This cottage is named ‘waratah’, which is the official floral emblem of the state of New South Wales. Waratah, comes from the Eora Aboriginal word ‘warada’ meaning ‘beautiful’ or ‘seen from afar’.
Background
In the late 1830s the land of Fitzroy was subdivided into 12 sections. Section 85 which was mostly swamp, was the last to be subdivided. In 1876, a plan for the subdivision of the block bordered by Cecil St (N), Young St (W), Westgarth St (S) and Napier St (E) – which was land owned by J M Smith.
While the original plan had 7 dwellings on this site (lots 5-11), only 6 houses were built, each as a pair with only one party wall between the pair.
In 1897, This location was operated by McLaughlin Bros, Case, Cask and Bottle Merchant. (Mercury and Weekly Courier, Thu 4 Mar 1897)
