Bullamon Homestead facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bullamon Homestead |
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Bullamon Homestead, 1995
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| Location | Moonie River, Thallon, Shire of Balonne, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1840s - 1860s (mid-19th century) |
| Built | 1860s circa - 1880s circa |
| Official name: Bullamon Homestead, Gerar | |
| Type | state heritage (archaeological, landscape, built) |
| Designated | 2 June 1996 |
| Reference no. | 601683 |
| Significant period | 1860s-1890s (historical) 1860s-1880s (fabric) ongoing (social) |
| Significant components | residential accommodation - main house, out house, tank stand, graveyard, out building/s, bathroom/bathhouse, garden/grounds |
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Bullamon Homestead is a special old house located by the Moonie River in Thallon, Queensland, Australia. It was built a long time ago, between the 1860s and 1880s. This homestead is also known as Gerar. It is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register, which means it is an important historical place.
Contents
A Look Back: Early Days
Bullamon Homestead was set up by the early 1860s. It even appeared on a map drawn in 1864. In the 1880s, Bullamon was the main station for the biggest group of land leases in the Balonne Shire. The name "Bullamon" means "biggest waterhole," which makes sense because the homestead sits on a sandy ridge above the Moonie River.
People started settling in the Moonie River area in the mid-1840s. This region, called the Maranoa, had great land for grazing animals. It was officially made a pastoral district in 1848. This happened after explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell explored the area. By 1862, all the land in the Maranoa was being used for farms.
Who Lived at Bullamon?
Bullamon Homestead was built on a small sheep farm called Gerar. Richard Bligh first leased this land in 1857. After a few changes, Leonard McKay took over the lease in 1864.
By 1866, Duncan Forbes McKay, a grazier (sheep farmer), and his family lived at Bullamon. It is likely the main log house was built around this time. By 1868, many people lived and worked at Bullamon. This included the McKay family, an overseer, drovers, contractors, a storekeeper, and a blacksmith.
Duncan Forbes McKay later owned other properties too. By 1874, his general manager, William Turnbull, lived at Bullamon Homestead. Later, James Hill became the manager. Sadly, two of his young sons died and were buried near the house in 1877 and 1882.
Big Changes and Challenges
In 1880, McKay sold Bullamon Homestead to Hurtle Fisher from Melbourne. Hurtle and his brother Charles Fisher bought many large farms in the Maranoa region. These farms were known as "Fisher Country."
The Bullamon property became very large. By 1888, it included 42 farms and covered about 878,720 acres. Bullamon Homestead was the main base for all these farms. There were also two smaller outstations.
The Fishers bought these lands during good times. But then, a big drought hit in 1883-84. This was followed by tough times for farmers. Because of this, the Fishers created a company called the Australian Pastoral Company Limited in England in 1888. This company managed all their huge farms.
During the 1890s, the company had up to 1,000,000 sheep. They also had seven big shearing sheds and three places to wash wool. The main manager lived at Noondoo Homestead, which was more central. In the early 1890s, many buildings at Bullamon were improved. Some roofs were changed to corrugated iron.
Tough Times and New Paths
The Bullamon farms often faced floods, droughts, and a plant called prickly pear. This plant caused many problems and losses in the 1890s and early 1900s. In 1890, a flood sent 1.3 meters of water through the homestead! It also drowned 60,000 sheep. After a severe drought in 1902, Bullamon was left empty until conditions improved.
Over time, parts of the Bullamon land were taken back by the government for smaller farms. By the 1960s, all the Bullamon land was divided into grazing farms. A new owner bought Bullamon Homestead in the late 1960s. They lived there until 1985.
Before 1911, when the railway line reached Thallon, Bullamon was a stop for Cobb and Co. This was a famous coach company. Bullamon kept horses for them from 1898 to 1912. The homestead was also on the mail route from St George to Mungindi in the early 1900s. Today, the homestead is on the Carnarvon Highway. This is a main road from New South Wales to St George.
What Does it Look Like Today?
The Bullamon Homestead site stretches about 150 meters along the east bank of the Moonie River. It includes the main house, other buildings, old foundations, and a large garden. The other buildings include a bath house, a tank stand, and an outhouse. You can still see parts of an old brick drain system that watered the gardens.
Special Features of the House
The main house first had two rooms. It was built using a special method called "dropped-log construction." This means logs were stacked horizontally. It probably used Cypress pine. The roof was hipped and covered with shingles. There were verandahs all around the house.
This original part of the house is still there. It has huge timber posts and horizontal logs. The shingled roof also remains. You can see signs of how it was built, like wooden pegs (treenails) and hand-cut timber. There was also an early way to lock the doors from the inside.
Around the 1890s, a corrugated iron roof was added over the shingle roof. There are also two fake window-like openings (dormer vents) in the iron roof. These are near the chimneys of the kitchen and living room.
Inside, many walls are covered with wide, horizontal wooden boards. This was added later, probably in the 1870s or 1880s. The living room ceiling is angled, matching the original roof shape. Some old doorways are now covered. The kitchen has a flat, boarded ceiling.
A wall was added in the northern room, which is now the lounge room. This created a central hallway. The southern room is the kitchen. Both the lounge room and kitchen have brick fireplaces. The kitchen fireplace now holds a wood stove.
Some parts of the verandahs have been closed in. These areas are now used as bedrooms. They are enclosed with corrugated iron, timber, or mesh. Some rooms have ceilings made of hessian (a rough fabric) or canvas.
Other Buildings and Gardens
There are several other buildings near the main house. The bath house is made of timber with a corrugated iron roof. It was built later than the main house. Nearby is an old square tank stand. There is also a two-seater weatherboard outhouse with a square pyramid roof and a wooden top decoration (finial).
South of the outhouse is a small burial ground. This is where the two children of manager James Hill were buried in 1877 and 1882. Further south, you can see the remains of a gardener's hut.
There are also signs of a large garden. Ornamental gardens are still visible to the east and north of the house. You can also see parts of the brick drains that watered a big vegetable garden. North of the house, there are possible foundations and a brick fireplace from another early building.
Why is Bullamon Homestead Important?
Bullamon Homestead is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register because it is very important to Queensland's history.
- It shows how Queensland grew: Bullamon Homestead helps us understand how farming started in the Moonie River area in the mid-1800s.
- It has rare building methods: The house shows special old building techniques. These include using dropped-logs, wooden pegs, hand-cut timber, and shingle roofs. These methods are rare to see in Queensland today.
- It can teach us more: The homestead can still give us information about early settler life and how buildings were made in remote areas.
- It shows what an old farm was like: Bullamon Homestead is a good example of a remote main farm station from the mid-1800s. The simple, two-room timber house shows its role as a manager's home. It also shows how isolated the area was when it was built.
- It is special to the local community: The local community feels a strong connection to Bullamon Homestead. It reminds them of how farming became important in the Moonie River area. It is often mentioned in local history stories.
- It is linked to important people: The homestead has a strong connection to the Fisher brothers and their Australian Pastoral Company. They were very important in farming in Queensland from the 1880s to the mid-1900s.
