Miss Porter's House is a heritage-listed former residence and now house museum at 434 King Street, Newcastle West, Newcastle, City of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It was built by John T Owen. The property is owned by the National Trust of Australia (NSW). It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 17 November 2000.
History
In the early 1860s, the seventeen year old James Porter travelled from his native England and took up farming on the estuary islands of the Hunter River. He married Eliza Lintott and, by the early 1870s, was ready to set himself up as a general storekeeper and carrier in Blane Street (now Hunter Street West). Here he and Eliza reared their family, while James became a well known figure in local business and social life of the community.
In 1907, James Porter purchased from the Australian Agricultural Company an allotment of land facing Langford Street and at the rear of his shop for £350. Part of this allotment was conveyed in 1909 to his son Herbert who, with his new wife Florence Evelyn Jolley, was now ready to establish his own home and family. In the same year, Herbert contracted John T. Owen to build his house for £498. The final payment in December 1909 included an additional £14 for extras and gasfittings.
Built in 1909 'Miss Porter's House' has always been a distinctive Edwardian home in an otherwise non-residential area. It stands on land known prior to its subdivision as 'Lock's Paddock', a stonemason's yard. The extensive buildings of the Gas Company occupied most of the land opposite while the Steel Street produce markets were to the west and homes of the Chinese market gardeners in nearby Devonshire Street. As the century progressed, the industrial nature of the area gave way to commerce and administration. However Miss Porter's house remains as the sole residential building.
Herbert and Florence Porter set about to furnish their home and, in February 1911, Florence gave birth to the Porter's first daughter, Ella. Later in the year, Galley & Frogley of Charlton Street, Wickham, constructed a "bush house" at the property.
After the death of James Porter in 1912 his estate was held in trust for the use of Eliza, his wife, during her life. At this time Herbert received two horses and a lorry as a bequest and he and his brother Daniel continued to operate the Porter business on behalf of their mother. On Eliza's death in July 1919, James' estate was liquidated and the proceeds divided among his six surviving children, or their heirs. As Herbert Porter had died in April 1919, just before his mother, his one sixth share which amounted to over £1000 passed to his children Ella and Hazel.
In the aftermath of World War I, a serious epidemic of influenza swept the world. Australia was not excluded and among the Newcastle victims was Herbert Porter, aged only 41 Years (in 1919). Florence Porter and her two daughters Ella and Hazel, the latter only five years old, were left on their own. These were sad years for the family. Eliza, Herbert's mother died in July 1919 and his sister, Elsie May followed in September 1921.
Immediately after her husband's death Florence Porter had a very limited income. She owned the house and Herbert's assets, which for the tax year 1917/18 were recorded as a bank deposit of just over £250, plus his horses and carts. In 1925 Florence drew maintenance from the trust accounts which held Ella and Hazel's inheritance from the estate of James Porter. She received a little over £12 per week from this source. Her own family owned land in the Singleton area but Florence's mother, Ann Hilder, lived with Florence, Ella and Hazel during the last few years of her life. On Ann's death in 1927 Florence received one fifth of her estate, which in 1926 had been valued at £140.
Ella and Hazel were enrolled, like their father before them, at Cooks Hill Public School. With reports of good work and good conduct Ella is known to have subsequently found work as a typist, however this ceased during the Depression. Hazel completed her schooling at Wickham Domestic Science School and then attended Newcastle Business College. She left at the end of 1931 with excellent references and worked in office administration for several well-established Newcastle financial businesses from at least 1933 until her retirement as an Office Manager in 1984.