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Peterborough Estate

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NamePeterborough EstateAlternative NameShellharbourTypeEstateGeolocation^[1] Last edited by: Will Chittick

DescriptionD'Arcy Wentworth was born in Ireland c.1762. He was accused of highway robbery four times in England, before sailing to Australia, where he became the largest landowner of Shellharbour, and one of the richest men in the Colony.

Wentworth sailed to Australia as a free man with the Second Fleet, on board the 'Neptune': a ship on which a third of the convict passengers died. During the voyage, he met Catherine Crowley who was transported to Australia for stealing cloth. Their son, William Charles Wentworth, was born in 1790 at Norfolk Island, where D’Arcy was appointed Assistant Surgeon, and later Superintendent of Convicts.

On his return to Sydney in 1796, D’Arcy was employed as Assistant Surgeon of the Colony, then Principal Surgeon, and Superintendent of Police. He was one of the founding members of the Bank of New South Wales.

In 1821, Governor Lachlan Macquarie granted D’Arcy Wentworth an estate of 1,650 acres at Shellharbour, which he named Peterborough. He was granted a further 1,500 acres, including Dunster’s Hill and Mount Wentworth, and 2,000 acres southward including Bass Point. By 1827, grants to D’Arcy Wentworth and grants acquired by him from transfers totalled 13,050 acres, making D’Arcy Wentworth the largest landowner of the district.

Giant Red Cedar trees grew along the rivers at the base of the escarpment, and were used widely by the early settlers.

In 1821, William Charles Wentworth (D’Arcy’s son), obtained the right to cut timber between the Minnamurra River and Mount Terry. John Pugh Nicholls managed the venture. Cedar delivered to Shellharbour was transported to Sydney by ship. The work was hard and dangerous. Cedar getters were described as a hard drinking, hard living bunch. When a north easterly blew, they made their way to the coast to meet the rum boats from Sydney. The liquid cargo was unloaded, the kegs emptied, and the sawpits forgotten.

On D’Arcy’s death in 1827, his Peterborough Estate was left in trust to five of his children, Martha, Sophia, Mary Ann, Catherine, and Robert. Captain Towns, Captain Addison and Captain Darley, married D'Arcy's daughters, Sophia, Mary Ann and Catherine, and the main streets in Shellharbour Village were named after them. Martha Wentworth married John Reddall.

In 1843, Caroline Chisholm arranged with Robert Towns (son-in-law of Wentworth) to settle 23 families on clearing leases on the Peterborough Estate. Life on a clearing lease was hard. The home was a simple slab hut made from basic materials. Hardwood was used to provide the corner posts. The walls were vertical slabs, sometimes made from split cabbage trees. Gaps between the slabs were filled with clay, and the roof was covered with sheets of bark held down by tree branches. A fireplace was located at the end of the room, and had a brick chimney.

The first six years on a clearing lease were tough, owing to the rather primitive conditions. Once some form of shelter was constructed, settlers cleared the brush of vines and undergrowth, to provide a clear passage for falling trees. Trees were felled with axes and the timber burnt. Basic crops such as wheat and potatoes were planted in cleared areas. Maize (corn) fed the poultry, cows, horses and pigs.

Shellharbour derives its name from the vast quantities of natural shells, and those from Aboriginal middens, that once lined the waterfront.

It was inevitable that as more settlers arrived, a village would develop around the little port. In 1856, the Illawarra Mercury reported that Shellharbour was beginning to assume the appearance of a ‘hamlet or little town’. 11 families lived in 11 houses, and farmers came and went with drays, or on foot, carrying produce of the Peterborough Estate (Shellharbour), Macquarie River (Albion Park) and Stoney Creek (Croom), to be shipped to Sydney.

Shellharbour's most impressive trees today are the giant figs, which dominated the canopy of the rainforest. The most common species of fig in Shellharbour is the Moreton Bay, which was popular with early settlers, as its vast canopy provided much welcome shade. Figs became popular features near old homesteads and dairies, and the figs that remain in Shellharbour today, often mark the site of an old farmhouse.

Person

Dillon Christopher

Addison, Stephen Captain

Fenwick, Thomas

Mercer, Campbell

Wentworth, D'Arcy

Towns, Robert

Chisholm, Caroline

Family

Reddall

Nichols

Knight

Fenwick

Dorrough

Addison

Map or Plan

Plan Z The Peterborough Estate

Tracing Shewing (sic) Part of the Peterborough Estate Parish of Terragong, Country of Camden

Peterborough Estate - The Property of GL Fuller

Plan of the Peterborough Estate

Object

Indenture - Thomas Gray

Indenture - James Foley

Picturesque Atlas of Australasia

Document

Indenture - Thomas Gray

Indenture - James Foley

Place

Lake House

Locality

Lake Illawarra

Industry

Cedar Getters

The Peterborough Estate c.1920.

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PersonTowns, RobertWentworth, D'ArcyCollectionPlacesLocalityShellharbour City LGAFamilyAddisonReddallRelated ItemPlan of the Peterborough Estate Last edited by: Will Chittick

Plan of the Village of Peterborough c.1851 Last edited by: Will Chittick

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Peterborough Estate