On the far left of the google image below you can see Kingdom Cycleworks. At one stage the building was owned by Mary Ann Goodrich, who sold it to Thomas Robinson Kimpton in 1886. He in turn sold it to George Langridge in 1889 (Nomination to Heritage Victoria – Queens Parade Shopping Precinct in 2019, p.24-25 in 2019, p.24-25).
Kingdom Cycles ceased trading around 1990, and the site now houses Citrico, a Chilean Restaurant (which I highly recommend).
“This shop, constructed in 1904 as a bicycle shop, retains its original use. The façade is simple. The shop front is largely intact, but the verandah has been removed. Large brackets project at the string course lines, terminated by lions’ heads at the ground floor. The pediment is simple with the name-plate flanked by incised pilasters and surmounted by a Greek revival pediment. The whole composition is pleasing and restrained.” (North Fitzroy Conservation Study, 1978) (Glossary)
Thomas Robinson Kimpton (Property dealer and builder) – Owner: 1886-1889
The following is extracted from the Nomination to Heritage Victoria – Queens Parade Shopping Precinct in 2019, p.24-25 and was largely compiled by Historian Virginia Noonan: “Thomas Robinson Kimpton was born in Cambridgeshire, England, in 1829. He was one of nine children of a farmer and grain merchant. His father lost the farm through financial misfortune, and at the age of 20, Thomas emigrated. He arrived in Adelaide in 1851, but moved to Victoria later that year after the discovery of gold. He enjoyed modest success on the Forest Creek and Ballarat goldfields.
By the date of his marriage to Ann Eleanor Anderson in 1862 Thomas was farming at Strangways in the Loddon Valley. In 1872 he and his wife and their first five children left Strangways and settled in Queens Parade, Clifton Hill. Between 1872 and 1887 a further six children were born there. Initially he rented from Matthew Devenish a weatherboard house at 185–187 Queens Parade. Here he established a hay and corn store. In 1881 he purchased the property and built a brick house on it, which is now occupied by Lonergan and Raven, undertakers.
Thomas’s decision to establish his business in Clifton Hill may have been influenced by two of his younger brothers, who had emigrated in 1853 and established businesses in Fitzroy, Edward as a grocer and William as a baker. William was particularly successful, owning a number of bakeries, and by 1880, as a member of the partnership of Chamberlain and Kimpton, established the Union Flour Mill in Fitzroy, which in time became one of the largest flour milling businesses in Australia.
In 1881 Thomas Kimpton purchased 181 Queens Parade, now the site of the Clifton Hill Post Office, from Matthew Devenish and in 1883 purchased nos. 328 and 330 from Mary Ann Goodrich. He sold them in the same year to John Christopher. In 1886 he purchased no. 376 from Mary Ann Goodrich, selling it in 1889 to George Langridge. In 1886 Thomas also purchased 370-372 Queens Parade which was mortgaged to the London Chartered Bank. However, in 1888 the bank purchased it from him as the site for its Queens Parade branch which was built the following year. In 1887 Kimpton purchased a double storey brick house at
189 Queens Parade from Matthew Devenish. In 1889 it was also mortgaged to the London Chartered Bank and in 1908 was sold to Joseph Cooke.
In 1888 Kimpton purchased two lots in Cunningham Street, Northcote, and in 1889 built a brick house for his family there. The property having been mortgaged to the London Chartered Bank, in 1894 the bank foreclosed, and thereafter Kimpton rented it from the bank until 1897, when his wife opened a grocery store in Heidelberg Road, Fairfield. In 1895 the hay and corn store at 185-187 Queens Parade was rented to Mr. G. Bambridge. He continued to rent it until 1917, although the building was sold to Joseph Cooke in 1909. Cooke sold it in 1917 to Ruby Florence Hayes, an undertaker. Thomas Kimpton died in 1899. His wife continued to operate the grocery store in Heidelberg Road, Fairfield until 1905. From 1910 she lived at 67 Gillies Street, Fairfield, where she died in 1934.“
Theodore Sabelberg – 1904
While the land had a life before this shop was built, at some point Theodore Sabelberg purchases the land and whatever building was on it and had Kingdom Cycle Works built, which is the building that stands today. While the heritage study of 1978 states that the verandah had been removed, you can see below that it has now been reinstated.
