family had moved into Shubra Hall by June 1884. The Australian Town and Country Journal published an illustrated feature article in which Shubra Hall was depicted with the following description: Coghlan was an active member of the Croydon community. In May 1886 he attended a large public meeting of residents and property-holders to demand the Government provide better station accommodation, formation of a goods siding and purchase of a public park at Croydon. He was elected to the executive committee which was formed at this meeting. In the same year a notice appeared reporting the birth of a daughter to Mrs J. Coghlan of Shubra Hall, Croydon. Coghlan experienced severe financial stress in 1889, on the eve of the 1890s depression, and was unable to sustain the mortgage payments on Shubra Hall. Coghlan and family moved to Glebe Point where he died in July 1896 aged 61, leaving behind a widow and seven children. The auction sale of Shubra Hall was advertised on 3 September 1889, and it sold to John Hay Goodlet, Alexander Dean and James Balfour Elphinstone, guarantors of the Presbyterian Church in New South Wales, for the reported sum of £7,500. Presbyterian Ladies' College and Shubra Hall In 1883 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in New South Wales resolved to locate a site, obtain funds and establish a Ladies' College in New South Wales. In 1887 several gentlemen from the Presbyterian Church signed a lease on a gentleman's residence at Ashfield, "Femlea", commencing on 7 January 1888. The General Assembly appointed Dr John Marden principal of the College and he and his family took up temporary residence there while seeking a permanent site for the school. Within the first month there were 30 students enrolled in the Presbyterian Ladies College (PLC), of which 15 were boarders. By year's end student numbers had increased rapidly and accommodation for boarders was stretched. The church continued looking for permanent accommodation for the school. About this time Shubra Hall at Croydon was advertised for sale, and was duly purchased at auction by Church representatives, Goodlet, Dean and Elphinstone. Following the acquisition, a committee was formed in November to decide upon the requirements for additional school buildings needed on the site and select an architect. Documentation confirms that Albert Bond was appointed architect for the extension (even if it cannot be confirmed that he was the original architect of Shubra