foundered in 1820 and was a hardware and general merchandise store in George Street. Two years later he married his cousin, Charlotte Hannah Iredale. The couple had four sons and two daughters. Over the next ten years Lassetter worked to develop the firm and in 1863 it was renamed F. Lasseter and Co. which was later to become one of the biggest department stores in Sydney employing over 1000 workers. In 1897 he built a house next to Redleaf called St Brigids for his son, Arthur Bowring Lassetter (1868-1935) and his new wife, Mabel Annie Slater (1865-1941). The couple had been married the previous year. Arthur was a lawyer who had been educated at Cambridge University. Lassetter (senior) died in 1911 and Redleaf was sold in 1913 to Thomas Storie Dixon (1886-1916). However Thomas died three years later in France during the War. The house was again sold and bought by William Hooke Mackay. William Hooke Mackay William Hooke Mackay (1858-1939) was born in 1858 in Dungog. His father was John Kenneth Mackay (1828-1909), a wealthy pastoralist who owned the station Cangon near Dungog. Mackay (junior) also became a grazier and lived on the property Anambah, near Maitland. He bred racing horses and owned a famous winner called Beauford. In 1885 he married Adelaide Ann Hooke (1865-1922) who was his cousin. The couple had seven children – four sons and three daughters. All of their four sons volunteered for service during World War I and returned home to pursue pastoral pursuits. Mackay amassed considerable wealth and bought Redleaf at the age of 60 as a place of retirement. He died there at the age of 81 in 1939 and the house was bought by Woollahra Council. For the first five years they rented the property to Mrs Annie Hall who turned it into a venue for weddings, parties and other events. It later became the Council Chambers and still serves this function today. Gallery See also Australian residential architectural styles References External links Houses in Double Bay, New South Wales Government buildings in Sydney Houses completed in 1863 1863 establishments in Australia New South Wales Heritage Database Italianate architecture in Sydney Municipality of Woollahra