Llanarth is a heritage-listed residence at 120 Eglinton Road, Llanarth, Bathurst Region, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1858 to 1864, the original house by W. Atkins and the 1864 alterations by John Smith. The 1907 stables were designed by J. J. Copeman. It is also known as Strathden and Stratheden. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
History Aboriginal people and colonisation 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.
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. It was proclaimed a town in 1815 with the discovery of gold.
Bathurst 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.
A modest release of land in February 1818 occurred when ten men were chosen to take up 50 acre farms and 2 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Llanarth In 1830 Thomas Jarman Hawkins received a land grant for 320 acres in Bathurst, which he called Walmer.Land Titles 1839; Rutherford 1979:1 Hawkins was born in 1809 and died in 1885.Sloman 1993:315 Hawkins was a Coroner and Returning Officer for Bathurst, Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Western District and Gold Commissioner. He was also a prominent churchman and was one of the earliest pioneer pastoralists of western New South Wales.Western Advocate 2002:13 In November 1853 320 acres of the original land grant to Hawkins was transferred to James H. Stewart and his wife Leticia Stewart. N. Stewart sold the land to William Atkins in August 1857.
Atkins proceeded to build the house, coach-house and stables in 1858.Rutherford 2004:127 He named the property 'Stratheden'. Originally the house was built on Ophir Road, which has now been renamed Eglinton Road. The house was surrounded by a large garden and had a long driveway. The coach-house was originally built as servant's quarters. The house is said to be built by convict labour using hand made bricks and Australian red cedar.
In September 1858 the deed of the property was transferred from William Atkins to Sophia Hannah Atkins, his wife and his sons, Thomas and James,Land Titles 1858 but it was transferred back to William Atkins in March 1862.Land Titles 1862A William Atkins appears to have sold part of the property to Charles Macphillamy in April 1862.Land Titles 1862B
The road north of Llanarth was part of the original road to the goldfields and was known as Mason's Lane. The first wine grapes were planted in this area by Rankin and Hawkins on the land between Llanarth and Excelsior.Urbis (2), 2008, 51-55 A hawthorn (Crataegus oxycantha) hedge on the Ophir Road was part of the windbreak. The road on the north side of Llanarth was part of the original road to the goldfields at Hill End. It was known as Mason's Lane.Heritage Office files, 2008 The area behind "Llanarth" (to the south) was known as Hawkin's Bush Park, and was a favourite picnic and social gathering area for many years.
John Smith of Molong purchased the subject site in April 1863 from Charles Macphillamy and William Atkins.Land Titles 1863 John Smith purchased numerous parcels of land in Molong between 1856 and 1865, and the Golden Fleece Inn in West Molong in the 1860s. He was said to have spent less time at his property in Molong known as "Gamboola" and more at Llanarth by 1864.
The Hastings family lived the house for a brief period of time in 1863, but do not appear to have been the owners, during which the rear section of the house was burnt down.BDHS nd; history by L. F. Hawkins written on 4 July 1979 in Siede 2008A The house was not rebuilt at this time. During ownership by the Smith family, the coachman's cottage is said to have been built in front of the entrance gates to Llanarth (BDHS nd). Mr Tyne lived in the cottage with his family. In there were several small buildings adjacent to Llanarth but the one most prominent was a cottage in front at the entrance gates, known as 'the coachman's cottage'. Mr Tyne and his family lived in the coachman's cottage for quite some time.L.F.Hawkins, 4/7/1979Heritage Office files
John Smith rebuilt the rear section of the house and renamed it "Llanarth". Smith was born in 1811 in Trelanvean, Cornwall, England and came to Sydney in 1836 in the Abel Gower. His main occupation was a sheep breeder, and in 1880 he joined the Legislative Council with his knowledge of financial and pastoral matters. He was the President of the Pastoral and Agricultural Association in Molong before he moved to Llanarth. John Smith married Mary Tom, daughter of William Tom, in September 1842 and they had five sons and six daughters.
John Smith's eldest son, Fergus Jago Smith, was educated at the King's School in Sydney, was initially interested in pastoral pursuits. He went on to represent West Macquarie in the Legislative Assembly between 1887 and 1889 and he sat in the Legislative Council between 1895 and 1924, and he travelled extensively, spending much of his time in Egypt. Mrs Emily Smith (née Machattie) was almost as well known in Bathurst as her husband due to her "philanthropic and war-time work". Shortly after their marriage the couple lived at "Toogong" on the Forbes Road, about 30 miles from Orange, but Jago Smith died in 1925 in his home "Hawthorne" in Bathurst. Hawthorne villa was recommended in Bathurst Regional Heritage Study 2007 for inclusion in the Wattle Flat Village Conservation Area.
The name "Llanarth" is said to have Cornish origins (BDHS nd). Both John and Mary Smith had Cornish ancestry, as Mary's father, William Tom, was born in 1791 on a farm at Blisland, Cornwall, England and came to Sydney on the Betty Ann and Jupiter in 1823 at which time Mary was four years old.Crawshaw 2008 Mary Smith (née Tom) was one of thirteen children of William and Ann Tom.
In 1907 Fergus Jago Smith called for tenders for the erection of brick stables on the property.Weekend Advocate 2002:13 The architect for the stables was JJ Copeman, and these stables may have replaced earlier stables built by Atkins in 1860. The Trent Pavilion at the Bathurst Showgrounds was also designed by Copeman in 1897 (Heritage Office, 2008C).
The Smith family lived in the house for nearly 50 years. When John Smith died in 1895 in Ashfield he left "Llanarth" to his wife during her lifetime, with the proceeds to be distributed to their children on her death. Mary Smith was strongly involved in community affairs, such as raising funds for a hall along with other local ladies from a bazaar in December 1874.Barker 1998:435 Mary died in 1912 in Bathurst.
In August 1912 the following list of rooms at Llanarth was taken from four pages of inventory of furniture and fittings:
Verandah room Sitting room Mrs Smith's room Hall Back passage Miss Savage's room Dining room Work room Front verandah Pantry Kitchen Laundry Maid's rooms Dairy Bachelors' rooms Lumber room Back verandah Coach House Yard Cellar
It also included the following rooms upstairs: a drawing room, five bedrooms and the hall.
In 1916 a valuer's list noted Llanarth consisting of the following elements:BDHS nd; Rutherford 1979:2
Dining room Hall 8 bedrooms Sitting room Drawing room Nursery 2 bedrooms off store room 2 bedrooms School room Man's room Store room and office Kitchen Wash house Verandah Back verandah Coach house Stables Cellar.