Fuller Family Deed Box

DESCRIPTION

TitleFuller Family Deed BoxObject TypeObjectDate1865DescriptionDeed Box belonging to the Fuller family of 'Dunmore House', Dunmore.

Box has names of owners painted on front -

G.L. Fuller, Also,
G.W. Fuller
A.E. Fuller
C.D. Fuller
A.D. Fuller
Mrs Anderson
and others.
Provenance and SignifcanceGeorge Laurence Fuller sailed from Ireland to Australia in 1839 when he was seven, with his father William, mother Ann, and six brothers and sisters.

During the voyage, typhus fever broke out among the passengers and William died, just 13 days before reaching Sydney. Ann gave birth to a son who also died on the voyage and two-year-old Charlotte died in quarantine in Sydney. Ann Fuller opened a store in Corrimal Street Wollongong, placing her young children in Liverpool and Parramatta orphanage until she could afford to bring them home.

On leaving school, George helped his mother with her shop keeping business, and in 1852 when he was just 23, he left for the goldfields, taking goods to sell. He did well from this venture.

In 1865, the southern division of the Peterborough Estate at Shellharbour was advertised for sale; 2,560 acres on the Minnamurra River adjoining the Terry’s Meadows Estate. George bought part of the property and named his new estate Dunmore, after his old family home in Ireland. He built Dunmore House of local blue metal rubble. George and his wife Sarah had 14 children. Two of their babies did not survive.

By 1880, George owned some 9,000 acres of the original Peterborough Estate extending from Lake Illawarra to the Minnamurra River, and west to Croom. By the 1880s, he had established a blue metal trade at Bass Point.

Fuller is noted for his generosity and contribution to Shellharbour’s development. He gave two acres for a new school in 1883 called Minnamurra School, and provided tenant farmers to work the land. He expanded the blue metal trade in 188 and provided cottages and work for the quarrymen. George gave land for the Shellharbour General Cemetery, and gifted a fully equipped operating theatre, the Sarah Fuller Memorial Ward (named for his wife) at Kiama Hospital.

George and Sarah’s eldest son, George Warburton Fuller became Premier of New South Wales and another son, Colin Dunmore Fuller served with distinction with the Light Horse in WWI, receiving the Order of the Nile.DonorFuller, Bryan

CHARACTERISTICS

MaterialTin painted black outside red inside.

Brass lock, key missing

False panel behind lock.Dimensions20cm x 47cm x 20 cm

CLASSIFICATION

PrimaryPersonal EffectsSecondaryContainers

CONNECTIONS

CollectionObjectsFamilyFuller Last edited by: Will Chittick