East Melbourne, Gipps Street 083

According to Winston Burchett’s Index to the City of Melbourne’s Notices of Intentions to Build 83 Gipps Street was built 1909-10 for John Loughnan by John Timmins to the design of architects, Crook and Richardson.   

Crook and Richardson does not appear to have been a formal partnership, rather a one-off informal collaboration.  William Crook lived almost opposite 83 Gipps Street, on the corner of Simpson Street. William’s father, Joseph Thomas Crook, was also an architect and William assisted him in his practice, but seems to have done very little under his own name. Frank G Richardson, on the other hand, designed a number of houses around Melbourne and beyond.  In East Melbourne he designed Tanui, 194 George Street in 1908. The Tender Notice for ‘the erection of a brick villa at East Melbourne’ in The Age on 15 Sep 1909 went in under Richardson’s name alone. 

John Loughnan (pronounced Luffnan) was a third generation police constable.  His father, Timothy and he had both spent time stationed at the East Melbourne police station, then in Darling Street. John’s wife, Margaret, and five sons, a daughter and a daughter-in-law lived there with him.  One son, John jnr served in the AIF during WW1 and won a military cross and was mentioned in despatches [for his biography see link below]

Margaret died in 1923 at the age of 58.  John remained living in the house until 1927 when it was sold to Catherine Elizabeth Hardy.  Catherine moved in with her husband George Randall Hardy, their children and brother-in-law Henry Percival (Percy) Hardy. Within three years they had all moved up the road to their newly built house at 181 Gipps Street, and No 83 became a rental property. 

The Hardy family owned 83 Gipps Street until at least 1974.