Human occupation of Victoria started 40-60,000 years ago with the arrival of the Aborigines.
1220 to 1799: Scottish Origins
1220-1298 Thomas the Rhymer (Sir Thomas de Ercildoun) harks back to the 13th century and was one of the Livingstone-Learmonth family’s most famous ancestors.
1765 Elector of Saxony. The Scottish born Eliza Forlonge buys for sheep and sends them to Tasmania.
1770 Captain James Cook, son of a Scottish farmhand and an English Mum, discovers Australia’s east coast and claims it for England. A diet of watercress, sauerkraut and orange extract helped alleviated the dreaded scurvy.
1771 Sir Walter Scott, famous poet, playwright and historical novelist, was born in Edinburgh.
1787 May. The First Fleet sailed from Portsmouth, England and consisted of 11 ships. It took 252 days to reach Australia after 252 days at sea with 1044 passengers.
1788 January. About 70 native sheep suitable only for mutton survived the journey to Australia with the First Fleet. A penal colony is founded in Sydney by Captain Arthur Phillip. Convict transportation from Britain commences.
1792 Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, famous Australian explorer born.
1797 Governor King, Colonel Waterhouse, Captain Waterhouse and Kent purchased sheep in Cape Town from the widow of Colonel Gordon, commander of the Dutch garrison and when Waterhouse landed in Sydney, he sold his sheep to Captain John MacArthur, Samuel Marsden and Captain William Cox.
19th century – Britain became the world’s first industrial society and the first urban society and by 1851, more than half of the population lived in towns. In 1801 the population was 9 million, and in 1901 it had risen to 15 million. About 15 million left Britain between 1815 and 1914, many to escape poverty.
1800 to 1834: Colonies and Explorers
1800 ‘Napoleon’ sends Nicolas Baudin, French explorer, to lead a team of scientists in an attempt to claim the west part of “New Holland”. England responds in 1801 by sending Flinders to circumnavigate “New Holland”. Baudin encounters Flinders in ‘Encounter Bay’, South Australia.
1801 Matthew Flinders circumnavigates Australia anti-clockwise in a leaky ship and loses men before reaching Port Jackson again and on returning to Europe, is shipwrecked and has to row 600 miles back to Port Jackson.
1802 May. HMS Lady Nelson commanded by John Murray are the first Britons to sail into Port Phillip Bay.
1804 Captain Macarthur buys sheep from King George III’s flock, Hampton Court.
1807 Rev. Samuel Marsden takes a keg of wool to England and wears a suit made from it to visit King George III.
1807 Thomas Livingstone Learmonth re-marries a cousin of his first wife also named Christian Donald. His first marriage was in 1803 but his wife died 4 years later.
1809 First postal service organized, but mail is collected from informal distribution points. The first postmaster was an ex-convict who advertised in the newspaper what letters and parcels received.
1820’s Whaling and sealing activity is thriving along the coast. The Scottish Economic Recession.
Late 1820’s British people are trekking overland from New South Wales into Victoria.
1823 The first sheep show was held in Australia. A gold medaly was awarded to W. Riley for importing the most Saxons. He also imported Cashmere goats into Australia.
1824 Brisbane founded.
1826 England claims all of “New Holland” and calls it Australia at Matthew Flinder’s suggestion.
1829 Captain Charles Swanston (born in the Scottish border region) arrives in Hobart Town with his wife and young family. Two of his sons joined the Indian army retiring as Major Generals. A major thoroughfare in Melbourne that is the world’s busiest tram corridor is named after him. Perth is also founded in 1829.
1830 Australia’s population is 70,039.
1830’s Thomas Learmonth Senior arrives in Tasmania from Calcutta, India.
1834 The Henty family establish themselves in Portland Victoria.
1835 to 1850: Settlement and the Ercildoune Run
1835-36 Thomas Mitchell explores the SW region of NSW and travels south into Victoria.
1835 May. Whilst John Batman was sailing over in the schooner Rebecca, Thomas Learmonth Senior is listed as a merchant in Hobart Town.
1835 June. Melbourne founded when Batman went up the Yarra River and noted in his journal “this is the place for a village”.
1835 18th June – Four of Thomas Learmonth Senior’s sons namely Dr. John, Thomas, Somerville, Andrew, and two of his daughters, Margaret and Christian Ann Learmonth, depart Leith Scotland.
1835 October – The Learmonth’s voyage from Leith sails into Hobart Town, Tasmania.
1836 Adelaide founded. South Australian Company begins wool growing and employs German women immigrants as shearers.
1837 John Deere invented a steel plough.
1837 January. Dr. John Learmonth marries Anna Macwhirter, second daughter of the late President of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh.
1837 April. Thomas and Somerville ship over 2,000 of their ewes from Tasmannia and land at Corio and drive the flock 20 miles to the head of the Barwon River.
1837 May. The Learmonth brothers now occupy Weatherboard and Native Creek.
1837 August. Expedition that included Thomas Learmonth from Geelong to Mount Buninyong where the Learmonth’s first property was established (originally 12,838 acres).
1837 September. Expedition to check out Lake Corangamite as Corio was becoming too crowded.
1838 January. Expedition that included Thomas and Somerville Learmonth where their future property called Ercildoune was established (73,312 acres). Starting at John Aitken’s property near Gisborne, they proceeded to Mt. Alexander (Castlemaine), across the Loddon River country to around Clunes, then south via Mt. Misery to the northern shore of Lake Burrumbeet, then back to Moorabool bia the Buninyong ranges.
1838 February. The brothers occupy Buninyong (No. 165) and Burrumbeet (No. 166) in the Leases of Crown Lands beyond the settled districts, Portland Bay District.
1838 April. Shepherd and hut-keeper Terence McManus, one of the Learmonth’s employees, is murdered 6 miles from the Home station in a place that is now known as Murdering Valley.
1838 August. The Learmonth’s take a trip to Van Diemen’s Land.
Major Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, (1792-1855), An Explorer Born in Stirlingshire Scotland, 1839 Stated –
“I have at length discovered a country ready for the immediate reception of civilised man, and fit to become eventually one of the great nations of the earth. a land unencumbered with too much wood yet possessing enough for all purposes; with an exuberant soil under a temperate climate; banded eventually by the sea, coast and mighty rivers, and watered abundantly by streams from lofty mountains”.
1839 Terrible drought conditions for the next few years. In Spring the Learmonth’s engage Robert Hamilton as their overseer at Burrumbeet.
1839 Purchased the Maiden Hills property that later became known as Mount Mitchell Station.
1839 Charles and Alexander Wilson arrived in Sydney from Ireland with 1000 pounds which they invested at 10 percent interest. John Wilson, who ended up owning Trawalla, joined them in 1841 and Samuel Wilson, the second owner of Ercildoune, arrived in 1852, and was financed by Charles and John to purchase Longerenong (32,000 acres) near Horsham.
1840 The Learmonth’s build a flour mill at their Buninyong property. In 1841 it is noted as being a 2 storey building and using a 4 horse team.
1840 Sheep scab breaks out. They had considerable trouble stopping people moving their infected flocks through their land.
1841 One immigrant ship per week arrives in Port Phillip. The brothers get permission via the Colonial Secretary’s Office to bring in 10 married couples including a carpenter and hiw wife, under the Bounty Immigrants Scheme.
1841 February. They start building a cottage at Geelong.
1841 May. Foundation for the mill being built. First flower processed 5th May.
1841 September. The emigrants arrive to work for the Learmonth brothers. They now employed 35 men and 4 women. Inventory of stock: 13,000 sheep, 325 cattle, 16 horses on their 50,000 acres.
1841 Elizabeth Learmonth, the eldest daughter, marries Captain Arthur Cotton of the Madras Engineers at her father’s house in Green Ponds, Tasmania. He later becomes General Sir Arthur Cotton and lives to a ripe old age of 96.
1842 Advertisement for Bullocks for sale at the Learmonth’s Geelong and Boninyong properties.
1843 May. Thomas Learmonth Senior’s second wife Christian dies at Green Ponds, Tasmania, aged 56.
1843 September. James Robertson, son of their Burrumbeet overseer, is now engaged as overseer for the Run.
1843-45 Australia experiences its first major depression. Thomas and Somerville described these 3 years as reaching the depth of adversity in their 1851 travel diary.
1845-49 The Irish potato famine causes many people to immigrate.
1845 Thomas appointed a Magistrate at Buninyong.
1846 Potato Blight reached the Scottish Highlands. Landlords, charities and government agencies provided “assisted passages” for destitute tenants to emigrate to Canada and Australia and 16,000 took up the offer.
1845-48 Irish immigration to Australia accelerates after the Irish famine.
1847 Earl Gray signs paper abolishing the convict system in NSW. Squatters finally obtained rights to tenure of their Crown leases which gave them a degree of stability. In the Port Phillip District, the time of the splendid Western Plains homestead began.
1848 The brothers obtain their first purebred Merinos from (Sir) William Mitchell of Barfold Station, Kyneton.
1848 The first wool auction in Melbourne was conducted by Richard Goldsborough.
1848 According to Hugh Anderson in The Flowers of the Field – A History of Ripon Shire – Bishop Perry drove through the district and found the church ‘shut out through her own sloth and luke-warmness.’ He preached on his occasion in the wooldshed at Ercildoun. No matter what their persuasion, ministers of religion were welcomed to the brothers homestead.
1849 February. 45,000 acres of Ercildoune is now licensed in the names of John, Thomas and Somerville.
1849 Purchase of a Saxon ram.
By 1850, Australian settlement had evolved from a convict prison to an agricultural exporting colony, specializing chiefly in wool. Most squatters were considered to have little or no experience, or even interest in sheep husbandy and were in effect exploiting the colonoies’ pastures in order to make a fortune for a future life back “home” in Britain. Wages were 13/-d per 100 sheep for shearers, 12/-d to 15/-d for sheep washers, 1/9/- for wool sorters, 1/- for pressers per bale and 12/-d for bullock drivers and cooks. In Victoria, wheat prices were high, and labour scarce, and new portable, steampowered threshing machines were imported from the UK by a few of the more affluent farmers. These were hired out for others to use. Mowing and reaping machines had also been introduced, although more slowly. But as the wheat growing delined, the interest in complex and costly machines also declined, and the cheaper, horse-driven threshing machine was generally favoured for harvesting grain.
1850 Melbourne became the 3rd busiest port in the world due to the amount of wool being shipped to Britain as the Port Phillip District was about to become a colony in its own right. Although Australia’s wool exports had surpassed Germany’s by 4½ times, wool lost its No. 1 position to gold for 20 years.
1850 Andrew Learmonth returns to Australia having served with his Uncle John’s eldest son in India for 5 years.
1851 to 1872: Gold and the Learmonth Heyday
1851 They purchase merino rams from Captain John Macarthur’s second stud flock at Camden, New South Wales. Macarthur is listed at no. 12 on the All-time Richest Australians List with 7.54 billion dollars (=1.047% of GDP).
1851 February. Black Thursday bushfires wipe out ¼ of Victoria. Advertise their Buninyong Homestead and freehold for sale but it doesn’t sell straight away.
1851 May. Thomas and Somerville sail for Britain after a 16 year absence.
1851 July. The colony of Victoria is founded. Andrew Learmonth writes to Governor Latrobe about buying Buninyong land.
1851 August. Gold is discovered in the area by Thomas Hiscock near what is now the Buninyong cemetery area. He was struck down by a cold and died in 1855, aged 43.
1851 September. Major Thomas Mitchell fought the last known Australian duel in Centennial Park, Sydney, over a property called ‘Tenterfield Station’, a crown grant that was given to Sir Stuart Donaldson. As Surveyor-General, Mitchell had gazetted a town to be built on part of Donaldson’s property, so the enraged Donaldson challenged him to a duel where 3 shots were fired, the last one blowing Donaldson’s hat off. He was not injured and wnet on to become the first Premier of New South Wales.
1851-54 During these 3 years, 270,000 gold-seekers flood into Victoria. Squatters lose shepherds but start erecting fences to contain their sheep.
1852 Andrew’s letter to The Colonial Secretary about the present homestation site being unsuitable and that the homestead was not yet started at Ercildoune.
1852 The second owner, Samuel Wilson, emigrates to Australia.
1853 Cobb and Co. Coaches start up their transport business using American made “passenger wagons” due to the increased number of people travelling to and from the goldfields, and their first run was to Bendigo.
1854 Homestead and stables are built at Ercildoune – black and white picture.
1854 May. The first Acclimatisation society was founded in Paris. The Acclimatisation Society of Victoria was established in 1861.
1854 December. The Eureka Stockade rebellion is regarded as a pivotal moment in the development of Australian democracy.
1855 The Learmonth brothers purchase 1160 acres of their Buninyong Lease. They sell it to the Buninyong Mining Company for 20,000 pounds in 1858, by which time the Scotchman’s Lead was well known within the property and 3.5 tons of gold had been extracted with the amount remaining estimated to be ‘something enormous’ while the quartz reefs had scarcely been touched. It was subdivided into 52 allotments and advertised for sale, but the auction did not attract any mining speculators and in 1887 the property reverted to pastoral and farming use.
1855 March. Ercildoune held up by two bushrangers who are captured but then escape. Shots fired.
1856 John Fowler invented a steam plough.
1856 December. Thomas marries Major General Valiant’s daughter Louisa.
1856 Seamail – Letters now arrive via steamships on a monthly basis from the United Kingdom.
1856 Samuel Wilson joins Wilson Brothers (Charles and Alexander) who already have pastoral interests in Victoria. The brothers had accrued 650,000 acres by 1859.
1857 Buninyong Gold Mining Company begin operations on 57 hectares of their Buninyong run. Gold was mined from 1858 onwards and subsequently several leads were found to converge on the Estate. Eight shafts were sunk and hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of gold were obtained. (An Illustrated History of Buninyong – page 11)
1857 A Saxon ram is purchased from Stanley Carr.
1857 Andrew Learmonth says that a bushfire is now at the Peak of Ercildoune.
1857 December. Inquest held at Ercildoun on the body of William Douglass who died whilst breaking in horses for Mr. Learmonth. He was about to mount the horse when it reared and having the bridle reins in his hand, pulled the horse back on himself, his head and face striking the ground and the withers of the horse coming right on his chest.
1858 February. Thomas and Louisa’s first daughter died aged 15 days and is buried in the Ercildoun Cemetery.
1858 March. The Learmonth’s purchased 20,973 acres and are leasing 26,000 acres.
1858 October. Theft of some Learmonth cattle at Black Hill near Lake Burrumbeet. Reward offered for information…
1859 January. Thomas and Louisa have a daughter, Louisa Harriet.
1859 October. Tenders required (labor only) for “additions and improvements upon Ercildoune House for Thomas Learmonth, Esq.”
1859 Even though rabbits were brought here by The First Fleet in 1788, Thomas Austin realeased 24 at his property called Barwon Park, Winchelsea, to remind him of England and for sport stating that “The introduction of a few rabbits could do no little harm….”. The initial two dozen bred like mad and in 1867 The Field reported a kill near Barwon Park of over 14,000 rabbits, all descendants of the first two dozen. Ironically Austin was awarded a medal by The Acclimatisation Society for his successful introduction of the rabbit to Australia.
1859 The first Ragged School was opened in Collingwood to cater for the growing number of destitute and neglected children, unable to afford an education. ‘If left uncared for, they would inevitably grow up to be pests and outcasts of society.’ By 1863, the Hornbrook Ragged School Association had established 10 schools in Melbourne, and other charities followed its lead. Volunteers and teachers were nearly all women.
1860 March. Thomas and Louisa Learmonth have a son Thomas (jnr).
1860 August. The ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition is undertaken.
1860 September. Somerville marries Maria Reid in Paddington, England. Her father Lestock Reid was with the Bombay Civil Service.
1861 April. Thomas and Louisa have their second son, Walter.
1861 June. The fire bugs are back, this time lighting up some haystacks this time.
1861 The brothers purchase two Mona Vale rams and 100 ewes.
1861 Gold Mining is carried out on a parcel of the Learmonth’s Buninyong land.
1861 November. Somerville and Maria’s first son born, Somerville Reid Livingstone Learmonth.
1862 February. More fat cattle stolen and another reward of fifty pounds offered for any information that would lead to the conviction of the offenders.
1862 June. Thomas and Louisa have their third son, Frederick Valiant Cotton.
1862 The Leader 15 July 1905 reported that “Longerenong mansion is, even for the present day an ambitious architectural effort, but when first built in 1862 it was one of the wonders of all the northern country beyond Stawell”. Sir Samuel Wilson had acquired the least in 1856. In 1875 it was purchased by Mr. W. H. Bulivant.
1863 The Learmonths purchase Egerton Gold Mine for 7,000 pounds – 10 years of ownership before the famous Court Case is brought against the purchasers and William Bailey, who arranged the sale, and was later accused of fraud and collusion.
1863 February. An English saddle and bridle stolen from Ercildoune.
1863 August. Thomas and Louisa have their third daughter, Bertha Christian.
1863 September. Somerville and Maria’s first daughter is born, Katherine Reid Livingstone Learmonth.
1864 February. Wood’s Point Quartz Mine – Andrew listed as shareholder.
1864 August. Fencing and roads – problems arising.
1864 October. For the first time in years, they don’t exhibit any animals in the Ballarat Show.
1865 February. Purchase of the properties Groongal and Bringagee (310,000 acres) in New South Wales. George Mair, Manager.
1865 March. Somerville and Maria’s second daughter born, Alice Julia Reid Livingstone Learmonth. Bullock drivers leave logs burning that causes terrible fire that kill 1,000 of the Ercildoune sheep.
1865 December. Thomas nominated for the next General Election.
1865 Prisons Act = ‘hard bed, board and labour.’
1866 T. Millier Edgerley of Willaura in Victoria invents the shearing table.
1866 June. Request for 12 angora goats from the Ballarat Ag. And Pastoral Society to the Acclimatisation Society so that they could be bred by Mr. Learmonth at Ercildoune. They acknowledged that Mr Learmonth was an eminent breeder, but the request was denied until herd numbers reached at least 200.
1866 October. The dog nuisance. Many accounts of dogs running wild and attacking sheep and lambs in the district.
1866 December. The Learmonth’s head to Queenscliff New Year’s Eve.
1867 February. A neighbor sets fire to stubble on his land that escapes and burns 1000 acres of Ercildoune Land.
1867 March. Thomas and Louisa have their fourth son, Basil Lockhart.
1867 July. Thomas Learmonth purchases Nyang 330 acres in the Murrumbidgee District, a pre-emptive purchase.
1867 August. Talk of the Duke of Edinburgh visiting Ballarat and possibly Ercildoune. Groongal or Bringagee station held up by bushrangers – possibly “Blue Cap” and “Jack the Devil”.
1867 November. Thomas addresses the Duke of Edinburgh at The National Show but the weather was unpropitious with insufferable heat and dust. The preparations made for his reception were of a most meagre character….including a rude platform covered with a sail cloth wholly devoid of decoration….
1867 A bale of wool sent by the Learmonth’s to London was judged to be “absolute perfection”…..brought about by approximately 30 years of selective breeding and washing of the wool in a sheepwash designed by Thomas.
1868 Convict transporation to Australia ends after 160,000 were sent to Australia most never to return to England after the terms of imprisonment was over.
1868 February. Somerville and Maria’s second son born, Commander Cecil James Reid Livingstone Learmonth. He ends up gaining the rank of Commander in the Royal Navy and Captain in the Manchester regiment. He fought in the Benin River Expedition, the Boer War and the first World War.
1868 March 2nd. James Higham, a compositor from Melbourne patents a shearing machine.
1868 The Ballarat Star 27 March gives details of the Indignation Meeting at Buninyong that was held beause of the murderous attack on Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh in Sydney by a one-time Ballarat resident of Irish extraction, who invested in quite a few properties on Soldier’s Hill until his luck changed. He aparently stayed at Ceres, a grand historic homestead in Learmonth where I was lucky enough to be invited for a cuppa. In gratitude Queen Victoria sent over a vine cutting from Hampton Court Palace, that still grows in the conservatory.
1868 May. Thomas is elected President of the Ballarat Agricultural and Pastoral Society.
1868 September. A Court Case involving forgeiture of ground at Mt. Egeton. Thomas (M.L.C.) obtains 12 months leave of absence from his Parliamentary duties, rather than resign, as he was uncertain about how long he would be away for.
1868 October. Farewell Picnic given by Thomas and Louisa Learmonth for their employees and families on the occasion of their departure from the colony. Fourteen deer arrive at Ercildoune. Governor and Lady Sutton stay. Samuel Wilson buys out his brothers’ pastoral interests.
1869 The Victorian Parliament passes legislation for the protection of Aborigines.
1869 January. There was a long drought of 2 years followed by floods, then 5 years of bountiful rainfall.
1869 February. The brothers hear by mail that Thomas Senior has died aged 86. A tree is deliberately set on fire at Ercildoune.
1869 December. Andrew Learmonth marries Francis Cuninghame.
1870 March. Somerville and Maria Learmonth have their third daughter, Winifred Josephine Reid Livingstone Learmonth, born at Ercildoune. She ended up marrying Vice-Admiral Norman Palmer and is thereby listed under the Descendants of Mary Tudor, Princess of England.
1870 July 19th. Somerville Learmonth lays the foundation stone for the Burrumbeet Presbyterian Church.
1870 September. Floods. Trout ova being hatched in the Ercildoune fish breeding ponds are destroyed.
1870 December. The mining registrar recorded that apart from the Egerton Company, no one else was at work. The late 1860’s mining boom marks the time when mining was undertaken at considerable depth, but the late 1860’s mining revival proved to be short-lived.
1871 December. Andrew and Frances Learmonth have their first son, Lennox Christian Livingstone Learmonth, born at Ercildoune.
1872 August. Somerville and Maria Learmonth have their third son, Lestock Frederick Reid.
1873 to 1919: The Wilson Years
1873 Sale of Egerton Gold Mine sold to Martin Loughlin for 13,500 pounds. The ensuing Court Case costs 70,000 pounds. By 1910 the mine had extracted around 2 million pounds worth of gold.
The Wilson brothers continue buying up important rural properties.
1873 Samuel Wilson buys Ercildoune (26,823 acres) from the Learmonth brothers. John Wilson buys Trawalla and a year later purchases the adjoining station Lillerie so that Trawalla is increased to 40,000 acres in size. On his death Trawalla was passed to his son-in-law Captain Bridges, R.N.
1877 Wolseley and Savage are granted a patent for a shearing machine and a rope drive machine developed at Euroka Station near Walgett, New South Wales.
1878 February. Drought at Learmonth’s property ‘Groongal’ in New South Wales is the worst in 20 years.
1878 August. Somerville Livingstone Learmonth dies in London aged 59. He had become ill with “infected lungs” whilst preparing Ercildoune for settlement with Sir Samuel Wilson.
1879 Sir Samuel Wilson receives the Acclimatization Society Medal that had been awarded “but on few occasions.” His work with ostrich farming and breeding Angora goats was particularly celebrated by the Society.
1880’s Barbed wire was introduced into Australia.
1880-81 The first Boer War between the British Empire and two Boer states, the Boers of the Transvaal (as the South African Republic was known under British administration.)
1881 Sir Samuel Wilson leaves Australia to reside in England.
1885 Approximately 5,000 rabbits were killed at Ercildoune.
1886-87 A shearer’s union is formed in Ballarat by W. G. Spence that becomes the foundation of the Amalgamated Workers’ Union.
1888 Dunlop Station, at Louth in New South Wales, once covered 1 million acres, was sold by Sir Samuel Wilson to his nephew Sir Samuel MacCaughey, and is also famous for where the first mechanized shearing of its 184,000 sheep in the world took place using the new and initially controversial Wolesley machines in its 45-stand shed.
1890 The Health Department stated that there be no more interments at Ercildoune’s private cemetery. Six children and two workmen are also buried there, but their headstones have mysteriously disappeared.
1891 A six-month strike by shearers centred around Barcaldine in Queensland cripples that State, New South Wales and Victoria.
1893 Depression and banking crisis with thousands of people losing everything. Bank notes in many cases become worthless. Sir Samuel Wilson holds more land (95,872 acres) than any other individual person in the colony.
Late 19th century – Just 118 people owned half of Scotland with nearly 60 percent of the whole country being part of shooting estates with deer stalking and grouse shooting being very popular on private estates.
1899-1902 The second Boer War between the British Empire and the South African Republic and the Orange Free State.
1900 America buys Ercildoune merino wool.
1907 Dame Nellie Melba leases Ercildoune for 6 months and a concrete based tennis court is installed east of the front lake. The croquet lawn has been reported as being a lawn tennis court. At this stage the property was under the control of the Wilson family estate and the Homestead itself was leased out to various tenants.
1908 Herbert Wilson is a member of the British Polo team who wins a gold medal at the London Olympics. He and his brother Gordon were killed in World War 1. His Regiment received 23 Battle Honours and lost 99 men during the course of the war. Wilfred had died in 1901 in the 2nd Boer War whilst Clarence had barely survived his wounds.
1909 Thomas Phillips, Chaffcutter drowned in the Ercildoune Creek. A cyclone was reported at Avenel.
1911 (Ernest) Daryl Lindsay, famous Australian artist, worked as an overseer first at Ercildoune, then at Trawalla. He later became a frequent visitor to Ercildoune. He built Mulberry Hill at Langwarrin South that his life left to The National Trust in 1984.
1913 December. Two thousand five hundred infantry assemble at Burrumbeet and carry out manoevres.
1920 to 1962: The Currie Years
1922 The Argus dated 11 January 1922 headed World’s Busiest Station. Flinders Street Daily Record 200,000 passengers; 1,500 trains. “…and is generally understood among railway-men to be the busiest in the world in respect to the number of trains handled, and one of the first three in the world as regards the number of passengers arriving and departing on an ordinary working day”.
1923 Australians were among the pioneers of refrigeration in the 1850’s but the first Australian domestic refrigerator took years to eventuate and was produced by Edward Hallstrom. These early models were powered by kerosene and in 1935 he produced the ‘Silent Night’ which ran on electricity or gas. He was the 8th son of a family of 9 children born to William Hallstrom, a saddler from England, who had moved to New South Wales because his farm had failed.
1926 A substantial cross marks the place where Baby Brann died, just a few kilometres south of the Homestead. It was said that he or she fell into a newly dug out ditch.
1933 March. Sir Alan Currie was a highly regarded figure in Ballarat and was invited by the Art Gallery to announce the inaugural Crouch Memorial Prize.
1934 March. The average weight of Australian sheep wool is double that of anywhere else in the world.
1934 October. The Duke of Gloucester spends a few days at Ercildoune during his royal tour of Australia.
1942 Sir Alan Currie died.
1943 March. Ercildoune (7610 acres) fails to meet the reserve at Auction. The bidders were ‘meat millionaire’ Sir William Angliss who offered £7 an acre, and Cecil McKay of Sunshine Harvester Co. fame who called £7 5s.
1943 June. The Ercildoune Camden merino stud flock, consisting of 313 ewes and 6 rams, was sold to William Buckland, Beckworth Court Estate, Clunes. The Currie’s racehorses were also offered at a dispersal sale a few weeks later.
1952 July. The Melbourne Argus became the first newspaper in the world to print in full colour.
1954 The Queen and Prince Phillip visit Ballarat and visit the famous begonia display.
1958 The Queen Mother visits Ballarat and also visits the famous begonia display.
1960 May. Auction of Ercildoune furniture (450 lots) with many items dating back to the original owners.
1962 Lady Muriel Currie died.
1964 to the Present
Ercildoune was once a jewel in the crown and those halcyon days become a distant memory.
1964 Members of the Briody family buy the property for the land and replaced or erected over 50 miles of fencing.
1965 The National Trust of Australia founded.
1969 The biggest wool clip on record is realized = 923,287,000kg. Australia’s sheep population exceeds a record 180 million.
1971 Excerpt – After getting the land working, they turn their attention to the house which they considered too historically important to be allowed to decline any further. Vandals had ravaged the house causing severe water damage to the interior. With their own time and money, the Briody’s are gradually turning the tide in their battle to return Ercildoun to its original splendor. (Weekly Times – 19 March 1980).
1995 Heritage Victoria is founded.
2007 A new wool suit was developed and sold in Japan, using Australian Merino Wool, that can be washed in the shower and dries off ready to wear within hours with no ironing required.
2009 Army Worm Caterpillar Plague in the Ballarat region.
John (1767-1834) and Elizabeth Macarthur (1766-1850), of New South Wales, are credited as being the first people to achieve success in the sheep-breeding world in Australia. They aparently crossed Bengal ewes from India with Irish wool rams. John Macarthur stated: “By crossing two breeds, I had the satisfaction to see the lambs of the Indian ewes bear a mingled fleece of hair and wool and this circumstance originated the idea of producing fine wool in New South Wales.” The Livingstone-Learmonth brothers produced world-class wool that won many coveted first prizes in the many agricultural shows of the time. They often led the way in regard to new developments and ideas in their 19th century merino sheep breeding years at their Ercildoun property as they experimented in the handling, drenching and washing of their flocks, when they used soda rather than soap, to produce wool that was softer to the touch. Their reputation for wool production was considered unsurpassed by many of their peers in the colony of Port Phillip, Victoria. The sheer size of their operation at Ercildoun attests to what must have been a golden era indeed, where they ultimately helped shape the Australian merino that we see today. They received many accolades in the prestigious London and Paris exhibitions that were open to entries from all around the world, and where one Judge stated about the Learmonth’s entry was – the finest bale of wool we ever saw.
Merino Wool Qualities
Distinguishing features are its superior breathability, temperature regulation, moisture control and adherent anti-microbial properties and unlike traditional wool, it is much finer, softer and great for people with allergies.
Amazingly successful pioneer families
The Russell family, including nephews and first cousins including once removed, have been connected to some famous properties including Golf Hill, Terinallum, Mawallock, Stoneleigh, Barunah Plains, Langi Kal Kal. Some of them competed with the Learmonth’s at the agricultural sheep shows.
You Need Huge Money to Buy Some of These Pioneering Properties
Trawalla near Beaufort (4,140 hectares) sold for around $20 million in 2011, the biggest sale since Mount Elephant Station, Derrinallum (3,310 hectares) sold to a Swedish Count for a similar sum a few years prior. Nearby Pircarra was bought for more than $10 million by the US-based Westchester Group. The Weekly Times reported that Banongill Station, Skipton (6,880 hectares) said to be in the $50 million range, was sold for an undisclosed sum to an American Superannuation Fund in 2016. Glenfine Station near Skipton also sold for close to $20 million in 2008.
Quite a Few Mysteries Remain Unanswered…..
The main mysteries so far have to do with who put the Star of David on the wall in the hallway, where was the cellar location, was there ever a chandelier hanging in the hallway, who was Baby Brann, what happened to the headstones that were on the graves in the private cemetery and what happened to the Shearing Shed that had been built of bluestone.
Another interesting email was sent by Glenn Braybrook who stated this his grandfather was a convict that overlanded with Henry Bowerman’s party from Sydney in 1837. He was assigned to the Learmonths in 1839 after Bowerman sold his stock to Thomas and Somerville Learmonth and he was put in charge of their outstation at Mammeloid hills, which was their largest outstation east of Mt. Mitchell. At that time, Alexander Lang was Learmonths overseer and he was stationed in the huts that were built in the front area of what was later known as Mount Mitchell homestead. Learmonths home was still at Buninyong in 1838 and they had an outstation and huts where Ercildoune now stands which were occupied by shepherds. He also visisted the Learmonth’s original homestead site at Buninyong and found where they had the Shearing Shed which was removed stone by stone to Ercildoune, so maybe that was to do with the story of ‘the other Shearing Shed” that was there at one stage. He also found the foundations of the original flour mill and he said that both of these building sites had been lost until he discovered where they were. We had heard that there had been a bluestone Shearing Shed on the property, but not sure what happened to it.
Books
The Classer and Gold Dust On The Wool by Robert Burnett.
Another coincidence –
Donald MacDonald, Journalist with The Argus Newspaper retired to Black Rock a few streets down from where we live now. He had a very successful column in The Argus called Nature Notes and Queries that became very popular with many stories regaling Tom Fisher’s experiences at Ercildoune. He was in charge of the fish hatcheries there that Sir Samuel Wilson had expanded after his purchase. In a story in The Argus called “His Hours of Ease” dated 8 December 1923, there is a picture of Donald MacDonald standing in front of some cottages that were on his property that were adorned with climbing roses that were taken from cuttings from the first rose brought from England to Ercildoune. He goes on to say that his grandfather took possession of Ercildoune for the Learmonth family, having been the first white man to look down from the Divide upon the meadows in that area. His father was one of the Scottish Candaians from Ontario who pioneered the famous coaching services of Cobb and Co. in the days before railways had reached the distant corners of the State.
The Clydesdale is a breed of draft horse from the very hard-working farm horses of that region in Scotland. At one time there were around 140,000 Clydesdales known in Scotland but by 1949 only 80 animals were licensed in England and by 1975 they have been listed as vulnerable. There are now approximately 5,000 globally and are now most numerous in the United States. The Shire horse holds the record fot the world’s biggest horse and ‘Sampson’ who was foaled in 1846, in England, stood at 21.2½ hands high and weighed over 1.5 tonnes. They were an important draft animal, along with British Longhorn Cattle, here in Australia, and is celebrated with the Merino, as iconic images of rural life here. The Learmonth brothers of course, greatly improved both our draft horses and Merino sheep.
Droughts
The years that Victoria experienced major droughts are 1956-66, 1914-15, 1919, 1922-23, *1938-39 when water restrictions were introduced in Melbourne, 1943-45, *1967-68, *1972-73, 1976-68, *1982-83, 1997-
2,000 – Millenium drought.
Highest Price Paid for a Sheep
$369,000 was paid for an 8 month-old Texel tup, Deveronvale Perfection in Lanark, Scotland 2009.
Gold Museum Exhibition: Ercildoune: The Story of a Pastoral Station.
This exhibition was inspired the recent acquisition of a number of account books and photographs, generously donated by former owner Jack Briody. These valuable materials were offered to the Gold Museum on the understanding that they woud be used to promote the history of the station. “Five key families have owned the property since its establishment: the Learmonths, the Curries, the Briodys and the Devers. Although these families are unrelated in any way, each has made their own significant contribution to the management and development of the estate….. and it was wonderful to see so many items that had once belonged to Ercildoune.
Both Sir Samuel Wilson (Irish) and Sir Alan Currie (Scottish) were sixth sons. Both Thomas Learmonth and Sir Samuel Wilson lost their firstborn daughters under the age of 12 months, and buried them at their places of residence, Ercildoune in Burrumbeet and Longerenong in Horsham.
- William Bailey died in 1906 and left £10,000
- Somerville Learmonth in 1878 and left £200,000
- Sir Samuel Wilson died in 1895 and left £15,000,000
Convict Poem
The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from the goose
William Rubinstein, author of The All-time Australian 200 Rich List, states that ‘no other society on earth were petty criminals from the slums likely to comprise any segment of their country’s wealth structure. Had these successful conficts not been transported to Australia, it seems unlikely that any of them would have died even comparatively rich, and most would surely have remained in poverty. In Australia, he goes on to say, one might speculate that willingness to bend the rules to take risks, which were considered to be characteristic of the petty criminals and thieves of Britain, were advantageous to success in a continent where the rules had constantly to be invented and bent to survive, much less to succeed’.
‘Australia gave so many a genuine ‘second chance’…
James a Froude, Historian wrote about his visit to Ercildoune –
“It was a day to be remembered, and a scene to be remembered. Here was not England only, but old-fashioned baronial England, renewing itself spontaneously in a land of gold and diggers, a land which is my own recollection was a convict drain, which we have regarded since as a refuge for the waifs and strays of our superfluous population for whom we can find no use at home. These were the people whom our proud legislature thought scarcely to be worth the trouble of preservation as our fellow-subjects. It seemed to me as if at no distant time the condescension might be on the other side.”
Harry B. Austin in his book The Merino: Past, Present and Probable (1943) stated that the Learmonth’s had a better reputation in England than any other from the colonies.
Australian Fantasy by Dudley Glass – A book that is described as a photographic essay capturing the essence of Australia. Page 118 – Ercildoune – Founded in Victoria thirteen years before the gold-rush of the ‘fifties, a mansion has grown to maturity under the perpetual smile of fortune. It may be taken as tangible evidence of the colonizing genius of the conquering Scot, for it was built by a Learmonth, and its name recalls that ancestral pile on the Border… Ercildoune. While such station-homes as Boonoke and Wanganella are typically Australian, Ercildoune might belong to another country. For if the surrounding hills lack a carpet of bonnie purple heather, there are bluebells a-chime in the garden, protected from winds quite Celtic in their intensity by avenues of completely Scottish firs and pines. The mansion itself is creepered to the battlements and bows baronially to a little hamlet beyond the gates, where a granite church has the benediction of a vicar whose charge is the parish of Burrumbeet. A Royal ambassador has been an honoured guest at Ercildoune… inspecting the owner’s thoroughbred horses and sheep… galloping on a bloodhunter over the paddocks… enjoying a country dance in the crested ballroom where the Highland fling has an imposing home from home.
Maybe another example of the tall poppy syndrome…
Andrew Learmonth told Stanley Leighton that he intended to return home (to Britain) because of ‘the hopeless exclusion of the upper classes from public life in Australia and the envy which they had to contend against’. He spoke bitterly of the effects of universal suffrage, and of the corruption of the members of Parliament. Meanwhile shearing was underway at Groongal and Andrew was experimenting with employing Chinese shearers since his white shearers had previously attempted to strike for better conditions. A.A. Co. pastoral operations were mainly at Warrah where George Fairbairn’s skilled management eased Livingstone-Learmonth’s burden. The extension of wire netting and formation of a Border Leicester stud confirmed Warrah’s prosperity. ‘Forced by the iniquitous principle of resumption which is so popular under our ultra democratic government’, so he advised a voluntary Tree subdivision and when the State government proclaimed the Warrah Settlement Purchase Area, he protested at a ‘distinct breach of faith’, only to be told of a change in policy and a new Bill. He was disappointed at a Court of Appeal’s award in 1911 for the 45,006 acres resumed. He protested strongly against the ‘crushing’ 1910 Federal land tax. To offset these losses, he recommended the purchase of Corona, a first-class sheep station west of Longreach, Queensland, belonging to his family’s Groongal Pastoral Co. This 1911 purchase presaged a pattern of purchase and lease throughout northern and Western Australia. (Further research states that Daniel Patterson acquired Corona in 1875 and took an interest in the Broken Hill mine, and later became a director and Chairman of BHP. Sir Sidney Kidman acquired Corona in 1917.) Andrew’s wife died suddenly in 1912 and after Labor’s decision to open a state-owned coalmine, he decided not to continue a workload, which, though congenial, had left him ‘utterly worn out and almost broken down’. He resigned on 31 March and like his father before him, moved his family back to Britain. (This article also tells of some of the frustrations that forced him to eventually return to the home country.)