NameOrangeDescriptionAlbert Edwin Orange was born 1888, Warwickshire, England, to Joseph Copley Orange and Feodore Julia Robinson.
He arrived Brisbane in 1908 aboard the ‘Omrah, aged 20. In 1918, Albert married Nellie Malin Edelsten at Randwick.
Albert and Nellie had four children;
Gordon Edwin b.1919 (married Bryda Muriel Rowling, died 2013, Albion Park)
Eleanor Edelston b.1921(married George Edmond Hayes, died 1964, Wollongong)
David Copely b.1923 (married Elvena Rose Pocket, died 1997, Yarra Ranges)
John Albert b. 1929 (died 2012, Sydney)
Albert had great plans for the Panorama Estate, and built a two storey Guest House called ‘Illawarra House’ on the lake shore opposite the present day Shane Lee Field, The Esplanade Oak Flats.
Albert built a stone wharf adjacent to the guest house and purchased a 36 foot, 70 passenger ferry he named the ‘Lady Albion’ which operated from a timber wharf at Windang Street, Albion Park Rail.
The Lady Albion was registered 7 November 1927 as Illawarra Ferry Company and manager of the vessel was William Green of Albion Park and captained by Mr. Jacobson. Passengers were picked up from the Sydney train at Albion Park Railway station and ferried from the Windang Street wharf.
The ‘Lady Albion’ was used for excursions with a tour around Lake Illawarra to the Lake Entrance, calling to Gooseberry Island where at the time, was a dance floor, an attraction for holidaymakers.
This project failed due to the hard times, and the guest house was dismantled and transported in 1936 to Reddall Parade at Lake Illawarra South by the Chambers family. The building exists to-day, known as the ‘California’.
Albert Orange continued selling allotments of his Panorama Estate. Four of the streets on the Panorama Estate have been named after the Orange family.
Malin Street is named after Albert’s wife Nellie Malin Orange, and Gordon, Eleanor and David Streets after their children.
Gordon remembered his father having the ‘Lady Albion’ ferry built to order by a shipbuilder at Middle Harbour in Sydney. It is not known where the ferry went after the Lake Illawarra Project fell through. (Oral History by Gordon Orange).
Information - Gillis, K. 2014, Oak Flats Garden Suburb, Tongarra Heritage Society Inc.