One thing leads to another: Mt Hesse Estate

In my previous post, I looked at Wormbete Station, and by extension, I uncovered quite a bit of information about another estate also owned by the Hopkins family - Murdeduke, however it is not really possible to look at the Murdeduke Estate without first considering the Mt Hesse Station which was originally established by squatting partners William Harding and John Highett (after whom the Geelong suburb of Highton is named) in 1837 and which incorporated the Murdeduke land. The original extent of the Mt Hesse Station taken up by Harding and Highett was some 45,700 acres which extended from the Barwon River above the Barwon Park holdings of the Austin family, west across the plains to Lake Weering and south of Lake Murdeduke.
Upon moving onto the property with his sister Elizabeth, Harding erected a small house in 1840. It was originally constructed as a two-roomed stone cottage and later, a stone skillion and a weatherboard section were added. William lived there with Elizabeth prior to her 1845 marriage to neighbouring squatter Thomas Austin of Barwon Park.


Original homestead 1975, J.T. Collins Collection,La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria.

Various other outbuildings were also erected over the years including stables and a 20 stand shearing shed which was erected by Harding in 1852.

The Mt Hesse Woolshed, image from onmydoorstep.com.au

In 1851 however, the original Mt Hesse Estate was divided in two with (I have read) Highett's part of the property passing to the Hopkins family at that time. Harding unfortunately had overstretched his finances and was forced to give up the lease so in 1853, the main part of the estate was taken up by local merchants William Timms (Snr) and John Wilson. Timms was at the time Geelong's largest wool exporter. Three years later in 1856, he bought out his partner, becoming the sole landholder. It was also around this time that the main Mt Hesse homestead was built for Timms to the design of architects Backhouse and Reynolds. This was later extended in 1873 for William Timms (Jnr) by Davidson and Henderson. At the same time, a gatehouse known as The Lodge was built near what was at the time, the main entrance to the property.

Timms however did not live long enough to enjoy his prosperity, dying in 1858, leaving his estate to be run by trustees until his sons were of an age to take over. During this time, there was a push by the government to break up the big squatting runs to allow smaller selectors on to the land. I described this process in my Woodbourne Creek post, but like that station, the Timms were faced with the division of "their" land. Like many others, they took up the pre-emptive right to which they were entitled then through a string of deals with family and friends were also able to purchase the majority of the land they had occupied and so keep the estate intact.

Mt Hesse homestead prior to 1941, image taken from the Victorian Heritage Database

In the end, the Mt Hesse Estate remained in the Timms family for only a few decades with the remainder of the original land divided into three properties (Mountside, Eurack and the homestead section - still known as Mt Hesse) which were run by William Timms Senior's three sons - John, William (Jnr) and Robert.

However, by 1882 the Timms brothers had also run into financial difficulties and, the whole of the estate was put on the market. William Jnr's Mt Hesse section of the estate comprising 15,707 acres was sold to James Kinninmonth and remained in the Kinninmonth family until 2002. By this time, the property was reduced to 8,772 acres as much of the remaining Mt Hesse land had been reclaimed by the Soldier Settlement Commission in 1956 for resale as soldier settlement blocks. In 2002 then, the property was sold to the German based  Südwolle Group who are the current owners. David Kinninmonth remained as manager after the sale.

In 1941, the Mt Hesse homestead was severely damaged by fire, however it was rebuilt in 1947 in part from original materials.

The above sketch map taken from the Victorian Heritage Database shows the
buildings on the Mt Hesse Estate. B1 = house built by Harding, B2 = stables,
B4 = woolshed , B5 = main homestead

Of the remaining portions of the estate, John Timms held the Mountside section and Robert held Eurack. In 1876 a bluestone homestead was built on Mountside for John in a style described as Victorian Picturesque Gothic and consisting of 15 main rooms. It was designed by the western district architect Alexander Hamilton. The 1882 sale however saw Mountside pass into the hands of Walter Tully who ran the estate until 1900. At this point, Mountside was sold to Peter McIntyre, owner of Murdeduke thus (for a time at least) bringing two parts of the original estate back together. McIntyre purchased the estate for his son Charles Duncan McIntyre who married Margaret (Maggie) Fairbairn Armytage that same year. The couple raised two sons and two daughters. Charles died in 1932 and Maggie some decades later in 1964 but the family retained ownership of the property until 1971. At this time the estate was advertised for sale by auction by the executors of the late Charles Duncan McIntyre in three sections comprising a total of 7,501 acres.
Some years later - see comment below - Mountside was again placed on the market. In 1984 it passed back to the McIntyre family when Peter - son of Hector and grandson of Charles - purchased the homestead and the adjoining 2,500 acres of land. Today, Peter continues to run the property along with his son Alistair and Alistair's family including his son who will also one day work the property as his ancestors have done.

Mountside homestead 1970, .T. Collins Collection,La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria.

Meanwhile, a third homestead was built on the Eurack part of the estate for youngest son Robert. Like the other houses, it was a bluestone structure and the grounds also included the expected outbuildings and garden.
Then, in 1882 when Mt Hesse and Mountside were sold, so too was the 8,231 acre Eurack Estate which was purchased by A M Edward. His tenure however was short-lived as the property was next purchased by Robert Chirnside during the 1880s. He in turn on-sold the property. Having left for a stint in England and Europe by late 1886, he put the property up for auction with the intention of subdividing the estate into smaller farms which would then be sold individually. The following year, the estate of roughly 6,000 acres was offered for sale in lots varying from 30 to 1095 acres in size. The largest portion including the bluestone homestead, manager's house, woolshed, stables and a substantial garden was to be sold with 1905 acres of the land.

Eurack homestead, image held by the Department of the Environment

However, it would seem that his plans did not go ahead, as the government stepped in during 1901, purchasing Eurack whole in order to provide land for smaller farmers as part of a closer settlement policy which would eventually develop into the Soldier Settlement Commission following the Second World War.
Over the years, Eurack House has passed through various hands and today is owned by the Ingram family.

Wormbete Estate

After looking at Wormbete Creek and the associated Wensley Brae coal mine, I thought it might be time to add to the list of squatting runs I've looked at for this blog by seeing what I could discover about the history of Wormbete Station.
As European settlement stretched out beyond the shores of Port Phillip Bay in the late 1830s, large squatting runs were taken up, often along the region's watercourses. Many runs were selected along the Barwon River and its tributaries, including Wormbete Station which was first established as a sheep run by Henry Hopkin who it is believed took the word from a local indigenous term meaning "lake with a black fellow's mound".

Henry Hopkins c1860s, Image held by the
Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts

Hopkins was a business man and wool buyer, born in Deptford, Kent, England in 1787 who had migrated to Tasmania in 1822 with his wife (also his first cousin) Sarah Rout where he was responsible for that colony's first wool exports in that same year. Over the following years, he continued to prosper, travelling to the Port Phillip District from Tasmania in 1836 before returning to Tasmania to buy Merino sheep which he then sent to stock his newly-acquired Wormbete run.
Despite his pastoral interests on the mainland, Henry spent little if any time there. In 1840 he travelled with his entire family to England where they stayed until 1842 before returning to Tasmania. By 1845 it appears that Hopkins had retired from most forms of business, spending the remainder of his life in Tasmania, leaving his second son John Rout Hopkins to take over his Victorian interest.

John Rout Hopkins c1890, Image held by the State Library of Victoria

Having served his apprenticeship as it were, learning the wool trade in Tasmania John was well-positioned to step into his father's shoes. He arrived in the Port Phillip District in 1845 and spent a period of time as manager - as far as I can tell - of St Stephen's Station, the licence for which was held at that time by John Stephens.
In August, 1851 Henry formally transferred Warmbete Station to John, at which point it was estimated at 31,000 acres and capable of carrying 3,000 head of sheep. The bluestone homestead which still stands today had been erected in the 1840s, with other outbuildings added in the two decades following. The Victorian Heritage Database notes that the property is laid out as a farm court, a formal style typical of the early years of settlement in New South Wales and Tasmania and English in style. The building's north-facing aspect is considered unusual for the period as are other features of its construction.


Wormbete homestead 1985, image copyright held by the Department of the Environment

John made a success of his pastoral activities. During the 1850s he acquired the pre-emptive right to 1,000 acres of Wormbete land as well as 640 acres of the neighbouring St Stephen's Estate to which he also took up the lease in 1857. Later he also acquired the lease to River Station which adjoined Wormbete and St Stephen's to the north west.

Out building at Wormbete Estate 1970, image from the J.T. Collins Collection,
La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria

In addition to his pastoral pursuits, John was closely involved with his local community. An active sportsman and supporter of his church, he spent many years as a councillor with the Winchelsea Shire (and its predecessor the Winchelsea Roads Board), serving several terms as shire president as well as becoming the first shire president of Barrabool Shire. In addition to local politics, John was also a member of the Victorian parliament, holding the seat of South Grant in the legislative assembly (lower house) from 1864-1867 and then again from 1871-1877. In 1892 he was elected to the lower house seat of Geelong, also taking up the position of mayor of the town in the same year.
John married three times during his life but his first - and longest marriage - was to Eliza Ann Armytage, the daughter of his squatting neighbour George Armytage from Ingleby Estate to the south west of Wormbete. The couple were married in 1850 and before Eliza's death in 1885 raised a family of seven daughters and six sons at Wormbete.
John died on 20th December, 1897 and was interred the following day at Geelong's Eastern Cemetery with his first wife Eliza, two of their young children and a number of her relatives in the Armytage family mausoleum.


The Armytage family mausoleum, Eastern Cemetery, Geelong

Neighbours in life and death. The Austin family vault (back left) and the
Armytage family mausoleum at Geelong's Eastern Cemetery

Upon his death, Wormbete passed to his eldest son Walter who married Margaret Were, grand daughter of Victoria's longest-standing businessman Jonathan Binns Were in 1904. The couple raised the next generation of the Hopkins family on the estate, however life however was not always rosy. In 1896 Walter was declared insolvent due to a fall in cattle prices in Queensland and his inability to get a release from a mortgage held on the property. In 1901 a small bushfire broke out on the property, burning 100 acres of pasture land and some fencing.

The property and the Hopkins family however survived. Walter died in 1944 and is buried at the Winchelsea Cemetery. Following his death, the property was divided between his sons Henry - who retained Wormbete - and John whose portion of the estate was named Burong Station.

The end of an era came for Wormbete during the 1980s when the property was put on the market. The purchaser was millionaire businessman Alan Bond, however the property was soon returned to the ownership of the Hopkins family, only to be sold once again in 1997. The current owners of Wormbete are the Blakely family who run sheep, cattle and thoroughbred horses on the property.

The property is often host to a variety of community events including the Barwon Hunt Club who hosted children's day at Wormbete in 2014 whilst in a rather modern twist, Wormbete Station featured on a 2014 episode of Channel Ten's MasterChef with the contestants competing in a challenge.

*The name JW Rout later appeared listed as property manager of Wormbete Station in 1867 when he gave evidence before a parliamentary select committee, inquiring into the best route for the proposed train line from Geelong to Colac. History indicates that the "Black Line" - supported by Mr Rout and very  favourably aligned to service Wormbete Station, was eventually chosen. In fact, an 18km Wensleydale branch line with four stations (including Wormbete) was eventually opened in 1890 to further service the area.

A Right Royal River

In view of all the attention given to the recent Diamond Jubilee celebrations marking the 60th year of Queen Elizabeth's reign, I thought it might be interesting to see what - if any - connection the British royal family might have had to the Barwon River since the advent of white settlement.

In keeping with the prevalent attitudes of the 19th century, several structures built along the river through Geelong at that time were named for members of the royal family.  My Building Bridges post looked at some of them, such as Princes Bridge (originally the Prince Albert Bridge) which was built in 1861 and named for the the consort of that other English monarch to reach her Diamond Jubilee - Queen Victoria.

The original Prince Albert Bridge built in 1861, reproduction rights held by
the State Library of Victoria

Second Prince Albert Bridge built 1889. This photo taken 1937, reproduction
rights owned by the State Library of Victoria

The current Princes Bridge built in 1965. The second bridge would have been
located in the foreground of the picture

Likewise, Queen's Park and the bridge across the river at that point were named for Queen Victoria. Perhaps not surprisingly, the naming of both bridges caused local controversy, as a new breed of colonials took on the royalists of the day. Again, this was the topic of a previous post: What's in a Name.
Okay, so Geelong's monarchists liked to honour the royals by naming public structures after them, but until 1867 none of them had actually set foot on Australian soil, let alone seen the Barwon River. This changed on 3rd December, 1867 when Queen Victoria's second son Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh  arrived in Winchelsea where he laid the final stone in the newly built bridge across the river.

Commemorative stone in the Barwon River Bridge at Winchelsea

Ironically, whilst other bridges along the river pay tribute to English royalty, this one bridge which had the distinction of being opened by a member of the royal family is known simply as the Barwon River Bridge.

Barwon River Bridge, Winchelsea

Barwon River Bridge, Winchelsea

As part of his visit to the district, the prince also visited Thomas Austin at Barwon Park where he participated in rabbit shoots on the banks of the Barwon. So successful were they that the hundreds of rabbits bagged were distributed amongst the local populace who referred to the bounty as "rabbit royale".
Two years later on a return trip in 1869, the prince once again visited the Austins. It was as a result of these royal visits that the present day Barwon Park mansion was built in 1871, as the Austins felt that the structure which existed previously was not suitably grand enough for such esteemed company as princes.

 A photograph of HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of
Edinburgh, c1868 held by the National Library
of Australia

Although there have been other royal visits to Geelong - the Duke and Duchess of York visited Geelong in 1927 and Queen Elizabeth II passed through during her 1954 tour of the country - I can see little indication that a member of the British royal family has graced the banks of the Barwon with their presence since that visit by the Duke of Edinburgh 145 years ago.
One possible exception however, was the visit of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (uncle of Queen Elizabeth II) who was pictured with a group standing in front of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Woollen Mill at the bottom end of Pakington Street (current photos shown here) during a visit in 1934.
Another royal connection to the Barwon - albeit a tenuous one - occurred during the Queen's 1988 visit to Australia. On this occasion, Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia was escorted in Australian waters by the frigate HMAS Canberra. The Canberra was decommissioned in 2005 and then in October, 2009, watched by several hundred interested locals (myself included), she was towed to a point off Barwon Heads and - after several hour's delay - scuttled. She is now used as a dive wreck.

The HMAS Canberra being towed to waters off Barwon Heads prior to its
being scuttled

So much for English monarchs! On  a final note, as I researched this post, I discovered that the Barwon has its own royalty. Each year, the Ocean Grove Angling Club bestows upon its best angler the title of King or Queen of the Barwon. According to the club website, the current reigning monarch has achieved this elevated status on at least three other occasions.