Hambledon Homestead
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The Hambledon Homestead is a
heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...
residence and former inn and store at Tarcutta Street, Tarcutta, in the
City of Wagga Wagga City of Wagga Wagga is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia. The mayor of the City of Wagga Wagga is Councillor, Cr. Dallas Tout, an Independent politician, indepen ...
local government area of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Australia. It is also known as Tarcutta Station. It was added to the
New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...
on 2 April 1999.


History

In the beginning the
Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. They survived as skilled hunter-fisher-gatherers, in family groups or clans, a ...
(Waradgery) people traversed the Tarcutta Valley, as they moved about their territory which 'extended from about Jugiong and
Tumut Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...
in the east to the junction of the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee rivers in the west, while their northern boundary was somewhere out between these two rivers and their southern about Billabong Creek.' The Bugong (Bogong moth) formed the Waradgery tribe's principal food during the summer. Their weapons were like those of the natives of the colony, except the spears, which were made of strong knotted reeds approximately long, to which was affixed a piece of hardwood, approximately in length with a rounded point, barbed in some instances with numerous small pieces of flint or agate. Many Aboriginal implements have been found in Keajura district paddocks. The name Tarcutta (Lower) is Wiradjuri for 'meal made from Gulla or grass seed, or flour and cakes made from grass seed. The name Murrumbidgee (Morumbeeja) is Wiradjuri for a flood (or a big one water). The first white colonisers to view these people were Hume & Hovell, who recorded the event on 6 January 1825. Early that year their party of eight persons were crossing the valleys south of Tarcutta. Near Tarcutta the party came upon a group of friendly Aboriginal people. The explorers were very impressed with the physical characteristics of these people and became friendly with them, some of whom later travelled with them as far as Yass. Hume reported that the timber principally observed in the district was stringybark (''
Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...
'' sp.). Late in 1829
Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European land exploration of Australia, European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the ...
explored the Murrumbidgee River, commenting on the last permanent settlement near Jugiong and the last sight of settlers at South Gundagai. The real stimuli to pastoral development were the buoyant conditions of the 1820s and the desire for new and better grazing lands. After 1822 enterprising pastoralists sent members of their families with shepherds or stockmen, or even just sent the shepherds or stockmen, to graze stock in distant areas under Tickets of Occupation. These were sometimes established pastoralists from near
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, or Sydney businessmen, or even both. Although much of this early pastoral development of the region was a part of wider family and company interests, some early settlers had no pastoral interests outside the area. A good example was Thomas Mate, an Englishman who settled on the Tarcutta Creek thirty miles east of
Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...
in 1835 or 1836, and quickly expanded his activities to include a store and inn because of his position on the Port Phillip Road. When licences were introduced in 1837 the Murrumbidgee River frontage had already been occupied below Wagga Wagga. By the same year Thomas Mate had occupied the Upper Tarcutta Creek, John Smith the
Kyeamba Kyeamba is a farming community in the central east part of the Riverina and situated about north west of Humula, New South Wales, Humula and south west of Tarcutta, New South Wales, Tarcutta. At the 2016 Australian census, 2016 census, Kyeamba ...
Creek and there had been settlement on the Hillas and Adelong Creeks. In October 1836 Major Thomas Mitchell's party approached Tarcutta. Near Kyeamba he wrote of finding cattle marks in the valley and tracks of well shod horses, finding a wild herd of at least 800 head. He commented on the dark umbrageous trees overshadowing the noble river, the rich open flats with tame cattle browsing on them, unlike the (other) wild herd. In 1836–7, the first house was only a wattle and daub hut, without floorboards; and in 1838 Thomas Hodgers Mate was the applicant for the runs of Umuther and Toonga, an estimated area of with a grazing capacity of 800 cattle and 11,000 sheep. Lady
Jane Franklin Jane, Lady Franklin (née Griffin; 4 December 1791 – 18 July 1875) was a British explorer, seasoned traveller and the second wife of the English explorer Sir John Franklin. During her husband's period as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's L ...
, wife of the Tasmanian Governor, and the first woman known to travel overland between
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
and Sydney, recorded in her diary: :'Thurs 25th April 1839 Tarcutta Creek', saw Aborigines near Mate's homestead. "Dabtoe was the Chief of Hoonbiarjo". In 1843 Henry Bingham, a Crown Lands Commissioner in the County of Murray, noted T. H. Mate's run, Umutter, had 27 residents and good huts on the (7770ha) property. "An excellent inn kept here and the establishment well conducted". Between 1847 and 18499 a new house was built on the opposite side of the creek, with a vertical slab, and U-shaped homestead. G. W. Rusden's estimate of the number of children attending Wagga Wagga School 1849 included 16 from Mate's Tarcutta Run. Thomas Hodges Mate arrived in Sydney in 1833 on the ship "Palambam" from Sudan via
Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...
. He was a cabinet maker. Also on the ship were the Bardwell family, one of whom, 17 year old Maria, was later to become his wife. They married on 8 February 1836 at St. James' Church, Sydney and would go on to have eight children. Mate was born in Kent on 5 April 1810 (according to Heaton) into a French Huguenot family with the name "Meitte" (pronounced 'Mate'). He spent part of his childhood in France and was always interested in the French language. He remained in Sydney for 12–18 months, having 1000 in funds. Taking the advice of friends he moved into the interior in 1835. At the age of 23 his first speculation was to buy some sheep from Hannibal Macarthur, a nephew of John Macarthur of Camden Park and Elizabeth Farm,
Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...
. He headed south with his flock by bullock wagon and horseback with his wife and infant in the late spring of 1836 and finally settled down on the Tarcutta Creek. Reports of the Aborigines' depredations on the Murray were such as to deter Mate from going further south. His relations with the blacks who numbered as many as 300 or 400 camping around his place at the one time were such that they never killed nor even molested a single person on the station, nor did any appreciable damage during a period of forty years, and were otherwise useful about the station. Mate succeeded with the Aborigines in the district by kindness and firmness. He insisted on them obeying his orders, and faithfully kept his promises to them. Mrs Annie Thompson (daughter of T.H. Mate) on her 100th birthday said that "the Aborigines at Tarcutta were always friendly but her father never employed them regularly on the station. He certainly would not let them in or near the homestead." 'Some of the blacks assisted on the station at shearing time, and they were even given the carcasses of sheep which sometimes were drowned when they were being put through the trough after shearing'. 'I fear that sometimes a sheep was held under too long...but the blacks were not above eating drowned mutton.' By 1835 Gundagai was the terminal point of settlement...from this point the great age of pastoral occupation...squatting...set in. A further effort was made in 1836, by Act of Council, to control the squatting boom, part by the imposition of annual licenses of A£10 each. Thus Mate became the largest landholder in the district. When the first map of the Port Phillip (later Melbourne) Road was printed in June 1836 two buildings were shown where Tarcutta is now located. Other settlers were located along the mid-reaches of Tarcutta Creek. The blacks were very active and numerous just then, and the reports of their depredations on the Murray were such as to deter Mr Mate from going further than Tarcutta. With the introduction of "Depasturing Licenses' in 1837, Mate's name appeared in the NSW Government Gazette as a landholder in the Murrumbidgee-Southern and Yass districts. Hambledon homestead is one of the earliest buildings in this part of the state. The first house was only a wattle and daub hut, without floorboards, but by 15th June 1839 Mate had an Inn, a Store and an established sheep station by the creek. He became a licensed publican on 1 July 1839 for his "Tarcutta Inn". His Store Book for 1839, found in the ceiling at Hambledon, gives a list of the large stock of goods available from the general store in 1839. The store became an important coaching station in an extensive network of mail services from the Upper Murray and
Balranald Balranald is a town within the Local government in Australia, local government area of Balranald Shire, in the Murray (New South Wales), Murray region of far south-western New South Wales, Australia. The town of Balranald is located where the ...
. Its importance declined after the construction of the railway to Wagga Wagga in 1878. The settlement of Tarcutta grew up around Mate's homestead. Later, believed to be over the years 1847–9, a new house was built on the opposite side of the creek. This vertical slab, U-shaped homestead is still in use (1973) under the current name "Hambledon". It was probably in this building that Tarcutta's first Post Office was opened in 1849. In 1848 landholders had to declare their holdings and define the boundaries thereof. Mate's Tarcutta land was described as named "Umuther and Toonga" (Umutbee), of , with 800 cattle and 11,000 sheep, stretching from near Oberne to Lower Tarcutta, then south-west to near Keyamba, then east to Osborne. The length of boundary was . Other properties were described at Kulki, Tumberumba, Walla Walla and Oberne. In 1850 the drought was broken with a flood. Also in 1850 Mate became a general storekeeper in
Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...
, when the Beechworth gold diggings opened. He became influential in Albury, later becoming Mayor. By 1894 this store, "Mates Ltd." had grown to become one of the largest provincial businesses in the colony, employing 50 hands in the 1870s and second to few such houses outside Sydney. He always continued to personally supervise and manage this business, while his sons attended to his station properties. These included Umutbee, Toonga, Kulki and Tumberumba. Hambledon was managed in 1855 by Mate's son Alfred. An 1858 survey of Mate's Umutbee shows a U-shaped building with a separate building at the rear and a line of smaller buildings on one side. In general, this approximates to the present large U-shaped slab homestead and brick kitchen block. Mate's interest in the Robertson Land Act led him to seek election to
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
as the Member for Hume. He was returned to oppose the Robertson Land policy, being in favour of confining free settlement to the 19 old counties. He was a member of the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...
from 15 December 1860 until 15 November 1869. While in the House, Mate succeeded in inscribing on the statute book the useful Act dealing with the "Careless use of Fire". He also assisted in passing the Public Schools Act of 1866 and supported the Martin- Parkes administration. Also during his term he was gazetted a Magistrate of the Territory. Early in 1872 a special correspondent of the ''Town & Country Journal'' visited Tarcutta describing: Another reporter in February 1879 wrote: "Tarcutta is very quiet, and being now off the main coach road to Albury and Melbourne, little happens worth recording." This was soon after the opening of the Wagga Wagga railway station. After his wife Maria died in 1877 he left Tarcutta to live in Albury. In 1882 he remarried. Florence Ada Mate (née Brown) had come to the Ovens diggings with her father. In 1884 a daughter was born. From 1886 to 1889 Mate was an Alderman of Albury Council and in 1888 he became Mayor. At Brae Springs, Walla Walla, he built a fine residence where he retired and he died at Manly on 22 July 1894. Mate's children appear to be as follows: Sopia (1836); Thomas (?), Annie (1840); William (1842); Frederick (1844); Emily Ann (1849), Alfred (1851); Maria (?) and Florence (1884). The whole of the Tarcutta, Oberne and Humula areas were completely burnt out in January 1905, due to fence-high red and kangaroo grass through the dead timber. 1914 was among the driest season recorded, other dry years were 1896, 1902, 1929, 1940 and 1944. In 1938-9 Tarcutta Creek dried up at the bridge and even the Murrumbidgee ceased to flow. 1916, 1917, 1923, 1932, 1934, 1950, 1952, 1956 and 1959 all recorded floods. 1940 and 1952 recorded fires in or around Tarcutta areas. Amongst later owners of Hambledon were Henry Tyson "The King" and Charles Owen Lloyd-Jones. The present owner is best known as an Olympic equestrian. The restoration of this building was assisted by a $50,000 loan made available from the Heritage Conservation Fund in 1982. As one of the conditions attached to the assistance, the owner applied to the Minister for the making of a Permanent Conservation Order over the item.Heritage Branch Manager's report 233/84, 26 July 1984


Description

The building is constructed of vertical slabs and is U-shaped; the northern wing dates from the 1837 period. An 1858 survey of Mate's Umutbee shows a U-shaped building with a separate building at the rear and a line of smaller buildings on one side. In general, this approximates to the present large U-shaped slab homestead and brick kitchen block. Hambledon's slab construction is of great interest, especially as the building is larger than slab buildings generally. The building is of considerable technical interest for its slab construction. It is an important example of vernacular timber building and is larger than many other slab structures.Criteria B.2 and F.1 Hambledon is the largest-surviving slab homestead in Southern NSW. The building is of vertical slabs and U-shaped; the northern wing dates from the 1837 period. The vertical adzed timber slabs fit into a channel in the bottom sleeper and are held in place at the top plate by a
batten A batten is most commonly a strip of solid material, historically wood but can also be of plastic, metal, or fiberglass. Battens are variously used in construction, sailing, and other fields. In the lighting industry, battens refer to linea ...
. Single storey, the house has a hip roof which is clad with
corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...
(the earlier shingles remain under the iron). A
veranda A veranda (also spelled verandah in Australian and New Zealand English) is a roofed, open-air hallway or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front an ...
h, which has a separate iron roof to the main roof, runs across the front wall and down one side. The slabs are painted white. Interior walls are timber stud covered on both sides with lathe and mud plaster. The front door is six panelled and has a brass knocker. At the rear a detached brick kitchen faces the internal
courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...
. Chimneys have some slight corbelling.


Condition

As at 26 May 2008, the complex comprises: * a brick outbuilding - * a kitchen: sandstock brick walls show evidence of salt-damp and some drainage problems (1981); * a weatherboard
shed A shed is typically a simple, single-storey (though some sheds may have two or more stories and or a loft) roofed structure, often used for storage, for hobby, hobbies, or as a workshop, and typically serving as outbuilding, such as in a bac ...
west of kitchen: reasonable condition; needs new gutters (1981) * homestead (slab): good - the building has been slightly changed over the years with more modern facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms required within the main house, only slight modifications and reinstatement of contemporary detail is required to restore Hambledon fully (1981,1982).


Modifications and dates

*1836-7The first house was only a wattle and daub hut, without floorboards *1839Mate had an inn, a store *1847-9A new house was built on the opposite side of the creek; a vertical slab, U-shaped homestead *1850Flood *1872A correspondent of the ''Town & Country Journal'' described: *1958Southern Riverina County Council erected an mains power line across part of the front garden of the property, to extend power supply to Hambledon and to the town of Tarcutta and adjacent rural areas. *1982-3Restoration of the homestead and an adjoining brick outbuilding with assistance of a $50,000 loan. *8/1983Flood damage to the property - due to damage to a nearby levee and poor construction of its valves. *1984Discussion between County Council and Heritage Branch re pruning of ornamental pine trees planted near mains power line in front of property. Heritage Branch recommended relocation of the line to the road frontage or rear of the property. *9/1984The County Council decided to move the power lines to the rear of the property.''Wagga Advertiser'', 28 September 1984. *undatedHomestead burnt down (to confirm).


Heritage listing

Hambledon Homestead was listed on the
New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...
on 2 April 1999.


See also

*
Australian residential architectural styles Australian residential architectural styles have evolved significantly over time, from the early days of structures made from relatively cheap and imported corrugated galvanised iron, corrugated iron (which can still be seen in the roofing of ...


References


Bibliography

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Attribution

{{NSW-SHR-CC, name=Hambledon Homestead, dno=5045015, id=00351, year=2018, accessdate=1 June 2018 New South Wales State Heritage Register Tarcutta Homesteads in New South Wales Houses in New South Wales Retail buildings in New South Wales Hotels in New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register