Greycourt

Greycourt viewed from Royal Parade with International House’s Ian Clunies Ross Wing on the right of the photograph. Reproduced from Jayawardena & Perera, 1969, p. 60.

International House’s ‘Greycourt’ stands out from the mid-century modern wings Clunies and Wadham and the quirky 70s Scheps. So how did Greycourt come to be part of IH?

Greycourt, designed by the architects Henderson & Smart (Victorian Heritage Database, 2023), was built in 1882 and originally housed a school: Carlton College. Under the direction of its headmaster Alexander Sutherland (1852-1902), the college offered a ‘sound education’ to boys ‘to fit them for either a commercial career or a course at the University [of Melbourne] (“Advertising”, 1892).

Greycourt, n.d., International House Archives

Carlton College closed in 1910 (“School speech days”, 1892), after which the building seems to have been leased by the Department of Education and used as accommodation for those training to be teachers (Jayawardena & Perera, 1969, p. 47).

In 1916, the building was taken over by Alexander Sutherland’s daughter Brenda Sutherland (1887-1972). She had studied science at the University of Melbourne and received a scholarship to undertake research into wheat production (“Miss Brenda Sutherland”, 1911). She also studied domestic science at the University of Toronto (“Scientist wins distinction”, 1916). On returning to Australia, she headed the ‘Domestic Arts Hostel’ providing accommodation to girls studying cooking and other aspects of managing a household. In the early 1920s there was another change to her father’s old school when she converted the building into a ‘private hotel’ (“Graduate turns business woman”, 1924; “Mainly of Melbourne”, 1924). According to one source, it was at this time that the building was given the name ‘Grey Court’ or ‘Greycourt’ (Jayawarena and Perera, 1969, p. 48). Advertisements from the time highlight the hotel’s many conveniences including its proximity to town, ‘electric light’, and ‘cuisine second to none’ (“Classified advertising”, 1925).

Advertisement for accommodation at ‘Greycourt’, The Mercury (Hobart), 7 November 1925, p. 14
Greycourt. Image courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. Accession number 116128

In World War II, the building was occupied by the army and used as officers’ quarters (“Backyard camp”, 1946). According to Brenda Sutherland, she had to spend ‘a considerable sum of money’ on repairs and renovations after the army left the building (Jayawardena & Perera, 1969, p. 50). Shortly afterwards, in 1948, Brenda Sutherland sold the building to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for use as a residence for nurses (“Extra nurses’ home”, 1948).

We hope that one day International House will be able to purchase “Grey Court” so that once again it may be used as an educational institution.

Jayawardena & Perera, 1969, p. 52

In 1969 two residents of International House, Kingsley Jayawardena and Edmund Perera, wrote a history of Grey Court (as they referred to it) for their fourth year architecture project. They interviewed Brenda Sutherland who told them about the early history of the building and the origins of its name. They also wrote of their hopes that Greycourt would one day become a part of International House (Jayawardena & Perera, 1969, p. 52).

In 1976 these hopes came true. With the assistance of a grant from the Australian Universities Commission, the University of Melbourne decided to purchase the building, allowing the number of IH residents to increase to 245 (Larkins, 2018, pp. 86, 90).

Illustration of Greycourt from the 1983 issue of the International House student magazine Satadal. International House Archives.
Greycourt, c. 2015. International House Archives.

References and further reading

Advertising (1892, January 30). The Australasian, p. 34. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138622957

Backyard camp at barracks (1946, February 26). The Herald, p. 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245947059

Classified advertising (1925, August 8). The Argus, p. 14. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2153614

Extra nurses’ home bought (1948, December 30). The Herald, p. 5 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243540822

Graduate turns business woman (1924, September 16). The Herald, p. 8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243881247

Jayawardena, K. & Perera, E. (1969). Grey Court: A history research thesis, Architecture IV, 1 September 1969. School of Architecture and Building, The University of Melbourne.

Larkins, F. (2018). International House Melbourne: Sixty years of fraternitas. Melbourne University Publishing.

Mainly of Melbourne (1924, October 4). The News (Hobart), p. 7. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article233529928

Miss Brenda Sutherland: Interested in wheat (1911, July 1). Weekly Times, p. 9. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224090314

Northcott, P,H. (1976/2006). ‘Sutherland, Alexander (1852–1902)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/sutherland-alexander-4671/text7685

School speech days. (1892, December 22). The Argus, p. 10. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8495266

Scientist wins distinction (1916, July 11). The Herald (Melbourne), p. 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242380703

Victorian Heritage Database (2023). Former Carlton College. https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/65531