Dalkeith House

1897, 160 High St

This house, which is on the eastern side of Queen's Square, was built in 1897 for the family of [[../people/gallop.html|James Gallop]] Snr (after his death in 1880 - probably for James Gallop Jr, 1845-1928). It had fallen into disrepair by 1974 when it became the premises of the [[../schools/community.html|Community School (Fremantle)]]. It was later the home of the family of [[../people/archibald.html|Jenny Archibald]], Fremantle [[../council/mayors.html|Mayor]] 1994-7 and previously President of the Fremantle Society, and later again a Buddhist centre. It is one of the buildings which the [[../society/index.html|Fremantle Society]] claims to have saved from demolition, although it seems that the principal actors were union members (Fighting for Fremantle: 44). The claim was made explicitly in Vol 1 No 6 1973 of the newsletter: "The move to demolish Dalkeith House was rejected by the City Council. The widespread opposition to the proposal from the Society, the media, trade Unions and the general public played a significant part in saving the building."s

[[../people/gallop.html|James Gallop]] arrived in 1829 aboard the [[../ships/lotus.html|Lotus]], with his brothers Richard and Edward, all from a Thakeham, West Sussex workhouse. He and Richard (Edward drowned) were successful in growing vegetables and grapevines. James in the 1870s bought [[../people/armstrongadampearson.html|Adam Armstrong]]'s farm containing Dalkeith Cottage (which gave its name to the suburb) and built a two-storey house now known as Gallop House. He is the great-great-grandfather of former WA Premier Geoff Gallop. There is a street in Hilton named after him.

Dalkeith House at 160 High Street, early 1970s, before restoration. (Fremantle City Library, from Fighting for Fremantle: 107)

Heritage Council:
Built as a two-storied residence with stables for the Gallop family in the late 1890s. In 1902/3 occupied by W. F. Samson a former Mayor, designed by architect O.N. Nicholson. From 1974 to 1979 Dalkeith House was used as a community school, it later was occupied by a medical practice. Now a private residence again, it is currently (1996) being restored.
A large ornate house with a complex roof form. The gable ends have elaborate decorative timber work. The double storey bullnosed verandah roof is supported by decorative posts with filigree brackets and frieze. The upstairs verandah has filigree balustrading. The verandah wraps the building on two sides. A double storey rectilinear bay to the front elevation is decorated with stucco moulding and sill detailing. Paired timber windows pierce the bay. Corbelled chimneys intact. Heritage Council.

In 2021, CBC proposes to erect a four-storey educational building immediately adjacent to Dalkeith House, to the east:

References and Links

Burke, Gary 1990, Long Live the Jojoba Bean! The Story of the The Community School (Fremantle), Production Function, Balcatta.

Davidson, Ron & Dianne Davidson 2010, Fighting for Fremantle: The Fremantle Society Story, Fremantle Society: 43-44; photograph 107.

Heritage Council page

Notes in Fremantle, the newsletter of the Fremantle Society: [[../society/newsletter/1973Sept.html#dalkeithhouse|Vol 1 No 5 1973]], [[../society/newsletter/1973Nov.html#dalkeithhouse|Vol 1 No 6 1973]], [[../society/newsletter/1974Jan.html#dalkeithhouse|Vol 2 No 1 1974]]

Freotopia

This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 23 January, 2015 and hosted at freotopia.org/buildings/dalkeith.html (it was last updated on 28 March, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.