Littleton House, Bega

Littleton House (24 - 30 Bega Street, Bega) was constructed in 1875 by local builder John Malcolm (who also built the (Old) Bega Hospital) for Mr Thomas Rawlinson, a local solicitor who became Bega’s first Mayor in 1884 and was Member for Bega in the NSW Parliament in 1894-1895. He had engaged architects Cyril and Arthur Blacket (sons of Edmund T Blacket, who designed St John’s Church in Bega) to design a ‘gracious residence fit for a professional gentleman and his lady’. It is of a style common to the period.

The Sydney Deaconesses Institute of Nuns later purchased the property. In January 1902 it became Deaconess High School, a day and boarding school for girls. The school was run by Sister Katherine Nichols, Sister Edith and Sister Gregory from Melbourne.

An outbreak of diphtheria in 1907 took the life of two little girls and resulted in the closure of the school. It is believed that the ghost of one, Sarah, remains in the house.

In 1911, the house was purchased by members of St John’s Church but was subsequently transferred to the Church of England Property Trust. It then became the Church Rectory.

In 1947 Littleton House was sold to the Department of Education Hostel Association for use as a girl’s hostel for Bega High School students.

Improvements in transport eventually lessened the demand for hostel accommodation, so the Bega Historical Society made representations to acquire Littleton House as a Museum. These were unsuccessful, and in the 1960s, it became the property of the NSW Department of Technical Education and became a TAFE College. In 1990 it was sold and, once again, became a private residence.