Bidura (Bidura House Group) – 357 Glebe Point Road – Glebe – NSW
Edmund Blacket Victorian Regency villa · Built c.1860–62 · State children’s depot / girls’ shelter 1920–1977 · Standing — private / contested redevelopment context · NSW SHR #01994
Edmund Blacket built himself a Glebe Point Road villa while finishing the University of Sydney. Later owners added a ballroom; the State Children’s Relief Board turned the house into the colony’s central receiving home for wards of the state. For nearly sixty years girls and very young boys — including many Aboriginal children of the Stolen Generations and children later called Forgotten Australians — entered “care” through Bidura.
The villa and ballroom survive; the Avon Street shelter was demolished for a childrens court. Handle this history with care.
At a glance
- Address: 357 Glebe Point Road, Glebe NSW 2037 (Bidura House Group — house, annex, ballroom, remnant front garden)
- Traditional Custodians: Cadigal / Wangal (DoS; SHR; Barani)
- Built: c.1860 (SHR) / around 1862 (DoS) — Edmund Thomas Blacket for his family after 1857 purchase
- Style: SHR — good example of Victorian Regency; ballroom Victorian Italianate (SHR assessment)
- Private owners after Blacket: Rosina & Robert Fitz Stubbs (named Bidura; Sands also Madwia/Bedura); Frederick Perks; later Burfitt / Walker (SHR / DoS)
- Government: NSW purchase 1920 — Depot for State Children / receiving home; Metropolitan Girls Shelter phase; Child Welfare Department
- Pair boys’ depot: Royleston, also Glebe Point Road, from 1922 (DoS)
- Shelter building: Metropolitan Girls’ Shelter on Avon Street rear — demolished 1978; Bidura Children’s Court (neo-brutalist) 1980–83 (DoS / SHR)
- Residential closure: Bidura house residential function ends 1976/77 (SHR / DoS); restored as offices
- Heritage: NSW SHR #01994 (gazetted 28 Aug 2017, DB 5063601)
- Fate: House group standing; site sold by State 2014 for redevelopment (DoS); court vacated later — verify current DA / ownership at publish
Site & setting
Glebe Point Road rise on former St Phillip’s Glebe / Boissier Estate allotments. Blacket rented nearby Hawthorn first; bush still dense enough that he needed escorts home along the Ferry Road track (SHR quoting GBA CMP). Front oval lawn / carriage loop, picket and sandstone edge, mature peppercorn and black bean (SHR landscape). Rear once held extensive service yards, stables, Metropolitan Girls’ Shelter, then remand/court complex.
Aboriginal Country and the houses role in forced child removals are inseparable from significance (SHR social criteria; Barani; DoS).
Timeline
- 1857 – Edmund Blacket purchases allotment; building by c.1860/around 1862 (SHR / DoS).
- 1859+ – Blacket Glebe alderman (SHR).
- 1869 – Sarah Blacket dies; 1870 house sold; family to Balmain (DoS / ADB).
- 1870s – Fitz Stubbs name Bidura; ballroom added by 1876 (SHR modifications).
- By 1878 – Perks ownership; 1904 northern corner subdivided (SHR).
- 1920 – State Children’s Relief Board buys Bidura as depot replacing Ormond House / Juniper Hall Paddington receiving function (DoS).
- 1922 – Royleston boys’ depot purchased (DoS).
- 1923+ – Child Welfare Department; Bidura designated Metropolitan Girls’ Shelter (DoS).
- 1925–30s Girls’ Shelter building on Avon Street; functions gradually separated (SHR / Find & Connect).
- 1940s+ – ACT (and some NT) child transfers via Bidura noted (DoS).
- 197374 – Women’s Liberation protests / roof occupation (Barani; DoS media).
- 1977 – Residential facility closes; Shelter demolished 1978 (DoS / Find & Connect).
- 1980–83 – Metropolitan Remand Centre / Bidura Children’s Court built; house restored for administration (SHR).
- 28 Aug 2017 – SHR listing Bidura House Group (house/garden significance; court building contested in heritage debates — press).
- 2014+ – Private sale / apartment DA litigation (DoS / SHR history notes) — verify status.
- Today – Villa, annex, ballroom and front garden remain the SHR group; treat institutional memory with respect.
Architecture & interiors
Three-storey (including lower ground) rendered brick Regency composition: symmetrical fronts, hipped slate roof, timber shutters, two-storey verandahs historically (Hilda Blacket 1870 drawing — SHR). Interior: central halls, marble/slate floors, ornate cornices, marble mantelpieces — heavily adapted for dormitories then offices (SHR room-by-room). Ballroom: separate Italianate pavilion with vestibule, covered way, decorated timber ceiling (SHR).
Prefer CMP / SHR description over inventing lost Blacket finishes.
People & anecdotes
Edmund Thomas Blacket (1817–1883) — Colonial Architect turned University architect; Glebe resident–alderman (ADB). Sarah Blacket — died 1869. Fitz Stubbs / Frederick Perks — naming and ballroom chapters. State Children’s Relief Board / Child Welfare Department — institutional operators. Bessie Guthrie & Women’s Liberation — 1970s campaign against abuses (DoS / ADB Guthrie). Stolen Generations & Forgotten Australians — Bidura as entry point into state “care” (SHR; DoS Parry; Bringing Them Home; Forgotten Australians reports). Oral histories (NLA / NMA Inside) document arrival rituals — cite via DoS rather than sensationalising.
Compare welfare-adapted mansions: Juniper Hall / Ormond House (earlier depot); Yasmar (children’s court / remand — Haberfield).
Image gallery guidance
1. Blacket family “Our House” / Hilda 1870 eastern garden front (SLNSW / Glebe Society exhibition). 2. 1973 Bernard Smith Collection street view (Barani). 3. Metropolitan Girls Shelter Avon Street 1931 (*Truth* — DoS media).
4. Front carriage loop / Glebe Point Road elevation today. 5. Ballroom exterior (if photographable from public realm). 6. Avoid exploitative imagery of children; prefer building fabric and documented protest history.What stands today
Bidura House, annex, ballroom and remnant front garden stand and are State Heritage listed. The site’s justice/welfare rear fabric has been partly demolished and redeveloped under later DAs — check City of Sydney / LEC status before stating what occupies the rear. Not a casual tourist interior; social significance obliges respectful framing. Pair with Royleston and Find & Connect resources for care-leavers.
Sources & further reading
- NSW SHR — Bidura House Group (#01994, DB 5063601): https://apps.environment.nsw.gov.au/dpcheritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5063601
- Dictionary of Sydney — Naomi Parry, Bidura” (2015): https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/bidura
- Sydney Barani — Bidura: https://www.sydneybarani.com.au/sites/bidura/
- Find & Connect — Bidura; Metropolitan Girls’ Shelter, Glebe
- ADB — Blacket, Edmund Thomas; Guthrie, Bessie Jean Thompson
- Glebe Society — Heritage Buildings: Bidura
- Trove — search: Bidura Glebe; “Depot for State Children” Glebe; Metropolitan Girls’ Shelter Glebe; Bidura Women’s Liberation
- NMA — Inside: Life in Children’s Homes (linked from DoS)
Related on this blog
- Toxteth Park, Glebe — Glebe Point estate context
- Yaralla, Concord — Blacket mansion compare (different typology/use)
- Juniper Hall / Ormond House — earlier children’s court depot (Paddington)
- Yasmar, Haberfield — children’s court / remand villa (this batch)
Keep existing photos; add SLNSW/Trove images with captions and credits from Image gallery guidance.
