When the first settlers came to Australia, they built homes similar to those they had known in the old country. The Australian climate influenced two major changes in the appearance of houses. Instead of having bedrooms upstairs to be away from the damp ground, houses here were mostly built on ground level; also because of the hot sun, verandahs were built around the houses. Doncaster has an excellent example of this distinctive style with "Glenfern" in Amberley Court, Bulleen.
Alfred Caldicott, a Senior Government official, built the house in 1856. Unlike the pioneer homes in the district, "Glenfern" was built for gracious living. Caldicott actually commuted to Melbourne every day, walking 6 miles to catch the steam train at Hawthorn.
The house stands on a rise. At the front, steps lead up to a broad verandah surrounding the house. The verandah has interesting corners, and sections creating a "courtyard" atmosphere. At the front, large windows opened onto the verandah, looking across a sweeping lawn to a summer house in the garden.
Sympathetic restoration by its present owners Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Campbell, has retained the original charm while making the home liveable. No longer does it sit in the midst of a large estate, but shrubs and trees surround "Glenfern", thus creating a secluded atmosphere.
"Glenfern" has been classified "C" by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria).
Irvine Green writing in 1969 08 DTHS Newsletter
Glenfern was the homestead of Alfred Millwater Caldecott, and was built in 1858 on his farm which had a long frontage to Ayr Street.
(Sometimes confused with National Trust Property Glenfern East St Kilda).
 |
| The side verandah of Glenfern, Amberley Court, Bulleen |
GLENFERN
From an architectural studyGlenfern was built between 1857 and 1858 for Alfred Millwater Caldecott. The house is classified by the National Trust and is of solid masonry construction. The citation describes it as, "in a colonial-derived Italianate style, the house is essentially of its era, but is distinctive for the timber valance detailing and for the use of reduced rear wings. It has a hipped slate roof on paired eaves brackets."
Alfred Millwater Caldecott arrived in Australia in 1849 from Birmingham, England. In 1855, he married widow Margaret Jane Young (maiden name - Buchanan), who was Irish born, but raised in Quebec. Caldecott received a salary of five hundred pounds per annum as an accountant in the immigration office, under Mr Bell, Principal Immigration Officer.
On the 20th April, 1858, Caldecott received conveyance of the title for 74 acres of land along Koonung Creek, from the Carlton Estate. Caldecott, previously a householder of Swan Street, Richmond, paid eight hundred and sixty four pounds for his allotment. He built a Victorian homestead, equipped it with domestic staff, and named it "Glenfern". (Referred to as Glenfern Farm, Kennedy's Creek, by the local rate books.) Each day Caldecott walked to Hawthorn Station. Being the owner of a gold-embossed railway ticket, he travelled each day "First Class" to Melbourne.
At the age of 42, in 1870, A. M. Caldecott set sail for Fiji to become a cotton planter, leaving his wife and children at their home in the Parish of Bulleen. The next year a Power of Attorney was given to Mrs. Caldecott, with instructions from her husband to sell their property. In 1873 an advertisement appeared for the auction of the property.
ìThis Day at Twelve O'clock
Farm, Stock, Dairy Utensils, Agriculture Implements, Furniture, etc.
11 superior cows, 12 young stock, 2 plough horses, 1 buggy horse, well-bred bull, 2 1/2 years old, pigs, fowls, etc, thrashing machine, winnowing machine, Avery's weighing machine, rough barrow, roller, hay rakes, hay and manure forks, iron water tank, garden implements, hay cart and frame, tip cart, wheelbarrow, dray, harness, etc., family cart and harness.
Alfred was fortunately pleased with the sales for whom two thousand seven hundred pounds was received for the farm itself.
In 1873, Robert Outhwaite acquired Glenfern Farm, consisting of 123 acres, occupying both sides of Ayr Street. He was married to Blanche, daughter of James and Agatha Clerk of van Dieman's Land.
Outhwaite had a squatting interest, and possibly owned land in the area then known as "Cheshunt", 38 miles from Wangaratta, north east of Melbourne. From 1877, his occupation is mentioned in the Doncaster and Templestowe rate books as "Gentleman". He is listed as the owner of the following properties: open land near cemetery, Section 13. House and garden, Templestowe (near John Bennet's). Allotment No 6, Section 22, Templestowe (near hotel). Allotment No 4, Section 4, Templestowe on hill (near Seymour's). Two acres of land near Jossman's Bridge, Deep Creek. Open land near Carmons, Templestowe Road.
Robert Outhwaite died in 1912. Glenfern Farm was passed on to Edward Walter Outhwaite, Solicitor, of 120 William Street, Melbourne. Edward Outhwaite began to subdivide his land. Glenfern on 25 acres was bought by Mrs. Margaret McAuslan. Five years later it passed to Flora Jane Netherway.
In 1946, H. T. Cock bought Glenfern and the adjoining 25 acres. Having young children at the time, Mr. and Mrs. Cock grazed cows for fresh milk, with intentions of eventually becoming self-sufficient by "living off the land". The Cocks developed their land into a dairy farm of Ayshire cattle, noted for their high quality milk.
In the 1950's, Cock subdivided his land, Mr. and Mrs. Campbell purchased the block occupied by Glenfern. Mrs. Campbell is the current owner and occupant of "Glenfern".
Barbara Yerondais writing in 1982 05 DTHS Newsletter
Glenfern - 10 Amberley Court, Bulleen.
Glenfern, an early farmhouse, was built in 1863 (1) , or earlier for Alfred Millwater Caldecott, who arrived in Australia in 1849 from England. He was employed as an accountant in the Immigration Office (2) RGO records confirm that in 1858 Caldecott purchased the site of Glenfern (74 acres along the Koonung Creek) from Robert Campbell, the NSW squatter who subdivided the Carlton Estate. This Estate was originally in 1842 part of Unwin's Special Survey of 5120 acres, which was transferred in 1844 to James Atkinson of the Belfast Special Survey fame (3) An 1874 Crown Lands Department plan of the Parish of Bulleen shows Caldecott's Bulleen property which extended down to the Koonung Creek and was bounded on the east by Doyles Road (now Ayr Street). (4) Caldecott purchased a number of other allotments in the Carlton estate in 1860 and 1862. (5)Although it has been suggested that Caldecott, who married in 1855, built Glenfern in the late 1850s soon after his purchase of the site, (6) new evidence suggests that it is more likely to date from the early 1860s. A document held by the late J. D. Campbell, architect, records the death of a Caldecott son (born at Richmond in 1856) in February 1860 at Bulleen. (7) This suggests that there was some kind of Caldecott dwelling at Bulleen at this time. However, the present symmetrical Italianate house was more probably built in 1863 when Caldecott mortgaged his Bulleen lands to the Second Union Building Society for 1800 pounds, a sum repaid in October 1864. (8) This was an accepted method for financing the construction of buildings during the Victorian period. The Trustees of the building society chosen by Caldecott, Ambrose Kyte and Moses Rintel, were associated with many such transactions in Melbourne and beyond. Caldecott, himself, was a vice president and treasurer of the National Building and Investment Company in 1865. (9) Templestowe District Road Board's earliest 1863 rate records confirm that by that date Alfred Caldecott owned a house and farm on Kennedy' s (later Koonung) Creek with a substantial valuation. (10) This property was identified as Glenfern Farm in 1865. (11)
Rate records confirm that in 1871, after Caldecott left Australia to become a cotton farmer in Fiji, never to return, (12) his wife, Margaret, was left in charge of the Glenfern Farm. She was recorded as its owner and occupier in 1871-72. (13) Rate records also confirm a transfer of the farm to Robert Outhwaite in 1873. (14) Listed as a gentleman and farmer, (15) Outhwaite reputedly had squatting interests. During the Outhwaite ownership valuation of the property increased suggesting some additions at this time, (16) presumably the rear section. After Robert's death in 1912, Glenfern passed to E. W. Outhwaite, a Melbourne solicitor. (17) Subsequent owners included Mrs M. McAuslan, Flora Jane Netheway and in 1946, H. J. Cocks. By this time Glenfern stood on 25 acres and was developed as a dairy farm. the architect, John Campbell, and his wife, Ruth. who purchased the property in 1957, (18) carried out extensive and sympathetic restoration work. A current MMBW Property Sewerage Plan shows the old homestead on its present allotment in Amberley Court, the result of a 1955 subdivision (19)
Of regional historical significance as an 1863 or earlier farm house (now on a much reduced allotment) associated with settlement of the Bulleen district.
1 Documents held by J. D. Campbell, architect. National Trust file No. 1162.
2 RGO Search (Caldecott) , Plan of the Farm Subdivision of the Carlton Estate. R. C. Bagot, n. d.
3 RGO Search 485.
4 Plan of Bulleen. Parish of Bulleen. 526 B, 1874.
5 RGO Search 485.
6 Richard Peterson, Context Pty Ltd, City of Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study 1991, p. 59
7 National Trust file No. 1162
8 RGOSearch 485.
9 National Trust File No. 1162.
10 Templestowe District Board RB 1863 No. 24 (NAV 90)
11 Templestowe District Board RB 1865 No. 28 (NAV 90 pounds)
12 Barbara Yerondais, Glenfern, Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society Newsletter, May 1982.
13 Templestowe District Board RB 1873 No. 35 (NAV 100 poundst 1872 No. 33
14 Templestowe District Board RB 1873 No. 200 (NAV 125 pounds)
15 Shire of Bulleen rate records, Templestowe Riding.
16 Shire of Bulleen RB 1876 Templestowe Riding No. 85 (NAV 150 pounds).
17 Heidelberg-Doncaster and Eltham Manoeuvre Area, John Monash, 1912. M/ Def. 120, PROV.
18 Barbara Yerondais, Glenfern, Doncaster-Templestowe Historical Society Newsletter. May 1982.
19 MMBW Property Sewerage Plan No. 417079; Lodge Plan 40186, 18 Nov. 1955.
Doncaster and Templestowe Heritage Study Additional Research Carlotta Kellaway - July 1994 -
http://www.manningham.vic.gov.au/file/26136/download
Victorian Heritage Database Report: GLENFERN 22352
Location: 10 Amberley Court BULLEENMunicipality: Manningham City
Level of significance: Included in Heritage Overlay
Heritage Overlay Numbers: HO3
Heritage Listing: Manningham City
Statement of Significance: Of regional historical significance as an early farm house, externally largely intact (although on a much reduced allotment) associated with the settlement of the Bulleen district.
Report generated 06/05/17
Heritage Study/Consultant
Manningham - Manningham Heritage Study Review, Context Pty Ltd, 2006;
Manningham - Doncaster & Templestowe Heritage Study Additional Historical Research, Carlotta Kellaway, 1994;
Hermes Number: 22352
Property Number: ??
Historical Australian Themes: 5.01 - Squatters, selectors & small farmer
Condition: Excellent
Integrity: Not known
Physical Description 1
Associations: Alfred M. Caldecott; John & Ruth Camp
Heritage Council Web Page:
Statement of Significance: Of regional historical significance as an early farm house, externally largely intact (although on a much reduced allotment) associated with the settlement of the Bulleen district.
Real Estate Sale: 10 Amberley Court, Bulleen
(Fletcher's Real Estate Advertisement - Archive File)
Elegant Victorian Home on Spacious Grounds "Glenfern c1857"
Bathed in the warm ambience of welcoming familiarity and deep family history felt in classic period homes, 'Glenfern' c1857 sits proudly in an elevated court position as one of the few remaining original grand homes of the area.
Listed by the National Trust, this gracious lady has recently undergone loving restoration and a little modernisation resulting in a light, bright, spacious and contemporarily liveable version of her former self.
The verandah wrapped around 3 sides of the home has its own list of historic credentials being timber lined with unique timber supports and fretwork. The central front entry hall and 2 formal rooms boast towering 4m ceilings, decorative roses and fireplaces. To the right is an exceptionally grand bedroom, to the left a traditional formal lounge boasts an opulent St Anne marble mantelpiece and in a contemporary floorplan would find itself in use as a spacious family room or 4th bedroom.
Through a striking central archway, the wide passage leads to a 2nd bedroom (OFP) and opposite to a very comfortable living room opening through to a dining room (both with OFPs) which in turn leads out to the courtyard.
The main bedroom (3rd bedroom) features an elegant ensuite with black and beige encaustic floor tiles and walk-in shower .The family bathroom features traditional tessellated tiling. The stylish kitchen features a Delonghi 90cm freestanding stove and stone benches with white subway tiles and provides a light modern workspace that sits well with the restored areas of the home.
As well as garage and carport, the external buildings include a superior work from home opportunity with a 2 room home office/studio with kitchen (and laundry) facilities.
The expansive allotment of 1,818 sq m (approx.) presents several settings for peaceful alfresco downtime or entertaining under the shade of a magnificent Golden Rain Tree and with the garden in its infancy the best is yet to come in cultivating the landscaped surrounds already equipped with irrigation and featuring dry stone walls.
- Restored and renovated, grand Victorian home c1857
- Set on 1,818 sq m (approx.) in a quiet court location
- Versatile floorplan with a possible 4 bedrooms
- Modernised kitchen, bathroom and ensuite
- 2 room home office/studio with separate entry
- Close to schools, shops, buses and Eastern Freeway
Bathed in the warm ambience of welcoming familiarity and deep family history felt in classic period homes, 'Glenfern' c1857 sits proudly in an elevated court position as one of the few remaining original grand homes of the area.
Listed by the National Trust, this gracious lady has recently undergone loving restoration and a little modernisation resulting in a light, bright, spacious and contemporarily liveable version of her former self.
The verandah wrapped around 3 sides of the home has its own list of historic credentials being timber lined with unique timber supports and fretwork. The central front entry hall and 2 formal rooms boast towering 4m ceilings, decorative roses and fireplaces. To the right is an exceptionally grand bedroom, to the left a traditional formal lounge boasts an opulent St Anne marble mantelpiece and in a contemporary floorplan would find itself in use as a spacious family room or 4th bedroom.
Through a striking central archway, the wide passage leads to a 2nd bedroom (OFP) and opposite to a very comfortable living room opening through to a dining room (both with OFPs) which in turn leads out to the courtyard.
The main bedroom (3rd bedroom) features an elegant ensuite with black and beige encaustic floor tiles and walk-in shower .The family bathroom features traditional tessellated tiling. The stylish kitchen features a Delonghi 90cm freestanding stove and stone benches with white subway tiles and provides a light modern workspace that sits well with the restored areas of the home.
As well as garage and carport, the external buildings include a superior work from home opportunity with a 2 room home office/studio with kitchen (and laundry) facilities.
The expansive allotment of 1,818 sq m (approx.) presents several settings for peaceful alfresco downtime or entertaining under the shade of a magnificent Golden Rain Tree and with the garden in its infancy the best is yet to come in cultivating the landscaped surrounds already equipped with irrigation and featuring dry stone walls.
- Restored and renovated, grand Victorian home c1857
- Set on 1,818 sq m (approx.) in a quiet court location
- Versatile floorplan with a possible 4 bedrooms
- Modernised kitchen, bathroom and ensuite
- 2 room home office/studio with separate entry
- Close to schools, shops, buses and Eastern Freeway
Deaths. CALDECOTT
On the 26th August, at her residence, Nicholson street, Footscray, Margaret Jane, relict of late Alfred Millwater Caldecott, of "Glenfern," Doncaster, near Kew, and Nadroga, Fiji, loving mother of H. E. Caldecott and Margaret James, of Footscray, and grandmother of Leonard and Roy Caldecott (both on active service), and Gwyneth Caldecott, a colonist of 64 years, aged 90 years. "A devoted parent and true friend." (Interred privately, Boroondara Cemetery, on 27th inst.)
1917 'Family Notices', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 1 September, p. 13. , viewed 19 Oct 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1646550
1917 'Family Notices', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 1 September, p. 13. , viewed 19 Oct 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1646550
OBITUARY Mrs. Caldecott, Snr.
A link with the very foundation of Australia as a colony was severed last week in the death, at the age of 90, of Mrs Caldecott, mother of Mr H. E. Caldecott, J.P. Though living a very retired life Mrs Caldecott, snr., had been a resident of Footscray for over 30 years, coming to the city with her son, with whom she lived after the death of her husband. She resided with a widowed daughter, Mrs James, at 86 Nicholson street. Mrs Caldecott's long life had been a very full one. Born in Omagh, Ireland, she went as an infant with her parents to Canada, where she was reared and educated in theProvince of Quebec. Here she learned to speak French equally well with her native English. As a young woman she travelled the West Indies extensively, eventually marrying Captain Young, a shipowner, in Canada. A month after her marriage Captain Young was lost at sea. This was about the time of the gold rush and the young widow with a companion, Miss Blake, decided to try their fortunes in Australia, where Captain Young had relatives, merchants in Melbourne. It was here that Mrs Caldecott met Mr Alfred Millwater Caldecott, who had been brought out by the original Provincial Government of South Australia as a shorthand writer. Mr Alfred Caldecott was an accountant, and afterwards became connected with the Victorian Immigration department when Victoria was raised to the dignity of a separate colony. Mr and Mrs Caldecott lived at Doncaster, where Mr H. E. Caldecott was born. About this time the Fiji cotton boom broke out, and Mr Alfred Caldecott, with several other gentlemen well known in Melbourne, went to Fiji to plant cotton and, as it turned out, lose a great deal of their money. Mr Caldecott, after the failure of his venture, went to Mauritius, where Mrs Caldecott was about to join him, when her husband fell ill and was buried somewhere on the way home between Mauritius and Australia. Mr H. E. Caldecott was then about 11 years of age and he and his widowed mother then founded the close filial association that only ended in her death last week. The funeral was a private one at Boorondara on Monday last.
With the exception of her son and daughter in Footscray Mrs Caldecott's only near relative was a brother, Mr John Buchanan, a well-known merchant of Point Levis, Quebec. Mr Buchanan is now 76 years old and though he was but a toddler when his 17-year old sister married and went to the other side of the world, he and she had corresponded regularly throughout the years, and one of his unanswered letters was found after her death. A link binding the two families is found in the fact that where Mrs Caldecott has two grandsons, Roy and Leonard Caldecott, fighting for the Empire,
Mr Buchanan has two sons, while a daughter is a nurse with the American army.
1917 'OBITUARY', Advertiser (Footscray, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), 1 September, p. 2. , viewed 19 Oct 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89115722
In 1858 an Englishman Alfred Millwater Caldicott, a native of Birmingham, took possession of 74 acres of land along the Koonung Creek. Intending to farm the area, he purchased a quantity of farm implements, and suitable stock.
He also built a Victorian homestead which he named "Glenfern" and which appears on local rate books as "Glenfern Farm" Kennedys Creek.
Caldicott was an accountant in the Immigration Office in the city of Melbourne ,and daily walked from his home in Bulleen to Hawthorn Station. Using a "gold embossed" railway ticket he travelled First Class to his city office.
"Glenfern" mirrored the style of the wealthy at the time, and was a solidly built homestead. Cited in National Trust records, it is described as a "home in colonial derived Italianate style, essentially of its era, but distinctive for the timber valance detailing, and for the use of reduced rear wings. It has a hipped slate roof on paired eaves brackets."
Alfred Caldicott moved into his home after 1858, having paid £864 for his total allotment. Together with his wife, a widow Margaret Jane Young (maiden name - Buchanan) he lived at "Glenfern", farming the land with a full complement of servants and farm workers.
Twelve years later, Caldicott moved to Fiji to become a cotton planter leaving his wife and children at Bulleen.
1873, his wife was given a Power-of-Attomey and instructions by Alfred to sell their property, including the homestead, at Public Auction. This sale realised £332,700, and passed into the hands of Robert Outhwaite.
The Outhwaite family, farmed the land on which "Glenfern" stands, for many years.
The land was subdivided and passed through several ownerships. In 1946, "Glenfern" and the adjoining farm had shrunk to 25 acres. Mr and Mrs Cock who acquired the land at that time, developed the land into a successful dairy farm, specialising in quality Ayrshire cattle, a breed noted for high milk yield.
After a further subdivision in the 1950's Mr. and Mrs. Campbell purchased "Glenfern" and Mrs. Campbell is the present occupant of the home.
"Glenfern"
The oldest historic homestead in the Bulleen area stands in the spot once known as "Kennedys Creek". This part, now bordered by the entrance to the Eastern Freeway and High Sreet, just off Ayr St, was a part of the Carlton Estate.In 1858 an Englishman Alfred Millwater Caldicott, a native of Birmingham, took possession of 74 acres of land along the Koonung Creek. Intending to farm the area, he purchased a quantity of farm implements, and suitable stock.
He also built a Victorian homestead which he named "Glenfern" and which appears on local rate books as "Glenfern Farm" Kennedys Creek.
Glenfern Built by Alfred Caldicott 1858
Caldicott was an accountant in the Immigration Office in the city of Melbourne ,and daily walked from his home in Bulleen to Hawthorn Station. Using a "gold embossed" railway ticket he travelled First Class to his city office.
"Glenfern" mirrored the style of the wealthy at the time, and was a solidly built homestead. Cited in National Trust records, it is described as a "home in colonial derived Italianate style, essentially of its era, but distinctive for the timber valance detailing, and for the use of reduced rear wings. It has a hipped slate roof on paired eaves brackets."
Alfred Caldicott moved into his home after 1858, having paid £864 for his total allotment. Together with his wife, a widow Margaret Jane Young (maiden name - Buchanan) he lived at "Glenfern", farming the land with a full complement of servants and farm workers.
Twelve years later, Caldicott moved to Fiji to become a cotton planter leaving his wife and children at Bulleen.
1873, his wife was given a Power-of-Attomey and instructions by Alfred to sell their property, including the homestead, at Public Auction. This sale realised £332,700, and passed into the hands of Robert Outhwaite.
The Outhwaite family, farmed the land on which "Glenfern" stands, for many years.
The land was subdivided and passed through several ownerships. In 1946, "Glenfern" and the adjoining farm had shrunk to 25 acres. Mr and Mrs Cock who acquired the land at that time, developed the land into a successful dairy farm, specialising in quality Ayrshire cattle, a breed noted for high milk yield.
After a further subdivision in the 1950's Mr. and Mrs. Campbell purchased "Glenfern" and Mrs. Campbell is the present occupant of the home.
Source: Bulleen - A Short History (1991). By Judith Leaney. Illustrated by Irvine Green
Glenfern c1967 Entrance steps leading to the front door of Glenfern, 10 Amberley Court, off Ayr Street Bulleen, built in the late 1850s by Alfred Millwater Caldecott, a civil servant. After Caldecott's death, the house and its surrounding farmland was sold to Robert Outhwaite, whose family held the property until about 1920 when it was subdivided into smaller parcels. In 1967, it was owned by one of the founding members of the Doncaster and Templestowe Historical Society, Mrs Campbell, who in 1967 or 1968, spoke to the historical society's members about the history of her house. DP1214
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