BA2493/2534: Ormiston House, 140 Palmerston Street, Perth, 30 July 2019

Summary

No. 140 Palmerston Street is situated on town Lot N76. It does not appear on the 1897 PWD sewerage plans but in the 1898 City of Perth rate books the place is shown as occupied by builder C.A. Chandler and owned by Mrs Alston. The substantial residence is one of several built in Palmerston Street at around this time. Wise's Post Office Directories for 1903 indicate that the place was occupied by Mr Hankin and 1905 by William Abbott. The City of Perth rate books indicate that in 1906 the owner was Miss Rostron and the occupier was Hetty Ryan. In 1910 it was occupied by Ormiston College, a private girls' school run by the three Misses Wilson between 1907 and 1916. This school had been established by Miss C.E. Wilson (the headmistress) in 1907. In 1916, Ormiston College was taken over by the Presbyterian Church and the name was changed to Presbyterian Ladies' College (PLC) which later moved to premises in Cottesloe in 1917. According to the Directories Mrs Z. Voseda was the resident in 1925 and in 1949, the last year they were printed, Mrs May Lee ran a boarding house there. City of Perth records indicate some building work was carried out in 1951 and a swimming pool installed in 1979. In the late 1980s P.M. Damo used it as a meditation centre and in the 1990s Mr Ramsey used it for meditation classes and community projects. (Heritage Council) When this photograph was taken a plaque naming the building Ormiston House has been attached to the front gate.