Stations of Wynyard
County Stations of Wynyard
County
Borambola
In 1825 Alexander MacLeay was appointed
by Henry, 3rd Earl Bathurst, Secretary for
War and the Colonies (1812 - 1827) to
succeed Frederick Goulburn as the next
Colonial Secretary in Sydney, a post
he took up the following year [1]. When the explorer Charles Sturt returned
from his trip down the
Macquarie River in 1828,
Alexander MacLeay persuaded him to take
his son George with him on his
next trip, which was to be down
the Murrumbidgee River. Sturt had originally asked Hamilton Hume
to reaccompany him on his southern
peregrination, as they had journeyed
together through the Central West, however
Hume declined "as the harvest was
at hand". Sturt opined "Mr. George MacLeay
therefore supplied his place, rather
as a companion than as an assistant"
[2].
They passed on the opposite side
of the river to the station that
MacLeay would subsequently occupy, and
call Borambola. In 1847, George MacLeay joined fifteen
of his brother squatters in a
petition for a magistrate and
accompanying constabulary to be established
at Wagga Wagga: the Court House being
operational that Christmas [3]. As well as
looking forward to the favourable
influences of having the law formally
upheld in his midst, MacLeay may
be forgiven for wanting his stables
back; the windows of the stable
block at Old Borambola to this day
are still fitted with the iron
grills from when they were used
as the district
lock-up.
By the early 1850's ownership had
passed to John Gordon, who in turn
sold it to John Donnelly in
1865. When Donnelly died in 1879
his three younger sons formed a
partnership, and took over control of
the estate, which was valued at $340
million [4]. They set about expanding
their father's holdings, which grew to
include Gumly Gumly, Cunningdroo and Borambola -
almost 40 miles of contiguous river
frontage to the east of Wagga Wagga;
Burthong, Nubba and Jerildera, in the
Bland - Lambing Flat district; The Retreat via
Junee Reefs; Bywong via Gundaroo; Toolong
in the Snowy Mountains; and Gnalta,
Packsaddle, Cobham Lake and Lake Boulka
beyond the Darling River. In all, some
3.5 million acres [5].
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Bankrupted in the 1890's Depression, they were taken over by Goldsborough Mort, which subdivided Borambola, then 41,850 acres freehold, in 1910. In 1917 the homstead portion of 6,500 acres was bought by Anthony Brunskill, who retained the original homestead, selling off the new house and 1,500 acres to F. W. Hughes, who developed it as a horse stud. After winning the 1947 Melbourne Cup, Hiraji was put out to stud here. |
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In 1993 it was bought by the current owners, who have established an award winning winery [6]. They host cellar door sales, and, latterly, weddings in the garden, which has featured in the Australian Open Garden Scheme [7].
[1]. The Illustrated Australian Encyclopaedia. Vol 1. (1925) Angus & Robertson. Australian Men of Mark. (1888). Melbourne: Charles F. Maxwell. [2]. Sturt, C. (1833). Two expedititions into the interior of southern Australia: Vol 1.. London: Smith Elder & Co. [3]. Swan, K. (1970). A History of Wagga Wagga. [4]. Rubinstein, W. D. (2004). The all time Australian 200 rich list. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. [5]. The Daily Advertiser (1983). In The Rural. November 4th. [7]. The AOGS publish a hand-book each year of gardens to visit http://www.opengarden.org.au/ |
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