.png)
Victoria Park Houses
For Sam and his beautiful family. Demolished mid-2024.
Property databases record the house at 46 Mackie Street, Victoria Park, as having been built in 1932, although the available evidence suggests it was constructed in 1935. An advertisement published on 15 March 1936 offered the property for sale for £850, describing it as a brick-and-tile home with five rooms, a sleep-out and a garage.
Historical occupants
On 20 September 1936, an advertisement asked for the return of a lost wallet containing military discharge papers and other valued keepsakes to 46 Mackie Street. The first known resident was Patrick J. McCarthy, who was listed at the property from 1937 to 1938. It is possible that he had moved into the house during 1936 and was the person who placed the advertisement, although this has not been confirmed.
Henry Read followed between 1939 and 1940, before Henry Herbert Carroll occupied the house from 1941 to 1942. Carroll died in 1943 at the age of 69.
From 1944 until at least 1949, the house was occupied by Bertram Edgar Lawrence Fee, commonly known as Bert, and his wife, Florence Mary Fee, who was the sister of Tessa Margaret Forrest.
Tessa goes missing
The property was also connected with a widely reported missing-person search involving 34-year-old Tessa Margaret Forrest. Mrs Forrest left her baby at her sister’s home at 46 Mackie Street before disappearing, leaving a note asking for the child to be taken to hospital. Her husband, mounted police, a motorcycle patrol, a black-tracker and local police searched the Armadale area for several days.
Mrs Forrest was eventually found at about 5.40 am walking along South Western Highway, approximately two miles south of Armadale. Serpentine cartage contractor Cyril Charles Dumps was transporting fruit and eggs to the Metropolitan Markets when he stopped and offered her a lift. She initially asked to be taken to Armadale, but after learning that he was travelling towards Perth, asked to be dropped near her sister’s home in Victoria Park.
Mrs Forrest was described as highly nervous and distressed. She was wearing a black dress without a hat or overcoat and had only ninepence with her. During the journey, she spoke quietly about her child. Mr Dumps left her on Albany Road near 46 Mackie Street before reporting the matter to Central Police Station. After returning to her sister’s home, Mrs Forrest spent much of the day sleeping and recovering.
Later residents
By 1958, it was the home of widow Maud Minard Blechynden. Her address was recorded in a probate notice following her death on 11 February 1958.
%20-%208292B_C_27573-1.jpg)
Maud Minard Blechynden - Illustrations Ltd (1953) - 8292B/C/27573-1
The address was later connected with the estate of James Meldrum Junior, who died on 20 January 1975 at the age of 81. Government Gazette notices published in 1988 and 1990 recorded small amounts of unclaimed dividend money belonging to his estate. Although the notices confirm an administrative connection with 46 Mackie Street, they do not establish when Meldrum lived at the property nor whether he owned it.
The house was owned by Mr and Mrs Ladner, who appear to have purchased the property sometime before 1990. They retained it for many years before selling it on 18 December 2017 for $1.12 million.
Property description
The property comprises approximately 1,015m² and is identified as Lot 435 on Plan 4377. When it was placed on the market in late 2017, it was advertised as an R30 development site with the potential to be divided into two lots or developed with three dwellings, subject to council approval. The advertisement also noted that the position of the existing house could allow it to be retained as part of a subdivision.
Although the property was marketed for redevelopment, no publicly accessible development application or demolition permit for 46 Mackie Street has been located. The original house was later demolished and replaced with a two-storey residence, while the property remained as a single, unsubdivided lot.
December 2017
