53 Hereford Street, Glebe
Built : 1874
Listings :
· State Heritage Register
· Local Environment Plan
(including interior, front fence and front garden)
· Classified by the National Trust
Hereford House is a two-storey, symmetrical, stucco residence with a slate hipped roof. The ground floor has Venetian-style windows. The upper floor has a cast-iron verandah and French doors. The cast-iron columns and valances extend over both levels. It is an excellent example of a mid-Victorian Filigree style villa.
This house was built for William Bull, wheelwright and son of a marine in the First Fleet. William Bull died in 1900 and his wife, Catherine died a year later. Hereford House was sold to Alice Goldsmith and her husband William, a butcher, in 1909.
The Goldsmiths sold Hereford House to Alexander Levi in 1924. Levi sold Hereford House in 1928 to Louise and Phillip Leonard. In 1951, the Leonards sold Hereford House to Stephen McCormack, a Mayor of Glebe and master carrier.
It is claimed that tennis champion Lew Hoad (1934-1994) learned to play on two tennis courts at the rear of the property.
The property was sold to the NSW College of Nursing, which in 1981 donated some archival material relating to the Bull Family to The Glebe Society. The house is now in private hands.
This is the second property in Glebe to bear the name Hereford House. The first house of this name (built 1829, demolished in the 1930s) stood in what is now Foley Park.
There is a late 20thC medium-density housing development at the rear of the property, where the stables – built for draught-horses – once stood.
See Hereford House on the route of the Glebe Society’s “Late Victorian Streetscapes” walk.
4 comments. Please add yours.
Thank you for your enquiry. The original author of the article is not available to provide a response. However current members will review your comments and make appropriate adjustments to the article.
Rodney Hammett
Thank you for the information. There is a problem with part of it, however, as James Bull, William’s father, was not a marine in the First Fleet but a Member of the NSW Corps who arrived on Minerva 11 Jan 1800. Close enough to the First Fleet. I would be interested to see what other information the Glebe Society has about the Bull family. I descend from William’s sister, Ann (Nancy), who married Patrick Doyle.
Nice to see a little of the history of a home formerly owned by my grandparents. I have fond memories of the enormous rear yard where the original stables were located, & the adjoining tennis courts.
Great to see that such historic homes have been maintained.
As the great, great, great granddaughter of William Bull, I am delighted to know that the Glebe Society is caring for such an important historical building.