Fairymead House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fairymead House |
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Fairymead House, 2009
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| Location | Thornhill Street, Bundaberg North, Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1870s - 1890s (late 19th century) |
| Built | 1890 |
| Architect | John Shedden Adam |
| Official name: Fairymead House | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 22 February 2002 |
| Reference no. | 601009 |
| Significant period | 1890s (fabric) 1890s-1980s (historical) |
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Fairymead House is a beautiful old home in Bundaberg North, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1890 for Ernest and Margaret Young. A famous architect named John Shedden Adam designed it. This house is very important because it shows us what grand homes were like on sugar plantations a long time ago. Today, it's a museum where you can learn all about the history of sugar farming in the Bundaberg area. It's listed on the Queensland Heritage Register as a special historic place.
Contents
Fairymead House: A Sweet History
Building a Grand Home
Fairymead House was built in 1890. It was the main home for Ernest and Margaret Young. Their family, the Youngs, started one of the first big sugar farms in Bundaberg. This farm was called the Fairymead Sugar Plantation. The house was built right next to the plantation.
Fairymead House is a great example of the large homes found on plantations in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was the Young family's home for over 60 years.
How Sugar Came to Queensland
More than 100 years ago, Queensland wanted to grow its own sugar. Importing sugar from other countries was very expensive. So, in 1864, a law called the Sugar and Coffee Regulations Act was passed. This law encouraged people to start growing sugarcane. People quickly bought land all along the Queensland coast.
The Brown brothers, Alfred and Arthur, were some of the first to get land. In the early 1870s, they bought a large area and started a cattle farm called Tantitha. They tried growing sugarcane on part of their land. They divided it into three sections: Jamaica, Barbados, and Mauritius. These sections later became known as Fairymead. A friend visited and said the misty morning looked like a "fairy mead."
The Brown brothers stopped growing sugar after big floods in 1875. The floods covered their land and ruined the cane. In 1878, they sold their sugarcane land to the Young family.
The Young Family and Fairymead Sugar
Arthur and Horace Young, along with their younger brother Ernest, took over Fairymead. They wanted to turn it into a successful sugar plantation. The brothers had no experience with sugar farming. They used to own sheep farms in New Zealand. But when rabbits destroyed their farms in 1878, they looked for new investments. They heard about the chance to make money from sugar in Queensland.
Arthur and Horace started working at Fairymead in 1880. Ernest went to England to buy important equipment for the farm. By 1883, they harvested their first big sugar crop. For the first two years, they sent their sugarcane juice to another refinery. In 1884, they built their own processing plant. This allowed them to refine their own sugar. They also processed sugar for smaller farms nearby. By the end of 1884, their mill was making 15 tonnes of sugar every day.
Smart Ideas for Sugar Farming
The Young brothers brought many new ideas to sugar farming. Many of these ideas are still used today.
- They used larger rollers from Glasgow to crush the cane.
- They installed a special furnace to make processing more efficient.
- Around 1882, they started using Fowler's tramway system. This was a railway system to bring cane to the mill. This idea of cane railways became common in the Bundaberg area.
- In 1902, they set up an irrigation system. This helped them deal with long dry periods. They also started working on machines to harvest cane.
In 1938, the Young brothers helped develop a new machine to cut sugarcane. This machine could cut over 200 tonnes of cane per day. This was a huge help during World War II when there weren't enough workers. Other sugar farms in the area also benefited. Later, they helped develop an even better two-row cane-cutting machine.
Fairymead Today
In 1972, Fairymead Sugar Company joined with another company. They formed the Bundaberg Sugar Company Limited. Fairymead and the sugar industry have been very important to Bundaberg's growth. Fairymead Sugar Plantation is still one of Australia's largest cane farms today.
Fairymead House as a Museum
Fairymead House was designed by John Shedden Adam from Sydney. It's a large home with a floor area of 600 square metres. It has very high ceilings, about 16 feet tall. These high ceilings helped keep the house cool in the Queensland summer heat. Margaret Young, Ernest's wife, was Adam's sister. She asked for special features. For example, the front stairs had a landing a few feet from the ground. This allowed her to get out of her carriage without getting her shoes dirty.
Between World War I and World War II, the house was used for single men working at the Fairymead mill. In the early 1950s, it provided housing for European refugees. In 1960, Christopher Young, Ernest and Margaret's grandson, moved his family back into the house. They lived there until 1986.
In 1988, the Bundaberg Sugar Company Ltd gave Fairymead House to the City of Bundaberg. They saw it as a very important historical building. The Bundaberg City Council found a new spot for the house in the City's Botanic Gardens. Fairymead House was moved there in 1989.
In 1990, the Council started working on plans for the house. They did a lot of work to preserve it over the next four years. They changed the space under the house into a theatrette and learning centre. The inside of the original home has changed very little since 1890. Many rooms are furnished to look like they did originally. They show what life was like for a plantation owner in the late 1800s. They also show how the sugar industry grew.
Fairymead House opened to the public in 1994. It now serves as a museum. It celebrates north Queensland's sugar industry. It also honours the Young family's important contributions to sugar farming in Bundaberg.
What Fairymead House Looks Like
Fairymead House is located inside the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens. It's on elevated land and surrounded by beautiful gardens. You can enter from Thornhill Street. There's a car park in front of the house.
Fairymead House is an impressive two-storey building. It's built in the Indian Bungalow style. It has a large roof made of corrugated iron. The house was moved to this spot. So, you can see the difference between the original timber (wood) on the top floor and the newer brick on the ground floor.
The ground floor has concrete posts outside and steel columns inside. The walls are made of brick. The area under the top floor verandah is paved. Inside, the ground floor is a large open space. It's used for museum exhibits and storage.
The top floor is made of timber. It has timber boards on the outside. A wide verandah goes all around the main part of the house. It connects the separate kitchen building to the main house. The verandah has timber floors, posts, and handrails. Timber screens are at the spots where stairs connect to the verandah.
You enter the top floor by climbing central timber stairs. These lead to the verandah and the front door. Inside, there's an entry area. To the left is the function room. To the right is the Margaret room. At the end is the skylight room. The function room is the biggest room. It used to be the dining and drawing rooms. It has two fireplaces.
The skylight room has a beautiful leadlight skylight in the ceiling. It's used as a gathering space and for exhibits. Other rooms leading off the skylight room include the Toft room, Store Bell room, and Gooburrum room. All these rooms have museum exhibits.
Inside, most of the floors are polished timber. The function room has carpet. The walls and ceilings are covered with timber boards. The original timber doors and windows are still there.
Why Fairymead House is Important
Fairymead House was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 22 February 2002. This means it's a very important historical place.
- It shows how Queensland's history developed.
Fairymead House was built in 1890 for Ernest and Margaret Young. It was next to the Fairymead Sugar Plantation. Even though it was moved in 1989, it's a rare example of grand plantation homes from the late 1800s and early 1900s. It shows how the sugar industry grew in north Queensland.
- It shows rare or special parts of Queensland's history.
The house is a rare example of the grand homes found on sugar plantations. It helps us understand the history of the sugar industry in Queensland.
- It shows the main features of a certain type of historic place.
John Shedden Adam designed Fairymead House. Its style, called Indian Bungalow, shows how buildings were designed for the climate. It has 16-foot ceilings, wide verandahs, and long eaves. These features were designed to provide shade and keep the house cool in the Queensland summer.
- It is beautiful and important for its looks.
Even after being moved, the house is a rare example of grand plantation homes. It shows the beauty and style of homes from that time.
- It is connected to important people or groups in Queensland's history.
Fairymead House is linked to the Young brothers: Henry, Horace, and Ernest. They started one of Bundaberg's first and most successful sugar plantations. The Young brothers made many important contributions to the sugar industry in Queensland. They created smart irrigation systems to fight drought. They used better ways to process cane. They also started the cane transport system using tramways, which is now used everywhere.
Fairymead House is now a museum about Bundaberg's sugar industry. The rooms are set up to show how Ernest and Margaret Young lived. They were a pioneering family in the late 1800s. The museum also highlights their important role in starting Queensland's sugar industry.
Images for kids
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Fairymead House, around 1894
