Built c.1884. Located 6 Hobson Place, Plumpton. Also known as Lamb's House.
Photograph
from "Eastern Creek &
Land Settlers"
Walter Lamb was one of Blacktown's first entrepreneurs. He was born
1825, London, son of Commander John Lamb, who
settled in Sydney in 1829. After a number of successful commercial
ventures, Lamb had aquired by 1872 a large tract of land encompassing
what is now the area of Plumpton, Glendenning and Oakhurst. In 1884
Lamb began subdividing the land, selling lots on the proviso that the
new owners would establish orchards. By 1887 Lamb had established the
Woodstock Fruit Cannery and Processing
Works which employed 300 workers. By 1889 this had risen to 700 and the
area was officially named Plumpton after the greyhound and hare
racecourse he
established in the area in 1880. He was a one-time chairman of the
Commercial Banking Company and a member of the Sydney Legislative
Council. A series of insect plagues in the 1890's destroyed the
orchards, the cannery was forced to close and Lamb was declared
bankrupt. He died 1906. Nonetheless, he pioneered the development of
the area.
The actual date of construction of Woodstock
is uncertain, however it was been built before 1889, probably
around 1884. Whilst Lamb had several other homesteads built in the
area, Woodstock was
intended
as his
personal residence. In 1884 he subdivided his 404 hectare estate into
lots ranging from 3-12 hectares and put them on the market so residents
could buy them to plant fruits for his cannery.
Woodstock, erected on the top
of a hill providing views of the surrounding district,is a
large and unusual single storey timber building built around a central
courtyard with a terracotta pantile roof. There is a separately
roofed verandah on three sides supported by plain timber posts and
balustrades. A windmill (now gone) provided water. The homestead
consists of a lounge area, bedrooms, verandah, pavilion,
a courtyard with it's own well and a kitchen and workshop.
Some time after
Lamb's death in 1906 the homestead was converted into a club premises
for a nearby trotting club. Lamb would probably have rolled in his
grave - at one time he was a member of parliment and attempted to get
passed a bill to suppress gambling. In 1937 the homestead became a
boarding house, which function it continued until 1998 when it
was purchased by
Blacktown City Council, who have restored the building and now use it
as a child care adminstration centre.
The following reminiscence comes from the daughter of a previous owner:
My
Grandmother leased Fairholme from late 1939 to around 1945, running it
as a country retreat for wealthy Sydney residents – particularly those
who lived around the Eastern suburbs and who wished to be out of range
of any possible enemy attack. My parents met in 1941 and my Mother
lived at Fairholme while Dad was overseas on active service with the
Royal Australian Navy. Fairholme in those days was a very gracious
home, complete with summer house out in a courtyard. Beautiful rose
gardens up both sides of the drive way provided flowers for the
numerous silver vases that graced the long dining table – I have one of
those vases in our own home, and when I fill it with roses I sometimes
think of where it originally sat way back then.
At the end of 1945 my Grandmother
took up the lease of Woodstock and although I have no recollection of
that period. There was a very large swimming pool on the site and it
stuns me today to realize that it had no fence around it.
My parents lived there, along with
other members of Mum’s family, for quite some time and one of my Aunts
was married from the property. My Dad bought a block of land in Perkins
Street and after he finished building the house we moved from
Woodstock.
We lived in Perkins Street for a few
years and then my parents bought a large piece of land in Beaconsfield
Road and built another home where we lived until moving to yet another
house in Evans Road, directly opposite Fairholme, thus bringing thing
pretty much full circle. In the early 1970’s my folks moved out of the
area...
My best friend was a girl named Kate
Angus – her Grandfather bought the old Minchinbury property and Kate’s
family lived in a marvelous, rambling and rather grand old home in what
I think is now called Agnes Place. Her paternal Aunt, Frances, laid the
foundation stone for the Rooty Hill School of Arts, situated near the
railway station.
In simpler times, my cousins and I
used to visit the Station Master who would ask if we’d been well
behaved – if the answer was yes he let us pull the huge levers that
changed the points out on the tracks. He also let us open the swinging
gates when the train had passed through the level crossing that existed
then. Can you imagine anyone being allowed to do something like that
these days??
Another fond memory is my Dad taking
me with him to buy hay, bran and mash from McGarragher’s Produce store
which was situated almost adjacent to the railway station. Mr
McGarragher would sit us up on bales of hay and give us broken biscuits
in a cone of brown paper – since there was a good chance we’d get
seconds if were well behaved we were always on our best behaviour there.
Sources:
Mt Druitt Historical Society - Historical Sites of Mt Druitt Tour.
George Nicolaidis. 21/10/2000
"Eastern Creek & Land Settlers",
George Nicolaidis, 2000, Blacktown City Council (Pub) "Council to Lionise Pioneer Lamb", Blacktown City Sun, 3/9/2002
NSW Heritage Office Website, http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au
Personal Correspondence, Sharyn Wicks, Secretary, Blacktown & District Historical Society, 5/2/2006.
Personal Correspondence, Kim Straker, 27/6/2008
