The building at 5 Colin Street, West Perth, known as Amity, has very little documented history available.

 

It does not have an individual heritage listing, nor does it appear in either the City of Perth's Local Heritage Survey or the State Government's inHerit database, which often include places that are not necessarily heritage protected.

 

The property also appears to have conflicting or inaccurate historical information recorded against it, which, together with the lack of readily available information, was a key motivation for researching the site.

 

Malvern Flats

The existing building was constructed between 1917 and 1918, then located at 7 Colin Street and was originally known as Malvern Flats. At some point, the street numbering changed and the property became known as 5 Colin Street.

 

Amity

Today, the building is known as Amity and comprises 12 individually owned strata lots. The entire property occupies a site of approximately 931m², with individual units ranging from approximately 55 to 74 m². The origin of the name Amity has not been identified.

 

Historical records indicate the site was previously occupied by a substantial residence constructed around 1912-1913, which was demolished in 1917 to make way for Malvern Flats.

 

The property was occupied by a number of prominent residents during its early years, particularly former Fremantle mayor and merchant Edward Henry Fothergill and his family.

 

Early history

In January 1911, auctioneer Charles Sommers advertised the sale of superior household furniture on behalf of Wilfred Faulkner Wilkinson at his residence, No. 7 Colin Street, described as being located "off Colin Grove" on the King's Park side of West Perth.

 

The Wise Directory lists Wilkinson's residence as being located at 7 Colin Grove, which appears to have occupied the rear portion of the 7 Colin Street property at a time when no building had yet been constructed fronting Colin Street.

The sale included an upright grand piano, drawing room suite, bedroom furniture, an oak sideboard and other high-quality furnishings, suggesting the property was a substantial family home.

 

The Colin Grove house appears to have been demolished later in 1911, with a new residence constructed around 1912-1913. Occupied by William Clements between 1913 and 1916, this building was subsequently replaced in 1917 to make way for Malvern Flats, which was completed in 1918.

 

Henry Regia Hallett

Between 1918 and 1922, Henry Regia Hallett was associated with the property.

 

Born in Winnininnie, South Australia, in 1870, Henry married Sophia Amelia Grange in Broken Hill, New South Wales, in 1892. The couple later moved to Western Australia, where they were said to have accumulated considerable wealth supplying water to a remote desert location that was miles from any other source.

 

By 1897, Henry was operating a bakery in Cue in partnership with William Leyshon and a year later, the pair had also established or acquired a dairy business.

 

Sometime afterwards, the family moved to Geraldton where Henry operated a dairying business on Chapman Road. He was also a director of the Victoria Co-operative Flour Mill and owned a wheat farm at Oakabella, north of Geraldton.

 

After his health began to deteriorate, he was forced to give up the business and moved to West Perth, where he resided at 7 Colin Street, before later relocating to 101 Colin Street. He died there on 17 June 1925 at the age of 55.

 

An auction was held in June 1922 to dispose of surplus oak furniture and furnishings on instructions from Edward Fothergill, including Axminster carpets, Indian rugs, bedroom suites, garden tools and other household items. As the Fothergills appear to have taken up occupancy shortly afterwards, it is possible these furnishings originated from Henry Hallett's period of occupancy, however this has not been confirmed.