Springwood, NSW: A Pretty Wooded Plain Near a Spring

Springwood is a town located in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, 72 kilometres west of Sydney. Set on a narrow ridge between two gorges, 371 metres above sea level, Springwood was named by Governor Lachlan Macquire, who visited the area in 1815. He wrote in his diary that:

"We then halted at three o'clock in a very pretty wooded plain near a spring of very good fresh water, and pitched our tent near the side of the road. This stage is 12 miles from Emu Ford and our first on the Mountains. This place being very pretty I have named it Spring Wood."

Dharug Aboriginal People

According to the thesis of Dr G. E. Ford (2010): "The recently contrived "Clan" called "Oryang-ora" at Springwood in the Blue Mountains did not exist. The Springwood forest of the Grose River catchment was part of the home range occupied by people from the lower Nepean River." (1.) 

However, Gregory Blaxland wrote in his 1813 journal that he saw "Several native huts presented themselves at different places" in the Springwood area. Read here

The origin of the "Clan" called "Oryang-ora" stemmed from the journey of three members of the French, 1819, Louis de Freycinet expedition over the Blue Mountains to Bathurst.

The French artist Alphonse Pellion sketched the head and chest of five Aboriginal people wearing clothes, with their portraits published on the same plate and labelled: ‘3. Aurang-Jack, chef de Spring-Wood, 4.5. des deux femmes’.

This portrait then led some to the belief that a clan existed at Springwood with the newly contrived Aboriginal place name of "Oryang-ora" at which there dwelt an "Aurang" Clan, according to Ford.
 

These claims are made in J.L. Kohen's 1993 book, and many cite this as a historical source. According to Ford, "Darug" is also a newly contrived word. The word "Dharug" being derived from the meaning of a vegetable root (‘darook’) at Tandarook in Western Victoria (2.).

Aboriginal Rock Engraving at Lawson in Blue Mountains, NSW

Australian anthropologist Norman Tindale was of the view that Dharug lands encompassed 2,300 square miles (6,000 km2), taking in the mouth of the Hawkesbury River, and running inland as far as Mount Victoria.

As skilled hunter–fisher–gatherers, Aboriginal people of the Blue Mountains/Nepean area also used fire   to maintain open grassland and woodlands. Fire increased the growth of edible vegetable foods and attracted small animals that could be hunted. John Hunter (1793: 43) described how two or more people were involved in hunting possums.

"One man climbs even the tallest tree with much ease, by means of notches at convenient distances, that are made with a stone hatchet, when he has arrived at the top, or where there may be an outlet for the animal, he sits there with a club or stick in his hand, while another person below applies a fire to the lower opening, and fills the hollow of the tree with smoak; this obliges the animal to attempt to make its escape, either upwards or downwards, but whichever way it goes, it is almost certain of death, for they very seldom escape. In this manner they employ themselves, and get a livelihood in the woods."

The Nepean River, Shaws Creek and the lower Blue Mountains have many Aboriginal sites and artefacts (Knox and Stockton 2019). Shaws Creek near Winmalee shows evidence of human occupation in rock shelters 17,800 years ago.

Darug people used skin cloaks in the colder months. According to William Bradley "...made of the skins of small animals sew’d or laced together,..." (see here)

After Puberty, girls wore a barrin around the waist, made from spun possum hair tied in cords from a possum-hair belt.

Both men and women had raised scars or cicatrices on their bodies from initiation ceremonies. Initiation was conducted at Bora grounds that consisted of two oval areas connected by a path.

Sepia wash drawing of two Indigenous Australian men who met Alphonse Pellion on his trip to Bathurst in 1819. Alphonse Pellion was a topographical painter, draughtsman and mid-shipman aboard the French vessel l'Uranie.

The British

Lieutenant William Dawes, an officer of the British Marines, was the first European to walk in the Blue Mountains. Dawes was a Renaissance man, possessing wide-ranging talents and knowledge in areas that included astronomy, engineering, surveying, and cartography. 

Dawes also made a study of the various Aboriginal languages in the Sydney region and documented what he learned with the help of the young woman named, Patyegarang, from the Cammeraygal clan of the Eora nation.

In 1789, Dawes and a small exploration party made their way to what would later become the Blue Mountains, to the west of Sydney. The group crossed the Nepean River at Emu Ford and made their way toward Mt Riverview, Warrimoo, Valley Heights and the Bee Farm Road ridge at Springwood.

The exploration party continued down into Sassafras Gully and then, near the location of Faulconbridge Station. The group crossed Woodford Creek and came to within nine kilometres of Mount Hay but then turned back as their food was running low.

William Dawes Journey, 14th December 1789. Blue Mountains Library

Governor King had declared of the Blue Mountains: “This formidable barrier is impassable for men.” And yet, Aboriginal people had been crossing for many years, what Gregory Blaxland described as: “A dreadful convulsion of nature.”

Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth

On May 11, 1813, Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth left Blaxland's South Creek farm, located near the modern suburb of St Marys in western Sydney and made their way over the Blue Mountains by following the ridges. 

The three explorers had to hack their way through thick scrub and tramp through "damp dew-laden undergrowth" on their way through the mountains. They spent their second night in Sun Valley,  and the next night, set up their base camp at Springwood. 

The group completed the crossing in 21 days, accomplishing the first successful crossing of the mountains by European settlers. 

G. Blaxland, W.C. Wentworth and W. Lawson. Royal Australian Historical Society

Convicts building road over the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, 1833, by Charles Rodius. National Library of Australia

Australia’s Most Historic Road

English surveyor and explorer, George William Evans, was sent by Governor Macquarie: “to proceed in the Attempt of Effecting a Passage over the great Range of Mountains called here ‘The Blue Mountains’, and to discover what Description of Country lay to the Westward of them.”

William Cox was given the task of building a road over the mountains.

Along with 30 convicts, Cox set to building the road. Work commenced on 18 July 1814 at Emu Ford and was completed at Bathurst on 14 January 1815. The road was an incredible 101.5 miles long, running through mountainous and dense bushland and built in just six months.

Convict labourers

The Water Source

As a source of good water was essential for travellers in the early days of the colony, Governor and Mrs Macquarie, camped at and named Springwood, on 26 to 27 April 1815, along with a party of ten others. 

"We then Halted at three O’clock in a very pretty wooded Plain near a Spring of very good fresh Water and Pitched our tents near the side of the Road. This Stage is 12 Miles from Emu Ford and our first on the Mountains - The Place being very pretty I have named it "Spring - Wood." (Extract From Governor Macquarie's Journal)

A historical marker now marks this visit at 331A Macquarie Road, Springwood. John William Lewin painted the scene of the visit.

Governor Macquarie marker, 331A Macquarie Road, Springwood

The Military Depot

In 1816, the Military depot which had been established near Glenbrook Lagoon in the previous year was moved to at Ferguson Road, Springwood. 

This depot was concerned with guarding convict road workers and protecting travellers on the new mountain road from attacks by Aboriginal people and bushrangers. 

The French Visit

The L'Uranie, commanded by Louis de Freycinet, sailed into Port Jackson on 18 November 1819. 

Three members of the expedition travelled over the Blue Mountains to Bathurst. One of the men, Alphonse Pellion, an artist and naval draughtsman, was interested in recording ethnographic information about the Aboriginal people that he encountered. His artworks were published in "Atlas Historique" volume of the 1825 official account of the voyage. (Nepean and Springwood? Aboriginal men by and after Alphonse Pellion, 1819) See above and here

Aurang-Jack, ‘chief of Spring-Wood’ and his two wives, by Alphonse Pellion

In 1833, the military depot was rebuilt on a new site on what is now Ferguson Road but was then Bathurst Road.

This site was also the first known grave of a European in the Blue Mountains. The soldier and Englishman named Francis Smith died in May 1836 and he was buried on the grounds of the depot. 

When the Springwood Cemetery was established 50 years later, Smith's remains were relocated there and they are still there today. This site on Ferguson Road later became the location of the first inn and guesthouse in the area.

John Donohoe, who was described as a "soldier from the nearby barracks who died from natural causes" died on the 25th of June 1837. His grave has moved various times and is now located west of Linden Railway Station on the northern side of Burke Road.

ERECTED
to the
MEMORY
Of
John Donohoe
Who departed this life
June 25th AD 1837
Aged 58 years

ONE POUND REWARD.

FREDERICK LUNNY, holding a conditional
pardon, per Lord Sidmouth (4), born at Tyrone in
1796, five feet six inches high, pale and sallow com
plexion, sandy brown hair, grey eyes, sometime a
sawyer near Springwood.
The Sydney Herald Sat 30 Oct 1841

Boland's Inn

The Military Barracks was sold in 1845, as it was no longer needed. The first owner was Robert Martin, but he sold the land to Thomas Boland, a former constable in the Irish police force, who later became Superintendent of road gangs at Springwood. Boland came to Australia in 1838.

Boland opened the Springwood Inn, a former officers’ house, also known as Boland's Inn.

Mass was offered at the Springwood Inn owned by Thomas Boland, and later at the Boland family home. Boland remained the owner and licensee for more than twenty years. People such as Sir Henry Parkes, Sir James Martin and W.B. Dalley were welcomed here. 

Greenhays, on the highway at Churchill Street, was built in 1853. The house was on council's local heritage register but was removed in 2005, and is now under threat of being demolished.

Boland became the first stationmaster in 1867 when the western railway was extended from Penrith to Wentworth Falls.

In about 1870, Boland sold the Springwood Inn. However, in 1881, Boland built the Royal Hotel in Macquarie Road for his son, Thomas Edwin, to manage.

In 1877-8, Frank Raymond opened a new hotel, the Springwood Hotel, on the highway at the eastern end of town. The hotel, a low-browed building with a simple verandah facing the main road, also served as a store and post office.

Charles Moore, born in County Cavan, Ireland, worked at various businesses in the Australian colony. He was also a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly for East Sydney and he built a mansion at Springwood in 1876 called "Moorecourt." The building was later used by the Springwood Ladies College. 

Springwood Public School started in 1878 with 49 children. At this time, Springwood was mostly a railway town, with most of its occupants working or connected to the railway. Classes at the school began on Monday, June 10, 1878, with Charles Schowe as the teacher. The location of this school is now the IGA carpark.

Frank Raymond, of the Springwood Hotel, became worried about crime in the Springwood area, so he wrote to Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of NSW, five times, hoping to have a police constable stationed in the town. Parkes owned 400 acres of land in the area and built "Faulconbridge".

Various wealthy and influential people began to build holiday homes at Springwood, as people could easily travel to Springwood by rail from Sydney. 

The Boland family had owned much of the land near the Springwood Railway Station, while others such as Sir Henry Parkes, Sir James Martin, Sir Alfred Stephen and Professor Charles Badham owned land from Linden to Faulconbridge. Most of Valley Heights was owned by Lancelot Iredale Brennan, the Deane family and Geoffrey Eagar MLA. The Hawkesbury Road area, however, was developed as farms and orchards by John Ellison and Cornelius Lees and others, who possessed smaller areas of land. 

The Hon. James Norton MLC built the house "Euchora" in 1884. And in 1882, John Hoare and his wife Alice built "Homedale", which became the first building of the Blue Mountains Grammar School, but was demolished in 1975.

Another Inn was established in the Valley (Valley Heights) by Alexander Frazer. It began as the Valley Inn and later became the Woolpack, the Welcome Inn and Wyoming.

Frazer owned a home called, "Silva Plana", built in 1881. Later the estate was sold as parkland to the Blue Mountains Shire Council and in 1936, named Buckland Park, after another local philanthropist, Sir Thomas Buckland. John Frazer also opened a wholesale grocery business in 1846 and amassed a fortune of over 400,000 pounds. Frazer later donated the funds to build a Presbyterian Church in central Springwood.

A Growing Town

John Rayner, who had come to Australia from Ireland in 1839, married Elizabeth Evans in 1874, and after helping to set up the first tweed factory in Australia, began business during the 1870s as a butcher, baker and general storekeeper in Springwood.

Rayner's shops. Macquarie Road, Springwood, NSW, Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

John Frazer MLA owned the Valley Inn at Valley Heights and a home called "Silva Plana", which was built in 1881. Later the estate was sold as parkland to the Blue Mountains Shire Council and in 1936, named Buckland Park, after another local philanthropist, Sir Thomas Buckland. John Frazer also opened a wholesale grocery business in 1846 and amassed a fortune of over 400,000 pounds. Frazer later donated the funds to build a Presbyterian Church in central Springwood.

1890s

By 1890 the Springwood Inn had become a guesthouse called "Loorana".

Boland's Inn, Springwood Inn, Loorana. In 1833 the military stockade built in 1816 by Governor Macquarie was rebuilt on a new site on what is now Ferguson Road but was then the Bathurst Road. The new wooden barracks lay a little north of the road on an 8-hectare (20 acre) site, but there was also a three-bedroom slab hut with a stone chimney, a sitting-room, pantry, a detached kitchen, storeroom and stabling, used for officers’ accommodation. By 1844 this complex had become redundant and in 1845 was sold to Robert Martin who promptly resold the land and buildings to Thomas Boland. Blue Mountains Library

In 1889, Frank Raymond sold land to Scotsman, James Lawson, who built a large two-storey hotel, calling it the Oriental. The Oriental Hotel is in a prominent location at the corner of Macquarie Road and Raymond Road, Springwood. 

James Lawson's property extended from Raymond Road to the vicinity of the present De Chair Avenue and included the Springwood Hotel, built by Frank Raymond in 1877. 

The Springwood Literary and Debating Club was operating at Springwood in the 1880s. 

Lawson's home known as "Braemar" was completed in 1892. However, his family moved to another house, next door called, "Glen Lawson", a few years later.

In 1892 the Catholic Church was given a building of its own thanks to donations of land and money by the Boland family. This was the first church of St Thomas Aquinas (Springwood) and was located at what is now Rest Park, on Macquarie Rd.

Sir Henry Parkes in the Blue Mountains, 1880s-90s. Sir Henry Parks built four houses at what is now the village of Faulconbridge. The first, called Stonehurst, is believed to be named after his birthplace, Stoneleigh, in England. Faulconbridge House was named for his mother, Martha Faulconbridge, while Moseley Cottage was built for his sister Maria. Fern Dell was possibly built for an employee.  Sir Henry Parkes was buried in the cemetery at Faulconbridge, on the 27th April 1896.

Dr J. Boyce Mugliston a member of the Royal College of Surgeons became the local doctor in Springwood in 1895. 

Members of the Lawson family outside "Glen Lawson" (1895) with "Braemar" (1892) and "The Oriental Hotel" (1891) in the background. BML

In 1897 "Braemar" in Springwood was occupied by Nurse Lonie Treble, a friend of the Lawson family, who operated a convalescent hospital at the premises for a short time.

In 1897 “Braemar” was being occupied by Nurse Lonie Treble, a friend of the Lawson family, who operated a convalescent hospital for a short period of time. Blue Mountains City Library

1900s

Occupations listed around Springwood were timber getters, beekeepers, stone-mason, dairy and poultry farming. Various boarding houses cropped up, such as "Chatsworth", built by John Daniel Ewens in1898/99. The building once occupied a spot next to the Great Western Highway, now Buttenshaw Park. A Mrs Wheeler was running the property as a boarding house, complete with Tennis courts, a large playground, a croquet lawn and orchards in 1906. By 1908 the building was lost in a fire.

L to R : Springwood Jacky, unknown boy, Bill Lockley (Mrs Smiley's brother), Mrs Smiley with baby, Tom Smiley, with a python, circa 1900. See more information here. Blue Mountains City Library

Thomas Dilworth's Butcher shop, Main Western Road, Springwood. c 1903 - 1907. Blue Mountains City Library

A group of students and teachers from Miss Griffin's School for Girls at "Normanhurst", Springwood, Miss Griffin and Miss Rowe seated at front. Rhoda Edith Griffin and her sister-in-law Mary Griffin conducted the Springwood Ladies College in 'Willandra' (later 'Normanhurst') and 'Mt Roma' (later 'Cranford'). The homes had been built in 1893 for Mr Justin McSweeney, a railway contractor, and stood side by side on the Western Highway, Springwood, approximately where Lewin Lodge is now located. Springwood, NSW, 1904

Bathurst Road Springwood, circa 1905. Blue Mountains City Library

Looking west from the Springwood platform. On the right is 'Loorana' c.1870, built on the site of Boland's Inn c.1847; itself built on the site of the 1833 military stockade. A NSW Govt Railway tricycle sits beyond the end of the platform with a small flower garden and a penalty warning sign. The large white building in the centre distance is "Homedale", built for J.B. Hoare in 1881, later to become in 1918 the Blue Mountains Grammar School, under its first headmaster E.K. Deane. 1905, Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

Springwood Cycling Club: Photo Notes: 23 club members with three unidentified bicycles and a BSA Path Racer, somewhere in Springwood. None of the bicycles appear to have any gears or brake calipers. The boys in front are sitting on some banners. Date Range: 1907, Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

The Oriental Hotel, Springwood, N.S.W. - very early 1900s, Kaye

Royal Hotel, Springwood, NSW, Blue Mountain Echo (NSW : 1909 - 1928), Saturday 25 December 1909

Blue Mountain Echo (NSW : 1909 - 1928), Friday 27 October 1911

WWI

Recruitment march at Springwood, 1915, which began in Gilgandra and ended in Sydney, Australia. 

Postcard from Springwood soldiers, oval inset shows the Coo-ee recruiting march passing through Springwood 1915 with the School of Arts in the background. Soldiers pictured on the postcard are: Esbert Lees, Willie Hall, Sam Honeysett, Dave Wagner, Clarrie Wright, Jack Hugo, Alf Davis, Stan Paviour, Harry Hall, Bert Ward, Harry Holder and Gordon Hartigan. 1916. Springwood, NSW, Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

Mirror (Sydney, NSW : 1917 - 1919), Friday 17 May 1918,

"Springwood District Honor Roll 1914-1919" by Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

1920s

Royal Hotel, Springwood, NSW, 1920: Notes: Thomas Boland came to Springwood as superintendent of road gangs after a period as licensee of the Weatherboard Inn at Wentworth Falls. Boland became the most significant of the early developers of Springwood, opening the Springwood Inn in 1845 and acquiring a good deal of land. About 1870 Boland sold the Springwood Inn but continued to live locally and in 1881 built the Royal Hotel in Macquarie Road for his son, Thomas Edwin, to manage. In the 1891 census the occupant of the Royal is shown as Adam Mutch, along with four males and five females on the night of the census.The hotel was situated on a large estate, with a cottage on the west side, built by Thomas Boland in 1876, a kitchen garden on the southern side and tennis courts on the east side. Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

William Honeysett, and his wife Annie, came to the Springwood district in 1889. After building a residence and store, he commenced trading in 1892. William called the business the "Commercial Stores" and advertised as General Storekeepers, Produce Merchants, News and Estate Agents. The store and residence were on the site of the present Honeysett's Newsagency shop. Taken on September 6, 1922. Blue Mountains City Library

Red Cross children's homes, Springwood, in the Blue Mountains, NSW. Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 24 June 1925

William Hurley's butcher shop, Bathurst Road, Springwood (about 1925). Blue Mountains Library

Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Wednesday 12 May 1926

Christ Church Springwood Maypole Dance, circa 1927. BML 

Springwood Garage, NSW, 1926, Blue Mountains Local Studies

Homedale, Springwood: Notes: a two storey residence built in 1882 for JB Hoare. Later owners included RM Pitt of Pitt, Son & Badgery, Halse Rogers Arnott of biscuit fame and Foster Harley Sargeant of meat pie fame. In 1916 a Miss Goodfellow announced she was taking over Homedale, with a view of opening a young ladies college. This did not eventuate and it was purchased by EK Deane in 1918 to establish a boy's school named Blue Mountains Grammar School. Deane built class rooms, dormitories, a tennis court and cricket pitch, for a peak enrollment of 80 pupils during the War years. The school was taken over by the Anglican Schools Council in 1951 and relocated to Wentworth Falls. 
The main building then became flats, and the class rooms and dormitories were removed. The house was demolished in 1975 to be replaced by the Wingara Hamlets retirement complex and the Baptist Church. 1920s. Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

NORMAN LINDSAY

Norman Lindsay, the most famous
of an artistic family, lives in seclusion
at his country home at Springwood.
He claims not to have seen a newspaper
for five years and criticisms of his works,
which he exhibits periodically, obviously
fall on barren ground. Springwood
Store keepers frequently receive cheques
signed by Norman Lindsay, and on
Saturdays and Sundays proudly display
them to visitors, as a sign of the great
artists patronage.

Blue Mountain Echo (NSW : 1909 - 1928), Friday 29 April 1927

The Springwood Hall and Cinema, Notes: inscribed on back - "Springwood Hall - Presentation to Cora Ireland, School Teacher leaving on her trip to America." 
Cora Ireland is in the fur collar holding the bouquet, Nancy Ireland is wearing the striped jumper, centre is Kenneth O'Mara, the former headmaster of Springwood Public School (August 1927-March 1928), to the left of Cora is Cyril Allmon then headmaster (March 1928-November 1932). Cora was one of four teaching staff at Springwood Public School at the time, the others were Miss Collett, Miss Chapman and Miss Clothier, over 200 pupils were enrolled in 1932.
Nancy Ireland with her husband David, lived in 'Braemar' in Macquarie Road and ran it as a guest house (1931-38) and family home. Blue Mountains Library

Stonehaven, run by the Sydney City Mission,  located at Springwood, opened in 1929. Initially it was a girls' home, it later became a boys' home.

Blue Mountain Star (Katoomba, NSW : 1929 - 1931), Saturday 27 July 1929

Springwood Oriental Hotel advert. Year: Unknown. Source: State Library of NSW

1930s

Sir Thomas Buckland, renowned philanthropist and Governor of the Bank of New South Wales, acquired land for a Convalescent Hospital at Springwood in 1934. 

In 1925 William Hurley, accompanied by his wife and young family, opened a butcher shop in Bathurst Road, Springwood, NSW. Taken circa 1935. Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

 Marguerite (Meg) Turner and her father Royden Turner, postmaster at Springwood, circa 1936 Blue Mountains Library

Thomas Boland's Springwood Inn (Loorana) was demolished in 1939.

Sunshine Camp at Springwood, NSW, Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Monday 27 November 1939

1940s

Men of the A.I.F. marching up Mitchell Pass to-day on their way to Bathurst. They will be in Springwood by to-night. This section from Penrith is one of the toughest of the march being uphill practically all the way. Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), Wednesday 14 August 1940

"My home at Springwood was burned in bushfires in November, 1945, while I was away in the Forces. "After my discharge from the Army I went to live in the cave. "The cave is furnished with a bed, table, and chairs.Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Wednesday 26 January 1949

1950s

Alf Webb's milk cart, Patterson Road, Springwood, about 1950 Blue Mountains Library 

Picture of bushfires roaring through Springwood, N.S.W., last week, leaving a trail of devastation. In one day — Thursday — 52 homes were destroyed within 50 miles of Sydney. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 13 December 1951

1960s

Macquarie Road at the Royal Hotel, Springwood, NSW showing the drive-through. Vehicle IDs welcome. Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

Stonewall Jackson; Coffee Lounge; Estate Agent; Bank of NSW; School of Arts; Anderson's Chemist Shop. Circa 1965. Blue Mountains City Library

Macquarie Road, Springwood, NSW, 1965, Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

Springwood Pool, NSW, 1968, Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

1970s

Springwood Civic Centre, NSW, 1970, Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

Springwood Hospital opened in 1976 as a community-based hospital.

1980s

Springwood Tyre Service, NSW: NotesThe NRMA Road Service vehicle appears to be a modified Holden Kingswood panel van. Holden panel vans were first issued to patrol staff in 1963. Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies, c1983

Corner of Macquarie Road and Raymond Road, Springwood, NSW. 1983. Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

Springwood, Macquarie Road, NSW, 1983. Blue Mountains Library

Springwood Fire Station, in 1985, Blue Mountains Library

1990s

Springwood, NSW,  175th AnniversaryNotes: Governor Macquarie named Springwood on 26th April, 1815 when he camped overnight in the area on the first day of his journey to inspect the Western Road, completed by William Cox three months earlier. Blue Mountains Library, Local Studies

Around Springwood

Springwood Railway Station, NSW, circa 1867

Braemar, Springwood, Blue Mountains, Australia, circa 1892-1892

Presbyterian Church, Springwood, NSW. Circa 1895-1896 More info

Sir Henry Parkes was buried in the cemetery near Springwood, at Faulconbridge, NSW

St Columba's Catholic College, Springwood, NSW. Established in 1979

Eringarth was built in 1881-3 by a Sydney businessman called Lawler. 1-10 Railway Parade, Springwood, NSW. More info

Springwood Post Office NSW - Built 1901

Glen Lawson, 100 Macquarie Road, Springwood, NSW, is a a federation bungalow. More info

The Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum, NSW, circa 1898–1913

Historic Greenhays at Springwood, NSW, built in 1853 has been approved for demolition by a private certifier

3801 powering out of Springwood heading up to Mt Victoria; NSW Blue Mountains, 2009, Jack Heywood

Presbyterian Churches at Macquarie Road, Springwood, NSW, built in 1895

Built in 1867 as a railway gatekeeper's cottage, Brady's Crossing, Springwood, NSW 

Things To Do and Places To Go

Springwood History Walk

Springwood Historians

Springwood Local Studies

A Ride to Bathurst 1827

Wild Walks Springwood

Valley Heights Locomotive Depot Heritage Museum

Norman Lindsay Gallery & Museum

HISTORICAL SITES AND HISTORICAL PLACES

Woodford Academy

Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum

Richmond, TAS: An Old and Beautiful Stone Arch Bridge

The Tasmanian town of Richmond sits beside the Coal River, 25 km north-east of Hobart, set in an area surrounded by green fields and tree-studded hills.

Merrimeneer Aboriginal People

Until about 12,000 years ago, sea levels were much lower, and Tasmania was joined to the Australian mainland by a land bridge. When sea levels rose, Tasmania became isolated from the mainland, and the rest of the world, until Abel Janszoon Tasman arrived in 1642 and became the first European to discover the island.

The Oyster Bay/Big River or Merrimeneer people lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle across central Tasmania for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The Richmond area, in particular, provided fresh water, sheltering hills and plenty of animal life and other food sources. 

Tasmanian Aboriginal people would often refer to themselves as "Palawa", meaning the "first man", believed to be created from the kangaroo by a creation spirit.

At ningina tunapri Tasmanian Aboriginal gallery

When the British explorers, Matthew Flinders and George Bass circumnavigated Tasmania by ship in 1798-99, they saw shelters and deserted fires along the Jordan River, belonging to the Aboriginal people. As did the French naturalist, François Auguste Péron, in 1802.

From 1824-1831 was a period called the “The Black Wars”: clashes between Tasmanian Aboriginals and European settlers.

Beginning in 1829, George Augustus Robinson set out from Hobart Town with a number of Trouwunnan Aboriginal people on a walk called the Friendly Missions to stop the hostility and persuade Aboriginal people to move to settlements.

It is said that on the 5th of January 1832, the last of the Big River and Oyster Bay people performed a corroboree in front of Bothwell’s Castle Hotel and then, they were taken to Flinders Island.

First Settlements

French explorers arrived in 1772, following Abel Janszoon Tasman's 1642 arrival. The first English settlement was established in 1803.

The two first settlements of Tasmania began at Risdon in 1803 and at Sullivan’s Cove in 1804. By 1806, there was significant conflict between the Aboriginal people and Europeans; especially, as the settler population grew and cleared land and interfered with Aboriginal hunting and food sources. 

The kidnapping of Aboriginal children for labour was so prevalent in the Oyster Bay area that, in 1819, Governor Sorell spoke out against the “cruelty ... of depriving the natives of their children”.

In 1803, an exploration party led by Lieutenant John Bowen crossed the hills from the Derwent Valley in search of suitable land for a settlement. The area of Richmond was described by these explorers as "a rich and fertile land where, in many places, the plough may be used immediately".

When Governor Lachlan Macquarie visited Van Diemen's Land in 1811, squatters were already growing crops, and grazing sheep and cattle, in the Richmond area.

By 1820, there were around 8000 sheep in the Coal River Valley.

The successful farming of wheat around Richmond motivated Lieutenant William Sorrell to establish a township at the Richmond Park Estate in 1824. 

 Colonel Sorell, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 20 June 1931

The Richmond Bridge was completed in 1825, built of sandstone quarried from Butchers Hill, and transported by convicts using hand carts.

Richmond Bridge, TAS, Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Wednesday 2 August 1933

The Convict Era 

Between 1803 to 1853, more than 73,500 convicts were transported to Tasmania. The Richmond Gaol, which began construction in 1825, predates the establishment of the penal colony at Port Arthur in 1833. 

George Gunning was a soldier who went to Van Diemen's Land from Sydney in 1810. In 1812, he was appointed inspector of public works and in the following year, he was granted forty-four acres (18 ha) at the Coal River (Richmond). The magistrate, J.H. Butcher, was notedly anti-convict and vehemently anti-Catholic. James Lord was also an overseer and Henry Buscombe, a builder. 

The construction of Richmond Gaol, which is the oldest intact gaol in Australia, began in 1825. The gaol included chain gang sleeping rooms, a flogging yard, a cookhouse and holding rooms and a female solitary confinement cell. Hangings, however, did not occur at Richmond Gaol, though flagellations (whippings) on wooden pyramid did.

Not only did the forced labour of these convicts provide the manpower to build the gaol, but the convicts as virtual slaves, also toiled at farming, cutting sandstone and brick making.

Bill Thompson (Tasmanian convict). State Library of Tasmania

The Town Develops

The courthouse was built in 1825-26.

The Richmond Arms Hotel was established in 1827. However, the hotel was destroyed by fire in 1888 and the Commercial Hotel was built in its place. The hotel was renamed as The Richmond Arms in 1972.

James Buscombe was assigned a number of convicts to assist with the construction of Prospect House in 1830.
 
According to Quaker missionary James Backhouse, Richmond had a courthouse, a gaol, a windmill and about thirty houses by 1832.

Richmond Post Office opened on 1 June 1832.

Richmond Post Office, TAS, Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 5 May 1923

St Luke’s was built in 1834-1836 and is the oldest Anglican Church in Australia.

St John's Catholic Church, built in 1836, is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Australia.

Georgian Architecture 

By 1836 Richmond was Tasmania’s third-largest town, with an important military outpost and convict station.

The Richmond district was dotted with solid buildings of Georgian architecture and had two churches built in the style of Gothic revival: St. Luke’s and St. John’s. The town had flour grain mills and the wheat farms of Richmond supplied Tasmania's wheat needs and also shipped wheat as far afield as New South Wales. 

Late in 1839, the French explorer Jules-Sébastien-César Dumont, visited Tasmania, just before his second Antarctic expedition. During this visit, eighteen French crewmen were hospitalised with dysentery (though many erroneously believed they had typhus). Some of these men were hospitalised at Richmond. 

Riviere Derwent pres de Richemont Design by L. Le Breton; Lithograph by Jacques Guiaud. Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office. French Expedition visit to Van Diemen's Land circa 1837-1840

Convict transportation to Tasmania ended in 1853, and without the convict labour, the labour-intensive wheat industry began to struggle. However, despite this, Richmond was still a vibrant town in 1860, with Bridge Street, the Main Street boasting seventeen shops, three pubs, two blacksmiths, a brickyard and a woodyard. 

Settlers Came

Joseph William Nichols was born in Middlesex, England, in 1812 and transported to Tasmania on the "Enchantress," arriving in 1833, for receiving stolen goods. He married Mary Jane Jacobs in 1841 and in 1855, he was granted 45 acres of land on the west side of Napolean Street. By 1857, J.W. Nichols was operating a general store in Richmond. His son, William Henry Nichols, later operated a stagecoach service to Hobart.

Other early settler families include the Kellys, Andersons, and Ross. While Mr Gordon was the Police Magistrate of the extensive district of Richmond.

In 1866, the Presentation Sisters arrived from Ireland and they were stationed at the Richmond Catholic school for two years, before moving to Hobart.

In the early days, Richmond had been an important military staging post and convict station linking Hobart with Port Arthur. However, with the completion of the Sorell Causeway in 1874, the main road now bypassed Richmond, leading to the decline of the town. And as the causeway had a swinging section to allow vessels to pass through to Richmond, it also caused the mouth of the Coal River to silt up, so water transport from Richmond petered out. 

1900s

Daniel Pitt was a successful fellmonger (a dealer in hides or skins) who bought the first rabbit skins in the district around 1900. Pitt bought large amounts of rabbit, possum, wallaby, sheep and other skins, as well as wool and poultry and he had a small farm, was treasurer of the Road Trust and he was a member of the Richmond Racing Club.

According to a tale that is still told in Richmond today, during the building of the Richmond Bridge, by convict labourers, a brutal overseer known as the Wicked Flagellator, George Grover, was beaten, and his body was thrown onto the rocks below the bridge. Some claim that Grover's ghost still appears occasionally on the bridge today. (see more ghost stories of Richmond here).

Richmond ( shows Roman Catholic church and river), Tasmania (c1900s). Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office

COMMERCIAL HOTEL, RICHMOND, TASMANIA - 1910
A.E. Jack, Proprietor Aussie Mobs

WWI

Birth Place Australia: Tasmania, Richmond. Death Date 26 June 1916 Death Place Australia: Tasmania. Final Rank Private. Service Australian Imperial Force. Unit Depot. Places • Tasmania. Richmond. Conflict/Operation First World War, 1914-1918

Mr Winston Churchill Simmons (1827–1916) was a relative of Britain's Prime Minister (Sir Winston Churchill), built "Churchill" located 5 kms from Richmond on the banks of the Coal River, TAS, in 1845.

1920s

Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 5 May 1923

The new police dwelling at Richmond which has been taken over by Trooper C. Williams, who has charge of the district. Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Friday 24 June 1927

1930s

Camp site- For the period of a week detachments of field artillery and ambulance brigades from the 6th Military District will conduct a series of manoeuvres on Captain T B McCloud's Richmond Park Estate, where the camp is located. On February 11 and 13 artillery shooting practice will be carried out. Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Saturday 11 February 1933

Mr John Oakley, of Richmond (Tas), is a well-known sheep breeder, nearly 96 years of age. Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Saturday 20 November 1937

1940s and WWII

Militiamen of the 12th Mixed Brigade this week carried out field exercises in the Richmond Tea Tree district, TAS. Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Saturday 13 April 1940

The Women s Land Army at their field day held at the property of Mr C T Jones Lowlands Richmond, TAS. T Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Monday 6 January 1941

Richmond, TAS, Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Thursday 15 June 1944

 Richmond Show, Tas, Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Monday 22 November 1948

1950s

View of Richmond, TAS,  Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Thursday 11 June 1953

Richmond's oldest resident, Miss Sarah Mary Jane Jacobs, who was 93 on March 29, with her "young" sister Maud, only a little over 70. Their father, Mr. P. Jacobs, drove the Richmond-Hobart coach service more than 100 years ago. Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Thursday 11 June 1953

Richmond today is one of the best preserved colonial towns in Tasmania, with many historic buildings, surrounded by forested hills.

Around Richmond

Richmond Bridge have spanned Tasmania's Coal River since 1825, TAS

The Richmond Bridge, TAS, was built by convict labour from 1825. The bridge was originally named Bigge's Bridge after Royal Commissioner, John Thomas Bigge, who recognised the need for the bridge in 1820.

The construction of Richmond Gaol commenced in 1825, TAS

Sandstone Cottage, Richmond, Tasmania Australia, Rexness

Richmond Tasmania. Old inn converted into a house and garden shop. denisbin

The Old Rectory with St Lukes Anglican Church. Andrew Matthews

Inside Richmond Gaol, Richmond, Tasmania. Nicholas Cull Building of the gaol commenced in 1825, and predates the establishment of the penal colony at Port Arthur in 1833

Old Richmond Courthouse, Tasmania. Regency style circa, 1825. Nicholas Cull

The Richmond Arms Hotel., Richmond, Tasmania, JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD built in 1888 as the Commercial Hotel, replaced the Lennox Arms Hotel, built in 1827 and destroyed by fire

Richmond, Tasmania

House in Richmond, Tasmania

Ashmore Tea Rooms, Richmond, Tasmania, built circa 1850s as a general store by William Ashmore. Later operated by Miss Bentley and Miss Jacobs

The Sergeant’s Cottage, Richmond Tasmania

Model village of early Hobart, Richmond, Tasmania

Mill House, Richmond, Tasmania, circa 1853, flour steam mill, built by George Burn in 1850

Main Street of Richmond, Tasmania

St Luke Anglican Church, Richmond Tasmania, 1825, Land donated by Mr Butcher

The Granary (left), built in 1829 was used to store grain before it was shipped to Hobart and Sydney by barge, along the Coal River. The post office (right) built as a single-storey building in 1826. James Buscombe added second-storey in the 1830s

The Old Schoolhouse, Richmond, Tasmania, built in 1834, the oldest government school in Australia

Congregational Church, Richmond, Tasmania, commenced services in 1875

St John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Richmond, Tasmania. Bishop Polding blessed the foundation stone for the new church in September 1835

Saddler's Court was a saddlery and later, a general store, Richmond, Tasmania

Things To Do and Places To Go

Richmond Heritage Walk 

A Social History of Richmond 

Old Hobart Town 

Oak Lodge, Richmond 

Richmond Gaol