Quarterly Journal Autumn 1992 – Page 8-16
by
Kevin Moore
SUBMISSION: TO THE HISTORIC SITES AND BUILDINGS COMMITTEE, BLACKTOWN CITY COUNCIL- JANUARY 1982
RE: THE CONSERVATION OF THE RUINS OF THE “GOVERNMENT HOUSE” AT ROOTY HILL
** Editor’s note: – This submission was written by Kevin Moore in 1982 and is reprinted here along with additional information on the “Government House”. **
1. In I802 Governor King reserved a large area of Western Sydney for the purpose of storing and breeding the Government’s cattle, horses, and livestock generally. A particular motive of the Governor’s action was a desire to break the monopoly of the NSW Corps in supplying stock not only for Government use but to private settlers.
2. King was concerned that if he died or had to leave the colony unexpectedly owing to illness, as had happened to Governor Phillip, the Acting-Governor, who would certainly be the Commanding Officer of the NSW Corps, would grant away any land reserved for Government use. This had happened after Phillip’s departure.
In an attempt to prevent this happening, King took the unusual step of actually granting Crown land back to the Crown! In this manner was the Government Stock Reserve created the boundaries of which form thebasis for the boundaries of today’s City of Blacktown.
3. The geographical entity of our city, then can be dated from 1802. It seems certain that no municipal area in Australia had so early an origin. Some, e.g. Manly, have an older name, but none had its basic boundaries, defined so early.
It is submitted that anything relevant to Governor King’s reserve should be of particular interest to the municipal government of Blacktown.
4. It appears that right from the start the administration of the Reserve was centered on the hill by the Eastern Creek which Governor King called Rooty Hill in memory of the Rooty Hill on Norfolk Island where he had built his Government House in 1788, and which in shape it much resembled (see “The Riddle of Rooty Hill”, W.L. O’Halloran, April 1980, BDHS Journal).
The name Rooty Hill first appears in print in an Advertisement in the Sydney Gazette in August 1811, in a context which strongly suggests the name was well known by 1810. However, Governor King’s son the noted
explorer and cartographer, Captain Philip King RN, refers to the southwestern corner of the Reserve. at least, as “the Rooty Hill run” when referring to events of 1805.
It should be a matter of fundamental municipal pride and concern that the name Rooty Hill, and anything concerned with its history and antiquity should be honored and preserved.
5. Governor King’s stratagem of gran ting the Stock Reserve to the Crown served its purpose during the Rum Rebellion (l808-1810), the rebel government not granting away any of the Reserve.
6. When Governor Macquarie arrived in 1810 his instructions were such that he began disposing of surplus Crown land to private settlers. His first grant of land within the Reserve was from the northwestern corner, a wedding present to his Lieutenant-Governor, M.C. O’Connel. and ex-Governor Bligh’s widowed daughter Mary Putland. which the happy couple named “Riverston”.
Subsequently Macquarie made other grants along the Windsor Road. but he retained intact the southwestern quarter, the Rooty Hill run.
7. The nature of the superintendent’s accommodation at Rooty Hill has not been described. It was almost certainly a slab-built structure with a shingled roof, and similar, if lesser structures were built elsewhere on the Rooty Hill run for shepherds, overseers, etc.
By 1815, however, Macquarie had replaced the earlier structure with a considerably grander two-storeyed brick building to accommodate not only the superintendent but also the Governor from time to time when travelling in the district. From this fact arose the popular, if noy strictly accurate, name of “the Government House” for the building.
As well as the actual house there were the usual outbuildings and such extra facilities as a garden for keeping up a supply of fresh vegetables.
8. As well as the intrinsic historical interest of this building it has a further value as evidence supporting a probability which has been previously overlooked by historians and is currently being researched by members of
this Society: By the present line of the Great Western Highway, it would appear the house was built on the wrong side of the Rooty Hill. It is on the north side of the hill and faces north; under present circumstances one might expect it would have been on the southside and facing south for easy access to the Western Road.
There had been settlements on the western side of South Creek (modern Werrington, etc.) for many years before 1815, and therefore there must have been a road west from Parramatta and Prospect towards the Nepean before the Government House was built.
The orientation of the Government House clearly suggests that this original western road crossed the land that later became “Bungaribee” and is now the OTC property, and that it approximated the present line of Dunsmore Street. It would have certainly been easier travelling to South Creek along a route close to the railway line than on the hilly section of the present Western Highway between Rooty Hill Road and South Creek.
9. Macquarie’s building continued to serve its purpose as headquarters for the Government Reserve through the 1820’s. One extra service it provided during that era was as a guest house for people of some social significance who might be travelling in the area.
By the end of the 1820’s the remnants of the Government Reserve were incorporated in the controversial Church and Schools Estate. Though possible, it would be a very time-consuming task to trace the subsequent
owners and occupants. Immediate evidence suggests the Government house had an association with the Church and Churchmen that continued into the 20th century.
The building was in sound condition and still occupied into the 1950’s. During that decade someone most unfortunately removed the iron roof; rain penetrated the weak mud mortar of the inner walls, and the building either tumbled down or was demolished.
10. This Society strongly urges:
(a) That Rooty Hill was the original “capital” of the district that has now become the City of Blacktown and is of prime historical importance to the municipal history.
(b) That the Government House ruins should be considered central to the local government area and its origins.
(c) That the ruins are the only discernible evidence of a Governor Macquarie building within the City of Blacktown.
(d) That as far as is evident at the moment they are the remains of the oldest building within the city boundaries.
(e} That from materials remaining on the site and using photographs available in the local history archives. it would be possible to reconstruct the building to the status of a ruin – say to the height of half-window – stabilised so as to be safe for children to “explore”, and safe from vandalism.
(f) That in keeping with the significance of the site, and in view of the population expansion of the immediate district, the area to which the ruins are central, from Dunsmore Street across the crest of Rooty Hill and down
to the historic Presbyterian church, should be dedicated as an informal historic park for the use of families.
(g) That while the Government House ruins would be the central feature, other attractions, particular for children, might include other non-destructible historic items, e.g. period agricultural machinery, of which there remains a good deal in the district.
Kevin Moore
(Information Officer)
** THE BOUNDARY OF THE STOCK RESERVE AND THE MODERN BOUNDARY OF THE CITY OF BLACKTOWN **
The north-eastern boundary of the Stock Reserve was the Hawkesbury Rd. now represented by the Old Windsor and Windsor Rds.
The western boundary was a line to South Creek from the Hawkesbury Rd, now represented by Bandon Rd and its extension, then South Creek to the extension of the line of what is now Chandos Rd.
The City’s boundary is the same to the Rope’s Creek junction, which creek it follows as far as the southern boundary line of the Reserve.
The southern boundary of each was the line of Chandos Road.
The eastern boundary of the Reserve was irregular, being the boundaries of the farmers who had already received land there. As indicated it roughly approximated the present eastern boundary of the city.
The creation of the Government stock Reserves is documented in a letter from Philip Gidley King to Lord Hobart, dated 9th May 1803 (General despatch No. 2 per HMS Glatton: acknowledged by Lord Hoban, 30th November 1803).
More information – Contact Blacktown & District Historical Society – Website