Wesleyan Parsonage (former)

Geelong Historic Buildings

The former Wesleyan Parsonage in Geelong is a building constructed of brick, with a slate roof, has sixteen rooms, besides kitchen etc and covers two stories. A balcony stretches from the bay windows of the ground floor to the bedroom on the first floor, all the windows of the ground floor rooms and hall are ornamented with leadlights.

The parsonage is of considerable architectural significance as one of the few surviving designs of the innovative firm of Butler and Ussher from the joint practice they formed in 1889 which terminated with the Great Depression some time before 1893. The parsonage has architectural significance as a fine intact example of the English Queen Anne style. The building has historical importance as a memorial to the former Wesleyan Methodists of Geelong, who met first in 1838 in the home of a notable early settler, Dr Alexander Thompson. Historical importance derives also from the parsonage`s associations with a number of prominent early Geelong pastoralists, who included James Austin, Dr Alexander Thompson and Caroline Newcomb.