CONTRIBUTORS TO THE REPORT

ARCHIVAL RESEARCH

RECORDING

PHOTOGRAPHY

PLANS

ORAL HISTORY RECORDING

HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY ADVISOR

SOURCES

D.Cox I.Peyar G.Gyford

D.Co:x: s.Durrant G. Groves J.Gunning G.Gyford F.Hottwa.gner P.Pascoe P.Richards

D.Co:x: G.Groves G.Gyford

G.Gyford

G.Gyford

F.Bentley B.A. Litt. B

Mitchell & State Library of N.s.w. N.s.w. Police Public Relations Branch N.s.w. Railway Archives N.S.H. State Archives Penrith Library Penrith City Council Mrs. Thorsby Emu Plains Mrs. Jackson Emu Plains Mrs. Walker Emu Plains

~ Copyright 1981 Nepean District Historical Archaeology Group

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EMU. PLAINS- OLD ABD NEW POLICE STATIONS

CONTENTS

SEC'riOll

INTRODUCTION' PAR~'A OLD POLICE STATION

1 GENERAL DESCRIP'l'IOif; OF THE PROPERTY

2 HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY AND ITS OCCUPANTS

3 DESCRIPTION AND COHDI-TIOlf OF THE BUILDINGS

3.1 Bnilding 'A'

3.2 BUilding 'B' 3.3 Ad.ditio:ns •c• and 'D'

4 HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION AND CONSTRUCTIOlfDATES

1

2

APPENDICES

PART B NEW POLICE STATION

HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY AND ITS OCCUPANTS

DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION OF THE BUILDINGS

1 DP Plan

2 Plan of 25 Allotments at Emu Plains

3 Floor Plan Slab cottage

4 Front Elevation Slab cottage

5 East Elevation Slab cottage

6 Interior Room 1 Slab oottage

7 Floor Plan and Bearers Slab cottage

8 Floor Plan Building 'B' and Additions •c• & 'D'

9 East Elevation Buildiag 'B', Additions •cl & 'D'

10 Proclaimed Plan - Great Western Railw~ - 1867

PAGE

1

2

2

1 1

11

13

14

17 18

11 Proclaimed Plan - Great ~estern Rail-.y, Jepean to Mt. York

12 Excerpt from N.s.v. ~rn.ent Gasette 1898 13 Portion of Penrith Sewerage Plan for ~ Plains

14 Sources

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PART A Old Police Station - 30, Great Western Highway, Emu Plains

1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPERTY.

The property is an irregular-shaped block of· land on the corner of Great Western Highway and River Road (see Appendix 1).

Buildings on the property include a five-room slab cottage covered with weatherboard, fronting on to the Highway. Directly behind it (to the south) is a single-room brick structure to which was later added a kitchen area on the south side. A galvanised iron bathroom and laundry added to the south side of the kitchen in the 1930's completes the description of the major structures.

Outling structures known to have existed but which were demolished during.the partition of the property in the 1960's include a stable, a shed for the dray and one for the chaff cutter.

2. HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY AND ITS OCCUPANTS.

In 1857 a subdivision of 25 allotments which was part of the Old Government Establishment at Emu Plains was put up for sale b.Y the N.S.W. Government (see Appendix 2).

It was on one of these allotments that the slab cottage, later to become the first police station, was eventually built. The allot­ment, located on the corner of Bathurst Road (now Great Western Highway) and Nepean Road (now River Road), was described in the land purchase as

'Suburban Portion No.2, 1 rood, 20 perches, situated in the County of Cook, Parish of Strathdon, near the Bridge over the Nepean River at Penrith.'

It was first purchased on the 11th of May, 1858 b,y William York of Penrith for the sum of £3-0-0. William was one of the five sons of Charles York of Emu, the wealthy land owner and grazier. There is no record of any building structure on the land and the 1857 allotment map shows none either. Less than a year later, in Feb. 1859, William York sold the land to James Tobias ('Toby') Ryan for the sum of £40-0-0.

'Toby' Ryan, a well-known colourful Penrith character, was the local M.L.A. for 14 years and the author of 'Ryan's Reminiscences of Australia', a fascinating account of his life in the Penrith district. Between 1851 and 1854 he built 'Emu Hall', a handsome sandstone house in which he lived till 1875 and which was only 100 metres from where the old police station now stands. As a director in the Nepean Bridge Company he helped to finance the first and the second bridges across the Nepean River.

In 1878, some 19 years after he purchased it, 'Toby' Ryan sold the land to George Laing, a drover of Emu Plains, for the sum of £200. The style and construction of the cottage, the brick structure and the sale price of L200 all point to some of the buildings being on the land by 1878 although again, there is no recorded evidence of any constructions.

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George Laing probably bought the property to expand his holdings at Emu Plains having acquired in 1868 the land adjoining,on the east side, suburban portion No.1 containing an area of 1 rood and 1~ perches.

If the buildings were on portion No.2 it is possible that George Laing lived in them as. there is no record of leasing arrangements during·the six years that he owned the property.

In 1884 George Laing sold both portions for £450 to John Brown of Emu. Hall who held them until his death in 1888. Again nothing is known about the occupants of the property during this period. There are no records of leases or references in historical documents to its uses or occupancy.

It is interesting to note that a map dated 1887, attached to the will of John Brown, shows both portions 1 and 2 with York's name on it although there is no record of any York having purchased portion 1.

In 1891, three years after John Brown's death, the property, still consisting of portions 1 and 2, was sold to 1st Class Police Cons­table William Bressington for L320 and appears to have been used as a police station and residence during his occupancy and after his retirement from the force in 1899.

Here for the first time in its history a picture of its occupant emerges. The N.S.W. Police Public Relations Branch provided the fol­lowing details :-

William Bressington was born in England in 1840. He joined the N.S.W. Police in March 12, 1869. He had initially been sent to the Eastern Police District but at an unknown date, was made an Orderly at Government House. He was promoted to 1st Class Cons­table on June 1, 1885. He was 5' Bi" in height, with hazel eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion. His number was 1936.

The Nepean Times of Satur~ April 22, 1899 recorded :-

Retirement of Constable Bressington on a pension tuesday last •• ••••••• was connected wit~the police for about 40 years. Sgt. Thorndike of Penrith "recognised in Constable Bressington an experienced and zealous officer and felt sorry to lose such a man". He was about to leave the district and Sgt. Thorndike wished him, his wife and family long life and all the happiness.

Again an article in the Nepean Times of April 29, 1899, in refering to Constable Bressington's successor s~s :-

Today, Constable McLean, formerly of Liverpool, takes oharge of the police station at Emu Plains, so long in the charge of Cons­table Bressington who last week retired from the services.

Although Constable Bressington sold portions 1 and 2 in 1898 to Amelia Nash of Emu Hall it is known that his successor, Constable McLean, together with his family, lived on the property even after it was sold to Clarence Thomas Brown Glasscock in 1903. It was probably leased to McLean or the Police Department and continued

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as a Police Station until 1908 when a new Police Station and residence was built on adjoining land set aside for police purposes in 1898.

Samuel McLean was born in N.s.w. in 1868 and worked as a labourer and storehand before joining the N.s.w. Police as a mounted policeman in Feb. 1891. Described in his records as being 5' Bi" in height, with blue eyes, dark brown hair and a fresh complexion, he was promoted to Ordinaey COnstable in March 1892 and 1st Class Constable im 1900. llis number was 6147•

Prior to his posting to Emu Plains, McLean was involved in a shooting incident with some men at Cabramatta one of whom was later captured at Richmond in 1898.

From all accounts the McLean family were very popular and well res­pected in the district. At one of the many concerts held at Emu Plains in 1901 the Nepean Times records :-

Constable McLean kept order and did it in such a way that some of the young folk who came to have a yarn much to the annoyance of those who came to hear the singing etc. went outside and did their yarning. There was no whistling and no disturbance in consequence of Mac's eagle eye being always on them.

There was much sympathy for his family when his little girl died i'n 1901 after a long illness.

Clarence Glasscock, who bought the property in 1903, was a Petty Officer in the Royal Navy. His father was George Glasscock a hotel keeper from Emu Plains. Two metal navy buttons found together with two N.s.w. police buttons under the floor boards of the slab cottage suggest that Glasscock may have lived in the house between 1908, after McLean moved into-the new police station, and 1911, when he sold the property to Claus Horstmann of Emu Plains.

Claus Horstmann and his wife are known to have lived in the cottage but little else is known about the family. His son, Henry ~orstmann, acquired the property when his father died and soon after, in 1919, sold it to Henry Albert Wilkinson of Penrith, just two months before he himself died of pneumonia.

Henry Wilkinson worked for the local gravel company collecting and transporting the stones on his horse and dray. He supplemented his income by keeping chickens and growing all his own vegetables and fruit on his land and taking a lease on 24 acres of land on the wes­tern bank of the Nepean for dairying, pigs and crops.

Henry Wilkinson, his wife and five children lived in the cottage until 1961 when both Henry and wife died and the property then passed to his son Jack and daughter Am1· Jack Wilkinson retained portion 2 and lived with his brother in the cottage until his death in 1977. His brother Leslie continued to live in the cottage until his death in 1980, the estate then passing on to the three daughters of Henry Wilkinson.

The chart on page 5 may help to illustrate more clearly the successive ownership and prices of the property.

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No30 GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY - EMU PLAINS

Flow Chart of Ownership

PORTION 1 PORTIONS 1 & 2 PORTION 2

13.7.1858 R.T.Jamieson(t2-10-6)

11.5.1858 William York(t3)

I I 24.2.1859 15.1.1859

Jamieson to James Cane(t50) York to James Ryan(£40)

I {Used as Securit7/default of payments etc., finall7 came into hands of John Dawson)

I 22.1.1878 16.11.1868 Dawson to George Laing(t30) Ryan to George Laing(t200)

I l I 14.2.1884

Laing to John Brown(£450)

I 20.7.1891

Brown to William Bressington(£320)

I 25.4.1898

Bressington to Amelia Nash (£300)

I 7.2.1903

Nash to Clarence Glasscock(£210)

I 13.2.1911

Glasscock to Claus Horstmann(£165)

I 9.5.1919

Horstmann to HeDr,T Wilkinson(£200)

I up to

2.4.1980 Leslie Wilkinson

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c) Excavations by vandals in the rear verandah brought to light some large blocks of sandstone under the timber decking. These are unnatural to the area, there being a deep deposit o£'dark alluvial soil all thew~ down to the river. The sand­stone appears to serve no useful purpose but may have been part of an earlier structure or pathway and it would be inter­esting to examine the blocks in more detail. A large piece of rotting timber beam was also found in the same area.

d) The large and varied assortment of bricks forming the piers to the back of the cottage will be detailed later in this report.

Description of the cottage. (See Appendices 3, 4 & 5)

~e four external sides of the cottage are sheeted horizontally with weatherboards 165mm wide x 20mm thick and tapered in profile.

~e front verandah is 1.6m wide and 10.5m long with a corru­gated iron roof supported at the outer edge b,y squared timber posts 95mm x 95mm. ~e underside of this roof is lined with 145mm wide tongue and groove boards. The verandah flooring is 140mm wide butt-jointed timber boards nailed on to floor joists averaging 70mm x 210mm. Opening out on to this verandah were two shuttered pairs of french doors from room 1, a four panel solid timber front door (room 2) and another pair of shuttered french doors from room 3.

The back verandah is 1.7m wide and 12.7m long with an unbraced corrugated iron roof supported on the south side b,y squared timber posts 120mm x 120mm. The flooring is again 140mm wide butt-jointed boards nailed on to a wide variety of floor joists varying from 70mm x 150mm to 80mm x 220mm.

The cottage contains a central core of two large rooms (1 and 3), separated by an entrance (2). Room 1 is 6.5m x 3m, room 2 1.2m x 3m and room 3 is 3.6m x 3m. The ceiling heights in all three rooms are approximately the same, 2.8m.

The original back verandah off the central core appears to have been enclosed at some later date to form rooms 4, 5, 6 and 7• They have the same sloping ceiling (from 2.8m to 2.0m in h&ight) and are separated b,y light partition walls. Room 4 is 3.6m x 2.5m, room 5 is 1.2m x 2.5m, room 6 is 3.3m x 2.5m and room 7 is 4.0m x 2.5m.

Flooring - The flooring in all rooms is of butt-jointed timber boards 140mm wide, nailed on to floor joists. The floor joists in room 1 are for the most part laid diagonally to the north and south walls whilst those in the remaining rooms are at normal right angles to these walls (see Appendix 7). Ceiling - The ceiling in room 1 is split laths covered with plaster. There are two metal rings spaced approximately 2m apart near the centre of the room. The ceilings in rooms 2 and 3 are made of flat metal sheets of var,ring sizes.Tbe sloping ceilings in the remaining rooms are 145mm wide tongue and groove boards.

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Walls - The south, east and west walls of room 1 are slab, covered with lath and plaster. The plaster had first been a deep blue and later covered with wallpaper on up to five separate occasions. The east and west ends of the north wall are also lath and plaster on slab but there is no evidence of slab in the centre section between the two pairs of french doors. This section is covered instead with tongue and groove boarding.

The east wall in room 2 is a full height partition of tongue and groove (T & G) boards wnilst the west wall is a mixture of lath and plaster or T & G on slab.

The north, south and east walls of room 3 are slab, covered with hessian and newspaper on the east, lath and plaster on the south and part of the north walls. Horizontal T & G boards cover the remainder of the wall.

The south walls in rooms 4 to 7 are slab covered with T & G boards. The partition walls between these rooms are timber frame with a mixture of vertical and horizontal T & G boards.

Fireplaces - The fireplace in room 1 is built across the oblique south~west corner and was probably a later addition to the room. The bricks used have an unusual boat-shaped frog. The only other fireplace in the cottage is in room 4, this has a free-standing chimney with a sandstone hearth. The two chimneys appear to be of the same height and are both fitted with lobster-backed chimney cowls in excellent working condition.

Design considerations - It seems very unlikely that a cottage was first built parallel to River road then partly cut, supported, added to and altered into another direction as shown below without creating major structural difficulties.

J.

I I

I I (. I

.. '-1

& . w. \4wY.

It is more likely that the cottage was built with an oblique end as a design feature to obtain maximum use of the shape of the land thus releasing more of the rich river soil for vegetable or crop farming.

The only question to be answered is why maintain the angled floor and ceiling joists for most of the length of room 1. If one assumes that rooms 2 and 3 were first built as one room with a lean-to and fireplace where room 4 is now (there are joins in the top and bottom vall bearers the west wall of the entrance that may support this theor,r), then in extending the size of the cottage with an oblique end the builder would most likely have started the angle from the extension. On the other hand the builder may have built in this feature from the start.

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Bricks - At least five different types of bricks were used in the piers supporting the back wall of the cottage.

One of the most common brick~used was 225mm x llOmm x 75mm featuring a rounded end rectangular frog stamped with the letters W F • These bricks were produced in William Fleming's bric~ard which operated at st. Mar,ys from the 1880's.

TWo bricks of similar size to those above featured a deep rect­angular frog 145mm x 45mm and two broken bricks were found wit~ long narrow frogs only 25mm wide and lOmm deep.

A small double diamond frog ( <:>0 ) vas found on two dark red bricks 245mm x 113mmx70mm and a larger single diamond vas featured on a brick 230mm x 113mm x 70mm. BOth types of bricks appear to be handmade in contrast to those with the rectangular frogs which are machine-made.

Power and water - Electric lights were only installed in rooms 6 and 7. No power points were provided and the water supply is not connected to the cottage. Kerosene lamps were in use in the 1920's and electricity is believed to have been connected in the 1950's or 60's.

Condition of the building.

The cottage is in a poor condition because of vandalism, ground subsidence, white ants and age. Vandalism in particular has contributed to the rapid deterioration of the building since the death of its last occupant. Vandals digging under the floor­boards have dislodged some of the brick piers and soil under the floor bearers adding to the natural subsidence in parts of the cottage.

All the french doors and most of the shutters are missing and many of the floor boards have been taken up and-scattered around the rooms. The lath and plaster ceiling in room 1 needs repairs and several sheets of galvanised iron roofing are missing from the north west section of the roof thereby contributing to the rapid deterioration of the earlier timber shingle roof.

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Building 'B', the brick building, may pre-date the cottage although nothing has been found that would help to confirm this.

It has all the appearances and features of a free-standing, self­contained one bedroom cottage or hut, complete with.a large fire­place, 2 windows and a door.

It could have been built as a residence for the bridge toll-keeper on the second of Ryan's bridges which would place the building's construction between 1859 and 1860, or it may have been built for an employee of Tob.1 Ryan (such as a head stockman etc.). This would then place its construction any time between 1859 and 1878. However these must remain assumptions until positive evidence comes to light.

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PAR~ B Bew Police Station- Nol., Punt Road, Emu Plains.

1. HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY AND ITS OCCUPANTS.

The lan~ on which the New Police Station was built was for many years part of a Public Reserve adjacent to Portion No2. at Emu Plains. The 1857 map of the allotments (Appendix 2) defines it as 'Reserved for the present•. rt was declared a reserve under a general notice in the N.s.w. Government Gazette of the 24th. of December 1861, later revoked in 1898 when it was set apart for police purposes {Appendix 12).

However it was not until January 8th. 1908 that a tender was called for the erection of a 'New Police Station- Emu Plains•. The lowest quotation (t749) was submitted b.1 J.J.Giles, a builder from st. Marys, and his tender was accepted on the 12th. February, 1908. Work commenced at the end of February and was due for completion within 14 weeks.

Constable Samuel McLean was the first officer to be stationed there, moving from the old Police Station next door some time in 1908. Be and his family lived in the new premises until his retirement from the police force in 1921. A good indication of his character ~ be gleaned from a statement in the Nepean Times of the 4th.,May 1901.

There is no better officer in the police force than Const. McLean stationed at Emu Plains. He does his duty well, but does it in such a way that he makes friends all the way.

During his service at Emu Plains he achieved further promotion to the rank of sergeant, a position he held at his retirement.

At the 1921 Empire Day Picnic, just before his departure from the district, a farewell was held at Emu Plains when each member of the McLean family was presented with a gift and Councillor S.H. Walker in a few well-chosen words referred to ' the tactful, impartial and successful manner in which Sgt. McLean had discharged his duties during his 20 odd years of service at Emu',(Nepean Times June 4, 1921).

After his departure the Police Department decided not to station another police officer at Emu Plains and so abolished the office there. Instead, the Department added another offieer to the Penrith force and Emu Plains was patrolled from Penrith.

However, police officers continued to reside there bu~ it is not known exactly who and in what order they took up residence. It is believed that officers named MUsgrove, Sturgess and Davis or Davidson may have occupied the premises. Sgt. Adam Denholm however is known to have occupied the building until the aid 1940's.

In 1947, Reginald Thorsb,y from the Police '!'raining College in Penrith, was the last police officer to ooae to Nol. Punt Rd. Reginald Thorsby and his family continued to oooup,r the cottage after his retirement from the force and lives there with his wife to this day.

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I 2. DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION OF THE BUILDINGS.

Information supplied b,y the Police Public Relations Branch describes the original buildings as follows :-

The Station was a government-owned building of weatherboard construction· on: blocks with an iron roof. It consisted of a sitting room, 3 bedrooms, dining room, kitchen, laundry, pantry, bathroom, a portable cell, a 2 stall weatherboard stable and a forage room.

Except for the removal of the portable cell sometime before 1947 the buildings are still standing on, the property and appear to be basically unchanged. The weatherboard cottage is in excellent condition and well looked after b,y its present occupants, Mr. and Mrs. Thorsb,y. The only problems that keep re-appearing are the changes in levels caused by the sinking of the wooden foundation blocks.

A more detailed survey of the buildings may be carried out b,y the Group in 1982 if the buildings are found to be of a typical standard design for Police Stations of that period.

Appendix 13 shows the l~out of the various buildings and their location in relation to the Old Police Station.

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