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| Gatehouse Springwood |
1872 - William Bates
Thomas Boland - Springwood1875 - Sarah Hammnet - the Valley
1893 - Mrs. Robert Baxter
Dinah Benmor/Benoit
Julia Brady
Fannie L. Sadler
Emily Paul - Linden
1896 - Mary Baxter
Dinah Benmore/Benoit
Julia Brady
Fannie Sadler
Emily Paul - Linden
1899 - Dinah Benmore/Benoit - Valley Heights, 5 shillings a week
and free house
Mary Baxter - Springwood, free house
Julia Brady - Springwood, free house
Fannie Sadler - Springwood, free house
Hannah Barker - Linden, free house
1902 - Elizabeth Young - Springwood, free house
Julia Brady - Springwood, free house
Dinah Benmore's remuneration possibly illustrated the amount of traffic using that particular railway crossing. Gatehouses, while appearing very quaint, constantly came under critisism because the accommodation was less than adequate to house even a small family. The sandstone gatehouses in the Springwood area consisted on two small bedrooms, one sitting room, and a 'doll sized' kitchen and storeroom. Families like the Benmore/Benoits for example would have found them cramped because at times they had as many as seven or eight small children living with them. The houses were situated close to the railway line and had no fence or protective barrier to stop small children wandering into the path of an oncoming train. Nevertheless, the occupation provided one of the earliest forms of remunerated work for women in Australia.
Pamela Smith
* The only remaining gatehouse in the Springwood area is located adjacent to Fels Avenue.
Ref:
Springwood Historians, The Making Of A Mountain Community; A Biographical Dictionary of the Springwood District, 2002.
