Jolimont, Wellington Parade South 167

The house that originally occupied the corner of Wellington Parade and Jolimont Road was a single storey house of six rooms. The house took up most of its site with just a thin strip of garden along its Jolimont Road frontage. This was overlooked by a long verandah which continued around the Wellington Parade corner.

It was built by Henry Johnson for himself in 1863. A descendant, Penny Mercer, writes,

'Henry Johnson began his career as a trumpeter aged 14 with the 7th Hussars. He arrived on the Vulcan with the 40th Regiment in October 1852. He was treated to a champagne luncheon and presented with a baton in recognition of him serving 10 years as the bandmaster in May 1856 which coincided with his departure from the Grenadier Guards. I've found mention of him playing or teaching trumpet, clarinet, serpent, piano and organ.'

By 1864 he was listed in the Sands & McDougall post-office directories as professor of music. Johnson died in 1895 at South Yarra and the Prahran Chronicle provided a lengthy obituary. He had arrived in Melbourne in the 1850s with the 40th regiment as a clarinetist. However much of his time was spent playing with commercial orchestras in venues such as the Salle de Valentine, a circular structure opposite the White Hart Hotel (Windsor Hotel); or at promenade concerts in the vestibule of the Criterion Hotel, Collins Street. He retired from the 40th regiment when it left for New Zealand in the 1860s and he became bandmaster of the Head Quarters Band under Colonel Pitt, commander of volunteer forces. He eventually had to give up the clarinet because of a contraction of his finger muscles and switched to the trombone. Professor of music was definitely a self-appointed title.

In 1868 Johnson sold the property to Mrs Margaret Swan (or Swann), a widow with two young daughters, who ran it as a boarding house. Mrs Swan lived in the house until her death in 1880 after which it remained in her estate for some years, until sold and resold, always remaining a boarding house.

In 1910 the house was bought by Miss Minnie Costain, whose life at the house was documented with frequent reports of her court appearances. Perth’s Truth was the first newspaper to make much of her escapades with the headline, ‘MINNIE COSTAIN AND HER CONSORT. He Flits With Her Diamonds. Jolly Jinks at Jolimont—Minnie Goes to Law—And Recovers Her Gee Gaws.’ The article describes her as ‘a big. stylishly-dressed, dark young woman’ Onslow Mayhew her ‘consort’ was described as ‘a strong, muscular, well-set-up man of gentlemanly appearance, and report has it that he belongs to a WELL-TO-DO FAMILY IN OMARU, Mayhew was eventually brought to trial for stealing three rings and sentenced to three months imprisonment. Two years later, in 1912, she was charged with keeping a disorderly house but the case was dismissed. Did possible leakage of her client list have anything to do with it? On another occasion she was given a heavy fine for trading in sly grog.

In 1924 Minnie became the owner of a two storey house at 132 Wellington Parade which she converted to a garage known as Wellington Motors. It had a flat upstairs. She possibly bought it to give her live-in friend and self-described motor driver, George William Bourchier, something to do. Things went wrong there too, with an employee charged with theft of cash. But Minnie gave him a good character reference and he was only sentenced to one month in prison.

In 1920 an advertisement appeared in the Argus: LOST, on Monday, between Jolimont and Flemington racecourse. Large Cross, Cairngorm Stones (keepsake). Good reward. 167 Wellington parade, Jolimont. This suggests that Minnie was a keen race-goer among her other activities.

A family member, Colleen Lawson, has been able to fill in some of Minnie’s background and writes that: She was the youngest of 10 children born to Michael Costain and Ellen Herlihy in Geeveston Tasmania. They were both transported convicts from Ireland arriving in the 1840/1850's. Ellen was convicted of stealing 12 cows (with her brother who was also transported) from her uncle. Michael was charged with stealing clothes which he discharged for fowls. Both Ellen and Michael received sentences of 7 years. They were granted permission to marry in 1853. Minnie had a son born circa 1916 who grew up with the name Manly Bourchier and it seems likely that George Bourchier was his father. (Registration of the birth has not been found.) Minnie and George eventually married in 1933 and having made an honest woman of her he died only a month later. In the death notice he was described as devoted foster father of Manly.

Minnie sold the garage in 1934 but stayed at the house in Jolimont until 1943 where yet another robber was found under a bed in 1939. She then moved to a flat in a new Art Deco style building at 52 Grey Street, East Melbourne. This coincidentally is the address of Madam Opportunity’s establishment as remembered by a neighbour. The brothel that we remember was at number 54 Grey Street and it was exclusively for the American officers, and it was run by a lady called Madam Opportunity, and the officers waited in the little square opposite and she’d come out the front and ring a little bell when it was time for next client, because the officers would leave by the rear and enter by the front. The building is numbered more accurately 50-54 which explains the discrepancy. During the Second World War American forces were barracked at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) which was known as Camp Murphy. Minnie died in 1957 aged 81. Could she and Madam Opportunity have been one and the same? After Minnie sold the property it, along with its two neighbours in Wellington Parade, was demolished to make way for flats. NB Previous street numbers until c.1910: 66 Jolimont Road or 66 Wellington Parade South.