19 Wellington Park

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey, double-fronted brick Victorian villa in a domestic gothic revival style, constructed in 1889/90 as one of a pair (with number 21 – HB26/28/129B) by the builder Andrew Dempter Gibson, architect unknown. It is located on the NE side of Wellington Park, a wide avenue that runs from the Lisburn Road on the NW side to the Malone Road on the SE, within Malone Conservation area. “T” shaped on plan with three storey rear return.

Natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles; plain brick chimney stacks to NW and SE (shared with No.21) sides with plain corbeled course to cap, topped with clay circular chimney pots. Symmetrical front elevation built in red brick stretcher bond with central shallow-arched doorway, with two-storey canted bays either side, topped with pyramidal natural slates edged with lead flashings and capped with ornamental metal filial.

Metal guttering with circular downpipes above projecting brick eaves detail with dog tooth course below.

Canted bays have historic 1/1 painted timber sliding sash windows with side lights separated with brick piers and all with polychrome, charcoal/red soldier canted voussoirs and painted window cills linked across elevation with single course, horizontal charcoal brick banding. Horizontal projecting corbelled band between floor levels.
Original bolection moulded timber door with original ironmongery. Elliptical arched toplight with polychrome, charcoal/red soldier voussoirs. Doorway flanked with painted circular stone columns with square plinth and shaft head with Corinthian-style capitals. Contrasting dark coloured brick plinth to entire frontage of dwelling. Front door approached via two plain concrete steps framed by dwarf concrete plinth.

Blank SE elevation; no openings. Chimney on gable apex.

Rear elevation with roof finishes, eaves detailing and guttering as described previously. Masonry paint finish to ground floor level only.

Left side of main block has two windows vertically stacked, ground floor window is 6/6, and first floor is 2/2 (with horizontal transoms).
Right side of main block has two windows vertically stacked, both 2/2 (with horizontal transoms).

Main block is abutted by three-storey return; SE face has an asymmetric arrangement of window openings – two on ground floor on right side of back door, three on first floor level and a single opening on second floor level; all windows are 2/2 (horizontal transoms) with exception of ground floor extreme right window which is 1/1.

NE gable to central projection blank, abutted by single storey outhouse with pitched roof; SE face has a painted vertically sheeted door and small 2/2 painted sliding sash window on right.

NW side of rear return has two window openings per floor with 2/2 timber sliding sash windows (horizontal transoms).

SETTING
No.19 Wellington Park is located on the NE side of the street in a built-up urban area is one of a pair with No.21 Wellington Park on its NW side (HB26/28/129B). The two houses form the end of a mixed terrace of other double-fronted attached dwellings. The
setting is enhanced by mature trees which define the front boundary with the public footpath, and together with a mature hedgerow soften the setting and conceal the contemporary paving which provides off street parking behind. The rear of the property is defined by a high alley boundary wall with a pedestrian access door, giving access to a narrow “U” shaped paved patio/yard area.

MATERIALS
Roof; Natural slate with clay ridge tiles
Walls: Red brick with blue/charcoal brick detailing – painted at ground level to rear
Windows: Some original 2/2 timber sliding sash windows with horizontal transoms, and some replacement 1/1 timber sliding sash windows all with single-glazing
RWG: Cast iron and cast aluminium. Some pvc waste pipes and soil pipes to rear.

Historical information

19 Wellington Park was constructed in 1889/90 as one of a pair (with number 21) by the builder Andrew Dempter Gibson and is first shown on the OS map of 1902. The architect is currently unknown.

After 1799 the Marquis of Donegall began to extend longer leases to his tenants in the townland of Malone Lower which encouraged building and rebuilding and the gradual suburban spread of Belfast southwards, as the town expanded. In 1850, an area captioned ‘Wellington Park’ on the 1853 OS map was acquired by George Tate, timber merchant, who built Wellington Park House (most probably named after the Duke of Wellington who died in 1852) and parcelled off the remainder of the land for development.

Wellington Park as a road was first laid out in the same decade, and with Eglantine Avenue and Malone Avenue forms the southern boundary of terraced development in this part of Belfast. South of Malone Avenue, Malone was largely developed in detached (and some semi-detached) villas. Dwellings with a double frontage are particularly characteristic of Wellington Park with houses slightly more closely packed in surrounding streets.

The houses were constructed by Andrew Dempter Gibson (1901 census), a builder with premises in Camden Street, and enter valuation records in 1889 at a valuation of £45 each. Gibson built several other houses in Wellington Park and in other streets nearby, namely Wellesley Avenue (17 houses approved between 1897 and 1896), Eglantine Avenue (two houses approved 1882-1888) and Blackstaff Road (now Donegall Road - 14 houses 1891).

In January 1890, A D Gibson placed a newspaper advertisement for a pair of houses for sale, ‘two two-storey new double houses Wellington Park, three large reception and seven bedrooms, 11ft 6in ceilings, ready for occupation; are worthy of inspection to anyone wanting comfortable house to buy’, most likely referring to the current houses and in March 1890 the Works Committee reported that they granted permission for A D Gibson to take in water to two houses in Wellington Park. After a few years of being rented out, the two houses were purchased from Gibson by Samuel Hogg, Shankill Road grocer, who was resident at number 19 from at least 1894. Samuel Hogg was a relative (most likely an uncle) of the photographer, Alexander Robert Hogg.

At the time of the 1901 census Samuel Hogg was resident in the house which is listed as having 14 rooms and is designated first class. Samuel Hogg, merchant, was living with his two adult daughters and a general servant. In the Belfast Revaluation (1900) and appeal books of 1901 both 19 and 21 were said to have three receptions and four bedrooms with another four bedrooms in the return, had ‘good kitchen and pantries’ and were fitted with both gas and a bathroom. The two houses were revalued at £58 but the valuation was reduced to £52 on appeal. The accompanying plan of the identical houses show the two-storey main block with a three-storey rear return and a further single storey return at the far rear.

The Hogg daughters remained in the house for some years, but by 1924 it had been taken over by William Moore Fullerton, a Director of the Ulster Bank Ltd. At his death in 1954, William Fullerton was described as ‘a noted figure in the banking world and public life of Northern Ireland for nearly sixty years’. Educated at Methodist College he entered the Ulster Bank in 1886 and retired in 1945 as senior director and chairman. He was also a chairman of the Board of Governors of Methodist College and ‘the influence, inspiration and guide’ behind the acquisition of Pirrie Park and the establishment of Downey House and a governor of Riddell Hall, Queen’s University Belfast. He was a member of the University Road Methodist Church and presented a minor chapel to the church in memory of his wife in 1946. He was also vice-president of the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society, president of the Methodist Old Boys’ Association, treasurer of the Belfast Committee of the German Refugee Fund and a trustee of the Lord Mayor of Belfast’s Air Raid Distress Fund. His public services were recognised by his appointment as Deputy Lieutenant for the City of Belfast in 1948, a position he held until his death at the age of 83. He was a prominent mason, holding high positions in various lodges including Sovereign of Prince Mason Chapter 15. In his will, Fullerton left £200 for a silver medal for the head boy and head girl for that year, to be known as the ‘W M Fullerton Memorial Medal’ and one of the preparatory houses of the school was named ‘Fullerton House’ in 1951 and continues to be known by that name today.

In 1935 the house was inspected by valuers and judged to be ‘substantially built and in good condition’. The interior had been fitted with electric light by this time. The entrance hall, landing and principal rooms had oak parquet floors. Accommodation comprised: on the ground floor, and entrance hall, two receptions, a kitchen, scullery and two pantries, outside coal house, wash house with bath for servants and WC. On the first floor, there were three double bedrooms, one reception and a dressing room and bathroom in the return. On the second floor (return) were two small bedrooms. The attached plan shows no change to the outline of the building between 1900 and 1935, but also indicates a garden to the front and a small garden and yard to the rear.

Fullerton was survived by his daughter, and she with her husband, Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas Richard St John Shannon, continued to live in the house, and indeed the Shannon family were in residence until the 1990s. Shannon served in the Indian Army, fought in Burma during WW2 and was awarded various medals including the Burma Star and the Indian War Service medal. The Fullertons and their descendants lived in the house for over 65 years.

This double-fronted Victorian villa in a domestic gothic revival style retains its original aspect and quality including double-height canted bays, decorative brickwork and historic windows, and much interior fabric and ornamental detailing survives. The plan form of the house is largely intact, a minor exception being the partial removal/replacement of the single-storey return at the far rear of number 19, formerly containing a store and WC (large-scale maps 1958-9, 1970). High ceilings to the main rooms of the front part of the house were a selling point when the house was built. The building is generally enhanced by its setting, within a tree lined avenue, terraced with substantial double-fronted villas of a similar period.

References:

Primary Sources:

1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832-3)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1858)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1901-2)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1938)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/D/14 Valuation Revision Book 1882-1896
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43A/36 Valuation Revision Book 1897-1905
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43P/3 Valuation Revision Book 1906-1915
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/43P/7 Valuation Revision Book 1916-1930
9. PRONI VAL/7/B/14/20 Belfast Revaluation 1900
10. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/33 First Northern Ireland General Revaluation 1933-1957
11. PRONI VAL/3/D/3/1/P/68 Valuers RV Binder 1933-1957
12. Belfast Street Directories 1890-1995
13. Belfast Commercial Chronicle, 27th March 1854
14. Belfast Newsletter, 2nd May 1877
15. Northern Whig, 10th October 1879
16. Northern Whig, 3rd May 1880
17. Northern Whig, 24th March 1881
18. Northern Whig, 3rd November 1881
19. Belfast Telegraph, 18th September 1882
20. Belfast Newsletter, 17th August 1888
21. Northern Whig, 2nd October 1888
22. Belfast Newsletter, 16th January 1890
23. Northern Whig, 28th March 1890
24. Northern Whig, 2nd June 1891
25. Northern Whig, 12th June 1893
26. Northern Whig, 20th March 1896
27. Ulster Echo, 31st May 1898
28. Census of Ireland 1901, 1911
29. Belfast Newsletter, 4th August 1914
30. Northern Whig, 18th May 1925
31. Belfast Newsletter, 20th October 1931
32. Belfast Newsletter, 4th May 1948
33. Belfast Telegraph, 3rd February 1954
34. Northern Whig, 3rd February 1954
35. Larne Times, 22nd July 1954
36. National Museums NI Hogg collection (BELUM.Y3935)
37. Large scale Ordnance Survey maps 1858, 1884, 1902, 1920, 1931, 1937, 1958, 1970, 1986 (www.centremapslive.co.uk)

Secondary Sources:

38. Carleton, Samuel Trevor (1967) The Growth of South Belfast. Unpublished MPhil thesis, Queen’s University Belfast
39. Dictionary of Irish Biography www.dib.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

19 Wellington Park Belfast is a two-storey, double-fronted Victorian villa in a domestic gothic revival style, constructed in 1889/90 as one of a pair (with number 21 – HB26/28/129B) by the builder Andrew Dempter Gibson.
This double-fronted Victorian villa along with its conjoined neighbour is uniquely intact in three dimensional form and massing and includes double-height canted bays with natural Welsh slate adorned with decorative metalwork, decorative coloured brickwork, historic windows and largely original rear returns. Much original interior fabric and ornamental detailing survives with the plan form of the house remaining largely intact. The pair of buildings are generally enhanced by their tree lined avenue setting. The level of authenticity and group value along with No.21 adds to its special interest.