Old Government Cottages Group, Bathurst

Aboriginal occupation of the Blue Mountains area dates back at least 12,000 years and appears to have intensified some 3000–4000 years ago. In pre-colonial times the area now known as Bathurst was inhabited by Aboriginal people of the Wiradjuri linguistic group. The clan associated with Bathurst occupied on a seasonal basis most of the Macquarie River area. They moved regularly in small groups but preferred the open land and used the waterways for a variety of food. There are numerous river flats where debris from recurrent camps accumulated over a long period. European settlement in this region after the first documented white expedition west of the Blue Mountains in 1813 was tentative because of apprehensions about resistance from Aboriginal people. There was some contact, witnessed by sporadic hostility and by the quantity of surviving artefacts manufactured by the Aborigines from European glass. By 1840 there was widespread dislocation of Aboriginal culture, aggravated after 1850 by the goldrush to the region.[1]

Prior to European settlement in Australia, the Wiradjuri Aboriginal group lived in the upper Macquarie Valley. Bathurst was proclaimed a town by Lachlan Macquarie on 7 May 1815, named after Lord Bathurst, Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies. Bathurst is Australia's oldest inland township.[1]

Governor Macquarie chose the site of the future town of Bathurst on 7 May 1815 during his tour over the Blue Mountains, on the road already completed by convict labour supervised by William Cox. Macquarie marked out the boundaries near the depot established by surveyor George Evans and reserved a site for a government house and domain. Reluctant to open the rich Bathurst Plains to a large settlement, Macquarie authorised few grants there initially, one of the first being 1000 acres to William Lawson, one of the three European explorers who crossed the mountains in 1813. The road-maker William Cox was another early grantee but later had to move his establishment to Kelso on the non-government side of the Macquarie River.[1]

A modest release of land in February 1818 occurred when ten men were chosen to take up 20-hectare (50-acre) farms and zero-point-eight-one-hectare (two-acre) town allotments across the river from the government buildings. When corruption by government supervisor Richard Lewis and acting Commandant William Cox caused their dismissal, they were replaced by Lieutenant William Lawson who became Commandant of the settlement in 1818.[1]

Macquarie continued to restrict Bathurst settlement and reserved all land on the south side of the Macquarie River for government buildings and stock, a situation that prevailed until 1826. In December 1819 Bathurst had a population of only 120 people in 30 houses, two thirds being in the township of Kelso on the eastern side of the river and the remainder scattered on rural landholdings nearby. The official report in 1820 numbered Bathurst settlers at 114, including only 14 women and 15 children. The government buildings comprised a brick house for the commandant, brick barracks for the military detachment and houses for the stock keeper, and log houses for the 50 convicts who worked the government farm. Never successful, the government farm was closed by Governor Darling in 1828.[1]

Governor Darling, arriving in Sydney in 1825, promptly commenced a review of colonial administration and subsequently introduced vigorous reforms. On advice from Viscount Goderich, Darling divided colonial expenditure into two parts: one to cover civil administration, funded by New South Wales; the other for the convict system, funded by Britain.[1]

By this time, J. McBrien and Robert Hoddle had surveyed the existing grants in the vicinity. Surveyor James Bym Richards began work on the south side of the river in 1826. But the town was apparently designed by Thomas Mitchell in 1830 and did not open until late 1833 after Richards had completed the layout of the streets with their two-road allotments. The first sales were held in 1831 before the survey was complete.[1]

In 1832 the new Governor, Major General Sir Richard Bourke, visited Bathurst in October. He instructed the Surveyor General Major Thomas L. Mitchell to make arrangements for "opening the town of Bathurst without delay" and he in turn instructed the Assistant Surveyor at Bathurst J. B. Richards to lay out the blocks and streets. This was done in September 1833. It is believed that Major Mitchell named the streets, with George Street being named after King George III.[1]

The cottages that may have faced Stanley Street, Bathurst.

The land on which this building group stands, on the corner of George and Stanley streets, originally surveyed as Lot 6, was set aside as a government reserve until it was sold to James William Bligh, a solicitor in 1847. The purchase price for Lot 6 was £10, while its neighbour Lot 7 was £7.[1]

Bligh, who lived in Bathurst from 1841 to 1851, was presumably a speculator in land. It is supposed that an existing dwelling may have existed then on this site, and part of that building has come to be popularly known as "Government cottage", having been built on Government land while it was still in their control. (i.e. pre 1847). However, there is no direct evidence to support this proposition. No building is shown on this site on a Government Survey of 1833, which did show all other "government buildings" of the time. The purchase price of £7 does not indicate an "improvement" of any consequence on the land. However one old brick at No. 1 George Street embedded into the wall is dated "AD 1827", and this may relate to some earlier structure, or the construction of the cottage, or both.[1]

James William Bligh however probably did not build on the land but sold it on to Miss Falloon, who had been living in the Government House at this time. She ran a small home school at the time. She may have built or improved the cottage known as No 16 Stanley St. She then sold the property to Mr John Ford in 1857. Mr. John Ford of Kelso, "a banker and coach proprietor", who had a run of coaches, was possibly also the same John Ford who owned a steam flour mill in Kelso in 1851.[1]

John Ford built the two storied house in 1859/60, probably with the cottage at the rear serving as kitchen and servants quarters. By 1862 he was registered as a resident in that area of Bathurst.[1]

In 1875 the 2 storied house was owned by John Gardiner, and then sold to John Ford junior in 1883-84. From 1884 to 1887 Macquarie House (as it was then known), served as one of the ladies colleges of Bathurst.[1]

Bathurst High School started operating in 1884 first only as a boys school, and then as a boys and girls section from 1885, but by 1887 it was forced to close due to lack of students. This may have been because of rival schools including the "Pixie Ladies College", in Upper William Street under the direction of Miss Keyes, and this establishment of Macquarie House for Young Ladies under the direction of Mrs. Mackenzie.[1]

John Ford Junior died in 1890 and is buried at Kelso cemetery. The house then passed to Alfred Gordon Thomson, who died 6 July 1908, who left it to his heir Minna Augusta Thompson who sold to Charles William Griffin of Granville for £720.[1]

At this stage the description of the house containing thirteen rooms clearly indicates that the "old government cottage" formed part of the premises.[1]

On 20 April 1918 the local Bathurst paper has an advertisement for a property. This advert appears to refer to No 1 George Street and 16 Stanley street, which described it as a 'fine two storied brick residence, with verandahs and balcony, built at the rear of "old Government House" and with "a 99 foot frontage to George Street, and opposite the Ordinance Ground" advertised "on account J.B.Richards". (What was meant by "at the rear of Govt house" is not entirely clear, but the actual Govt house is shown on the 1833 surveys as east of this site and would probably have addressed itself to the East, leaving this house 'at the rear').[1]

In 1964 No 1 George Street was bought by the Bathurst City Council and given to the Bathurst Historical Society. It was stated in an article by Mrs J. Rutherford in the Bathurst Historical Society's 1968 Annual Magazine that No 1 George St then 'consisted of two parts: the two storey section still known today as No.1 George St, and the single storeyed wing behind being described as "the only remaining building authorised by Governor Macquarie".[1]

In 1972 with Dr. Brookmore at the head of the Historical Society, major restoration was undertaken at the cottage by builders from Penrith and furnishing of the cottage in "period" style.[1]

A number of subdivisions of the original Lot have occurred, breaking the original Lot 6 now into six separate portions. A further subdivision in 1989 separated the single storied cottage and the 2 storied house onto separate lots as 16 Stanley Street and 1 George Street respectively.[1]

In 2015 a "period" garden was reinstated using plants known from the colonial era to better present the cottage to visitors. This project was undertaken as part of Bathurst's bicentennial celebrations.[1]

• Attraction Homepage (2007). "Old Government Cottages Group".
• Hickson, Barbara (2002). Old Government Cottage Conservation Management Plan.
• Barbara Hickson, Heritage Adviser (2016). Old Government Cottage Conservation Management Plan.
• BATHEX 2015 Exhibition and Bathurst Bicentennary (2015). 'From the Newsletter Editor / What has occurred to date' in BATHEX information newsletter, Issue 10, May 2015.
• Government Architect's Office (2005). Bathurst Hospital Conservation Management Plan.
• Greaves Bernard ed. (1976). The Bathurst Story The Sydney.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
• Heritage Office (2001). Central West Pilot Program SHRP Central West Pilot Program SHRP.
• Tourism NSW (2007). "Bathurst District Historical Museum".
• Heritage Office SHRP (2001). Central West Pilot Program SHRP.

This Wikipedia article was originally based on Old Government Cottages Group, entry number 01659 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.