The original owners of “Loughrea” at 705 Beaufort Street were Frederick “Fred” and Catherine “Kitty” (nee Kilmartin) Connaughton. They lived there from 1914 when the house was built with ownership in Kitty’s name, and the family owned it until 1959 when it was bought by Perth College.  

Fred Connaughton was born in Kilreekill (aka Kilrickle), Co. Galway, Ireland on 26 April 1867 and was the third eldest of 10 siblings. Kilreekill is approximately 8 kms northeast of Loughrea – the future name of his home at 705 Beaufort Street. At the age of 22, he came out to Australia on the passenger ship Croza (or Orona) leaving London for Melbourne by way of Colombo, King George’s Sound (Albany), Adelaide and Melbourne. He landed in Victoria on the 15th August 1890 but was attracted to Western Australia in 1895. Proceeding straight to the Murchison fields in that year he gained his initial experience in mining and prospecting, and taking over the proprietorship of the Meekatharra Hotel continued his keen interest in the development of the mineral wealth of the district.

Kitty was born on 12 February 1877 in County Clare, Ireland. Fred and Kitty met in Meekatharra where Kitty was working as a waitress at the Meekatharra Hotel. Fred and Kitty married on 17th April 1906 in Subiaco. They went on to have seven children. They owned and lived at the Meekatharra Hotel when the first four children were born, but in Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley, for the birth of their last three children. Three of the first four children were born in Perth so it looks like Kitty moved down for the final stages of the confinements. From 1926-27 Fred had a Buick plate number 763. By 1936 he had changed this to a Studebaker as he needed a big strong car to get him to Meekatharra to manage his investments and also to take two of his sons (presumably Fred and Paddy) who boarded at St Ildephonsus’ College, New Norcia. Kitty died on 6 July 1947 aged 68, whilst Fred died at his home on 3 May 1950 in Mt Lawley aged 83 after a long illness. He is buried at Karrakatta. A newspaper report for 3 July 1950 stated that his estate was left £24,544/2/9 and the chief beneficiaries were his seven children.

The seven children were:

1.         Ellen “Nell” Annie Connaughton. Born 24 August 1907, she married Joseph Gregory O’Halloran in Perth on 28 September 1936. They lived for many years at 35 Second Avenue, Mt Lawley, and had five children. Joseph died in 1960 and Nell in 1992.

2.         Kathleen Mary Connaughton. Born Subiaco 1909, she married Charles Henry Stirling “Harry” Carolan (1906-1982) in Perth in 1945 and they lived in Melbourne. They had one daughter. Charles was born in Kyabram, Victoria in 1906 and was a bank manager. He died 17 June 1982 in Claremont. Kathleen died in Mosman Park on 2 January 1997 aged 96.

3.         Mary Connaughton was born 23rd November 1910 in Mt Lawley, and listed as living at 705 Beaufort Street in 1943. During WWII she joined up on 27 November 1942 and was demobilised 17 April 1946. During this time she was a nursing sister with the rank of Lieutenant and also served in New Guinea. After the war she continued nursing and did not marry. In later years she lived with her unmarried brother Paddy at 73 Webster Street, Nedlands. She died in Bicton 1 June 2007 aged 96.

4.         Frederick “Fred” William Connaughton was born in Mt Lawley on 13 October 1912. From at least 1934 to 1936 he attended Newman College, Kooyong, Melbourne, as a student and was registered as a doctor in 1936. During WWII Major Frederick Connaughton served as a surgeon in the AIF from 30 January 1942 until 5 September 1946. He married Joan Gwendoline McCardel (b 8 June 1919) in Victoria in 1949 and they had 5 children. Between 1967 and 1980, Fred was living in Toorak, listed as physician with his wife Joan Gwendoline, home duties. He retired as senior surgeon of St Vincent’s hospital and died on 13th September 2002 aged 89 and is buried in Sorrento Cemetery Mornington Peninsula with his wife Victoria who died on 5th April 2015.

5.         Patrick “Paddy” Connaughton. Born on 10th March 1914, he attended St Ildephonsus College, New Norcia, as a boarder. He then studied law at the University of Western Australia. His passion though was medicine and he studied in Melbourne, but WWII interrupted his studies. He originally enlisted on 4 December 1941 in the medical corps where he served with 20th Field Ambulance and stated his trade as student of medicine. However, on 26 November 1942 he was discharged and enlisted in the RAAF the next day (giving his trade as solicitor). Here he was rejected to be a pilot on medical grounds but instead sailed to Canada arriving in May 1943 to commence training as a navigator. Upon his return to Perth, he resumed his law career with the Commonwealth Crown Solicitor’s Office. In the 1960s he lived in Webster Street, Nedlands with his sister Mary. They got on very well together and neither married. Patrick had a lifelong love for sport, and was a proud owner of six successful horses, including Kilrickle (birthplace of his father and winner of the 1970 Railway Stakes). He died on 9 October 1999 aged 85.

6.         Michael “Mick” Connaughton AM. Born on 22 January 1917, Mick was educated at Christian Brothers College in Adelaide Terrace. Entering UWA in 1935 he began studying pharmacy but graduated as a doctor after completing studies at the University of Melbourne in 1941. During WWII, Captain Connaughton served as a regimental medical officer in the AIF. Postwar, he specialised in gynaecology and obstetrics, practising at Melbourne’s Royal Women’s Hospital between 1947 and 1950, after which he spent time as a professorial assistant at University College Hospital, London. Mick met Helen Terese Godson, who was from Maroubra, NSW, in Melbourne and they married in London in 1951 and had five children. From 1952 until his retirement, Dr Connaughton practised at every major hospital in Perth, including Royal Perth, St Anne’s and St John of God. Over his long career, his proudest achievement was instigating the process which led to the founding of the Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which came into being in 1978. In 1988 he became a member of the Order of Australia for his services to medicine and community. Mick died of cancer on 31 May 2003 in West Perth aged 86 and his wife, Helen, passed away 24 June 2015 aged 94.

7.         William “Bill” Connaughton was born in Mt Lawley on 31 May 1920 and, like his brothers he was educated at Christian Brothers College, Perth and was a fine hockey player. He had a passion for motorbikes. In 1943 he is living at 705 Beaufort St and listed as a clerk. He married Patricia Mary Orr in 1952 in Perth. They lived for many years in Mount Pleasant and had five children. Bill was an accountant and a bank officer with the R&I Bank (now BankWest) and later became bursar at a UWA residential college. He died in Fremantle on 18 January 2001.