 20th century. Architecturally the St. Magdalen's Chapel is also noteworthy.
Tempe Estate is of exceptional social significance in the local area and displays landmark qualities that can be appreciated from a wide surrounding area.
The garden and grounds of Tempe House, on the Cooks River Arncliffe are of cultural significance on a State level for their siting and development by A.B. Spark according to Romantic Picturesque principles. Tempe Estate is a rare example of an 1830s villa which is still able to be appreciated in its landscape setting. The grounds are of exceptional importance for their ability to demonstrate close adherence to early nineteenth century design principles, including the modified natural element Mt Olympus - an unusual example of a detached shrubbery, and for surviving early fabric - walling, gateposts and sundial. They are important for their association for one hundred years with the Sisters of the Good Samaritan and for their framework of mature plantings, particularly the early Olea europaea subsp. Europaea. The group of eucalypts on Mount Olympus has value in providing evidence of the natural vegetation on the site. Mount Olympus and the group of eucalypts are an identifiable natural landmark on the Princes Highway.
The potential archaeological remains within the study area have a high level of historic and archaeological significance and research potential.
The archaeological excavation and analysis of the remains associated with Tempe House occupation are likely to further our understanding of the colonial occupation of the house, and the material culture and living standards of elite families, their staff and convict servants and colonial attitudes towards gardens and recreation.
The potential archaeological evidence associated with the occupation of the site by the Sisters of the Good Samaritan and their reform institution should provide important information, the analysis and interpretation of which will advance our understanding of reform ideology in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries in Australia.
Tanner & Associates 2001:141