9 Ednie Street

"Railway Cottage"

9 Ednie Street was built c.1900 and is a single storey weatherboard house in the Federation Bungalow architectural style. The roof is gabled, and the original iron has been replaced with tiles. The front elevation is asymmetrical, with a protruding front room under the central roof gable. The verandah has a separate iron roof supported by timber posts with decorative timber brackets.

The house has been beautifully renovated by the present owners, Kerry and Peter, and is a heritage B&B (reference). Staying at this B&B takes you back to a past Bunbury, gone but not forgotten. The house is part of a rare intact historical streetscape along with nine other homes in the street. The street numbering was changed temporarily in 1931, and the house became number 8 (reference).

The following information gives an insight into the lives of the residents of 9 Ednie Street, Bunbury.

Amelia Nicholls

Amelia Nicholls was born in Daylesford, Victoria. Her father was a Norwegian sea captain, Johann Foss (reference). She married timber worker Thomas Nicholls and they had 11 children together. Thomas was the grandson of John Nicholls, one of the convicts aboard the first fleet ship "Scarborough" (reference). Thomas and Amelia's daughter Agnes died in 1884 at Ballan, Victoria, when she was 13 years old. Annie, the eldest daughter, married Jason Howard in Victoria in 1898 and their son Thomas was also born there in 1899. In 1902, Amelia's husband, Thomas, died in Victoria aged 48 years (reference). Sometime after that, Amelia came to Western Australia with her remaining children - Elizabeth, Thomas, Amelia, William, Ellen, Martha, Florence, Pearl and James. Her two brothers, James and Jack, and her sister Elizabeth (Platt) also moved to Western Australia. Amelia bought 9 Ednie Street next door to her sister Elizabeth (Mrs Platt), who lived in number 11 (reference; reference). 

In 1906, her daughter, Elizabeth, married Police Officer James Jacobs (reference) and her son Thomas (John) married James' younger sister Rosa in 1916 (reference). Thomas also served in World War 1 and was wounded in Malta (reference). Amelia married Ernest Moss, a timber worker from Lowden, in 1911 (reference) and William married Ida Cumming at Jarrahdale in 1915 (reference). Ellen married Robert Hawkes in 1912 (reference) and they lived in Pemberton (reference). James married Ethel Tonkin in 1920 (reference), and they also lived in Pemberton. Pearl married Ernest Power from Maylands in 1927 (reference). In the same year, Florence married Robert Gray of Boyup Brook (reference). Mrs Nichols died in 1949. At the time, she lived with her daughter, Amelia, in Shenton Park (reference).

Thomas Henry and Constance Bold

Thomas and Constance Bold moved to Bunbury sometime after 1939 (reference). They lived in Glen Iris in 1942 while Thomas was running South West Hatchery, which he put up for sale in 1943 (reference;reference). They moved to Ednie Street somewhere before 1945 (reference). They had four children - Alice (Mrs D'Evelynes), Lilian (Mrs Herbert), Winifred (Mrs Rowney) and Walter. Walter married Bunbury girl Hazel Clifton in 1942 (reference), but she died in November 1944, a week after giving birth to their stillborn son (reference; reference). Walter then married another local girl, Faith Hicks, in 1947 (reference). Walter also served in the Second World War in the local 19th garrison (reference).

As members of the Elim Foursquare Full Gospel Church, the Bold family were pioneers of the early pentecostal movement in the South-West. Both Winifred and Thomas were evangelists. Winifred first worked in the Perth Church (reference) before taking over the Pemberton congregation in 1939 (reference). Thomas held church meetings in his house in Ednie Street (reference).

On 10 December 1947, Thomas and Constance were in a car accident near Bridgetown. They were transported to Bridgetown Hospital but had no significant injuries (reference; reference). However, later that year, on 23 December, Constance, aged 63, died suddenly at home (reference). Thomas returned to Perth early in the 1950s and was involved with the church in Brisbane Street (reference). 

Residents of 9 Ednie Street

1912 Amelia Nicholls

1945 Constance and Thomas Bold

Researched by Gaye Englund for the Museum of Perth

Information retrieved from Inherit with permission.