Notes
Note N2845
Index
PROPERTY NOTE
(R.G. Book 492, No. 315). On the 7/7/1892, he sold one lot of 2 acres to John Noey, a Chinese Doctor, for £40. [Emily Hertel's Booklet: "Robert and Dinah Hardy in Australia" - 1981]
Notes
Note N2846
Index
PROPERTY NOTE
(R.G. Book 496, No. 391). On the 2/8/1892, he sold 7 acres to John Charters, coach proprietor for £85.
[Emily Hertel's Booklet: "Robert and Dinah Hardy in Australia" - 1981]
Notes
Note N2847
Index
20721/1950 FERRIS ANNA MARIA ROBERT MARY ANNE MANLY
not clear whether this is the correct Anna Maria nee Hardy
Notes
Note N2851
Index
OCCUPATION NOTE
Edward was shown as a STOREKEEPER at FERNHILL, MULGOA on daughter Elizabeth Comber's birth certificate dated 1853.
==========
Fernhill, Mulgoa owned by Edward Cox, son of William Cox of Blue Mts fame.
Initial tract of 300ac purchased in 1810.
==========
Information from the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) and National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).
(http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5045436) accessed 2017-09-07
Fernhill
Lat: -33.8251751167 Long: 150.6386152810
Mulgoa Road, Mulgoa, NSW 2745
History
Historical notes: Aboriginal land
The traditional owners of the land now occupied by Cox's Cottage were the Mulgowie people, who became known as the "Mulgoa tribe" (Karskens, 2009, 9).
There is a reference to an attack on the Cox property by Aboriginal people in 1814 (Sydney Gazette, May 1814).
Colonisation
The Mulgoa valley has played an important part in the history of the development of New South Wales. From 1810 Mulgoa was a key area of settlement in the colony (Anderson, 2008).
The first land grant was made by Governor Macquarie to Lieutenant William Cox, a colonial magistrate who promptly registered the property in the parish records in the name of his infant son, Edward (Anderson, 2008).
Cox's Cottage is part of early colonial land grants and purchases to members of the Cox family in the Mulgoa Valley, south of Penrith, eventually totalling some 3,760 acres (Kinhill Stearns, 1983; Bertie 1930, p51). The first of the grants, of 30 acres (12 hectares), made in 1809 to the infant Edward Cox and confirmed by Governor Macquarie the following year (Watson, 1917), became known as 'Fernhills' or 'Fernhill'.
Fernhill estate is located principally on the first land grant made in the Mulgoa Valley (to the infant Edward Cox) dating back to 1809. The name 'Fern Hills' seems to have been given it as early as 1810 (Stapleton, for Dept. of Planning, 1983).
Lieutenant William Cox is perhaps best known for supervising the construction of the first road over the Blue Mountains in the second half of 1814 (Betteridge, 2009). He sailed to New South Wales on the 'Minerva' in 1799. During his 37 years of residence in the early colony, he made a substantial and enduring contribution to its progress in the fields of public administration, building and agricultural development. The Cox family were remarkable 'house and garden' people. During the middle years of the 19th century, William Cox Sr. was at Clarendon, near Windsor; his eldest son William, lived at Hobartville, Richmond; his sons Henry, George and Edward were to build and occupy their respective houses of Glenmore, Winbourne and Fernhill at Mulgoa. Another son, James, settled in Van Dieman's Land, where he built his own magnificent 'Clarendon'. Around all these houses the Cox families created beautiful gardens (Chippindall/Broadbent, 1979, 2).
For some time the property (330 acres) was managed jointly with that of William Cox by the overseer James King with occasional help from Cox's sons, George, Henry and Edward.
c1825 Edward Cox (1805-68) returned from schooling in England (since 1821) and established his separate estate at Fernhill. In 1827 he married Jane Maria Brooks (of Denham Court estate, Ingleburn) and the family lived at The Cottage, Mulgoa (to the east) for many years.
By the late 1830s Fernhill was one of the principal estates in the Mulgoa Valley and included The Cottage site to the east (Stapleton, for Dept. of Planning, 1983). At this time it was one of five properties that had expanded to occupy virtually the entire Mulgoa Valley (Anderson, 2008).
In 1842 Edward Cox began building the sandstone house. It was planned on a large and sophisticated scale and in the Greek Revival style, possibly by colonial architect Mortimer Lewis (Anderson, 2008). The house was completed in 1843 and Edward and Jane Cox moved in then. Above the door is a date of 1842. (Stapleton, 1983)
The architect of Fernhill is not known with any certainty. The house bears features suggestive of the work of Mortimer Lewis and John Verge. The less-well known architect, Francis Clarke, was working in the area at the time of Fernhill's construction and the house may have been designed by him (Report to Heritage Council, 1978).
Lewis' private commissions show a dependence on published sources, identified in recent year by architectural historian James Broadbent. 'Fernhill' and 'Tomago' boast separate entrance and garden fronts at right angles to each other, the garden fronts marked by bay windows. Their plans are probably adapted from the British architect William Wilkins' design for 'Oxberton House', Nottinghamshire, as published by George Richardson in the 'New Vitruvius Britannicus' (1802-8)(Carlin, 2012).
Elements of the house suggesting the involvement of Mortimer Lewis are: narrow 'slit' side light windows flanking the front door; internal skirting boards with 'window-panelling' insets; papier mache ceiling friezes and roses (from Bealerfeld & Co. in London)(much used in the 1840s, e.g. by Surveyor-General Sir Thomas Mitchell at Parkhall in Douglas Park; who influenced Lewis; and at Government House, Sydney (which Lewis supervised construction of)(NB: these were later removed and the ceilings stencilled); the 'Gothic' black marble fireplace in the major room; the niches and arched vault openings in and off the entrance lobby (as at Garry Owen house in Lilyfield, by Lewis)(Griffin, 2013).
The house appears to have been designed as a two storey building. The recession of the 1840s is said to be the reason for its unfinished (one storey) state (Stapleton, for Dept. of Planning, 1983).
20 Irish stone masons were brought out to Australia under the bounty system of immigration for the specific purpose of building the Fernhill house, using sandstone quarried from the local hills. Edward Cox and his family lived in the house from 1843 until his death in 1868, when the property passed to his eldest son, Edward King Cox (Anderson, 2008).
The surviving stable at the rear (west) is said to be built in 1839 and is certainly of the same period as the house.
In the early 1850s the estate was singled out by Governor FitzRoy's aide-de-camp, Col.Godfrey Mundy, for the way in which its landscape had been moulded by thinning the native species.
C1860 it was described as "a modern mansion situated on rising ground with well kept shrubberies, lawns and a well kept ... vineyard".
Following Edward Cox's death in 1863, the property passed to his eldest son, Edward King Cox (1829-1883) of Rawden, Mudgee, who until 1885 carried out at The Cottage, Mulgoa, a noted racehorse stud producing several Melbourne cup winners (Stapleton,1983). E.K.Cox was a breeder of fine race horses and Fernhill Stud produced the first Sydney Cup winner and several Melbourne Cup winners. (Anderson, 2008).
Following E.K.Cox's death in 1883 the estate seems to have been divided.
In 1888 Standish Cox sold the house and surrounding land to Mr Wright of Wright Heaton. For some years possibly due to the recession of the 1890s the house is said to have been uninhabited.
By 1911 the property was owned by R.B.Baynes, Mayor of Mulgoa.
About 1931 the house and 1000 acres was bought by Mr & Mrs Moyse who ran it as a guest house. At that time the building had a galvanised iron roof and a large stone reservoir holding 45,000 gallons.
C1965 Mr John Darling bought the estate. Darling was a World War II fighter pilot, a banker, director of resource companies, accomplished international agri-business pioneer and Australian film industry visionary. After World War II Darling married Susie Yencken and they settled at Vaucluse. Weekends were often spent at Fernhill, Mulgoa, which Darling bought in 1956 and gradually restored (Lee, 2015).
C1969 Darling and garden designer Paul Sorensen reworked the garden around the house.
In 1980 the house was sold with 1000 acres to the property developer, Warren Anderson for $2.8m (Dawson, 7/1980, 91).
C1981 and earlier, the house was extensively restored and renovated by former owner Darling and then Anderson. The most notable addition has been the sandstone columns (ex the Union Club, Sydney) in the northern pergola (Stapleton, 1983).
12/2001-1/2002 bushfires damaged the property down to Mulgoa Road, but had some benefits in killing some of the cypress hedging obscuring/blocking views. Bushland is recovering (July 2002, Stuart Read, pers. comm.).
2007-8 Warren Anderson acquired adjoining properties on Fernhill's northern flank, lying uphill and visually prominent to its setting, when seen from the house/drives.
2010: an auction of the collection (1400 lots, reputedly the largest such sale in Australia) of antiques, furniture and artworks belonging to the owners (Warren & Cheryl Anderson) held in June 2010 (SMH, 24-25/4/2010).
2011: property put on real estate market by receivers Korda Mentha (SMH/Blok, 2012).
10/2012: Simon & Brenda Tripp are tipped to buy (have put an option to buy) Fernhill for $45m (SMH/Blok, 2012). The Tripps have been using the estate as a venue for functions, such as picnic race events on the racetrack, 'Tough Mudder' endurance events, concerts and the like.
Fernhill has reputedly been sold for redevelopment as a cemetery (Lucas, 2017, 2). Rookwood General Cemetery Trust confirmed in May 2017 that a sale has not yet occurred, but it has entered into a six-month exclusivity period which will allow the trust to conduct the required due diligence process, commencing with a period of community consultation, the trust's spokeswoman told the Penrith Press (Petrinic, 2017).
==========
.