Tara, George Street, Parramatta, January 1954 / Barry Wollaston
Image digitised from a collection of photonegatives and proof sheets donated to the Historic Houses Trust of NSW in 1995, 1999 by architect photographer Barry Wollaston. The images are, with few exceptions, of buildings considered by the Historical Buildings Committee of the NSW chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) to be buildings of architectural and historic value. An initial list of buildings was drawn up by the Committee in 1949 soon after its formation. The list covered churches, houses, streets, hospitals, barracks, university buildings, bridges, courthouses, convents and forts, all within the geographical scope of the County of Cumberland. Over the next few years the committee reviewed buildings on the list, assessing architectural merit, historic significance and state of preservation.
Tara, on the corner of George Street and Barrack Lane, Parramatta, was built in 1841 by noted local builder/architect James Houison, for Nathaniel and Susannah Payten. In 1912, when the house was owned by the Waugh sisters, it became a girl's school called Tara. The school continued on the site until 1959. The building was demolished in 1963.
The church building visible on the left of the image, also now demolished,was built in 1851 as a Baptist Church.
