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Oaklands House, Beecroft
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Identifiernot specifiedPhotographernot specifiedDescriptionOaklands, on the corner of Kirkham Street and Boronia Avenue, was built by Charles Churchill Tucker in 1906 and demolished in 1962.
Charles Churchill Tucker was born in 1857, the third son of James Cawley and Elizabeth Tucker and one of a family of seven boys and three girls. His father James and his uncle William Tucker had emigrated from England in 1834 and 1845 respectively and had founded a liquor importing business. James, a master mariner, sailed his own ship to bring the goods to Sydney and by the late 1840s Tucker and Co. was flourishing. Two sisters of James and William also emigrated and within a generation there was a large Tucker family in Sydney. Successful speculation in land further increased the finances of the Tucker family and its standing.
In 1887 Charles married Mary Paige of Annandale, giving to her as a marriage settlement the 19 acre property on Murray Farm Road, Beecroft, which he had purchased two years previously. Mary found the seaside favoured her health and while their home ‘Plympton’ in Beecroft was being built they lived for a short time in Manly. ‘Plympton’ was a large sprawling brick cottage with an iron roof, of an appropriate rural style for their orchard property. 10 acres of orchards had been planted by September 1888 and Charles began his lifelong interest in orcharding, both the growing and the sales promotion of fruit, especially apples.
Three children were born at ‘Plympton’: Doris in 1888, Florence in 1890 and Rupert in 1892.
Upon moving into ‘Plympton’ Charles Tucker at once began his energetic and enthusiastic involvement in Beecroft civic affairs. In July 1888 he was one of a deputation to the Minister for Works requesting a goods siding at Beecroft station. The following year he wrote a petition to the Postmaster-General for a post office at ‘this growing and important township’, collecting the signatures of 36 residents. In 1890 he became a trustee of the new St John’s Church of England and in 1894 was appointed churchwarden and treasurer.
In 1894 the two bridges across the railway line were completed and a race on horseback between Charles Tucker and William Chorley across the Copeland Road bridge resulted in a win for the latter. In that year Tucker was appointed one of the four trustees of the 25 acre Park and Recreation Reserve along Devlins Creek.
In December 1894 a road 50 links (10 metres) wide was gazetted through Tucker’s orchard (the present western end of Boronia Avenue). Tucker claimed that the £30 compensation paid to him for the loss of one rood of land and cost of fencing was an underestimation by half. Another road saga was born. In 1898 W. Berry, a landowner nearby, claimed it was not fair that the end of the road was still blocked by Tucker’s fence, and therefore unusable. In 1903 Tucker passed a motion at a local Progress Association meeting that ‘a request be made to have the unemployed in the district put on to clear and form Boronia Avenue without delay’. In 1918, when the widowed Mary Tucker was preparing to sell her property, she asked the Hornsby Shire Council that ‘the present roadway in Boronia Avenue be extended to its full width and in other respects improved to the benefit of the property’. Fortunately for the later residents of Boronia Avenue, the council decided there were no funds available for the work.
In 1906 the small cottage in which the Tuckers were living was moved on to other land which they owned in Welham Street, and a ‘fine brick villa residence’, ‘Oaklands’, was commenced. It was of modern design, with a many-gabled tiled roof, partially two-storeyed, and with tall chimneys and several small verandas. The large gardens included rose beds, oak trees along the Boronia Avenue boundary and a Chinese elm at each side of the entrance gates. A tennis court, much used by the young people, was also constructed.
Charles was appointment by the government as a provisional councillor of the new Hornsby Shire in March 1906. He was elected a councillor in December of that year and continued as a vocal advocate for the Beecroft district in this larger forum.
This vigorous and enthusiastic life was cut short in 1917 when Charles suffered a sudden stroke while attending a pomological conference in Bathurst. He died shortly afterwards. Into his 60 years he had packed much personal and public achievement. He was a great joiner and doer and the warmth of his personality sat comfortably with his plans and ideas. Jarratt spoke of Charles Churchill Tucker as being ‘known and respected as a man of great civic responsibility and considerable joie de vivre’. The local paper recorded: ‘Mr Tucker won very many friends by his geniality and courtesy and his very good citizenship.’ Beecroft would be the poorer without him.
In 1918 Mary Tucker sold a large portion of the land around ‘Oaklands’, and also property she owned on the western side of Kirkham Street. Oaklands Avenue was made through the former subdivision. By 1919 her health had worsened and she and Florence went to live with Doris and Arnold Hirst in Strathfield. In 1938, while on a family outing to Orange, Florence stepped onto the road to take a photograph of rhododendrons in a park and was knocked down by a car and killed. Mary Tucker died in Strathfield in 1947, aged 88, having been a widow for 30 years.
‘Oaklands’ was leased in 1919 and later sold to the Rev. Talbot Vivian Grey who began Cheltenham College there. After the college closed in 1924 the house became Oaklands Guest House. The property changed hands several times before a subdivision in 1947 created the blocks fronting Boronia Avenue and a second subdivision in 1961 led to the demolition of ‘Oaklands’ house and the creation of Parker Close. The Churchill Tucker Reserve in Blaxland Road, Rhodes, commemorates Tucker and his one-time ownership of land there.Physical FormatBeecroft
Charles Churchill Tucker was born in 1857, the third son of James Cawley and Elizabeth Tucker and one of a family of seven boys and three girls. His father James and his uncle William Tucker had emigrated from England in 1834 and 1845 respectively and had founded a liquor importing business. James, a master mariner, sailed his own ship to bring the goods to Sydney and by the late 1840s Tucker and Co. was flourishing. Two sisters of James and William also emigrated and within a generation there was a large Tucker family in Sydney. Successful speculation in land further increased the finances of the Tucker family and its standing.
In 1887 Charles married Mary Paige of Annandale, giving to her as a marriage settlement the 19 acre property on Murray Farm Road, Beecroft, which he had purchased two years previously. Mary found the seaside favoured her health and while their home ‘Plympton’ in Beecroft was being built they lived for a short time in Manly. ‘Plympton’ was a large sprawling brick cottage with an iron roof, of an appropriate rural style for their orchard property. 10 acres of orchards had been planted by September 1888 and Charles began his lifelong interest in orcharding, both the growing and the sales promotion of fruit, especially apples.
Three children were born at ‘Plympton’: Doris in 1888, Florence in 1890 and Rupert in 1892.
Upon moving into ‘Plympton’ Charles Tucker at once began his energetic and enthusiastic involvement in Beecroft civic affairs. In July 1888 he was one of a deputation to the Minister for Works requesting a goods siding at Beecroft station. The following year he wrote a petition to the Postmaster-General for a post office at ‘this growing and important township’, collecting the signatures of 36 residents. In 1890 he became a trustee of the new St John’s Church of England and in 1894 was appointed churchwarden and treasurer.
In 1894 the two bridges across the railway line were completed and a race on horseback between Charles Tucker and William Chorley across the Copeland Road bridge resulted in a win for the latter. In that year Tucker was appointed one of the four trustees of the 25 acre Park and Recreation Reserve along Devlins Creek.
In December 1894 a road 50 links (10 metres) wide was gazetted through Tucker’s orchard (the present western end of Boronia Avenue). Tucker claimed that the £30 compensation paid to him for the loss of one rood of land and cost of fencing was an underestimation by half. Another road saga was born. In 1898 W. Berry, a landowner nearby, claimed it was not fair that the end of the road was still blocked by Tucker’s fence, and therefore unusable. In 1903 Tucker passed a motion at a local Progress Association meeting that ‘a request be made to have the unemployed in the district put on to clear and form Boronia Avenue without delay’. In 1918, when the widowed Mary Tucker was preparing to sell her property, she asked the Hornsby Shire Council that ‘the present roadway in Boronia Avenue be extended to its full width and in other respects improved to the benefit of the property’. Fortunately for the later residents of Boronia Avenue, the council decided there were no funds available for the work.
In 1906 the small cottage in which the Tuckers were living was moved on to other land which they owned in Welham Street, and a ‘fine brick villa residence’, ‘Oaklands’, was commenced. It was of modern design, with a many-gabled tiled roof, partially two-storeyed, and with tall chimneys and several small verandas. The large gardens included rose beds, oak trees along the Boronia Avenue boundary and a Chinese elm at each side of the entrance gates. A tennis court, much used by the young people, was also constructed.
Charles was appointment by the government as a provisional councillor of the new Hornsby Shire in March 1906. He was elected a councillor in December of that year and continued as a vocal advocate for the Beecroft district in this larger forum.
This vigorous and enthusiastic life was cut short in 1917 when Charles suffered a sudden stroke while attending a pomological conference in Bathurst. He died shortly afterwards. Into his 60 years he had packed much personal and public achievement. He was a great joiner and doer and the warmth of his personality sat comfortably with his plans and ideas. Jarratt spoke of Charles Churchill Tucker as being ‘known and respected as a man of great civic responsibility and considerable joie de vivre’. The local paper recorded: ‘Mr Tucker won very many friends by his geniality and courtesy and his very good citizenship.’ Beecroft would be the poorer without him.
In 1918 Mary Tucker sold a large portion of the land around ‘Oaklands’, and also property she owned on the western side of Kirkham Street. Oaklands Avenue was made through the former subdivision. By 1919 her health had worsened and she and Florence went to live with Doris and Arnold Hirst in Strathfield. In 1938, while on a family outing to Orange, Florence stepped onto the road to take a photograph of rhododendrons in a park and was knocked down by a car and killed. Mary Tucker died in Strathfield in 1947, aged 88, having been a widow for 30 years.
‘Oaklands’ was leased in 1919 and later sold to the Rev. Talbot Vivian Grey who began Cheltenham College there. After the college closed in 1924 the house became Oaklands Guest House. The property changed hands several times before a subdivision in 1947 created the blocks fronting Boronia Avenue and a second subdivision in 1961 led to the demolition of ‘Oaklands’ house and the creation of Parker Close. The Churchill Tucker Reserve in Blaxland Road, Rhodes, commemorates Tucker and his one-time ownership of land there.Physical FormatBeecroft
Location
Building NameCharles TuckerBeecroftHousesStreet:StreetView:&enabled=1&fov=89&heading=150&pitch=3&zoom=18
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PersonPhoto 01032
Provenance
External Link<Information: Beecroft and Cheltenham History Group https://bchg.org.au/ >
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Oaklands House, Beecroft. Hornsby Shire, accessed 19/03/2026, https://hornsbyshire.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/1444