William & Marion Robertson
Macedon Ranges Shire Council, confirms
Robertson Family Pioneer Cemetery
|
William (1795-1891) and Marion (McGilchrist) Robertson (1793-1866)
of Wooling, New Gisborne, has (on behalf of all Robertson descendants)
forwarded a nomination to Heritage Victoria (29 August, 2011)
for the Robertson Family Pioneer Cemetery to be included in
the Victorian Heritage Register.
Following receipt of the nomination the following
advice has been received from the
Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning,
over the hand of Mr Tim Smith, Executive Director,
Heritage Victoria, dated 10 June 2015
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, LAND, WATER & PLANNING
10 JUNE 2015
Re: Robertson Family Pioneer Cemetery
372 Barringo Road, New Gisborne, Vic
(Click on images to enlarge)
HERITAGE VICTORIA RECOMMENDATION
The correspondence advised that Mr Smith, having made an assessment of
Cultural Heritage Significance, made the following recommendation
to the Heritage Council on 14 November 2014.
(1) That the place NOT be included in the Victorian Heritage Register
under Section 32(1) (b) of the Heritage Act 1995.
(2) The Heritage Council may wish to consider exercising its powers under
s 42 (i ) (d) (i) of the Heritage Act 1955 to refer the recommendation
to the Macedon Ranges Shire for inclusion in the local Heritage Overlay.
It should be noted that this place is included in the
Victorian heritage inventory (VHI H7823-0043)
APPEAL
When advised of Heritage Victoria's recommendation an appeal was lodged
with the Heritage Council which after due consideration, (4 June 2015),
ruled that Heritage Victoria's recommendation that
"the place NOT be included in the Victorian Heritage Register"
be approved.
HERITAGE COUNCIL REFERRAL
The Heritage Council of Victoria having approved Heritage Victoria's
recommendation that the place
NOT be included in the Victorian Heritage Register
under Section 32(1) (b) of the Heritage Act 1995,
resolved to refer Mr Smith's recommendation and submissions
received on the recommendation to the Macedon Ranges Shire Council
or consideration for inclusion in the local Heritage Overlay.
MACEDON RANGES SHIRE COUNCIL
recommendation, MRSC did advise-as per the following correspondence,
(13 Feb 2015), that the Shire Council intends to include the
Robertson Family Pioneer Cemetery in the
Heritage Overlay in the next planning amendment.
While the decision by the Heritage Council to NOT include the
Robertson Family Pioneer Cemetery In the Victorian Heritage Register
did result in a disappointing outcome, the decision of the
Macedon Ranges Shire Council to include the ROBERTSON cemetery
in the MRSC Heritage Overlay in the next planning scheme amendment,
will recognise for all time the contribution made by early pioneers,
William and Marion Robertson of Wooling, New Gisborne.
Ms Sophie -, Macedon Ranges Shire Council's Director of
Planning and Environment has advised that her Department will follow the
matter up and get back to us with an estimate of timing.
STILL A WAY TO GO BEFORE THE ROBERTSON FAMILY PIONEER
CEMETERY IS OFFICIALLY RECOGNISED AS A PLACE OF
HISTORICAL INTEREST IN THE MACEDON RANGES SHIRE.
"PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE"
HERITAGE VICTORIA
ASSESSMENT/RECOMMENDATION
(Click on image to enlarge)
Macedon Ranges Shire
Gisborne/Kyneton Heritage Study
New Gisborne
27 November 2O17
Robertson Family Pioneer Cemetery/Wooling Private Cemetery (G26)
372 Barringo
Road, New Gisborne (within the Wooling Hill Garden Estate)
37°25’53.30”S,
144°36’48.18”E
History
The following is an extract from the Heritage Council’s Assessment of
Cultural Heritage Significance as part of a report to the Executive Director of
Heritage Victoria.
“DESCRIPTION
ROBERTSON
FAMILY PIONEER CEMETERY (NOMINATED PLACE)
The Robertson Family
Pioneer Cemetery is located within the Wooling Hill Memorial Garden Estate,
which in the 2000s was the first privately developed memorial garden in
Victoria. The Robertson Family Pioneer Cemetery consists of a roughly square
area at the top of a rise. Three sides of the
place are about 12 meters long and the fourth is about 10 meters long. It is
surrounded by a post and rail fence, parts of which have
been replaced. The replacement rails copy the form, fabric, design and dimensions
of the existing rails as much as possible. There are six original Italian
Cypress trees (Cupressussempervirens) growing inside the enclosure. A seventh
tree was panted by Robertson’s descendants in 2012. There are no original
tombstones, grave markers, burial mounds or depressions visible in the
cemetery.
WOOLING HILL
MEMORIAL GARDEN ESTATE
The Wooling Hill
Memorial Garden Estate operates as a place for the interment of ashes. The site
has undergone substantial landscaping works with a circular path looping around
the outside of the property and a series of lakes constructed. The nominated
place is located in the centre of this loop road. These landscaping works also
provide a separation between these commercial operations and the nominated
place. These works, which are outside of the nominated place, consist of a
second boundary composed of a hedge set between fence posts. The area between
the hedge boundary and the nominated place’s boundary consists of a gravel
path. There is a break in this hedge where a stone tablet has been placed,
which has a rectangular boundary and is filled with gravel. The stone tablet
lists all those buried in the Robertson Family Pioneer Cemetery according to
family records. A small stone wall has also been constructed incorporating a
stone from the old Wooling Hill homestead, to which metal plaques have been
affixed. Metal plaques have also been affixed to some of the new wooden posts
and to original posts on the nominated place.
WOOLING HILL
Wooling
Hill was a pastoral estate at the foot of the Macedon Ranges, established by
William Robertson in 1840. Over time the estate has been subdivided and much
land sold. In 1911 part of the Wooling Hill estate was purchased by Oswald
Syme, the proprietor of the Age, renaming the place Bolobek (opposite side of
Barringo Road to the nominated place). Bolobek was then sold to Sir Robert and
Lady Joan Smith-Law in the 1960s. The original Wooling Hill homestead was
demolished some time in the 1960s-1970s and a new house constructed. Bolobek and
its gardens are listed on the VHR (VHR H1316) for its house designed by John
and Phyllis Murphy and its modern formal gardens.
Before
the cemetery in Gisborne was established in 1858, Wooling Hill had its own
burial place, consisting of a roughly square enclosure, at the foot of Mount
Robertson. Despite the establishment of the cemetery
in Gisborne the Robertson family continued to use their family cemetery for
burials until 1891. Family records
suggest that up to 20 people were buried here, including both Robertson and his
wife. The other burials were family members and a long time employee. At the time,
the burials were not marked with memorial headstones, markers or tablets. This cemetery still exists and is located
within the Wooling Hill Memorial Garden Estate.
WILLIAM
ROBERTSON
William
Robertson was born in Scotland on 3 February 1795. Little is known of
Robertson’s early life other than he had a drapery and tailoring business in
Edinburgh and was also a Justice of the Peace. He married Marion McGilchrist,
with whom he had seven children.
In
February 1833, Robertson, his wife and six of their children departed Edinburgh
for Australia. Robertson initially settled in Hobart, Tasmania, where he
established a drapery and tailoring business. While in Hobart, Robertson became
friendly with John Pascoe Fawkner. In 1835, Fawkner and John Batman were the
first Europeans to take up land around Melbourne.
Robertson
moved to Melbourne in 1837, purchasing land near the north-west corner of
Collins and Elizabeth Street. In 1840 Robertson applied for land near the
Macedon Ranges, where he established Wooling Hill. This was one of the earliest
settlements in the area.
Robertson
made use of the hardwood timber on his property by establishing a sawmill,
which family records indicate was used to supply timber for the construction of
the Melbourne to Bendigo railway line and he donated the wood to
construct the Gisborne Presbyterian Church. The
sawmill operated for about thirty years before Robertson switched to dairy farming
and grazing.
In
1870 Robertson made two acres of land at Wooling Hill available to the
Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria for the construction of fish
breeding ponds. The purpose of the ponds was to breed brown trout and salmon trout for
release into local streams. The works were undertaken by Gerard
Blackburn, engineer, according to a plan prepared by Curzon Allport, member of
the Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria Council, and were funded
by a grant from the Victorian
Government. These ponds ceased use in 1880 and were submerged sometime after
1914 when a dam was subsequently built.
Robertson
was a prominent member of the local community. He became an elder of the
Presbyterian Church, a life governor of the Mechanics Institute, a member of
the school board and a Justice of the Peace. Robertson died in 1890, aged 95
years.
VICTORIAN
HISTORICAL THEMES
02 Peopling Victoria’s places and landscapes
2.7 Promoting
settlement
08 Building community life
8.1 Maintaining
spiritual life
8.5 Preserving
traditions and commemorating
8.6 Marking
the phases of life
INTEGRITY/INTACTNESS
From a distance the
new boundary hedge obscures the nominated place’s original wooden boundary
fence. The six original Italian Cypress trees (Cupressussempervirens) can be
seen over the top. Within the new boundary hedge the place retains most of its
original form from when it was first established in 1854. Parts of the original
fence has been replaced, and a seventh tree was planted within the enclosure in
2012.
The establishment of
the memorial gardens have seen substantial excavations on land adjoining the
nominated place to create a series of lakes. The context and setting of the
nominated place has been altered both by these works and the addition of the
second boundary and stone memorial wall.
CONDITION
The place is in a good
condition.
COMPARISONS
PRIVATE
CEMETERIES
There are a number of
cemeteries in the VHR, however very few are private family cemeteries.
§
Hepburn Graves (VHR H0287)
Hepburn graves is the
cemetery connected to Smeaton House, Smeaton (VHR H0286). The House was built
for Captain John Hepburn between 1849-50. The cemetery was established by
Hepburn to bury his wife, two sons and some retainers. The cemetery is an
important intact example of a private cemetery associated with a pastoral
holding. The graves have historical associations with the Hepburn family and
are an excellent example of the arrangement, elements and plantings of a small
nineteenth century cemetery. The graves are marked by tombstones and Captain
Hepburn's grave is a notable example of a tombstone of the period. The graves
are dated from 1860. There is a stand of trees comprising Monterey Pine (Pinus
radiate), Cupressus macrocarpa, Araucaria bidwillii, and Cedrusdeodora.
§
Bontharambo Homestead (VHR H0359)
Joseph Docker moved
his family to the Wangaratta area in 1838, ten years after his arrival in
Australia, and took up the Bontharambo run. A private family cemetery was
established on the property in 1843 and contains seventeen memorial stones and
plantings, including a large outstanding Italian Cypress
(Cupressussempervirens), Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus) hedge inside the picket
fence, and Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) hedges amongst the marble headstones.
Bontharambo, is of historical significance as a property established during the
early period of European settlement of the Port Phillip District, and its
subsequent expansion and development. It is a well preserved example of a
mid-nineteenth century grazing and agricultural property which retains clear
evidence of its evolution. Its cemetery, which is a rare example of a private
family cemetery in Victoria, was established prior to government requirements
for burial in public cemeteries. Both the Docker family headstones and the
traditional cemetery plantings are of historical and aesthetic significance.
§
Merrang Homestead (VHR H0322)
Merrang settled in
1839, and a timber cottage was constructed on the property sometime between
1841 and 1848. Ownership changed several times until it passed to Robert Hood
in 1856, and stayed with the family for three generations. Hood established the
property as a sheep stud, and in 1859 constructed a four room stone cottage.
This cottage became the basis of the present homestead. Its cemetery is a rare
example of a private family cemetery in Victoria, established prior to
government requirements for burial in public cemeteries. Due to the slope of
the land the cemetery has a basalt retaining wall on three sides to create level
ground. It is surrounded by wrought iron fence on four sides, contains two
Italian Cypress trees (Cupressussempervirens) and several original stone
memorials. A total of 13 burials occurred at the site, with the earliest
occurring around 1859.
§
Hopetoun Cemetery (VHR H2059)
The Hopetoun Catholic
Cemetery is an irregularly-shaped four-sided block, bounded by a post-and-rail
fence. The site was established on land donated to the Catholic Church in 1850.
The cemetery originally served a chapel/school in the centre of the site. This
was demolished around 1876, remains of which can be seen as stone footing and
brick scatters that remain in situ in the centre in the cemetery. The cemetery
was closed in 1894 by the Board of Public Health as it did not adhere to the
Cemeteries Act 1890. New Burial Rights were issued by the Board and burials
continued at the cemetery until the 1950s. All remaining monuments face east,
except for one which faces west. The Hopetoun Cemetery is historically
important as the earliest known Catholic cemetery in rural Victoria, and is
important for the visible evidence it demonstrates of a pre-goldrush European
settlement, particularly relating to the Irish farming community. The site has
the ability to aid an understanding of the early Irish Catholic farming
community which existed in the area as well as the conditions of this period.
There are several mature cypress along the western side of the site, as well as
English Hawthorn hedge remnants. There are also a Blue Gum, a seedling Tree
Violet and six Italian Cypress trees (Cupressussempervirens).
Comparison to
nominated place
The Robertson Family
Pioneer Cemetery is an intact example of a private family cemetery from the
1850s. Although intact, the place does not contain the same level of intact
heritage fabric as other similar places on the VHR. The Hepburn graves,
Bontharambo cemetery and Merrang cemetery are all marked by original memorial
stones and contain significant plantings. Hopetoun Cemetery is a private
Catholic cemetery enclosed within a post and rail fence and burials are marked
by original memorial stones and significant plantings.
KEY REFERENCES
USED TO PREPARE ASSESSMENT
‘Acclimatisation
Society’ Argus 27 Feb 1875 (5)
‘The Disaster to the
Steamship Somersetshire” Australian Sketcher with Pen and Pencil 18 Apr 1874
(3)
‘The Oldest
Native-born” Argus 4 Jan 1908 (16)
‘The Zoological and
Acclimatisation Society of Victoria’ Argus 29 Feb 1876 (7)
http://www.weddingsatwoolinghill.com.au/images/william-robertson-family-tree.pdf
http://wrobertsonwooling.blogspot.com.au/
L.P. Planning
Consultants Cemeteries of Victoria: A National Estate Study 1980
Macedon Ranges
Cultural Heritage and Landscape Study 1994
Nomination material
Sagazio, C. (ed)
Cemeteries: Our Heritage 1992.”
The following information has been provided by the Gisborne and Mount
Macedon Districts Historical Society files.
Extract from
Property File
“WOOLING HILL
CEMETERY
ABORIGINAL HISTORY
The local tribe was GunaungWillambaling, which was
the custodian clan for sacred sites near Gisborne. In recent years, their
cultural legacy has been protected by their descendants in the Wurundjeri Tribe
Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council.
The land between Wooling and the base of Mount
Macedon was a large swamp area known as “Wooling Swamp”.
WHITE SETTLEMENT HISTORY
William Robertson arrived in Victoria in 1838 from
Scotland, via Tasmania. After running a
drapery business in Melbourne for two years, William took up a large tract of
land, which was later reduced to a Pre-Emptive Right of 640 acres at the foot
of Mount Macedon.
Robertson named his property Wooling, the name
being derived from the Aboriginal word “Woolong”. This name is believed to mean
“much water coming together”, and referred to the streams flowing from the
nearby Macedon Ranges and feeding the local wetlands.
By 1840 a substantial home had been built, using
timber from the nearby forest. The family including six children soon settled
into the Wooling homestead. Wooling was originally a cattle grazing property,
but later diversified into general farming.
In the late 1840’s one of the first saw mills in
the district was established on the property. It was powered by a water wheel.
It operated for about thirty years supplying timber to the goldfields, for the
construction of local properties and public buildings. From the late 1850’s the
timber from Wooling saw mill was also used for the construction of the railway
stations on the Melbourne to Bendigo railway.
In its heyday, the Wooling farm was almost
self-sufficient, with its nine acres of orchards and four acres of vegetable
gardens.
The original site of the Wooling homestead can be
seen over the road from Wooling Hill, by following the avenue of trees that
lined the original entrance to the property.
THE CEMETERY
Wooling was settled before the Gisborne or Macedon
Cemeteries had been established. As was common at the time, those members of
the family and staff who died on the property were buried in their own private
cemetery on the hill overlooking the Wooling homestead.
LIST OF PERSONS BURIED IN CEMETERY AT WOOLING- Taken from Robertson family records
William Robertson Snr.
Mrs. William Robertson Snr.
Mrs. William Robertson Jnr.
Miss. Jane Ann Scott.
Mrs. Benjamin Perry.
Mrs. George Stokes.
Mrs. James McGilchrist.
William Bartram.
James Kettle.
William Perry.
Benjamin Perry.
Robert Scott’s two children - Elizabeth and Lillias
James Robertson’s two young children
William Perry’s two young children
William Robertson’s one young child”
Source:
GMMDHS Photo, unnumbered, undated.
Source:
wrobertsonwooling.blogspot.com.au, house no long exists
Source:
unknown
Discussion
§
The relevant historical themes for this
property are 2.5 Migrating and Making a Home, 8.1 Maintaining spiritual life, 8.5, Preserving traditions and
commemorating and 8.6 Marking the phases of life.
§
The Robertson
Pioneer Family Cemetery is located within Wooling Hill Garden Estate. The Estate has been established with
contemporary memorial gardens for the interment of cremated ashes. The Family Cemetery is a physical and historical
feature within those gardens. While
there are no memorial headstones to the Robertson family members within the
Family Cemetery, there are more recent bronze plaques to individuals mounted on
timber posts surround the Family Cemetery and an engraved memorial stone just
outside the gardens with a summary of the individuals interned here. All of these are modern.
§
The post and
rail fence around the Family Cemetery is asserted to be original although parts
have been replaced.
§
The Cypress
trees are original, although there is one new tree planted in 2O12. They are quite distinctive in the
landscape.
§
A gravel path
and low hedge have been recently introduced around the Family Cemetery to
accentuate its presence and presentation.
Although new, they are modest and achieve their intention without
dominating or distracting from the Family Cemetery.
§
Wooling
Pioneer Family Cemetery was nominated for inclusion on the Victorian Heritage
Register. The nomination was not
accepted. The following is the summary
of the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria’s advice following a report from
the Heritage Council. Please note it is
his advice that the Cemetery is of local significance.
- It is the view of the Executive Director that this place should not
be included in the VHR for the reasons outlined in this report. The
information presented in this report and the attached documents
demonstrates that the Robertson Family Pioneer Cemetery is of local
significance, rather than state level cultural heritage significance.
- The Heritage Council may wish to refer
the nomination and any submissions received on the recommendation to the
Macedon Ranges Shire Council for consideration of inclusion of the
property within the Heritage Overlay.
§
The Wooling
Estate was established before the nearby townships of Gisborne or Macedon. At the time it had to be self-sufficient – to
the extent of its own burial ground.
While not rare, this was not common either and demonstrates the nature
of homesteading in the early days of the Shire.
§
The Robertsons
were both early and influential in the history and development of the
Shire. The Shire has a tradition of
celebrating it’s Pioneers, i.e. the Pioneer Memorial in the Memorial Precinct
in Gisborne. This Private Cemetery is
another form of Memorial.
§
The retention
and celebration of the Private Cemetery within the larger memorial gardens of
Wooling Hill Garden Estate, is appropriate and complementary.
Comparative Threshold Comment
As noted in the Heritage Victoria report on the nomination of the Family
Cemetery to the Victorian Heritage Register, there are other private cemeteries
in Victoria. These however are not
within the Shire. No other private
cemeteries are known in the Shire.
Cemeteries as a memorial are frequently listed on heritage
registers. It should be noted that the
public cemeteries at Gisborne (HO1), Kyneton (HO129), Malmsbury (HO148), and
Woodend (HO22) are included on the Shire’s Heritage Overlay. While this particular one is for a family, is
smaller than a public cemetery and has no memorial stones, it is none the less
a memorial to early pioneers of the shire.
While the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria decided not to add the
Pioneer Cemetery to the VHR, he has stated, “The
information presented in this report and the attached documents demonstrates
that the Robertson Family Pioneer Cemetery is of local significance…”.
His recommendation is quite clear.
It would be consistent and appropriate to include
the Wooling Private Cemetery on the Heritage Overlay.
Statement of Cultural Value
§ What is significant?
The Robertson Pioneer Family Cemetery is of
significance to the extent of the area enclosed by the present timber fence,
including the fence and Cypress trees.
It does not include the newer bronze plaques, gravel path, arbour and
hedge surrounding the fenced area.
§ How is it significant?
The Robertson Pioneer Family Cemetery is significant
aesthetically, historically and socially.
§
Why is it significant?
§ The Robertson Pioneer Family Cemetery is of aesthetic
significance as a distinctive, almost lonely feature in the larger rural
landscape. It is clearly set aside for a
commemorative purpose by a family, not the larger community. Its diminutive scale reflects its family
associations and the relative isolation of the homestead property in the early
days of the Shire.
§ The Robertson Pioneer Family Cemetery is of historical
and social significance as a commemorative feature, celebrating the Christian
lives of the Robertson family and their contribution to the area. It reflects the self-sufficiency of the
pioneers of the era of settlement.
§ The Robertson Pioneer Family Cemetery is also of
historical significance for its intimate association with William Robertson, an
early Scottish immigrant, settler and local identity whose contribution to the
area is well established.
Level of Significance – Local
Guidelines
§ maintain its sense of isolation.
§ Signage or other memorials must be minimal.
§ The Cemetery is not included on the Victorian Heritage Register but it is included on the Victorian Heritage Inventory (H7823-0043). This requires a Consent to Disturb from Heritage Victoria for any works within the Cemetery. This is a statutory requirement already existing and is on top of the requirements under the Shire’s Heritage Overlay.
§ The early physical features of the Cemetery – trees and fences must be maintained in situ. Further contemporary plaques may be considered but must be kept to a minimum. Further interments should be avoided, especially where they may impact upon the size and general fabric of the Cemetery.
§ Vegetation must be kept to a minimum, avoiding decorative garden beds. Its simple aesthetic statement must be maintained. Should the pines eventually require replacement, they should all be replaced at the same time to maintain the uniformity.
§ The fence must be maintained as existing with individual elements replaced as necessary in a like-for-like manner.
§ New developments/landscaping in the environs of the Cemetery must be kept at a distance to
§ maintain its sense of isolation.
§ Signage or other memorials must be minimal.