Bramshaw, Pennant Hills Road, Parramatta

Parramatta: Bramshaw, Parramatta | Campbell (Verge) / Broughton House 1838-9 | Oatlands Hous3 1833+ 1833-40 | UFO encounter 1868 |

Compiled by Michael Organ and Graham Shirley

Bramshaw (Mary Francis Troup Home), with orphans and teacher, circa 1930s.

1. Introduction

Since at least 2022 the site of the former Royal Institute for the Deaf and Blind School building on the corner of Gollan Avenue and Pennant Hills Road, Oatlands, Parramatta, has been closed, to facilitate redevelopment. Though it substantially looks like a modern, twentieth century school building complex, the section fronting Pennant Hills Road features what appears to be a nineteenth century homestead. This ‘heritage’-style house was first noticed by Graham Shirley during April 2022. The 1930s era photograph at the head of this article confirmed that suspicion.

Bramshaw, 106 Pennant Hills Rd., Oatlands, April 2022. Photo: Graham Shirley.

At the time of Shirley's 'discovery' back in 2022 it was thought to be either genuine, or a faux-heritage frontage built at the same time as the remainder of the complex. However, on balance, the front section convincingly presented as a heritage structure when compared to the brick ordinariness of the remainder of the complex. And why would the school, in any case, opt for faux-heritage when they could have made the whole place in a 1950s-70s way?

This article outlines a possible history of the building which, as of 26 July 2025, was identified by the authors as Bramshaw, thereby confirming heritage aspects which likely date back to at least the 1880s.

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2. Bramshaw / Troup / Garfield Barwick School

The single story building located at the front of the complex at 106 Pennant Hills Rd., Oatlands, was originally known as Bramshaw. Its three distinctive large chimneys which feature in both old and near photographs enabled a relatively easy identification The original home, plus later additions, were described by the architect Gregory Nolan, as follows:

A colonial stuccoed brick structure with a hipped terra cotta tiled roof and features a galvanized iron veranda around the front. The house was originally only one room deep, with a service room or kitchen at the rear. The floors are timber, the walls are cement rendered and the ceilings are plaster. It also features French doors to the living rooms. The 1933 renovation, including the kitchen, dining rooms and dormitories are brick additions to the original home. They have a hipped roof of terra cotta tiles, windows are casement with brick sills. Floors are timber except to the bathroom and ceilings are AC sheeting. …. Several major and minor brick extensions have been added to extend the dormitory wing.” (Find & Connect 2025)

The earliest known reference to this building as Bramshaw dates back to 1890 when the occupiers - Mr. and Mrs. Day - were seeking a young girl to nurse their two children. After passing through a number of hands - most notably a Mr. and Mrs. Gracey between 1895-1910 - it was purchased in 1929 by Burnside Presbyterian Orphan Homes and converted from a cottage residence and farm into a orphanage and educational complex. The site, which came to be known from 1933 as Troup, after the Mary Francis Troup Home, was opened in October of that year as a home for kindergarten children. The ceremony was performed by Sir Isaac Isaacs, Australian Governor-General, such was the significance of the site. Its history from then until almost a century later when it no longer served that use was a colourful one.

During the years of World War II, the Mary Francis Troup Home, along with the other Burnside orphan homes for children, was evacuated. The Find & Connect website - a government initiative providing information on orphanages, children's homes and related institutions, recorded the following information on the Troup site:

January 1942, during World War II, the children were evacuated to the Blue Mountains and the Second General Army occupied the whole of the Burnside Homes, and Gowan Brae used Troup as an Officers Mess. The children returned in January 1945.

During 1968-1970 babies and toddlers, aged birth to three years, were the focus, with an annex built called the Babies’ and Toddlers’ Centre. This closed in 1976. The site was eventually sold by the Presbyterian Burnside group during 1988, and in 1989 it re-opened as the Garfield Barwick School. This was now operated by the Royal Institution for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC), who continued to do so through to the early 2020s and its eventual closure. The two attached photographs by Shirley highlight the present nature of the site, it being overgrown and in some instances boarded up.

Bramshaw, April 2022. Photo: Graham Shirley.

A quick search by the authors did not locate any registration of the building as a heritage item, either locally or state. Prior to any detailed heritage study of Bramshaw it is difficult to precisely date its original construction, and the extend of subsequent modifications and extensions. Though the earliest reference to the building is a newspaper article from 1890, this does not mean it was necessarily built around this time. It is possible it was build earlier (e.g. the 1870s) and also could have existed under another name prior to coming into the hands of the Days.

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3. Chronology

This chronology comprises known references to Bramshaw and its occupants. It supplements the References listing which follows.

* 1889 - Mr. M.C. Day, architect of Hunter Street, Sydney, is involved in a Supreme Court battle with Glebe council seeking in his seeking to build an awning on his Parramatta Road house. It is interesting to note that Bramshaw has an extensive awning on its front side, facing Pennant Hills Road.

* 1890, 18 January - advertisement for a young girl to nurse two children for Mrs. M.C. Day, Bramshaw, Pennant Hills Rd., near Parramatta.

* 1891, 30 May - Cow for sale at Bramshaw, Parramatta.

* 1893, 4 February - The Cumberland Mercury, Parramatta. For sale advertisement, providing a summary description of the house as it is offered for sale on 10 February.

4 February 1893, The Cumberland Mercury.

* 1894, 11 November - The Cumberland Argus, Parramatta. Notice of auction sale:

A.H. Ferris has received from M. C. Day, Esq., who has leased his premises, 'Bramshaw,' to sell by Public Auction on FRIDAY NEXT, 16th NOV., at 11 a.m., the balance of Household Furniture & Effects without the slightest reserve.

* 1895, 27 April - J.R. Mason, Bramshaw, Pennant Hills Road, is a signatory to petition.

* circa 1895 - Mr. and Mrs. Gracey purchase Bramshaw as a retirement residence.

* 1908, Saturday, 30 May - The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrower's Advocate, Parramatta reports:

A Broken Leg.

Mr. Gracey, of 'Bramshaw, Pennant Hills-road, met with a rather singular accident last week. Ho was strolling on his lawn, after tea, and accidentally slipped down a terrace which slopes steeply, to the tennis ground. Mr. Gracey sustained a fracture of both bones of the left leg, below the knee. Dr. Kearney put the broken limb in splints, and the patient is progressing satisfactorily, but he will probably be confined to his bed for some weeks.

* 1910, 17 December - Funeral of Mary Gracey of Bramshaw.

* 1910, 22 December - Goulburn Evening Penny Post. Report on the death of former residents of Bramshaw:

Death of Mr. and Mrs. Gracey.

The death of Mr. and Mrs. Gracey, which occurred within two days of each other, will come as a shock to their many Goulburn and district friends. Mrs. Gracey, who was 70 years of age, and had been ailing for some time, passed away at her residence "Bramshaw," Parramatta, on Friday last, the 16th, and was interred in the Church of England Cemetery, Rookwood, an Saturday; and Mr Gracey, who suffered from heart disease, succumbed from shock on Sunday, and was buried beside his wife on Monday. Deceased was 76 years of age. They leave a family of one son and two daughters, and it is probable that the latter will shortly leave Australia to take up their residence in Ireland, the birthplace of their parents. Widespread sympathy has been extended to the lonely girls, thus suddenly bereft of parents. 

It will be remembered that the late Mr. Gracey was a member of the police force, honoured and respected by all who knew him. Among other places he had been stationed at were Taralga, Collector, and Bungonia, from which last-named place he retired about fifteen years ago to take up his abode at the pretty residence which he had purchased, and which he occupied until his death. Many were the startling and exciting adventures he had with bushrangers. On one occasion he narrowly escaped being shot, the bullet passing through his cap. He was at Louth and Bourke during the strike, and also acted during the maritime strike in Sydney. He had an eventful career and could tell many exciting episodes.

* 1911, 17 June - The first Presbyterian Burnside Orphan Home is opened in a cottage on Pennant Hills Road, Parramatta (west of modern-day Glencoe Avenue and Pennant Hills Road, Oatlands). The site operates until 1955. It extended west towards Bramshaw.

Bramshaw circled in red; Burnside orphan homes to the west. Google Maps 26 July 2025.

* 1914, 28 March - The Methodist, Sydney.

Death.

RABONE — March 9, 1914, at his residence, Bramshaw, Pennant Hills Road, Parramatta, Alfred James, beloved husband of Evelyn C., and third son of the late Rev. W. T. Rabone and Mrs. Rabone, of Telopea, Mosman, aged 32 years.

* 1929 - Burnside Presbyterian Orphan Homes receives a bequest of £3,500 to purchase a property.

* 1932, 8 December - The Bramshaw residence at Pennant Hills Road, North Parramatta, is purchased by Burnside for £1,550.

* 1933, 5 October - Bramshaw is opened as the Mary Francis Troup Home by His Excellency the Governor General Sir Isaac Isaacs as a home for kindergarten children.

* 1942-45 - Children are evacuated from Troup during World War II, following Pearl Harbour and the entry of Japan into the war. It is subsequently used as an Officer's Mess.

* 1945 - The children return to Troup.

* 1968-1970 - Troup becomes a home for babies and toddlers aged birth to three years, with an annex called the Babies’ and Toddlers’ Centre.

* 1988, 10 June - Troup is sold by Burnside to the RIDBC for $625,000.

* 1989 - RIDBC introduces a range of innovative early childhood and school support programs, and the Garfield Barwick School at North Parramatta is officially opened by NSW Premier, Nick Greiner. The school provides a spoken language program for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

* 2012 - Troup is the Garfield Barwick Special School, run by the Royal Institute for the Deaf and Blind Children.

* circa 2019 - Troup is closed. The site is fenced and shut down, subject to planning for redevelopment. 

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An age?

The earliest reference found for Bramshaw is a newspaper article dated 18 January 1890. This would indicate that the house was built prior to that date, perhaps in the 1870s or 1880s. Was it relatively new when the advertisement was placed for a girl to mind the Day family children, or much older?

A possible hint is provided by Pomona House (illustrated on the right) on Pennant Hills Road, Pennant Hills. It was built in the High Victorian style for the Palings family during 1886 and features a single storey floor plan and distinctive tall chimneys similar to Bramshaw. The nearby Cheddington, built in 1894, is more expansive and its windows are distinctive of that era. However, it too has the tallish chimneys. In addition, the simpler window surrounds of Bramshaw point to an earlier colonial period. The 1893 auction sale notice describes the Bramshaw house and property as follows:

Pretty cottage residence ... containing dining-room, drawing-room, studies, and three bedrooms and man;s room, kitchen, bath, etc., spacious verandah at back (commanding magnificent views), land 5 1/2 acres, tennis lawn, fruit and vegetable gardens etc., abundance of good water, gas on premises.

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4. References

Mary Francis Troup Home [Booklet], Uniting Care, Burnside, circa 1930, 3p.

Our History, NextSense (formerly Royal Institution for Blind and Deaf Children) [website], n.d., accessed 25 July 2025.

Troup, Find & Connect - History about Australian orphanages, children's homes and other institutions [website], Department of Social Services, n.d., accessed 25 July 2025.

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Last updated: 26 July 2025

Michael Organ and Graham Shirley, Australia