Mount Victoria Manor facts for kids
Mount Victoria Manor is a special old building in Mount Victoria, New South Wales. It's so important that it's listed on the New South Wales Heritage Register. The Fairfax family built it in 1876 as a quiet mountain getaway.
After about ten years, the Cooper family bought it. They turned it into one of the fanciest hotels in the Blue Mountains. The Cooper family owned it for a long time, until 1966. Since then, it has had a few different owners. In 2015, it became known as Mount Victoria Manor. Today, it's still a hotel. It offers rooms, a restaurant, a bar, and is a popular place for special events like weddings.
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The Fairfax Family and the Manor's Beginnings
The Fairfax family owned the Manor from 1876 to 1887. It was built in 1876 by John Fairfax (1804–1877) and his son, Sir James Reading Fairfax (1834–1919). They called it "Manor House." John Fairfax passed away in 1877. He left his share of the house to his daughter-in-law, Anne Fairfax.
In 1878, Anne sold her share to Sir James Reading Fairfax. This made him the only owner of the Manor. The architect who designed the house was Alexander Dean. He was a well-known architect at that time. You can still see the Fairfax family's special symbol, called a monogram, at the entrance of the main house.
Who were John and James Fairfax?
John Fairfax (1804–1877) was a very important person in Australian history. He started a famous newspaper called The Sydney Morning Herald in 1842. He also brought the first steam-powered printing press to Australia. This made printing newspapers much faster.
In 1856, John Fairfax started a company called John Fairfax and Sons. His son, James, became a partner in the business. Sir James Reading Fairfax was born in 1834 in Warwickshire, England. When he was four, his family moved to Australia. In 1856, he married Lucy Armstrong.
Sir James loved art and music very much. He was a leader at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. To help promote art, he even offered prizes for pencil drawings. He and his family traveled a lot. They enjoyed visiting art galleries all over Europe.
The Manor House as a Rental Property
The Manor built by the Fairfax family was very large. It was actually two houses joined together. In 1882, when the family still owned them, they were described as "two mountain villas." They had pretty gardens and were close to the Mount Victoria railway station.
The two houses were put up for sale separately. However, the Fairfax family decided to keep them. Instead, they rented the whole property as one to different people.
The first person to rent it was George William Atkin. He offered rooms for people to stay and transport to the nearby Caves. In 1885, he moved away. Then, Jessie Mary Ennis rented the house and ran it as a boarding house. Sadly, she was hurt in a train accident in 1886. After that, the Wilkins family rented the Manor. They ran it as a boarding school for girls for one year. In 1887, the property was sold to the Cooper family.
The Cooper Family and the Grand Hotel
The Cooper family owned the Manor for a long time, about eighty years. George Hubbard Cooper (1845-1919) bought the property in 1887. He was born in 1845 in Sydney. His father, Captain John Cooper, owned a hotel called the Rose and Crown Hotel in The Rocks.
In 1869, George married Margaret Hutchinson (1849-1935). She was the daughter of a builder from Surry Hills. George also became a builder. He started a building company called Cooper and Wilson in Forest Lodge, Sydney.
In 1887, George bought "The Manor House." By 1890, he had made many big additions to the building. A newspaper described these changes, saying the Manor House was in a great spot in Mount Victoria. It said Mr. Cooper spent a lot of money to make it one of the most comfortable hotels in the mountains.
The newspaper also mentioned the large grounds, which had seven acres of land and many shade trees. It said the property looked very tasteful. Mr. Cooper added a big brick building with twenty-six bedrooms and four double rooms. All the rooms were large, airy, and well-ventilated.
The hotel also had a billiard room and a large dining room. The whole place was made up of several buildings on top of a ridge. This spot offered amazing views of the Valley of the Grose and the Mount Victoria coal mines. The newspaper said that at least one hundred people could stay at Mr. Cooper's hotel.
From the hotel's verandah, you could see the town, the railway station, and a huge area of rolling hills. The newspaper described the beautiful mountain scenery, with each hill looking bluer or more purple in the distance.
Over the next eight years, the Coopers made even more changes. They added a tower, which you can see in the 1898 photo of the property. They also changed the name to "The Grand Hotel." Later, it became known as "Coopers Grand Hotel." Besides offering rooms, the Coopers also provided a horse-drawn coach service to the Jenolan Caves.
A Special Wedding at the Grand Hotel
One of the Cooper's daughters was Emily Maud Margarita Cooper. She was a famous singer, known as a soprano, at that time. She used the stage name Emily Hutchinson Cooper. In 1908, she married George Edward Roberts in Mount Victoria. Their wedding party was held at the Manor House Hotel.
Many newspapers wrote about the wedding. The Melbourne Punch newspaper even published a photo of the wedding. It described the ceremony and the big party that followed. Over 200 guests attended the reception and dance at the Grand Hotel.
George Cooper passed away in 1919. His wife, Margaret, continued to run the hotel. Her daughter, Alice Elizabeth Ward (1872-1950), helped her. In 1930, the Coopers sold the hotel to John Twinn. But just two years later, in 1932, Alice bought it back. Alice ran the hotel until she died in 1950. Her daughter, Florence Margaret Hutchinson Ward, then took over the property and became the hotel's owner.
Later Owners of the Manor
After the Cooper family, the building was sold to the Logos Foundation. They called it Westwood Lodge. In 1988, the Patterson Family bought the property and changed its name to The Grand. In 1991, the Lenton Family purchased it, and the name was changed back to The Blue Mountains Manor House. The current owners bought the hotel in 2015. Today, the property is known as Mount Victoria Manor.
Gallery
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Ladies in the grounds of Mount Victoria Manor in 1904.
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Dining room of Mount Victoria Manor in 1903.
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Advertisement for the hotel and excursions to Jenolan Caves in 1909.
