Hughes Park House. Unley. Adelaide. It is now Unley Community Centre.
Herbert Bristow Hughes and Bristow Hughes- Hughes Park. Herbert Bristow Hughes and Bristow Hughes established Booyoolie Station (pronounced Bowlee) near Gladstone and another called Gnangwea at Laura between 1843-6. (They were not related to Sir Walter Watson Hughes of the Moonta Mines.) Their third brother, John Bristow Hughes established Bundaleer run between Laura and Jamestown. One of the claims to fame of the Gladstone- Laura station was the Booyoolee Meat Preserving Works. When there was a great excess of sheep in the 1870s the Hughes began a boiling down works to make tallow for candles. A few years later they established a tinned meat work to produce “Bully Beef”. Was this just a contraction of Booyoolee beef? The canned beef meat was shipped to England but it was not popular and did not sell. Hopes of establishing a tinned beef industry were dashed a few years later anyway as refrigeration (1882) meant frozen meat could be shipped to England. Herbert Bristow Hughes was immensely successful as a pastoralist (brother Bristow Hughes had returned to England by this time), and later he was successful as a farmer after closer settlement in the 1870s reduced Booyoolie in size. Booyoolie is still run by the executors of his estate. He also ran ships on the Murray-Darling Rivers. His Adelaide home was Athelney at St. Peters. In the 1890s one son of Herbert Bristow Hughes, Harold White Hughes moved from the property Gnangwea to Adelaide. Meantime Fauldings the chemists had built a two roomed house on the site of Hughes Park at Fullarton around 1855. A Mr Bleechmore bought the 10 acres site in 1865 and had a 6 roomed house constructed. It was sold by Bleechmore and in 1883 five more rooms were added including the two with bay windows at the front. There were other owners before Harold White Hughes and Mrs Ethel Hughes, who purchased the enlarged house in 1913 but with just 5 acres of land. They lived there for many years- he until some time after 1925 and Ethel for a total of 58 years until she died there in 1971. They called the house Gnangwea after their Laura property but the locals called it Hughes Park which eventually stuck. The City of Unley purchased the house in 1974 for public purposes. It opened in 1976 as the Fullarton Park Community centre. Brother John Hughes of Bundaleer built his Adelaide home, called St. Clair, at Woodville.
Hughes Park House. Unley. Adelaide. It is now Unley Community Centre.
Herbert Bristow Hughes and Bristow Hughes- Hughes Park. Herbert Bristow Hughes and Bristow Hughes established Booyoolie Station (pronounced Bowlee) near Gladstone and another called Gnangwea at Laura between 1843-6. (They were not related to Sir Walter Watson Hughes of the Moonta Mines.) Their third brother, John Bristow Hughes established Bundaleer run between Laura and Jamestown. One of the claims to fame of the Gladstone- Laura station was the Booyoolee Meat Preserving Works. When there was a great excess of sheep in the 1870s the Hughes began a boiling down works to make tallow for candles. A few years later they established a tinned meat work to produce “Bully Beef”. Was this just a contraction of Booyoolee beef? The canned beef meat was shipped to England but it was not popular and did not sell. Hopes of establishing a tinned beef industry were dashed a few years later anyway as refrigeration (1882) meant frozen meat could be shipped to England. Herbert Bristow Hughes was immensely successful as a pastoralist (brother Bristow Hughes had returned to England by this time), and later he was successful as a farmer after closer settlement in the 1870s reduced Booyoolie in size. Booyoolie is still run by the executors of his estate. He also ran ships on the Murray-Darling Rivers. His Adelaide home was Athelney at St. Peters. In the 1890s one son of Herbert Bristow Hughes, Harold White Hughes moved from the property Gnangwea to Adelaide. Meantime Fauldings the chemists had built a two roomed house on the site of Hughes Park at Fullarton around 1855. A Mr Bleechmore bought the 10 acres site in 1865 and had a 6 roomed house constructed. It was sold by Bleechmore and in 1883 five more rooms were added including the two with bay windows at the front. There were other owners before Harold White Hughes and Mrs Ethel Hughes, who purchased the enlarged house in 1913 but with just 5 acres of land. They lived there for many years- he until some time after 1925 and Ethel for a total of 58 years until she died there in 1971. They called the house Gnangwea after their Laura property but the locals called it Hughes Park which eventually stuck. The City of Unley purchased the house in 1974 for public purposes. It opened in 1976 as the Fullarton Park Community centre. Brother John Hughes of Bundaleer built his Adelaide home, called St. Clair, at Woodville.