Glenburn and Burbong

1 Twelve historic sites in theGlenburn and Burbongareas of the Kowen Forest,Australian Capital TerritoryColin McAlisterNovember 2007 Twelve historic sites in theGlenburn and Burbongareas of the Kowen Forest,Australian Capital TerritoryColin McAlisterNovember 2007 Cover photos, clockwise from top leftThe earliest marked European graves in the ACT are those of two small girls, Elizabeth and MargaretColverwell, who drowned in 1837. This small fenced graveyard, surrounded by grazing paddocks, wasrestored in James Thompson, December 2006 The remains of Glenburn homestead; the two huts, one of slab construction and one of pis .Photo Colin McAlister, August 2006 This old horse-drawn, sit-on Jones Mower would have been used to cut hay around Max Lawrence, August 2006 Among the pine trees of Kowen Forest north of the Molonglo River, are the chimney and fireplace ruinsof John Coppin's homestead, surrounded by Max Lawrence, June 2006 PublisherNational Parks Association of the ACT 2007 Copyright This book is copyright.

2 Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticismor review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process withoutwritten permission of the NPA of the ACT Inc. and the 978-0-9802854-1-3 Printed by Instant Colour Press, Belconnen ACT 2617 Twelve historic sites in the Glenburn and Burbong areas af the Kowen Forest, ACTPage iMy couple of pages grew like Topsy, just like the Glenburnshearing shed complex. It is now a large document that is theresult of some two years research that, among other things,involved visits to the ACT Heritage Library, the ACT SurveysOffice, the Australian National Library, the National Archivesof Australia, the NSW Department of Lands, State RecordsNSW, the National Trust of Australia (ACT) and the Canberraand District Historical Society.

3 The staff of these organizationshelped me a great deal and I thank them all. I would like torecord my special thanks to Antoinette Buchanan of the ACTH eritage Library and Ron Jarman of the ACT Surveys people have also been very helpful. Don Mountainlent me several books from his library. Dianne and JamesThorne, Denise Pierce and John Lindsay gave me extensiveinformation on the Edmonds family in the second half of the1800s and the early 1900s. Marilyn Folger provided valuableinformation on the early days of the McInnes family. Ken andSuzanne McInnes gave their time to provide information onthe Glenburn area, particularly the Glenburn shearing shedcomplex, and to read and comment on an early draft.

4 Jim Dickgave me documentation on Luke Colverwell s trial at the OldBailey in 1810 and initially identified a McDonald as the per-son who, in 1879, conditionally purchased the land on whichCollier s homestead stands. Len Haskew walked the area withme several times and provided helpful comments on drafts ofthe paper. Professor Basil Johnson prepared the map for theaccess route to the historic sites from the Kings Highway forthe ACT Heritage Lawrence, a friend of 50 years, has been extremelygenerous. He walked the area with me on many occasions overthe past 10 years or so and, together with Len Haskew, we vis-ited the ruins of John Coppin s and Argyle homesteads and thesite of the Kowen copper mine for the first time in 2006.

5 Maxread and commented on several drafts of the paper. He encour-aged me to include more information on early European his-tory including on the families involved. Max even accompa-nied me on one of my visits to State Records NSW in Sydneyto obtain information on the Kowen Public School. And,together, we trolled through more than 1 000 photographs toselect the ones included in the paper. Thanks Nicholson has also been most generous. She ini-tially married the photos, survey plans and maps with the the way she had to cope with my many amendmentsand corrections. Adrienne s contribution is much thanks also to my wife, Ginny. She encouraged me tocontinue with the research when I became frustrated with itsslow progress, provided many suggestions, corrected much ofmy grammar and proof-read several also thank the National Parks Association of the ACT fortheir support in publishing this paper.

6 Its publications sub-committee worked hard to incorporate substantial new mate-rial including some historical photos into the paper. Thanksespecially to Sabine Friedrich and Sonja , I ask that anyone who has any additional informa-tion about the sites or the people, or who finds errors of fact,to contact me by phone on (02) 6288 4171 or by e-mail small pastoral area rich in historic sitesThe Glenburn and Burbong historic areas of the Kowen For-est are contained in a small locality close to Canberra andQueanbeyan that is rich in relics of early European pastoralactivity which commenced in the area in is evidence of tragedy the gravestones of twoyoung girls who drowned in 1837.

7 Of mystery who built asubstantial stone house in 1880 on land he did not own?; ofrural entertainment a bachelors ball was held in a home-stead in 1895; of early education the site of a public schoolthat operated from 1882 to 1906; and of sheer hard work ashearing shed complex still used today that had its origins inthe 1860s, dilapidated sheep yards and hay sheds, an oldplunge sheep dip and a field mower. And much and a call for actionIn 2005 the ACT Government, through ACT Forests and theHeritage Unit, restored the Colverwell graves in the Glenburnhistoric area. In February 2006, the Chief Minister, Jon Stan-hope, officially opened the renovations at a graveside cere-mony to mark the event.

8 Congratulations to all involved in thewonderful restoration work (see before and after photos onpage 14).But there is much more to be done. Most of the remainingrelics are in need of repair and conservation. Some, such as thepis hut at the Glenburn homestead, the ruins of Collier sstone homestead and the ruins of Coppin s homestead are inneed of urgent repairs and/or urge the ACT Government to actively pursue remedialwork in the areas. The highest priorities should be to:1. repair and stabilise the pis hut at the Glenburn homestead;2. stabilise the tops of the stone walls of the ruins of Collier shomestead;3. stabilise the stone chimney and fireplace of the ruins ofJohn Coppin s homestead;4.

9 Repair the slab hut at the Glenburn homestead; and5. prepare and implement conservation plans for the ruins ofCollier s homestead, the Glenburn homestead and theshearing shed signs should be erected for the Glenburn andBurbong historic areas at all major sites including the site ofthe Kowen Public School and the charcoal origin of this paper, acknowledge-ments, and a request for helpThis paper had its origins in my desire to have a couple ofpages of notes on several historic sites in the Glenburn /Bur-bong area of the Kowen Forest that I could hand out to partici-pants on walks organized by the National Parks Association ofthe ACT.

10 The ACT Heritage Library was also interested in asummary document on the sites and arranged to have a mapdrawn of the areas for historic sites in the Glenburn and Burbong areas af the Kowen Forest, ACTPage iiAbbreviations usedACTA ustralian Capital TerritoryACPA dditional Conditional Purchase of land in NSWCPC onditional Purchase of land in NSWIPI mprovement Purchase of land in NSWC&DHSC anberra and District Historical SocietyKHAK osciuszko Huts AssociationNAAN ational Archives of AustraliaNCDCN ational Capital Development CommissionNSWNew South WalesCurrency valuations usedAustralia converted its currency from pounds, shillingsand pence ( s d) to decimal currency ($ c) in 1966, at therate of $ for 1 0s 0d.