Jolimont, Wellington Parade South 141, 143, 145

The address of this house was originally 65 Jolimont Parade, in 1890 it became 141 Wellington Parade South.  It is now known as 143-145, while a property to the rear has been given the number 141.

John Holmes notified the council on 14 October 1862 that he would build a cottage in Wellington Parade (South). He advertised for a bricklayer in March 1864 and it appears in the 1864 Sands & McDougall PO Directories. However, the cottage does not appear in the rate books until 1866 when it was described as a stone house of six rooms. 

Not much is known about John Holmes.  In the 1851 UK census, the last before he emigrated, he gave his occupation as plasterer.  He arrived in Melbourne with his wife, Elizabeth and Agnes, their one-year-old daughter, on 18 November 1852 aboard the Dinapore.  A son would be born later, William Tope Holmes. John Holmes established the family home in Hanover Street, Fitzroy, where he and Elizabeth would live for the rest of their lives.   Over the years he acquired more property which he rented out.  The Jolimont property was one of these. He named it Holmeswood

When John died in 1893 Holmeswood was left to Elizabeth for life and then to the two children. The house continued to be rented out.  Elizabeth died in 1900 and Agnes became the owner.  In 1894 Agnes had married Fritz Henri Thiebaud.  This had put an end to her teaching career as married women were not then allowed to be employed as teachers. By 1905 she and Fritz had moved into Holmeswood and lived there until her death in 1914, when her brother William moved in.  

William had graduated from Melbourne University M.A., Ll.B. and briefly had practised as a barrister, but it seems he spent most of his life living off rental income. When he died in 1938 his will, made six months earlier, revealed that he had left the house to his next-door neighbour, Mrs Ellen Veronica Anderson. The will was contested by Mrs Elizabeth Boyd who claimed that in an earlier 1914 will William had left everything to her. She had been a teacher but in 1903 she had retired in order to look after William.  He had later given her a property in Williamstown on the understanding that she would look after him until one of them died. However, a year before he died Mrs Boyd became ill and was not able to look after him.  Mrs Anderson stepped in.  A settlement was eventually reached. The terms were not disclosed, but Mrs Anderson became the new owner and occupier of Holmeswood.

In 1940 her daughter, Sheila Mary, married Daniel Joseph Bradley, and the wedding reception was held at Holmeswood.  The newly-weds initially moved into No 147, next door on the other side of Holmeswood, but after Mrs Anderson’s death in 1956 the Bradleys moved in and stayed there until they died, Sheila in 1951 and Daniel in 1966.  Then for the first time in a hundred years the house was sold.  It became the property of the Electrical Contractors Federation, as did several of its neighbours.