Thomas Austin
From Freepedia
THOMAS AUSTIN
James Austin, arrived in Australia in 1803, having been transported for stealing bee hives and honey. He arrived on the Calcutta, the same ship which brought another famous transportee to Australia, William Buckley. Buckley survived in the bush with the aborigines for 32 years after escaping from custody.
The Austin family settled in Tasmania, living there for some thirty years, before arriving in Port Phillip in 1845.
Thomas Austin, James’ nephew, built a log cabin, and later an impressive stone homestead on the banks of the Barwon River at Winchelsea. He called the homestead Barwon Park. In 1845 he married Elizabeth Phillips Harding, the sister of a neighbouring landowner.
It was at Barwon Park that the Austins entertained the Prince of Wales, the second son of Queen Victoria. He was visiting nearby Winchelsea to open the historic bluestone bridge which is still in use today.
During his brief stay at Barwon Park, he thoroughly enjoyed “The Shooting at the Rabbit Warren”. The Prince bagged 86 of the furry rodents in his first shoot and enjoyed himself so much that he returned the next day and shot another 416. This made him late for a civic reception at Colac, much to the consternation of the locals.
Thomas had imported 12 pairs of [rabbits] and some pheasants in 1859. They arrived on the ship ‘The Lightning’. They were to be bred for hunting. The plan was that the rabbits were to be permanently caged and only small numbers were to be released for hunting. The plan worked well and Thomas managed a very successful rabbit breeding program, until the Barwon River split its banks and flooded the run.
The rabbits escaped and, as the story has it, spread far and wide eventually infesting the entire country. This is a good and oft told story, but not strictly true. Although Thomas’ rabbits contributed to the plagues of later years, he wasn’t the only source of the scourge of the Australian farmer. History records that a number of rabbits arrived on the first fleet, and both the Henty and Fawkner families brought rabbits into Victoria before the Austins. However, Thomas was the source of the sparrow, the starling, the thrush and the hawthorn bush.
As a side note, ‘The Lightning’ once held the record of the fastest sailing vessel of her size. Her remains lie somewhere on the bottom of Corio Bay.
In 1869 Thomas began building a house he called “Barwon Park Mansion”. The house was built on higher ground, some distance from the homestead. The ruins of the original homestead have been inundated by the Barwon on numerous occasions and have virtually disappeared.
The Geelong architectural firm of Davidson and Henderson designed the 42 roomed mansion and stables. It was completed in 1871 at a cost of approximately 10,000 pounds. Nine Ballarat and Geelong firms were contracted to complete this landmark. The ornate ironwork was cast at the Humble Foundry in Geelong. The decorative plaster modelling was the creation of one J. Mackennal. A ship was chartered to bring cedar, oak, marble, glass, furnishings and carpets from England. The bluestone for the structure was mined on the property from the quarry in Cressy Road.
In her book “Barwon Park”, Laureen Lloyd describes the most outstanding feature of the mansion; “On entering, through the double front doors with crystal doorknobs and into the entrance hall, one is confronted by the magnificent staircase, supposedly the most beautiful in the Southern Hemisphere, with the woodwork, still near its original condition, and the iron balustrade”.
Thomas died in December 1871, only 6 months after Barwon Park Mansion was completed. It stands today, a lonely monument to him. It rises out of the rich alluvial soil and the flat soft green plain, like a dice on a Monopoly board, two kilometres from Winchelsea and one kilometre inland from the Princes Highway, on the road to Inverleigh.
Barwon Park originally comprised 3 runs with a total of 29,000 acres. Thomas was a ‘man of the turf’ and a successful breeder. He had several notable winners, Brownlock and Bessie Bedlam among them. After his death the family maintained the tradition.
The generosity of the Austin family was widespread. Their largesse included servants’ training units in Yarra Park, elderly women’s’ cottages in South Geelong, the Fyansford Orphanage Asylum and the Geelong Botanical Gardens, to mention a few.
After his death Barwon Park was purchased by Sydney Batson, the grandson of the original property overseer, Edward Batson. The Batson Family eventually bequeathed the property to the National Trust.
Barwon Park is now open on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons. It can also be hired for weddings and other functions and, from time to time, holds special presentations.
On the 29th day of August 2000, the Victorian Government announced that they would be spending $320 million to rebuild the Austin Hospital in Melbourne. In 1880 Mrs Elizabeth Austin made an anonymous donation for the construction of the original buildings.
We can only concur with Annette Lowe’s last sentiments in her booklet “A History of the Austin Family” when she finishes with the words:
“ – all Austin descendants can be proud.”
