East Melbourne, Hotham Street 102, Quamby

 Robert McMicking, merchant, notified the council on 28 Dec 1857 that he would build a house for himself on Lot 5, Section 18. On 27 Feb 1868 new owner, Patrick Brady, announced that he would add four detached rooms to the house. Brady, a civil engineer, died in 1872 and the inventory of his assets provided as part of probate documents, described the house at this time as a ‘10 roomed house built partly of wood and partly of iron and also a wooden cottage all of which property was recently sold by the Mortgagee for £1275.’  

The advertisement for the auction of the property gave the additional information that the house was known as Gleneneigh House.  However this appears to be the only the time the name was used.  The agent for the sale was C J and T Ham and the next owner, according to the rate books, appears to have been C J Ham.  Whether he had bought the property or whether it did not sell and he was acting as agent and ratepayer is not clear. However, the occupier at the time was his brother-in-law, Henry Cooke.  Henry Cooke was a merchant specialising in paper and paper products. He was also a land speculator, but is best remembered as the founder of The Age newspaper.

The next owner, from about 1885, was William Reid, manager of the Australian Deposit and Mortgage Bank.  He, according to several advertisements calling for staff, called the house Quamby.  He moved out c.1900 and leased it to tenants.   Reid died in 1923 and his probate documents describe the house at this time as a ‘7 roomed brick and WB dwelling’.  The cottage is not mentioned. This understated description was no doubt for the purpose of minimising death duties and contrasts with the more enthusiastic description of C J & T Ham when they advertised the house for sale in the Argus of 11 Oct 1924:

COMMODIOUS 2-STORY RESIDENCE, Containing Verandah and Balcony, Entrance Hall, 10 Rooms, laundry, Bathroom, &c. Also at Rear W.B. Cottage, of 4 Rooms, &c. Loose Box. LAND 66ft. X 165ft. A Comfortable and Commodious Home, Recently Renovated. Occupying a Choice Position, Convenient to Fitzroy Gardens, Wellington Parade Train, and Easy Walking Distance of the City Centre. TERMS 10 Per Cent. Cash. Balance by 9 Annual Instalments Each of 10 Per Cent, of Purchase Money. Interest 6½ Per Cent. Per Annum, with Right to Pay Off.

One of the more interesting tenants during Reid’s ownership was George Benjamin Fentum, organist. Fentum was born in 1843 at St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands.  He moved to Singapore as a young man, and then in 1872 he settled in Shanghai.  In 1887 he moved to Melbourne.  He was appointed music director at Presbyterian Ladies’ College (PLC) which position he retained until his death in 1914.  From 1912 until his death he lived at Quamby, moving down the road from 116 Hotham Street. 

The house continued to be rented out as rooms until it was demolished in c.1933 to make way for the existing apartment building known as Castle Coombe, 100 Hotham Street.