Bungare Station in the Clare Valley. This sheep station established 1842. This is the Chaff House and a chaff making machine probably from the 1880s.
Bungaree.
Admiral Edward Hawker of England had owned property in NSW since the 1820s when the old restrictive penal colony of NSW was opened up more widely to settlement. In 1838 James Hawker (born in 1820) arrived in SA as his father back in England was an investor in the Secondary Towns Association of SA which was about to let John Morphett, on their behalf, pay £8,000 for two Special Surveys – one at Currency Creek which they believed was destined to become the New Orleans of the South and the other along the Light River from the town of Waterloo to Hamilton near Kapunda. Currency Creek never amounted to much or made huge profits for the investors but the Light River valley survey did. James Hawker began work with Governor Gawler with whom he had voyaged out to SA. He soon escaped from Government House and started working with survey teams around Adelaide and the Onkaparinga region. James Hawker returned to England in early 1840 and immediately came back to SA as his brothers George and Charles had already left for SA. When the three brothers met in 1841 they took charge of their father’s lands- 320 acres on the Murray, 320 acres on the Para River, town blocks in Wellington and Currency Creek and in Adelaide itself. With their Vice Regal connections and the friendship of Frederick Dutton they were well set up to prosper in the new colony. They purchased a large flock of sheep overlanded from NSW and squatted near Captain Bagot’s land at Kapunda. Later in 1841 they visited Edward Gleeson’s station at Clare and John Horrock’s station at Penwortham. From their base near Horrock’s station they searched for new lands and eventually settled on spring fed lands near the Hutt River a few miles north of Clare in late December 1841. They named their property Bungaree. The first few months saw frequent troubles between the Hawkers and the Ngadjuri Aboriginal people so in mid-1842 Matthew Moorhouse the Protector of Aborigines visited the station. Tensions eased with the appointment of an Aboriginal police officer in the short term but sheep stealing and attacks on shepherds continued and the police attended whenever shots were fired but there were no reported deaths. By mid-1842 the Hawkers owned a section of land around their head station and they had applied for a leasehold of their run. This was not formally granted until 1846 for an area of about 100 square miles. They began exporting their wool in 1842 and the property was gradually developed and built up with land later being purchased freehold when it was put up for sale for farming in the 1850s and 1860s to eventually create a freehold estate of 130,000 acres. Their first wheat crops were planted in 1843 along with barley, oats and potatoes. At that time Bungaree was the furthest station from Adelaide and it took three days on horseback or seven days in a wagon to reach the town of Adelaide. At that time (1843) the brothers split their partnership. James Hawker preferred to live in Adelaide and Charles Hawker took out a new lease on adjoining Anama station of 160 square miles.
George married in 1845 bringing his new bride Elizabeth back to Bungaree homestead. Bungaree became a domestic place and soon there were 16 Hawker children from George’s marriage! The first was born in 1846 and the last in 1868 thus keeping Elizabeth Hawker and her maids and staff very busy. (Only one died in childhood.) The early 1842 homestead of Bungaree was added to many times turning it into a grand mansion. The house had to be enlarged over the years to provide rooms for the 16 children! The garden had sweeps of lawn, English trees and a large pond. A permanent spring nearby provided water for the garden and house and four gardeners tended the garden. The Hawker’s town house was The Briars, in Hawker Avenue, Medindie. George Hawker purchased the land there in 1856 and had a 15 acre block at Medindie. At the same time the current two storey Bungaree homestead was built to replace the earlier “cottage” of three rooms with a detached kitchen. In the following year George purchased over 8,000 freehold acres at Bungaree. In that year, 1857, Bungaree station employed around 100 workers. The great woolshed and station store etc. were all built around 1858 to 1860. Major sections of the run were purchased freehold in 1860. In 1864 the Surveyor General George Goyder increased the annual lease rental of Bungaree from £488 a year to £3,472 per year!
Near the homestead is the station’s store, blacksmiths, the stables, coach houses, other outbuildings, workers cottages and homes and the huge woolshed. Bungaree was a fairly self-sufficient village with a school room for the children of the workers too. The Bungaree School operated from 1868 to 1931. The Hawker brothers assisted financially with the building of the Anglican Church in Clare in 1851(and it also had a government grant of money and land) but attending a service there by horse and cart was a three hour round trip plus the time at church. George Hawker began conducting services for the station employees in the woolshed with around 100 people attending so he decided to build a church on their estate. Bishop Short of Adelaide consecrated the church in 1864. It was designed by George Hawker’s brother-in-law Edward Hamilton a well-known Adelaide architect. In 1871 the church was donated to the local parish and the surrounding cemetery has been used by local residents as well as members of the Hawker family. Adelaide Hawker donated a pair of handmade wrought iron entrance gates from Milan in 1950 to replace the original wooden gates. The vast Bungaree estate was split up after George Hawker’s death in 1895 but not at first. Hawkers Brothers (there were 6 of them) partnership ran the properties from 1898 to 1906 when it was split into four – Bungaree (Richard and Harry Hawker); East Bungaree ( Edward and Walter Hawker); North Bungaree( Michael Hawker) and Anama( Walter and Edward Hawker). The great stud flock of sheep was also split as were the other assets and the far northern pastoral properties.
Bungare Station in the Clare Valley. This sheep station established 1842. This is the Chaff House and a chaff making machine probably from the 1880s.
Bungaree.
Admiral Edward Hawker of England had owned property in NSW since the 1820s when the old restrictive penal colony of NSW was opened up more widely to settlement. In 1838 James Hawker (born in 1820) arrived in SA as his father back in England was an investor in the Secondary Towns Association of SA which was about to let John Morphett, on their behalf, pay £8,000 for two Special Surveys – one at Currency Creek which they believed was destined to become the New Orleans of the South and the other along the Light River from the town of Waterloo to Hamilton near Kapunda. Currency Creek never amounted to much or made huge profits for the investors but the Light River valley survey did. James Hawker began work with Governor Gawler with whom he had voyaged out to SA. He soon escaped from Government House and started working with survey teams around Adelaide and the Onkaparinga region. James Hawker returned to England in early 1840 and immediately came back to SA as his brothers George and Charles had already left for SA. When the three brothers met in 1841 they took charge of their father’s lands- 320 acres on the Murray, 320 acres on the Para River, town blocks in Wellington and Currency Creek and in Adelaide itself. With their Vice Regal connections and the friendship of Frederick Dutton they were well set up to prosper in the new colony. They purchased a large flock of sheep overlanded from NSW and squatted near Captain Bagot’s land at Kapunda. Later in 1841 they visited Edward Gleeson’s station at Clare and John Horrock’s station at Penwortham. From their base near Horrock’s station they searched for new lands and eventually settled on spring fed lands near the Hutt River a few miles north of Clare in late December 1841. They named their property Bungaree. The first few months saw frequent troubles between the Hawkers and the Ngadjuri Aboriginal people so in mid-1842 Matthew Moorhouse the Protector of Aborigines visited the station. Tensions eased with the appointment of an Aboriginal police officer in the short term but sheep stealing and attacks on shepherds continued and the police attended whenever shots were fired but there were no reported deaths. By mid-1842 the Hawkers owned a section of land around their head station and they had applied for a leasehold of their run. This was not formally granted until 1846 for an area of about 100 square miles. They began exporting their wool in 1842 and the property was gradually developed and built up with land later being purchased freehold when it was put up for sale for farming in the 1850s and 1860s to eventually create a freehold estate of 130,000 acres. Their first wheat crops were planted in 1843 along with barley, oats and potatoes. At that time Bungaree was the furthest station from Adelaide and it took three days on horseback or seven days in a wagon to reach the town of Adelaide. At that time (1843) the brothers split their partnership. James Hawker preferred to live in Adelaide and Charles Hawker took out a new lease on adjoining Anama station of 160 square miles.
George married in 1845 bringing his new bride Elizabeth back to Bungaree homestead. Bungaree became a domestic place and soon there were 16 Hawker children from George’s marriage! The first was born in 1846 and the last in 1868 thus keeping Elizabeth Hawker and her maids and staff very busy. (Only one died in childhood.) The early 1842 homestead of Bungaree was added to many times turning it into a grand mansion. The house had to be enlarged over the years to provide rooms for the 16 children! The garden had sweeps of lawn, English trees and a large pond. A permanent spring nearby provided water for the garden and house and four gardeners tended the garden. The Hawker’s town house was The Briars, in Hawker Avenue, Medindie. George Hawker purchased the land there in 1856 and had a 15 acre block at Medindie. At the same time the current two storey Bungaree homestead was built to replace the earlier “cottage” of three rooms with a detached kitchen. In the following year George purchased over 8,000 freehold acres at Bungaree. In that year, 1857, Bungaree station employed around 100 workers. The great woolshed and station store etc. were all built around 1858 to 1860. Major sections of the run were purchased freehold in 1860. In 1864 the Surveyor General George Goyder increased the annual lease rental of Bungaree from £488 a year to £3,472 per year!
Near the homestead is the station’s store, blacksmiths, the stables, coach houses, other outbuildings, workers cottages and homes and the huge woolshed. Bungaree was a fairly self-sufficient village with a school room for the children of the workers too. The Bungaree School operated from 1868 to 1931. The Hawker brothers assisted financially with the building of the Anglican Church in Clare in 1851(and it also had a government grant of money and land) but attending a service there by horse and cart was a three hour round trip plus the time at church. George Hawker began conducting services for the station employees in the woolshed with around 100 people attending so he decided to build a church on their estate. Bishop Short of Adelaide consecrated the church in 1864. It was designed by George Hawker’s brother-in-law Edward Hamilton a well-known Adelaide architect. In 1871 the church was donated to the local parish and the surrounding cemetery has been used by local residents as well as members of the Hawker family. Adelaide Hawker donated a pair of handmade wrought iron entrance gates from Milan in 1950 to replace the original wooden gates. The vast Bungaree estate was split up after George Hawker’s death in 1895 but not at first. Hawkers Brothers (there were 6 of them) partnership ran the properties from 1898 to 1906 when it was split into four – Bungaree (Richard and Harry Hawker); East Bungaree ( Edward and Walter Hawker); North Bungaree( Michael Hawker) and Anama( Walter and Edward Hawker). The great stud flock of sheep was also split as were the other assets and the far northern pastoral properties.