Printable house story49 Waterview St, Balmain NSW 2041
Back to house page
Print options & photo selection

Choose which photo appears on the cover and which selected photos appear as small highlights on the final page. Up to 6 selected photos can appear in the leaflet.

Regimbah, 49 Waterview Street. Photograph date unknown. Photograph: Bruce Crosson. Leichhardt Historical Journal No. 24 (2014), p. 59 (PDF p. 61).
HousetoryPrintable house story
Every House Has a Story.

49 Waterview St, Balmain NSW 2041

49 Waterview St, Balmain NSW 2041

Housetory helps communities preserve the memories, history and stories connected to homes and places.

Cover photo: Regimbah, 49 Waterview Street. Photograph date unknown. Photograph: Bruce Crosson. Leichhardt Historical Journal No. 24 (2014), p. 59 (PDF p. 61). — Date unknown

Year built1872
Timeline entries12
Memories0
Photos1

At a glance

  • House typeCottage
  • StyleChoose Option
  • HeritageYes
  • Current statusUnknown

The story of this house

Earlier cottages and the land beneath RegimbahThe large stone house at 49 Waterview Street dates from 1872, although development on its site began earlier.

Balmain labourer Francis Armstrong bought lots 14–15 in May 1844.

That year the land held an unfinished stone cottage and a smaller stone cottage let to George Chidgey.

Armstrong sold these lots to Catherine Morgan in May 1848; she had already acquired adjoining lots 16–17 in October 1844. [1] In February 1855, Morgan sold lots 14–17 to William Henry Sawyer.

The combined holding gave him 132 feet of frontage to Waterview Street.

Sawyer later removed Armstrong’s cottages and had a substantial detached stone house built in 1872.

Its two-storey arrangement followed the slope, with the upper floor at street level.

The year 1855 belongs to Sawyer’s land purchase, not the construction of the present house. [1] The Sawyer family and the breakup of the estateSawyer lived at the house until his death on 24 February 1887, and his eldest daughter Alice Gertrude remained until 1896.

The journal does not establish an exact date when Sawyer first moved into the completed house.

Its photograph caption also associates Catherine Morgan’s death in 1882 with this home. [1–2] After Sawyer died, executors Robert and Alice Gertrude Sawyer continued to mortgage the property.

Repayment difficulties led the mortgagees to subdivide the wider holdings.

Caroline Lane was created as part of this reorganisation, changing the setting of the original house and making smaller properties available around it. [1] The Seaman family and the name RegimbahJemima Forest Seaman bought the house in December 1895.

She was married to Balmain soap manufacturer Robert Thomas Seaman, and the family named the house Regimbah.

They lived there from 1896 to 1912.

In December 1912, Jemima transferred the property to…

Full story, source details and updates continue on the live Housetory page via the QR code.

Timeline highlights

A compact summary of key moments. Scan the QR code to read the full timeline online.

  1. Francis Armstrong acquired the earlier cottage site in May 1844

    Armstrong bought lots 14–15 in May 1844. Two early stone cottages were recorded on the land, before the later Regimbah house.

  2. Catherine Morgan purchased lots 14–15 in May 1848

    Armstrong sold lots 14–15 to Catherine Morgan, who already held adjoining lots 16–17. This concerns the earlier site, not the 1872…

  3. William Henry Sawyer acquired lots 14–17

    William Henry Sawyer acquiring lots 14 to 17 in 1855 on the later Regimbah site.

  4. Regimbah built

    Sawyer demolished earlier cottages and built the large stone house later known as Regimbah in 1872.

  5. William Henry Sawyer lives at the house

    William Henry Sawyer lived at the large stone house before his death on 24 February 1887. The house was built in 1872 and was later…

  6. Jemima Forest Seaman purchases Regimbah

    Jemima Forest Seaman purchased the house in December 1895; she and Robert Thomas Seaman named it Regimbah and lived there from 1896…

  7. Regimbah passes to Catherine Elizabeth Seaman

    Jemima Seaman transferred Regimbah to Catherine Elizabeth Seaman in December 1912. Catherine and Robert Seaman junior lived there.

  8. Charles John Lawson purchases Regimbah

    Catherine Seaman sold Regimbah to Balmain motor engineer Charles John Lawson in November 1942.

  9. Regimbah passed to Lawson’s widow and daughter in September 1953

    Following Charles John Lawson’s death in August 1951, the property passed to his widow and daughter in shares of two-thirds and…

  10. Ruth Kathleen Dunbar purchases Regimbah

    Mrs Lawson and Mrs Nairn sold Regimbah to Ruth Kathleen Dunbar in May 1968.

  11. Saywell Associates purchases Regimbah

    Ruth Kathleen Dunbar sold Regimbah to Saywell Associates NSW Pty Ltd in June 1971.

  12. Regimbah is sold on a separate lot

    After subdividing the land, Saywell sold the house on a separate lot in December 1978. Reynolds does not identify the purchaser in…

  1. Francis Armstrong acquired the earlier cottage site in May 1844

    Armstrong bought lots 14–15 in May 1844. Two early stone cottages were recorded on the land, before the later Regimbah house.

  2. Catherine Morgan purchased lots 14–15 in May 1848

    Armstrong sold lots 14–15 to Catherine Morgan, who already held adjoining lots 16–17. This concerns the earlier site, not the 1872…

  3. William Henry Sawyer acquired lots 14–17

    William Henry Sawyer acquiring lots 14 to 17 in 1855 on the later Regimbah site.

  4. Regimbah built

    Sawyer demolished earlier cottages and built the large stone house later known as Regimbah in 1872.

  5. William Henry Sawyer lives at the house

    William Henry Sawyer lived at the large stone house before his death on 24 February 1887. The house was built in 1872 and was later…

Memories, sources & further reading

Can you add to this story?

If you have memories, photographs, documents or corrections connected to this house, scan the QR code and contribute through Housetory. Submissions are reviewed before publication.

Selected photos

QR codeView the full story online

Scan the QR code to see more photos, timeline entries, memories and updates on Housetory.

https://housetory.com.au/index.php/explore/houses/lhj-photo-v001-c09a73923007c48b