Lanyon Homestead
Encyclopedia
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
in the Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
.
History
The site was first occupied following white settlement by Timothy Beard, who depastured cattle on the Limestone Plains as early as 1829. Beard had been transported to Australia for life and arrived in the colony in 1806. After receiving his pardon he entered the pastoral industry as a squatter. Beard's huts were located on the Molonglo River near QueanbeyanQueanbeyan, New South Wales
Queanbeyan is a regional centre in the Southern Tablelands in south-eastern New South Wales adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory. The city's mixed economy is based on light construction, high technology, manufacturing, service, retail and agriculture. It is the council seat of the...
and on the site of Lanyon homestead. Beard was forced out of the area by land grants and later became an innkeeper at Bringelly
Bringelly, New South Wales
Bringelly is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Northern Road between Penrith and Camden. It has a public school. Bringelly is also the name of a local hill.-History:...
(Moore, 1982).
The Wright family
James Wright and his friend John Hamilton Mortimer Lanyon settled at Lanyon in 1833 as squatters after arriving from London earlier that year. (James also took his wife and his 5 children with him.) In 1835 they purchased several adjoining blocks on the Murrumbidgee RiverMurrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
, then the edge of legal occupation within the nineteen counties
Nineteen Counties
The Nineteen Counties were the limits of location in the colony of New South Wales defined by the Governor of New South Wales Sir Ralph Darling in 1826 in accordance with a government order from Lord Bathurst, the secretary of State. Counties had been used since the first year of settlement, with...
. Wright and Lanyon established an orchard, vegetable gardens, planted wheat and purchased cattle and sheep and set up a dairy herd. Fifteen convicts were assigned to Wright and Lanyon by 1835, increasing to thirty by 1837. Wright's elder brother William arrived in 1836 and purchased adjoining land. William died in 1837 following a shooting accident. Lanyon returned to England and died in 1841. Wright married Mary Davis in 1838 and the first three of their eight children were born at Lanyon. Wright encountered financial difficulties and was forced to sell Lanyon in 1841 and move to nearby Cuppacumbalong
Cuppacumbalong Homestead
Cuppacumbalong is an historic homestead located near the southern outskirts of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. It is also the name of a former sheep and cattle grazing property that surrounded the homestead near the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Gudgenby Rivers. The word...
station. The Wrights had established a self supporting community at Lanyon of up to 60 people. The design of Wright's courtyard buildings is said to be reminiscent of his native Derbyshire (ACT Government, 1994).
The Cunningham family
Lanyon was next purchased by Andrew Cunningham, a banker from Fyfeshire in Scotland. Cunningham arrived in Sydney with his family in 1845 and settled at Congwarra, north west of Lanyon. The Cunninghams built the present Lanyon homestead from local fieldstone in 1859. Lanyon was carrying 25,000 sheep by the time of Andrew Cunningham's death in 1887 and the Cunninghams had acquired five properties. Cunningham's sons James and Andrew Jackson Cunningham operated the properties in partnership, with James at TuggeranongTuggeranong Homestead
Tuggeranong Homestead is located in the Australian Capital Territory in the area now covered by the suburb of Richardson.The first authorised landowner of the Tuggeranong area following white settlement was Peter Murdoch, aide-de-camp of Thomas Brisbane, who was awarded a grant of 2,000 acres in...
and Andrew at Lanyon. In 1905 Andrew Jackson married Louisa Leman and extended and redecorated the homestead. Andrew died in 1913 and Louisa sold the contents of the homestead and returned to Sydney. James Cunningham moved his family from Tuggeranong to Lanyon in 1915.
The Field family
After James' death in 1921 his son Andy oversaw Lanyon until 1926 when the property was sold to Harry Osborne of Currandooley, near Bungenore. The Osbornes sold the property in 1930 to Thomas Field who had large landholdings in New South Wales and Queensland. The Field family lived in Sydney but visited Lanyon often. They implemented major changes, including modern farming methods, large scale pasture improvement and irrigation of lucerne.By the late 1960s, the growth of the National Capital had necessitated the resumption of large tracts of farmland south of Canberra. Up to a dozen rural leases, in parts of South Woden and Weston Creek, were resumed to make way for development of Tuggeranong
Tuggeranong
Tuggeranong is the southernmost town centre of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. It comprises 19 suburbs with a total of 31,819 dwellings, housing 87,119 people of the 324,034 people in the Australian Capital Territory . The district occupies 117 square kilometres to the east of the...
, the second of Canberra's urban satellites Lanyon, was the largest single parcel of freehold land in the ACT. Tom Field lodged plans to sub-divide some of his 9000 acres (36.4 km²). When the Federal Government proceeded to acquire Lanyon, Field refused an offer of $1.875m and sought compensation of $33m, the amount a private valuer had placed on the land when assessed at urban values.
The matter of Field versus the Commonwealth of Australia eventually proceeded to Australia’s High Court. The government defended the level of compensation it had offered Mr Field, concerned too that if successful, the ‘Field Case’ would set a dangerous precedent for compensation on freehold land
throughout Australia. The Federal Government acquired Lanyon for $3.7m in 1974. In the early to mid 1970s the McMahon and Whitlam Governments withdrew the rural leases for Lanyon, Cuppacumbalong Homestead
Cuppacumbalong Homestead
Cuppacumbalong is an historic homestead located near the southern outskirts of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. It is also the name of a former sheep and cattle grazing property that surrounded the homestead near the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Gudgenby Rivers. The word...
and Gold Creek Homestead
Gold Creek Homestead
Gold Creek Homestead is a 140-year old stone and brick building located off Gungahlin Drive in Ngunnawal a north-western suburb of Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory, Australia....
..
Lanyon today
The government converted the homestead into the Sidney Nolan Gallery which opened to the public in 1975. It housed a collection of the paintings of Sir Sidney NolanSidney Nolan
Sir Sidney Robert Nolan OM, AC was one of Australia's best-known painters and printmakers.-Early life:Nolan was born in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne, on 22 April 1917. He was the eldest of four children. His family later moved to St Kilda. Nolan attended the Brighton Road State School and...
. A purpose-built gallery for the Nolan collection was built in the grounds in 1980. An extensive conservation and restoration program was undertaken and the homestead is now managed as a house museum, within a working property, by the ACT Government
Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory...
and the National Trust
National Trust of Australia
The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....
.
Lanyon Homestead was threatened by the 2003 Canberra bushfires, which also threatened the nearby township of Tharwa. On January 18th 2003, as fires were approaching Canberra, the homestead was hosting a wedding. The fire situation deteriorated prompting the evacuation of Tharwa which was defended and saved by Southern Rural Fire Brigades. The lanyon Homestead was not impacted by fire, though did come under ember attack. A single fire truck was on hand to hose down and protect the historic homestead.
Given the age of Lanyon, this was certainly not the first time the property had faced bushfires.