Burnside Homestead

Statement of Significance

Burnside Homestead is a significant and large early property in the Murray District and has high architectural value. Burnside Homestead is a significant early residence in the district, and is associated with David Smythe Murray, the resident magistrate. Burnside Homestead contributes to an understanding of the pattern of European settlement in the Murray District and is associated with the development of the dairying and agricultural industry in the area.

Physical Description

Burnside homestead comprises;
- A main residence/homestead (high pitched broken back roof)
- Gardeners cottage,
- Original caretakers cottage
- Blacksmith shed
- New double brick steel shed
- Ancillary buildings for housing animals and stores.
The buildings are not visible from the road and are set back with a eucalypt lined formal driveway.
The homestead is set on the Banks of Tea Tree Brook.

History

David Smythe Murray arrived in Western Australia, on board the Hero, in November 1835. He married Elizabeth Davis in September 1836, and their first child, Annie, was born in July 1837. Further children were named John, Elizabeth, Euphemie, Cecilia, David and George. The family moved from Fremantle to Mandurah in 1846, where Murray took up the post of Magistrate, succeeding Captain Singleton. In 1860, Murray purchased in the name of his son, John Gray Murray, for 40 acres of land where Burnside Homestead now stands. For this he paid £20. The application stated a house was already under construction. This residence was constructed of wattle and daub, with a rush roof, and was later destroyed by fire. Bricks for a new residence, and all outbuildings, were burnt in a kiln on the property; the timber was pit-swan; and, bolts were used, rather than nails, for securing the rafters. The walls were whitewashed. The house had fourteen rooms and a large cellar beneath the kitchen. In the 20th century (sometime after 1939), the kitchen was demolished, and the rubble used to fill in the cellar. From the outset, Burnside Homestead was intended as a ‘gentleman’s residence’ rather than a rural homestead. Murray lived in the property until his death on 3 February 1864, aged 56. John Gray succeeded his father as Resident Magistrate and held the office until 1883. The holdings were increased to several thousand acres, and the residence stocked with massive Victorian furniture. The land was used for Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cattle, thoroughbred horses, and Border Leicester sheep, as well as pigs and goats. Peacocks and swans were introduced for aesthetic reasons, and a vineyard introduced, with the wine made and stored in the cellars beneath Burnside Homestead. Aboriginal women were employed for treading the grapes. In 1893, Burnside Homestead was described as follows: Burnside is a very pretty place. The house, with its wide verandah, trailing creepers, and trim flower garden, has a very inviting appearance. One would hardly think it was the end, or nearly the end, of an Australian summer to see the many coloured blooms and bright greens of the pretty little garden. Everything about the place proclaims neatness and order, and a fondness on the part of these who live there for the amenities of country life. The vineyard is being gradually increased. This year, I am told, it is to be added to consider- ably. ... I had the pleasure of tasting the matured wine produced from this vineyard, and found it very agreeable. The orange trees at Burnside are very fine and add further testimony, if any were needed, to the suitability of the district to the citrus tribe. However, tragedy struck the family in 1901: Intelligence was received in Perth yesterday of the death, at 8 o'clock on Monday night of Mr. David Murray, of Burnside, Pinjarrah, at the age of 57 years. The announcement occasioned the deepest regret. This is the third death that has occurred in the Murray family almost within a week, the sister and brother of the deceased, Miss Frances Murray and Mr. George William Murray having both succumbed to measles on August 25. In 1908, the extent of the Murrays’ holdings were listed as:
• Burnside Homestead: 740 acres of freehold and 2,405½ acres of Government leasehold. • Mowerinup: 6,606 acres of freehold, situated midway between Rockingham and Pinjarra. It had a small cottage, with 40 acres of land being cleared and fenced.
• Foderans: 2,050 acres of freehold, about four miles from Burnside Homestead. In 1920, Miss Lizzie Murray returned to Scotland, and Burnside Homestead fell into a state of disrepair. For some years it was under quarantine, due to an infestation of star thistle. In 1927, the place was auctioned to clear the mortgage on the property. At the clearing sale, all the furniture and effects which the Murrays had acquired were sold. Family and official papers were apparently burned. At the auction, Burnside Homestead was purchased by Mrs Hargreaves and she undertook restoration works. It appears, however, by 1939 the place had yet again fallen into a state of disrepair. It was described by its new owner, Mrs F. Cook: [We] looked down at the big sprawling house, the long line of stables and cow sheds, the high brick barn, the brick dairy, the blacksmith’s shop, with its spiral chimney and the house where the hams were smoked. Mingled with the blue green of the gum trees, great spreading lilacs, acacias, pines, cypresses, poplars and kurrajongs trees were massed around the house... Across the road in another paddock were the woolshed, sheep dip and penning yards... [Inside the homestead, two] floors had been eaten by white ants, water had leaked through several spots in the ceilings, guttering and down pipes were rusted. Mrs Cook noted it was a ‘typical colonial house’, built of handmade bricks, painted white with a shingled roof. French doors opened onto long verdandahs. The jarrah floorboards still showed their hand-sawn origins, and the kitchen retained a large bread oven. The wine cellar under the kitchen was still extant in 1939. Mrs Cook undertook major renovations, including new plumbing, replacement flooring, cupboards, sinks and basins. One bedroom was converted into a bathroom and the verandah boards replaced. All rooms were painted in ‘pale ivory’. In 2010, extensive renovation and conservation works were undertaken, particularly to fix works completed in the 1930s and 1940s which had seen the removal of load bearing walls, causing the roof to sag. Major repairs to the wine cellar underneath the kitchen were completed at the same time. In 2019 conservation works to the blacksmith’s building are expected.

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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.