Over 220 Years of History
‘Chelsea Farm’ c.1801, is one of the earliest remining agricultural properties within the Hills District. Originally a large agricultural holding owned by George Suttor, the property was also owned and operated by the Australian Jewish Welfare Society (AJWS) (1938 - 1951) and occupied briefly by the Australian Defence Force (1941-1944). The site has subsequently been in private residential ownership since 1952. While substantially reduced from its original 186-acre grant, the site still retains a two-storey c.1870s Victorian Filgree homestead building, and thre later single-storey weatherboard buildings built c.1938 in association with the AJWS.
The significance of the site was recognised in 1983, recieving listing by the National Trust, and later on the former Register of the National Estate in 1990.
Locations of aboriginal groups within the Sydney area (Source: Goodrum J Goodrum in Mulvaney, D J and White, Peter, 1987, Australians to 1788, Fairfax, Syme & Weldon, Sydney. p. 345)
Pre-European Occupation
The Sydney basin is referred to as Eora Country, the name given to the coastal Aboriginal people around the Sydney region which was comprised of 29 clans. Prior to European settlement, the Baulkham Hills area is thought to have been inhabited by the Bidjigal or Bediagal people, part of the wider Dharug language group who occupied land to the west of Sydney. Some sources suggest that these two name variations of Bidjigal/Bediagal indicated different clans, with the Bidjigal (‘River Flat Clan’) people mainly residing in and around Castle Hill and potentially the Bediagal further south near Botany Bay. The nearby Toongabbie Creek, located within 100m of the study area, is one of the major tributaries leading into the Paramatta River to the south and has ongoing significance to the local Aboriginal population as a source of reosurces and food.
Following European Settlement in 1788, Indigenous populations were decimated through introduced diseases like small-pox, violence from colonisers and loss of traditional food sources through the dispossession of their land. Leaders such as Pemulway, after whom a newarby suburb is named, fiercely considerable fear and concern among the colonial settlers and military alike. In 1797, Pemulway led an important raid for resources on the nearby Government Convict Farm in Toongabbie, used to grow barley, maize, and wheat. Pemulway was wounded but would continue to organize and lead raids until atleast 1802 when he was shot and killed by Henry Hacking in exchange for a bounty. Despite admiring his strategic ability and fighting spirit, the British authorities had little respect or care for neither Aboriginal funeral customs nor their dignity, and Pemulway’s severed head was sent to England to become part of the collection of Sir Joseph Banks. Aboriginal leaders at the time believed the Bidjigal people of the Castle Hill area to have been wiped out by smallpox by 1791, however remains of shellfish middens, cave dwellings and charcoal drawings have been discovered across the present-day Hills district and Paramatta area. The Bidjigal Reserve borders present-day Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills, North Rocks and West Pennant Hills, honouring the original inhabitants of the area.
Brief History of Baulkham Hills
From the early years of the colony, land along the Hawkesbury River was identified as suitable for potential farming due to its close proximity to fresh water and good soil. Major arteries in and around the present-day Hills District were built by convict labour, including The Great North Road which provided important access north towards the Hunter Valley, as well as Hawkesbury Road (now Old Windsor Road). One of the first land grants in the area was made by Governor Hunter to William Joyce, a pardoned convict, who received 105 acres in December of 1794.
The name Baulkham Hills was taken from ‘Buckholm Hills’, the Scottish hometown of Andrew McDougall who was granted 150 acres of land in November 1799, and established a successful orchard with his wife at their Roxburgh Place estate. By 1858, McDougall had built three houses on the land including Roxburgh Hall, as well as three smaller cottages and numerous stables, a conservatory and various outbuildings. The land was later divided and sold as twenty orchard blocks, producing oranges, lemons, and various stonefruits, as well as a variety of grains and vegetables, following the success of George Suttor’s famous orchards that had been established nearby (Chelsea Farm). Other landholders in the nearby area included Matthew Pearce of ‘Bella Vista Farm’ who produced fruit and wool for the colony and exported its produce interstate.
In 1818, the lease on the Baulkham Hills Common had expired, with settlers permitted to take up grants on the land that was suitable for settlement. In 1849, St Michael’s in the Field Catholic Church was constructed off Windsor Road. The former Baulkham Hills Public School on Windsor Road opened in 1868 and was eventually closed in 1999 as a result of the development of the M2 motorway. The steam tram on the Rogan Hill Line from Paramatta to Baulkham Hills opened in 1902, later converted to a railway from Westmead in the 1920s, and eventually closed in 1932.
The Baulkham Hills area remained predominantly agricultural post-WWII, with little residential subdivision occurring until c. 1960s. The area was known for its popular annual Orange Blossom Festival, celebrating the early colonial use of the land and the success of the original orchards.
George Suttor (1774-1859)
George Suttor was born on the 11th of June 1774 in Chelsea, London, the thid son of botanist and market gardener, William Suttor and Elizabeth Thomas. George attended school in Milman’s Row with his sister, followed by several years at Leith’s Academy, with the initial desire to persue acting. Suttor had met Sarah Maria Dobinson during their childhood, with Sarah introduced to Suttor as a close friend of his younger sister, Elizabeth. From a young age, Suttor had been aware of the new colony established in New South Wales and quickly became fixated on settling in Australia and cultivating the ‘untouched’ land. He was inspired by the writings of Captain James Cook and botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, fulfilling his father’s desire for George and his brother to enter into Farming.
In 1798, Suttor was introduced to Sir Joseph Banks, who employed Suttor as a ‘Botanical Collector’ to assist him with transporting goods from England to the new colony in Australia. Suttor was given charge of a collection of plants to be brought directly to New South Wales in exchange for which he would be granted 200 acres of land upon his arrival.
Suttor married Sarah Dobinson in London in August 1798, prior to leaving for Australia. George and Sarah attempted the voyage to NSW multiple times in 1799, with the original ship, the ‘Porpoise’, caught off the English Coast, and the second voyage hindered by extreme weather in the Bay of Biscay. His first son, George Banks Suttor was born in 1799, and accompanied his parents aboard the Spanish corvette ship renamed ‘Porpoise’, which finally departed England in March of 1800. the ‘Porpoise’ spent nearly four months docked in the Cape of Good Hope from May of 1800, during which time the Suttors explored Cape Town.
Suttor arrived into Sydney Heads with his family on the 6th of November, 1800, describing his first impression of the harbour as ‘primative and romantic’. Although many of the plants had not survived the journey, Suttor had been able to preserve a variety of apple trees, mulberry trees, willows, strawberries, walnuts, chestnuts, and various vines. He immediately began looking for land on which to settle, eventually moving into a small cottage on Church Street, Paramatta.
On the 31st of March of 1802, George Suttor was officially granted a parcel of land in Baulkham Hills, adjacent to settlers including John and Mary Smith, and Andrew and Elizabeth McDougall. A small house had been constructed for the Suttor family on the land, with several Convict labourers also assigned to work the farm as per the initial agreement with Joseph Banks. Suttor began clearing the land, sowing corn and planting orange trees that had been presented to him by Colonel Paterson, brought from San Salvador. The trees were the first of their kind to be planted in Baulkham Hills, and amongst some of the earliest successful trees in the new colony. George wrote to Joseph Banks in early 1802 to express the desperate state that the Colony was in, with a lack of food and high prices making it difficult for him to provide for his growing family at Chelsea Farm. The Suttors’ cottage was robbed in 1804, with George held at gunpoint by convicts in the ‘Vinegar Hill’ uprising at Castle Hill, which resulted in “horror” and unrest for several days. William Henry Suttor, George and Sarah’s third son, was born at Chelsea Farm in 1805, followed by their second daughter, Cordelia Sarah, in 1808.
In January, 1808, Suttor followed as a group of troops, led by Colonel Johnston, attempted a coup on Governor Bligh, marching through Sydney to Government House. Suttor remained loyal to Bligh throughout the proceedings, which consequently made him a target for accusations of disloyalty to the new rebel Government, including accusations by two of his own convict servants at Chelsea Farm. Suttor refused the eventual summons from Colonel Foveaux and instead penned a threatening letter in response, for which he was seized and sentenced to imprisonment for six months at the gaol in George Street. Following the unrest, Suttor was summoned to England in 1810 as a supporting witness for Governor Bligh’s case against Johnston. The trip lasted nearly two years, with George returning to Sydney via Rio De Janeiro in Mayof 1812 with a new set of valuable plants, including date, olive vines and palms. Upon his return from England, Chelsea Farm had flourished under the care of Sarah, who had purchased a young mare to accompany the existing livestock, with the orange trees having become “beautiful and full of fruit nearly ripe”.
In 1814, George Suttor was appointed as super-intendent of the Lunatic Asylum at Castle Hill, which had been established by Governor Macquarie in 1811. Suttor was housed with his family in the weatherboard cottage on site for several years, however he was dismissed from the position in 1819 following various disagreements with doctors William Bland and Thomas Parmeter, amid accusations of neglect and exploitation of the asylum patients who were allegedly carrying out farm work on his own property at Chelsea Farm.
Following the devastating caterpillar plague of 1820 that impacted much of the land at Chelsea Farm and surrounds, Suttor began to look further afield, west of the Blue Mountains for additional land to cultivate, and was eventually granted a parcel of land in Bathurst Plains by Governor Thomas Brisbane in 1822, which he named ‘Brucedale’. Suttor successfully farmed the land with hundreds of cattle and sheep, and he and his sons developed a good relationship with the local Wiradjuri population including Indigenous leader, Windradyne. By this time, two major roads had been cut through the land at Baulkham Hills, reducing the common land that the Suttors had once farmed on.28 George returned to Chelsea Farm in 1831 for a brief period to work on restoring the orangery, with the estate having been under the care of their eldest son George and his family. The next several years were spent living between the two properties, with George acquiring various plots of land and overseeing the construction of outbuildings across each of his sites, as well as building a house in Elizabeth Street, Sydney. George officially promised the estate at Brucedale to William following his marriage to Charlotte Francis in 1833.
George and Sarah made a trip to England aboard the ship ‘Laura’ in 1839, also visiting Ireland, Scotland and parts of mainland Europe. During their stay in France, George researched grape harvesting, which eventuated in the publishing of his book ‘The Culture of the Grape Vine and the Orange in Australia and New Zealand’ (1843). During their time in Europe, Sarah became ill and died in France in August 1844, buried at Rouen. George acquired additional land at ‘Alloway Bank’ in 1851 following his return to Bathurst, building his final homestead, where died at home on the 5th of May, 1859.
The existing Victorian Filigree style homestead building was likely constructed by one of his grandsons c. 1873 on the site of the previous second homestead. No existing plans or photographs have been identified showing the presentation or layout of the site in the second half of the nineteenth century. Subsequently, it is unclear whether the principal building form of the third homestead building and its rear wing were constructed contemporarily or in different stages. The 1984 Hills Heritage Study entry for Chelsea Farm, notes ‘the western and eastern wings were added between 1890 and 1900’.
A photograph of the third homestead potentially from 1891 (below) shows the homestead with an unrendered brick finish, timber shingle roof, and the ground floor and rear wing extensions already in place. On the reverse of the photograph is written ‘May 1891 Industrial Exhibition, Croydon certificate of merit’, it is unclear as to the exact link between the photograph and the inscription.
The property passed to George Thomas Suttor, who mortgaged it to the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney on 14 August 1882 for £13,000. He was in financial trouble and was unable to repay the loan. On 9 January 1891, he sequestered his estate to the bankruptcy registrar. On 4 April 1891, the official assignee of his estate advertised that his property would be offered for sale by auctioneers Batt. Rodd and Purves. He was released from his bankrupt on 31 August 1891, which apparently prevented the auction of his real estate. However, he was unable to repay the loan. On 8 April 1892, the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney conveyed part of the property including the homestead building to Edward Henry Pearce, gentleman of Seven Hills for £7,000.
The 1905 map of the Parish of Castle Hill depicts the boundaries of Suttor’s land which had remained relatively intact.
Immediately following Pearce’s acquisition, the land began to be subdivided and sold, with dozens of plots bought prior to 1915. The land adjoining the Chelsea Farm residence was advertised for auction on 18 April 1914 as part of Pearce’s Estate subdivision.
The seventeen acres, one road and eleven perches of land including the subject site and homestead building was transferred to Florence Sarah Hopkins, widow of Auburn, on 27 October 1915. Florence Hopkins sold parts of the property in transfers to Reginald Dean and Charles Hurst in 1920, with the remaining land transferred to George Cayley Thomas, farmer of Dundas, in 1932. Thomas subsequently transferred the property to Mutual Farms Pty Ltd on 5 November 1938. The Australian Jewish Welfare Society became the registered proprietor on 14 March 1941
The Development of Chelsea Farm
1801-1938
After the arrival George Suttor to Australia in 1801 and an extensive search for suitable farming land around Paramatta, Suttor was officially granted 186 acres in March 1802 on land adjacent to Andrew McDougall’s estate at Baulkham Hills. Originally named ‘Suttor Farm’, the land soon became known as ‘Chelsea Farm’. Despite the official grant dating from 1802, it is thought that the Suttors occupied the land from c. 1801, when the first timber cottage was built by the government through convict labour for the family. The original cottage was described as “two thatched rooms” which “stood for many years”. The original road from Paramatta to Castle Hill was surveyed c. 1802 and was noted as passing through a “small portion of Mr. Suttor’s estate”.
With various complications delaying the initial journey from England, many of the plants that had initially been transported by Suttor did not survive. However, Suttor perservered with his objective of establishing fruitful orchards on Chelsea Farm, including the planting of a trio of orange trees from San Salvador gifted to him by Colonel Paterson. The Sydney Gazette of 1804 advertised a sale of young fruit trees from Suttor’s nursery, with further sales of the oranges at Charlotte Square in Sydney in 1807. A subsequent journey to England provided Suttor with further healthy trees and the farm quickly became one of the main suppliers of citrus and stonefruit to the local area. Upon his return from England, Suttor noted that the farm had flourished under the care of his wife, who had purchased a young mare to accompany the existing livestock, describing the orange trees as “beautiful and full of fruit nearly ripe”.
It is believed that after the initial development of the farm, Suttor set about the construction of a more permanent residence c. 1812 (pictured above) and upgraded farming infrastructure to support work on the land. This included the construction of a masonry cottage and several outbuildings illlustrated in one of the earliest depictions of the sire, by surveyor William Butler Simpson (pictured below). These illustrations show the second residence built on the site along with the original timber cottage, and pine trees which stil exist on the site today.
The 1907-9 and 1910 Council Rate Books show that Edward Henry Pearce of nearby ‘Bella Vista’ Farm had acquired the land originally granted to George Suttor (portion 118). The official Certificate of Title was signed in 1910, noting that part of Suttor’s land was encompassed by Pearce’s larger acquisition.
Edward Henry Pearce applied to convert the title of the property to Torrens title. A Certificate of Title was issued to him on 22 November 1910 for various parcels of land, including 53 acres 1 rood 34 perches, part of George Suttor’s 186 acre grant. The land was subdivided and offered for sale as DP 6313. The auction notice described the lot of 17 acres 2 roods, with the house on it. The house was described as being of brick, cemented, and painted, with verandahs and balconies containing hall, 11 rooms, kitchen, servant’s room, bathroom, iron washhouse, plus dairy with loft, tool house, wooden buggy house with loft, hayshed, cart shed, stable with loft, sheds and cow bails. Edward Henry Pearce died on 1 April 1912 and the property passed by a transmission to Edward William Charles Archdall Pearce, Seven Hills, orchardist, Henry Mervyn Archdall Pearce, of Kiama, clerk in holy orders [minister of religion], William Thomas Louis Archdall Pearce, Newtown, clerk in holy orders [minister of religion].
The Australian Jewish Welfare Society
In 1936, the German Jewish Refugee Committee in London sought funds to be collected by members of the Australian Jewish Community to aid tens of thousands of German Jews to emigrate overseas, with the appeal eventually launched in New South Wales. While emigration to Australia was not initially possible, the ongoing crisis in Europe resulted in modifications being made to the immigration laws under the Federal Government, with migrants soon accepted onto Australian shores. The official establishment of the Australian Jewish Welfare Society followed shortly after in late 1936, with Saul Symonds named as President.
The non-government organisation’s main focus was to assist those fleeing persecution in Germany, however this quickly adapted to include all Jewish migrants. The organisation merged with the Polish Jewish Relief Fund prior to 1938, with a subsequent call for urgent donations resulting in £40,000 being raised by members of the NSW community. Over 200 volunteers were working for the AJWS by 1938, with a small team eventually employed to work full-time in the offices in Darlinghurst.
On the 27th of October, 1938, the Society announced the establishment of the ‘Chelsea Park Training Farm for Refugees’, with the original intention to train men and married couples to gain employment on farms and cattle stations in rural areas. The sale of the property to the AJWS was finalised on the 2nd of November 1938, with the program opening on the 15th of November with the first trainee, Henry Grunstein. The Training Farm was modernised throughout 1939, adapting to provide accommodation for dozens of refugees accepted over the course of the next two years. 245 people were trained at Chelsea Park, with many graduates finding employment in agricultural industries in Australia.
As the war in Europe intensified, the Society received an overwhelming number of applications, particularly for those whose relatives and friends had already arrived in Australia. The Society became somewhat unpopular in areas of the Jewish community as permits allowing people to enter Australia during the war were limited and many applications had to be immediately passed to the Federal Government for approval. The AJWS, along with leaders of the Jewish community, were instrumental in advocating for the government to increase the cap on the number of Jewish migrants allowed to enter Australia. Various branches of the Society were established throughout Australia in the late 1930s, and included initiatives such as English conversational classes, assistance with land settlement, and specialised advice for women and children fleeing Europe. The organisation worked closely with those on the ground in Europe to provide support with administrative details and transportation upon the migrants’ initial arrival, with additional care as they were integrated into the wider community. As applications increased, the Society was also granted permission by the Federal Government to act as guarantors for migrants entering Australia.
The Society has consistently operated for over 85 years, providing family support, aged care, and disability care services to the Jewish community in Australia. In 2000 the organisation was renamed Jewish Care.
Chelsea Park Training Farm 1938-1951
The Chelsea Park Training Farm was established on the site in November 1938, following the purchase of the land for the Australian Jewish Welfare Society (AJWS). Due to the initial success of the project, two additional plots of land were purchased in 1939 to extend the property to 34 acres. The Farm was established to train and support Jewish refugees with the intention of finding them work as farmhands on country stations, or support purchase of their own farms where circumstances allowed.
During its establishment as a training farm, the main house (homestead building) on the site underwent a number of alterations, including the addition of a second storey to the pre-existing eastern wing c.1890-1900 and the removal of the wallpaper and paint from the interior walls. The works also included construction of a number of functional outbuildings, including two weatherboard outbuildings to be used as accommodation and a dining hall, as well as a small brick bathroom facility. It is understood, that the complex would initially accommodate 12 married couples within the c.1873 homestead building, and a further 12 single men would be housed in the new weatherboard accommodation quarters (two to a room).
By 1940, Jewish migration from Europe had become increasingly difficult and all but ceased, with the training farm leased to the military authorities from April 1941 at various intervals until mid-1944. A court case was held in 1942 to determine the compensation required for shortages of furniture, household objects and damages to the outbuildings that had occurred during the period of occupation by the Hydrographic section of the Navy. The claim also required that the cow bales be reconstructed, poultry shed re-erected, several windows and doors in the main house replaced, a wall to the main building (homestead building) repaired and gutter piping replaced, with the repairs only partially complete when the AJWS re-occupied the site.
In the years following the war, the property continued to be used to house new Jewish arrivals to Sydney, as well as hosting camps for Zionist youth movements, and meetings of the National Council of Jewish Women up until 1951. The land was eventually sold in 1951 for £11,250.
Recent History (1951-2023)
The AJWS transferred the property to Jack Hyman, farmer of Dural on 30 October 1951, who only held briefly before transferring it to Eileen Fairbairn Mackinolty, of Castle Hill, widow. Eileen Mackinolty acquired the property shortly after the death of her husband George Mackinolty on the 24th February 1951. Air Vice-Marshal George Mackinolty was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Airforce known as one of the first 19 recruits to the Australian Flying Corps in 1914, and as one of the earliest members of the RAAF in 1921. After WWI, Mackinolty was promoted to the senior military position of air vice-marshal in 1948. After the death of George in 1951, Eileen ran a dog breeding kennel at Chelsea Farm, and was heavily involved in this pursuit in the local area.
In 1975, a report by L.R. Bowden of the Hills Shire Council noted that the property was owned by Mrs. R. S. Matthews (also noted dog-breeders in the community) and the Estate of the late E.F. Mackinolty. The site was described as being a “battle-axed shaped allotment with frontage onto New Windsor Road”, housing a “traditional two-storey colonial-style home” with “staff quarters, kitchen/recreational building, coach house and dairy” set amongst a variety of mature plantings. It is noted that access from Englart Place was also available. The seven bedroom main house is described as being constructed of painted brick, with a corrugated iron roof, sandstone paving to the verandahs, timber and sandstone floors to the interiors. The survey also notes that the weatherboard ‘staff quarters’ (Former Trainee Quarters) consisted of three bedrooms and additional living areas, with an additional recreation building of similar construction located to the right/ rear of the main residence, including its own separate kitchen. This description indicates that physical modifications had been made to change the original 6-room configuration of the trainee quarters. The dairy of rendered masonry construction is described as located to the other side of the main drive, with a corrugated roof and gabled ends. The coach house is described as being of timber and brick construction with corrugated metal roof and sandstone paved flooring, located directly in front of the drive. All buildings are described as being in “good condition” at the time. The same report suggested that the estate could be restored as a house museum to represent the history of the Castle Hill area.
In 1976 an application submitted by retired history teacher Mr Richard Pike for the site’s proposed use as a ‘museum and for social functions’ (detailed in Figure 31) was approved in 1977 including usage as a reception / conference centre, with the inclusion of clauses providing that ‘no new buildings shall be erected on the site and no major alterations carried out to existing structures’, among other clauses related to vehicular access and lot consolidation.
The house was purchased from Mrs. C. V. Matthews by Mr. Richard Pike in 1977 for $85,000, following numerous attempts from developers to subdivide the land. Following the sale of the property to Richard Pike, the property was further subdivided to the site’s current boundary configuration in conjunction with development of Englart Place into a cul-de-sac, shown in the photo below.
The property was approved for listing by the National Trust of Australia in 1983. The main kitchen on the property was refurbished with new shelving, countertops and cabinetry in 1988.
The property was proposed for entry in the Register of the National Estate in August 1990, under the ownership of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Froud. The historical notes for the entry suggest that the single-storey eastern wing and western wing were added between 1890 and 1900, the source for this information has not been confirmed. It is also stated that during the occupation of the site by the AJWS, a second storey was added to the eastern wing along with the two weatherboard cottages. The 1950s saw the upstairs rooms enlarged, with extensive refurbishments to the house during the 1980s, including the removal of render from the exterior as well as reconfiguration of the grounds.
The four pine trees that marked the entrance to the farm when accessed from Windsor Road still stand. Aerial images from across the twentieth century show significant changes to the site and surrounding area.
Physical evidence of fire damage to wall/ceiling framing and cladding within the southern areas of the Former Trainee Quarters Building is visible behind existing internal cladding. The exact date of the fire is not known but estimated to be in the second half of the 20th century due to the simple plasterboard replacement.
