Former Illawarra & South Coast Steam Navigation Company manager's residence, Eden

Item details:

Current status*:	Unlisted
Name of item:
Former name/s:	Illawarra Company manager's residence
Item type:	Built
Item group/collection:	Residential building (private)
Item category:	House
Street number:	218
Street name:	Imlay Street
Suburb/town:	Eden, NSW
Local Government Area:	Bega Valley Shire
Property description:
Owner category:	Private
Current use:	Private residence
Former use/s:	Private residence

* Refers to the site's inclusion in Schedule 5 of the Local Environment Plan.

The Illawarra Company's SS Merimbula alongside Eden Wharf.

Significance:

Statement of significance:
Level of significance:	Local

View of the Eden wharf area from the Illawarra Company manager's residence.
Courtesy of Jenny Drenkhahn.

Description:

Designer:
Builder:	Bert Hill
Physical description:
Physical condition:
Construction date/s:	1929 - 1930
Modifications and dates:
Further comments:

The Illawarra Company manager's residence can be seen at the
top left of the image.

History:

Historical notes: It was largely due to the obvious maritime potential of Twofold Bay that Europeans first settled the region and not surprisingly, it soon became an important shipping port for the district. Like so many other places along the far south coast of NSW, the Illawarra and South Coast Steam Navigation Company was to play a significant role in the development of Eden, providing the communication and transportation links necessary for the survival of the isolated region. Formed in 1858, the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company (as it was then known) was established through the amalgamation of the General Steam Navigation Company, the Kiama Steam Navigation Company and the Shoalhaven Steam Navigation Company. The new enterprise was able to quickly gain a near monopoly on the region's coastal shipping trade, their fleet stopping at every important port between Sydney and the Victorian border. The company became the major shipping line servicing the port of Eden and they maintained this position right up until the 1950s. By 1873, weekly services were running between Sydney and Eden as well as other south coast ports, delivering supplies and collecting local exports for sale on the metropolitan market. Cargo included whale oil and bone, fish and other seafood products, timber, railway sleepers and tan bark, and farm produce and livestock such as butter and cheese, maize, potatoes, beef cattle and sheep. However, it was the countless thousands of pigs shipped from Eden and other south coast ports, combined with the steamer's tradition of sounding their sirens to announce their impending arrival as they approached a wharf that earned the company their nickname of the "Pig and Whistle Line" - and it was even claimed that the ships would wait an hour for a pig but not a minute for a passenger. Although the pigs were often a source of complaint by passengers travelling on the Illawarra company boats, few were complaining in 1897 when the Kameruka  ran aground. It was a pig that played a life saving role during the drama, swimming ashore with a rope that enabled the 48 passengers and crew to safely reach land with no fatalities. In 1904, the company was incorporated as Illawarra and South Coast Steam Navigation Company (I & SCSN Co.) and by 1905, was providing the regular steam communication that linked Eden with Sydney, Launceston and  Hobart in Tasmania, and New Zealand. Over the years, more than twenty steamships made up the Illawarra Company fleet, many of which were purpose-built at ship yards both within Australia and overseas. However, by the 1920s road transport was on the rise and when the company's SS Merimbula ran aground on Beecroft Head in 1928, it was decided not to replace her. This brought to a close passenger shipping services on the south coast, the company focusing solely on cargo instead. The company continued to operate successfully until after WWII. Competition from rail and road transport played a major role in its ultimate demise, particularly when combined with factors such as waterfront disputes, rising expenses and the cost of post-war ship building. In 1950, the Illawarra and South Coast Steam Navigation Company entered into voluntary liquidation. Soon afterwards they began disposing of their assets and in 1951 advertised a number of properties along the south coast for sale. Amongst these was the local manager's residence at Eden. Completed in September 1930, the house on the Lookout had been constructed by Mr. Bert Hill, a builder from nearby Pambula. The advertisement described the property as "Standing on elevated ground with commanding views of both bays of Twofold Bay..." continuing to point out that "...this weatherboard cottage comprises return verandah, entrance hall, three bedrooms, lounge, enclosed back verandah bathroom, kitchen, pantry, scullery combined." A fibro garage with an iron roof completed the property. The company was de-listed from the Australian Stock Exchange in 1955 and its last vessel was sold in 1959. The former Eden manager's residence continues to stand on the Lookout in Imlay Street today.

The Illawarra Company manager's residence.
Courtesy of Jenny Drenkhahn.

The former Illawarra Company manager's residence, February 2015.

Themes:

Australian theme:	New South Wales theme:	Local theme:
3. Developing local, regional and national economies	Communication
3. Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport
4. Settlement - Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation
8. Developing Australia's cultural life	Domestic life
9. Phases of Life - Marking the phases of life	Persons

The former Illawarra Company manager's residence, February 2015.

Application criteria:

Historical significance SHR criteria (a)
Historical association significance SHR criteria (b)
Aesthetic significance SHR criteria (c)
Technical / Research significance SHR criteria (e)
Rarity SHR criteria (f)
Representativeness SHR criteria (g)
Integrity:

From the Illawarra and South Coast Steam Navigation
Company Handbook, 1912.

Heritage Listings:

Information sources / bibliography :

·     Drenkhahn, Jenny, pers. com. ·     Raymond, Pat, pers. com. ·     Sydney Morning Herald ·     Whiter, Robert, pers. com. ·     http://www.afloat.com.au/afloat-magazine/2008/november-2008/Eden_and_Twofold_Bay#.VTgyMfmUe-Y, Eden and Twofold Bay, Part 3: Promises never quite realised, by Gregory Blaxhall: ·     http://www.flotilla-australia.com/iscsnco.htm

From the Illawarra and South Coast Steam Navigation 
Company Handbook, 1912.

Author and date:

© Angela George. All rights reserved.

April 2015

From the Illawarra and South Coast Steam Navigation 
Company Handbook, 1912.