Robert Showers was a Fitzroy builder (1852-55), a farmer at Northcote (1855-62), then builder and publican at the West of England Hotel (1862-77) at the corner of Kerr Street and Fitzroy Street. He was a Fitzroy councillor for 15? years from 1875, and mayor in 1877 when Fitzroy was proclaimed a city. In 1885 he built his home on a large site (250' x 400') opposite Clauscen Street between St Georges Road and the Merri Creek. The two storey brick residence "is named Bangalore after the place of his nativity, and is the finest dwelling-house yet erected in Fitzroy. Its immediate surroundings are excellent, the edifice itself can be seen from a great distance, and the internal arrangements reminds one of a modern English baronial mansion on a small scale, while the views from the balconies are extended and pleasing." (Our Local Men of the Times, Fitzroy Library LH 32/15)
by MikeMoore on Jan. 15, 2019
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