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Commercial Club
11 Cantonment St, 1912
The Commercial Club, first set up for the Commercial Travellers Association in 1912, closed due to a lack of members in 1991.
1978, FSPS photo
2014 snap from Google Maps. Now, 2020, Viva Photography.
Heritage Council:
History
Cantonment Street appears on Surveyor-General Roe’s earliest maps, and used to continue as Cantonment Road to Cantonment Hill, until this section was renamed as Queen Victoria Street in 1892 to avoid confusion.
Prior to 1911 there were four cottages on the lot. On 3/12/1912, a foundation stone for a new building was laid by Governor Sir Gerald Strickland. The brick and stone building was designed by Joseph F Allen (Mayor 1909-1914 and 1931-33) and built by F. W. Spurr as the Commercial Travellers Association, and cost £1950. The association's agenda was to improve working conditions for members, i.e. roads, hotels etc. There was a federal body est. 1895 called the United Commercial Travellers' Association of Australasia (it included New Zealand). The Assoc. was originally located at 27-29 Henry St, then Mouat St (Lot 28) in 1901/2. Supermarkets saw the end of the commercial traveller, as goods could be bought directly from wholesalers.
In 1941 the Assoc. became the Commercial Club (Fremantle) Inc. Plans dated 1972 (No. 6784) show renovations and additions, by architects Colin Rule, Ashbil & Assoc., and builder R D Leith at a cost of $35, 000. The club closed in 1991 due to financial difficulties and a lack of members.
During 2002 the Western Australian Planning Commission granted approval for four survey strata commercial/residential units on the site.
Statement of Significance
House, 11 Cantonment Street (1912), is a substantial single storey brick and iron roof residence constructed in the Federation Bungalow style of architecture and has considerable cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
- the place has aesthetic significance as a rare example of a residential style of building in the town centre of Fremantle dating from the Federation period
- the place is of historic significance as the headquarters of the Commercial Travellers’ Association from 1914 and subsequently the Fremantle Commercial Club from 1941, and;
- the place has social significance with the Fremantle business community through its history;
The front fence is of little significance.
Physical Description
House, 11 Cantonment Street is a single storey substantial tuck pointed brick and rendered hipped and gable zincalume clad roof former residence building. The steeply pitched roof has one tall face brick chimney and a small timber ventilated gable. The roof extends over the verandah which is supported by collared turned timber posts with decorative timber brackets. There is a recent addition of a loft window on the northern side of the roof.
The façade has a rendered band at door height and five sets of French doors; some with highly decorative leadlight glass, the main entrance has an arched recessed. The building has additions to the rear (probably not original).
There is a limestone block and pillared front fence which does not appear original. The house has been converted to commercial and residential apartments and has undergone internal alterations.
References and Links
Parker, David Dare & Ron Davidson 2010, The Clubs, FotoFreo, Fremantle.
Heritage Council page.
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 1 October, 2014 and hosted at freotopia.org/clubs/commercial.html (it was last updated on 8 December, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.