George Postans' Cottage (fmr), Hope Valley

Parent Place or Precinct

25460 Postans' Cottage Group

Physical Description

George Postans' Cottage is the site located within a small former farming property and wetland, thought to have been built and occupied by George Postans, a former convict and his family, in approximately 1882, as part of the early settlement of the Hope Valley area. It is not currently known how much of the original cottage remains.

History

George Postans arrived in Western Australia as a convict aboard the Scindian in 1850. Convicted of housebreaking at 16, he received his ticket-of-leave by 1851.15 Postans married Harriet Green, widow of Edwin, in 1854 and was granted a full pardon in 1858.
Postans worked in the Murray District and Pinjarra as a labourer, small farmer, and bricklayer. In the 1850s, he jointly worked on a farm in North Dandalup of 15 acres with his friend, William Pollard. He is also recorded as having employed five ticket-of-leave men in Toodyay, which may also have been while working with William Pollard. By 1880 he and his wife had saved enough to settle their large family, by then numbering fifteen, on 100 acres of land in what was to become Hope Valley.
A plan of the property in a surveyor’s field book (name of surveyor illegible) is dated August 1880. The plan, drawn to scale, shows a 100 acre block of land attributed to George Postans, with two fields, one approximately 10 acres and ‘under cultivation’ in the southern half of the allotment. The survey plan was drawn during the very early settlement of the allotment, prior to the official transfer of title of land to George Postans in 1882. There are two other small features noted on the plan, in approximately the middle of the block, which may illustrate the presence of a dwelling or other structures.
In 2014, descendants of the Postans and de San Miguel families identified an extant structure located at 233 Hope Valley Road (Lot 241, P245456) as the original Postans’ homestead, built by George Postans. This structure corresponds with the general location of the Postans’ Homestead indicated in the 1880 plan.

Condition

ruin

Uses

Historic Themes

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.