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Australia House (Ottawa)
Australia House in Ottawa
Australia
House in Ottawa, Canada is the residence of the
Australian high commissioner to Canada. The house
is located at 407 Wilbrod St. in the Sandy Hill
neighbourhood of Ottawa, near to a number of other
embassies and residences. The house was built in
1910 by William Davis, and is believed to have been
designed by John W.H. Watts. Davis died under inauspicious
circumstances in 1916 and it lay vacant for several
years before being purchased by Colonel Cameron
Macpherson Edwards, who had earlier lived at 24
Sussex Drive. The Edwards left in 1937 and rented
the house to Germany to house the Consul General
Dr. Erich Windels. Despite a friendship that developed
between Windels and Canadian Prime Minister William
Lyon Mackenzie King, who lived nearby, Windels was
expelled from Canada upon the declaration of war
in September 1939.
In part because of the war, the Australian delegation
in Ottawa was looking for more spacious accommodations,
and the newly vacant building met these needs. In
1940 it became the residence of the high commissioner
and they bought the building from the Edwards soon
after. It has housed every high commissioner since
as well as visiting Australian dignitaries, including
any Australian Prime Ministers who visit Ottawa. From
1947 until 1953 the building was home to ex-prime
minister Francis Forde.