Site of Thornlie Homestead (fmr) and Olive Trees

Statement of Significance

The remnants of the Thornlie Homestead and the original plantings have historic value as they represent the original Thornlie settlement from which the current name of the surrounding suburb is derived.

The place has historic value for its associations with Walter Padbury, a significant landowner and business man in Western Australia during the 19th century.

The place has historic value for its association with Frank and Amy James and their family who operated a successful and innovative farming enterprise at the site from the 1880s to the 1930s.

The place has scientific value as there are potential archaelogical finds on the site relating to the original use of the site as a homestead and farming property.

Thornlie Community Centre has social value as a facility for the community in Thornlie since the 1970s.

Physical Description

The community centre is a double storey expansive building set on the bank of the Canning River, with a single storey street frontage. The low-pitched gable roof planes contrast with the barrel vault entry. The street frontage is framed by trees and plantings with a car park and access between the landscape strip and the building.

Expansive parkland slopes down to the river on the northwest and rear (northeast) side of the building, with the homestead remnants on the northwest side.

There are four large and ancient olive trees lining Glenbrook Drive and another located at what was the rear of the homestead. The tree behind the homestead site was damaged in the fire but has substantially re-established itself.

History

Thornlie Homestead Park is the site of the homestead of the Thornlie Park Estate owned by Walter Padbury. Within the park is the Thornlie Community Centre built in the 1970s.

Walter Padbury had arrived in the colony at the age of 10 with his father, in February 1830. Shortly afterwards, his father died and Walter survived during the next few years by working at a series of jobs, including shearing, reaping, cutting firewood, fencing, mowing and shepherding. In the better economic conditions of the convict era he laid the foundations of a substantial fortune in pastoral properties, Indian Ocean trade and various business ventures.

In 1883, he purchased 2,000 acres of Thomas Bannister's Woolcombs property. He and his wife, Charlotte, had just returned from a world trip, where he had been especially interested in agricultural developments in America. This may have encouraged him to buy the land on the Canning River. The Padburys had no children so they took particular interest in their nieces and nephews. Niece Amy Ougden was about to marry farmer Frank James, and Padbury arranged for them to manage the new estate on the Canning River. He had a homestead built on a slope above the narrow Canning River flood plain, with views across the rivergums to the hills. The house, erected by contractor Brusher Lewis, was built of bricks made from clay dug from pits on the property, and laid with lime mortar burnt from deposits from nearby Marl Hill. All the timber for beams, floors and the shingle roof was cut on the property. Frank and Amy James were married on 11 June 1884 and moved into the unfinished homestead. The property was named 'Thornlie' after a business house in Madras run by Frank James' grandfather.

A farming enterprise was established on the property, with the clearing done by Chinese labourers. In its first years, the property was run on an experimental basis, with a wide variety of fruit trees and vines being planted. James also tried various strains of wheat, oats and vegetables, and developed an excellent milking herd and piggery. In time, a number of buildings were added including barns, cattle sheds and dairy, underground water storages and workers' accommodation. By the turn of the century, James was winning cattle prizes regularly at local shows, and the estate had emerged as one of the agricultural landmarks of the Canning.

Ownership of Thornlie passed to Amy James on the death of Walter Padbury in 1907 and she and Frank, with their family of seven children, continued to work the farm until the late 1920s. After Frank died in 1929 and Amy three years later, the estate was managed by their youngest son Selby, until it was sold in 1937 to Nathaniel Harper. Some time later, having long outlasted all of the other riverside estates, it was subdivided to become the suburb of Thornlie.

The homestead site beside the river was reserved for parkland. Many of the brick outbuildings, and possibly some of the farm machinery, were pushed into the underground water tanks and covered with earth. The homestead was converted into a civic centre with a caretaker's flat. In November 1974, the homestead was severely damaged by fire. The surviving brick walls were in danger of collapse and were pushed into the cellar, which extended under the whole of the building, and the space filled with sand. A new community centre was then built in the park. An extension to the community centre was later built for the Thornlie Police and Community Youth Centres (PCYC).

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity:
Homestead remnants low degree
Community Centre high degree

Authenticity:
Homestead remnants high degree
Community Centre high degree

Condition

Homestead remnants: poor

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.