Anzac Cottage No. 34

The costs associated with the establishment of the cottages were funded from the profits made by draws three, four and five of the Queensland lottery, the “Golden Casket”, which had been set up by the Queensland War Council to assist the war effort. This was an initiative of the Anzac Committee headed by Harry Coyne, MP.

The committee was also responsible for allocating the houses. A prerequisite for occupancy was that the widow was to be of ‘good character’, remain unmarried and respectable. The widow was to pay a small rent of 1/6 per week as well as the rates and other expenses. The rental monies were accumulated to fund the ongoing maintenance of the cottages. If the widow was to re-marry it was required that the cottage be vacated. The land was to be held in perpetuity by the Public Curator, with the widow or dependant signing a lease.

In Brisbane thirty-eight Anzac Cottages were built, with the first one opened in 1917. By 1920, a total of 32 Anzac Cottages had been built. This home was allocated to Mrs Mary McCarthy, the widow of Sapper John Michael McCarthy of the 4th Pioneer Battalion. Mrs McCarthy occupied the cottage from June 1920 to August 1964. The cottage was then occupied by Mrs A. R. Freeman.

In June 1923 the Queensland War Council decided to use the balance in the ‘Anzac Cottage’ fund to build ‘TB’ homes. TB homes were intended for returned soldiers and sailors suffering from tuberculosis (‘TB’) and were rented for 8/- per week. Only married servicemen who did not own or were not buying a home were initially eligible and they were required to be members of the TB Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen’s Association of Queensland.

Homes were designed and built under the auspices of the Workers’ Dwelling Branch and were of a standard type, different to Anzac Cottages, costing around £700. The Public Trustee managed them in a similar way to Anzac Cottages. By October 1924 nine TB homes had been built.

The design of the TB home shared similarities with precut houses produced by firms like Campbell’s and particularly Brown & Board. Both firms were recorded as supplying materials to the Anzac Cottage scheme and produced designs which conformed to the requirements of the Workers Dwelling Act.

In 1927 the War Council agreed to build 23 more homes and terminate the scheme. Proceeds from the Golden Casket in 1929 were allocated towards the construction of more cottages. In 1932, the War Council passed control of the TB Homes and Anzac Cottages to the Public Curator who became the Trustee of the Anzac Cottages Trust. From this time both TB homes and Anzac Cottages were collectively called Anzac Cottages. The War Council was disbanded in November 1932 and the Anzac Cottage Committee ceased to exist.

The cottages continued to be rented to the descendants of Anzac soldiers and administered by the Public Trustee’s office. During 1956 all Anzac Cottages in Brisbane and nearby were inspected and it was estimated that repairs and painting would cost £17,000. As it was becoming increasingly difficult to find eligible homeless widows of soldiers or soldiers still suffering from TB, the Public Curator suggested that some of the vacant houses be sold to fund repairs. In 1960 the Queensland Legislative Assembly passed the Anzac Cottages & TB Homes Act which permitted the Public Curator to sell lands held in trust for the construction of Anzac Cottages or TB Homes and to sell vacant cottages for which no eligible occupant could be found. At the time it was reported that three cottages were vacant, 14 let to ineligible tenants and 33 to Anzac widows. Of the 26 TB homes, 22 were in Brisbane, one in Ipswich and three in Stanthorpe.

No.34 at 45 Wassell Street was approved for sale by public auction in July 1969. In 1972 the cottage was re-sited onto one of the two blocks in the holding, and a new house was constructed at 47 Wassell St that year.

The last tenancy for an Anzac Cottage commenced in October 1978. By 1983 all but one cottage had been sold.

The Anzac Cottages Trust was wound up in 2000. The fund from the sales of land and cottages was distributed to six charitable institutions providing housing for veterans and used to construct, repair or improve rental units. In 2000 Strathearn in Alderley, the last Anzac Cottage constructed on donated land and administered by the Public Trustee was sold. It was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register in February 2007.

Wynnum is a bayside suburb east of the Brisbane central business district. The subject area has a predominantly residential character with a mixture of early 20th century, mid-century and contemporary housing. Wassell Street is a wide residential street with mature street trees. Buildings on the street are typically one or two-storey with medium setbacks from the front boundaries.

The subject property is located partway along the northern side of Wassell Street. The house has a similar setback from the street as other buildings in the area. The subject house is located at the eastern boundary of a narrow, long lot. A large street tree is located in front of the subject property and vegetation in the property is limited to small shrubs at the western boundary and some small trees in the back yard. A small structure is also noted at the north of the property.

The subject house has a high pitched pyramid hip roof clad in corrugated iron with a ventilator at the ridge. The original verandahs at both front and back are contained under a continued roof line.

The subfloor is enclosed with timber battens and has a large access door at the eastern side. A single flight of unfinished timber stairs leads to the timber front door. Aluminium framed sliding windows extend the length of the western half of the front elevation. The eastern side of the front elevation features French doors that open on to a large deck situated over the driveway.

The eastern elevation has walls clad in larger weatherboard at the subfloor level. Double hung windows are noted on the side elevations with a large bank of glass louvres at the eastern elevation closest to the front deck. Glazed French doors open on to a timber deck located at the rear of the house.

The interior features timber floors throughout. Walls are clad in VJ throughout with simple skirting boards and cornices, wider VJ walls with belt rails are noted in the front living room and dining room. Both bedroom doors feature timber filigree breezeways above the doors.

The subject house is in excellent condition and has seen several additions and alterations including the enclosing of both the front and rear verandahs, enclosing of the subfloor, addition of the front deck and rear verandah.

1. ‘Anzac Cottage Opened’ Brisbane Courier, 9 February 1920, p.7. http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/rendition/nla.news-article20429346.3.html?followup=d66c47201d9a724f574d0681af67c0f9&print=true

2. Brisbane City Council. Register of Anzac Cottages and TB Homes No.1. BCA

3. Brisbane City Council Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Detail Plans

4. Brisbane City Council. Heritage Unit, research file – Anzac Cottages

5. Brisbane City Council Properties on the Web

6. Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland Certificates of Title

7. Miles, J. and Rechner, J.  Anzac Cottage “Strathearn” Conservation Plan (Brisbane: Miles & Rechner, 2002)

8. Queensland Post Office Directories, 1868-1949