Rose Cottage at Hawkesbury Heritage Farm

 

Wilberforce
Historic Macquarie Town on the banks of the Hawkesbury River
Wilberforce is located 60 km from Sydney and only 5 km from Windsor. The area was first explored by Governor Phillip who travelled through in 1789 and described the rich countryside 'as fine as any I ever saw'. The richness of the farmlands and lush green hills caused Phillip to name the area Green Hills.

By 1794 settlers had moved into the area and grain and other crops were being grown for the colony. These early farmers provided Sydney Town with almost half its food supply. The produce was delivered by boat down the Hawkesbury River, out into the Pacific Ocean and around into Sydney Harbour. This was the beginning of a riverboat industry which continued throughout the nineteenth century.

It has been common to think that the early settlers who moved into this area were unchallenged by the local Aborigines. This was not true. In 1799 five settlers from the Hawkesbury River district - Simon Freebody, William Butler, Ed Powell, James Metcalfe and William Timms - were all brought to trial for the murder of two Aboriginal boys.

The trial was remarkably simple. In court Sarah Hodgkinson explained that about three weeks before the murders her husband had been killed by Aborigines. She told the court how her grief had turned to revenge and how she had asked the men to kill the boys. The five defendants were all found guilty. But instead of sentencing them, they were all set free and the case and the sentence were referred to His Majesty's Ministers in England.

Governor Hunter was not amused by the breach of protocol. He wrote to England protesting, 'Those men found guilty of murder are now at large and living upon these farms, as much at their ease as ever...' Three years later the men were pardoned. Such was the unfair treatment of the Aborigines in the Hawkesbury River area at this time.

But all this is long forgotten on the plains of the Hawkesbury. Today the settlements are small and the agriculture is typical of rich soils on the outskirts of the country's largest city.

Wilberforce, which was named by Governor Macquarie to honour the great British philanthropist William Wilberforce, was established as one of Macquarie's five towns in 1810.

Things to see:  

Historic Wilberforce
Wilberforce proper lies beyond the pioneer village. Inevitably it has lost much of its historic charm due to the advances of modern development however it is still possible to see the precise grid-system layout of the town (it would seem that early surveyors had no concept beyond rectangles) and on the eastern side of the road as you enter town there are an interesting row of buildings including a cottage and the police station (1883).

 

 

St John's Anglican Church

 

St John's Schoolhouse and Grave
The most interesting buildings in town are the Schoolhouse (one of only four schoolhouses still standing which were commissioned by Macquarie) and St John's Anglican Church. These both can be accessed (they stand next to each other) by taking the road to Ebenezer and then turning up Church Road).

The schoolhouse, built in 1820, is a simple building of sun-dried bricks with a skillion added to the back to provide accommodation for the teacher and his family. It stands behind the church. There is also, in excellent condition, a very early grave dating from 1804. It is of an 11-year-old.

 

St John's Anglican Church
St John's Church (1859) is a typical small Edmund Blacket church which cost about £1500 to build. There is an unusual sundial on the north wall which was placed there to commemorate the parish clerk and local schoolmaster, John Wenban who died only seven months before the church was completed. Wenban's grave is located in the interesting old cemetery which has tombstones dating back to 1816.

 

 

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Wilberforce