Veteran Hall Remains

The area of Prospect Reservoir is an area of known Aboriginal occupation, with favourable camping locations along the Eastern Creek and Prospect Creek catchments, and in elevated landscapes to the south. There is also evidence to suggest that the occupation of these lands continued after European contact, through discovery of intermingled glass and stone flakes in archaeological surveys of the place. The area was settled by Europeans by 1789.[1]

Prospect Hill, Sydney's largest body of igneous rock, lies centrally in the Cumberland Plain and dominates the landscape of the area. Very early after first settlement, on 26 April 1788, an exploration party heading west led by Governor Phillip, climbed Prospect Hill. An account by Phillip states that the exploration party saw from Prospect Hill, "for the first time since we landed Carmathen [sic] Hills (Blue Mountains) as likewise the hills to the southward". Phillip's "Bellevue" (Prospect Hill) acquired considerable significance for the new settlers. Prospect Hill provided a point from which distances could be meaningfully calculated, and became a major reference point for other early explorers. When Watkin Tench made another official journey to the west in 1789, he began his journey with reference to Prospect Hill, which commanded a view of the great chain of mountains to the west. A runaway convict, George Bruce, used Prospect Hill as a hideaway from soldiers in the mid-1790s.[1]

During the initial struggling years of European settlement in NSW, Governor Phillip began to settle time-expired convicts on the land as farmers, after the success of James Ruse at Rose Hill. On 18 July 1791 Phillip placed a number of men on the eastern and southern slopes of Prospect Hill, as the soils weathered from the basalt cap were richer than the sandstone derived soils of the Cumberland Plain. The grants, mostly 30 acres, encircled Prospect Hill. The settlers included William Butler, James Castle, Samuel Griffiths, John Herbert, George Lisk, Joseph Morley, John Nicols, William Parish and Edward Pugh.[1]

The arrival of the first settlers prompted the first organised Aboriginal resistance to the spread of settlement, with the commencement of a violent frontier conflict in which Pemulwuy and his Bidjigal clan played a central role. On 1 May 1801 Governor King took drastic action, issuing a public order requiring that Aboriginal people around Parramatta, Prospect Hill and Georges River should be "driven back from the settlers" habitations by firing at them'. King's edicts appear to have encouraged a shoot-on-sight attitude whenever any Aboriginal men, women or children appeared.[1]

With the death of Pemulwuy, the main resistance leader, in 1802, Aboriginal resistance gradually diminished near Parramatta, although outer areas were still subject to armed hostilities. Prompted by suggestions to the Reverend Marsden by local Prospect Aboriginal groups that a conference should take place "with a view of opening the way to reconciliation", Marsden promptly organised a meeting near Prospect Hill. At the meeting, held on 3 May 1805, local Aboriginal representatives discussed with Marsden ways of ending the restrictions and indiscriminate reprisals inflicted on them by soldiers and settlers in response to atrocities committed by other Aboriginal clans. The meeting was significant because a group of Aboriginal women and a young free settler at Prospect named John Kennedy acted as intermediaries. The conference led to the end of the conflict for the Aboriginal clans around Parramatta and Prospect. This conference at Prospect on Friday 3 May 1805 is a landmark in Aboriginal/European relations. Macquarie's "Native Feasts" held at Parramatta from 1814 followed the precedent set in 1805. The Sydney Gazette report of the meeting is notable for the absence of the sneering tone that characterised its earlier coverage of Aboriginal matters.[1]

From its commencement in 1791 with the early settlement of the area, agricultural use of the land continued at Prospect Hill. Much of the land appears to have been cleared by the 1820s and pastoral use of the land was well established by then. When Governor Macquarie paid a visit to the area in 1810, he was favourably impressed by the comfortable conditions that had been created.[1]

The explorer William Lawson (1774-1850) was granted 500 acres on the western slopes of the west ridge of Prospect Hill in 1810. The grant was made by the illegal government that followed the overthrow of Governor Bligh in 1808, but was later confirmed by Governor Macquarie. Lawson erected Veteran Hall in about 1821, so named because he had a commission in the NSW Veterans Company. It either replaced or was an enlargement of Lawson's first house, which was built on the same site around 1810. It was a large, single-storey building in typical Colonial Georgian style, approximately 65 squares in size, which expanded to a size of approximately 110 squares including verandahs. Veteran Hall and the original house that it replaced were owned and occupied by William Lawson between 1810 and 1850.[1]

The property was resumed during the 1880s for the construction of Prospect Reservoir, and Veteran Hall became the residence and local office of the Water Board's Engineer-In-Charge of Headworks, Albert Francis Jacob (a son of New South Wales politician Archibald Jacob), from 1888 until 1912, when the position was moved to Potts Hill. The homestead was then leased with the surrounding paddocks to the Commonwealth military authorities until 1915 as a remount depot. The building then became vacant and was demolished in 1929. Several of the decorative fittings and architectural details, such as the quoins, were donated to the Vaucluse House Trust and some of Lawson's descendants. William Lawson, a key figure in Australian history, died at Veteran Hall in 1850, and was buried at nearby St.Bartholomew's Church.[1] The foundations of Veteran Hall are still visible just off William Lawson Drive, Prospect.

Nelson Lawson, third son of explorer William Lawson (1774-1850), married Honoria Mary Dickinson and in 1837 built Grey Stanes as their future family home on the crest of the eastern ridge of Prospect Hill. William Lawson had purchased the 75 acre grant from William Cummings at about the same time, in 1810, as he was granted 500 acres on the western slopes of the west ridge of Prospect Hill. Cummings, an ensign of the New South Wales Corps, had been granted the land in 1799. In 1836 William Lawson transferred the 75 acre grant to his third son, Nelson Simmonds Lawson.

Grey Stanes was built on the original crest of the east ridge of Prospect Hill which has now been quarried away. The site is in the suburb of Pemulwuy. It is close to the present One Tree Hill, the "one tree" being a Moreton Bay fig tree, which still survives, having been planted in the paddock or garden of Grey Stanes.

Grey Stanes was approached by a long drive lined with an avenue of English trees - elms (Ulmus procera), hawthorns (Crataegus sp.), holly (Ilex aquifolium), and woodbine (Clematis sp.) mingling with jacarandas (Jacaranda mimosifolia). It had a wide, semi-circular front verandah supported by 4 pillars. The foundations were of stone, the roof of slate, and the doors and architraves of heavy red cedar. It was richly furnished with articles of the best quality available and was the scene of many glittering soirées attended by the elite of the colony. Honoria Lawson died in 1845, Nelson remarried a year later, but died in 1849 and the property reverted to his father. Grey Stanes was demolished in the 1940s.[2][1]

• c. 1810 Macquarie confirmed grant to William Lawson (500 acres), WL built Veteran Hall
• c. 1821 main Veteran Hall homestead either replacing or enlarging original c.1810 house - a large, single-storey building in typical Colonial Georgian style, approximately 65 squares in size, which expanded to a size of approximately 110 squares including verandahs. It was owned and occupied by William between 1810 and 1850[1]
• pre 1837 Nelson Lawson built Grey Stanes on the crest of the eastern ridge of Prospect Hill. It had a wide, semi-circular front verandah supported by 4 pillars. The foundations were of stone, the roof of slate, and the doors and architraves of heavy red cedar.[1]
• 1880s Veteran Hall property resumed for construction of Prospect Reservoir
• 1888-1912 Veteran Hall homestead became the residence and local office of the Water Board's Engineer-In-Charge of Headworks
• 1912-15 Veteran Hall homestead leased with surrounding paddocks to the Commonwealth military authorities as a remount depot. The building then became vacant
• 1929 Veteran Hall homestead demolished. Several of the decorative fittings and architectural details, such as quoins, were donated to the Vaucluse House Trust and some of Lawson's descendants.[1]
• 1940s Grey Stanes was demolished.[1]

• Beasley, M. (1988). By the sweat of their brows - 100 years of the Sydney Water Board 1888-1988.
• Pollen, F. & Healy, G. (1988). Prospect entry, in 'The Book of Sydney Suburbs'.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Graham Brooks and Associates Pty Ltd (1996). Sydney Water Heritage Study.
• Morris, C., & Britton, G./NSW National Trust (for the Heritage Council of NSW) (2000). Colonial Landscapes of the Cumberland Plain and Camden, NSW.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Neustein & Associates (1993). Holroyd Heritage Study.
• Graham Brooks and Associates (1998). Holroyd Heritage Study Review.

This Wikipedia article was originally based on Veteran Hall - House Remains, entry number 01351 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.