Early Residents - Edmund Thornton

Lorna Doone c1920s

The Nepean Times announced in May 1892 that Mr Thornton of Sydney had commenced the erection of a commodious wood cottage on the main road and just a little west of the station. The cottage was called 'Lorna Doone' and Edmund ran it as a guesthouse.

       

George Stratton caused Mr Thornton some grief in January 1893 when he broke pot plants and threw a fence rail at one of the cottage windows. Edmund and his brother Charles caught Stratton after a chase of half a mile and Stratton was later charged with the crime.

      

In 1893 Edmund took over the position as the pound keeper after Mr Stace resigned. He involved himself in the dealings of the growing township and in April 1893 moved that a Progress Association be formed in place of the current Progress Committee. The suggestion met with success and Mr G. Larsen seconded his motion.

       

A committee was formed in June following a suggestion from Edmund regarding possible sites and costs for the erection of a Public Hall. They were to report to the next meeting of the Progress Association. The committee comprised of Messrs C. Lees, J. Tanner, Mr Honeysett and officers of the association.

Controversy arose in July 1893 after a long and animated debate about the proposed public hall. The Hon. Charles Moore had offered a suitable site if money was forthcoming or could be raised to build it. Edmund was somehow blamed for not supplying more details and the matter had to be adjourned.

      

Edmund assisted at a benefit concert given to aid the Coyle family through their loss in 1893, acting as an accompanist.  Later, in August 1893, he had a serious horse and buggy accident.

       

The Progress Association resolved in November 1893 to send Edmund and Mr A. Ferguson to a meeting at Lawson for the combined Mountain Delegate Association of which Mr G. Larsen had nothing but praise. In a complete turn about - that resulted in the resignation of Edmund from the Springwood Progress Association - Larsen wanted the matter adjourned to a later meeting, when they came back with the result. Larsen said he could not see what benefit the Mountain Delegate Association could be to Springwood and moved that the secretary write back declining their offer. Edmund said that if Larsen’s motion was supported he would resign. Mr Baxter junior seconded Mr Larsen’s motion, it was passed and so Edmund resigned on the spot.

       

Edmund became discouraged early in February 1894 because of the poor patronage of his guesthouse and decided to let the cottage to Mr De Lissa of Sydney who was a photographer. 'Lorna Doone' was let to the De Lissa family for one year.

       

Edmund married Margaret Thurston in 1891 and his brother Charles married her sister Roberta.

Edmund and Charles were two of several children born to Monaro Pioneer Henry Thornton and wife Sarah (nee Mitchell). 

Early Residents - Edmund Thornton

The Nepean Times announced to its readers in May 1892 that Mr Thornton of Sydney had begun the erection of a commodious weatherboard cottage on the main road, just a little west of Springwood station. The cottage was eventually called Lorna Doone and Edmund ran it as a guesthouse.

George Stratton caused Mr Thornton some grief in January 1893 when he broke pot plants and threw a rail at one of the cottage windows. Edmund and his brother Charles caught up with Stratton - after chasing him for half a mile - and Stratton was later charged with the crime.

In 1893 Edmund took over the position as pound keeper after Mr Stace resigned. He involved himself in the dealings of the growing township and in April 1893 moved that a Progress Association be formed in place of the current Progress Committee. The suggestion met with success and Mr G. Larsen seconded his motion.

A committee was formed in June following a suggestion from Edmund regarding possible sites and cost for a Public Hall. The committee comprised of Messrs C. Lees, J. Tanner, Mr Honeysett.

Controversy arose in July 1893 after a long animated debate about the proposed public hall. The Hon. Charles Moore had offered a suitable site if the money was forthcoming or if the Progress Association could raise money to build it. Edmund was somehow blamed for not supplying more details and the matter had to be adjourned.

Edmund assisted at the benefit concert to aid the Coyle family in 1893, acting as an accompanist.  In August 1893 he had a serious horse and buggy accident.

The Progress Association resolved in November 1893 to send Edmund and Mr A. Ferguson to a meeting at Lawson. This was a meeting of the combined Mountain Delegate Association of which Mr G. Larsen had nothing but praise.

Doing a complete turn about, Larsen wanted the matter adjourned to a later meeting. Larsen said he could not see what benefit the Mountain Delegate Association could be to Springwood and moved that the secretary write back declining their offer of membership.  Edmund said that if Larsen’s motion was supported he would resign. Mr Baxter junior seconded Mr Larsen’s motion, which was passed and so Edmund resigned on the spot.

Edmund became discouraged early in February 1894 because of the poor patronage of his guesthouse and decided to let the cottage to a photographer from Sydney, Mr De Lissa. Lorna Doone was let to the De Lissa family for one year.

Edmund married Margaret Thurston in 1891, and his brother Charles married her sister Roberta.

Cecil Roberts and the Ewington family were associated with Lorna Doone in the 1920s.

Early Residents - Arnott Family

Homedale (in background)

Homedale

The Arnott family were the owners of the cottage Homedale (demolished in 1975) from 1911 until Foster Hartley Sargent purchased the property in 1913.  The Hoare family had been the original owners of the estate until it was acquired by solicitor John Williamson c1910.  Williamson did not hold the property for long because shortly after the purchase the Blue Mountains Echo announced that Mrs Hoare’s property had changed hands, and the estate was now to be subdivided. This perhaps was the sole purpose of Williamson’s procurement of the land.

It appears that the Arnott family acquired lot 1 (3a.2r 29p) from the sub-division, which was located on the corner of what became Homedale Street and Railway Parade. The lot also included the cottage Homedale, and Halse Rogers Arnott was named as the owner on the title deeds.  Halse, a biscuit manufacturer, was born in 1879 to William and Margaret Arnott. He was one of several children from the second marriage of his father to Margaret McLean Fleming. The names of his siblings were: William born 1866, Janet D. 1867, John M. 1869, Arthur Smith 1870, Margaret F. 1872, Robert Fleming 1873 and Johanna F. 1877.

William - Halse’s father – founded Arnott’s Biscuit Company. William Arnott, born in 1827, was one of several children that eventuated from the marriage of William and Isabella Arnot. He sailed to Australia in 1847 from his homeland Scotland, accompanied by his brother David. On the voyage to Australia William met his first wife, Monica Sinclair. Following their marriage he added the second‘t’ to his name, and Monica went on to bear him several children before dying fifteen years later.

In debt for £132, William moved his family from Maitland to Newcastle c1864 (this may not have been the case -see below)   It was here that he met Margaret McLean Fleming, and in 1865, married for a second time.  William’s hard work paid dividends and in c1877, he opened his first biscuit factory in Newcastle. The business expanded and the family never looked back. In 1888, Arnott’s became a registered trademark.

William Arnott died in 1901, at the age of 74.  Sons Leslie and Samuel (from his first marriage) who had been trained as his successors became chairmen and directors of the business. In 1906, the Arnott brothers purchased just over six acres of land at Homebush. This enabled the firm to build a large new Arnott’s biscuit factory that allowed the business to further expand and keep up with the growing demand for their products. The factory was erected in two years and was said to have contained the most up-to-date equipment in the world at that time.

Leslie and Samuel were succeeded by their half brothers William John McLean and Halse Rogers Arnott. Robert Fleming Arnott became an engineer and Arthur Smith Arnott was a colonel in the Salvation Army.

Samuel married Sarah G. Webb in 1884. She was the daughter of Henry (John Henry) and Catherine (nee Johnson) Webb and James H. L. (thought to be Leslie referred to above), married Bessie Webb in 1876.  Halse married Alice E. Johns in 1903, and several children were subsequently born: Campbell W.R. 1905; Malcolm 1911; Keith 1912 and Dorothy R. 1915. Malcolm (Nigel Malcolm Hardy) married Jean Brindley Bettington in 1938, Keith (Keith Mackenzie Rogers) married Nancy Rosemary Wolridge in 1940, and Dorothy Rogers married Pierre Rene Scamps in 1939. (The Brindley Bettington family is related to the explorer William Lawson. Rebecca Lawson married James Brindley Bettington Sr. in 1830. They also share relationship with the Lethbridge, Icely and Bayly families.)

In 1910, Halse was a member of the Springwood Progress and Ratepayers Association, and a one-time Secretary of the School of Arts. It appears that even though the cottage Homedale had been sold, the Arnott family still retained ties with the Blue Mountains, as their names appeared periodically in various local newspapers.  Herbert L., the son of James and Bessie (nee Webb) Arnott married Ethel H. Walker in Springwood in 1898.

Solicitors A. J. Taylor and William Arnott had rooms in Sydney and visited clients at The Ferns each week. William Arnott married Elizabeth A. Berry in 1889. It is assumed that William Arnott, the solicitor, was related to the Arnott family referred to here.

The name Arnott derives from the twelfth century Michael de Arnoth. He was in possession of lands in Fife, which is where the Australian Arnott family originated from. The name became extinct when the sixth baronet died without heirs, but was revived when a relative succeeded to the estate through his mother and assumed the name Arnott of Bolcormo. He was a well-known lawyer, historian and antiquarian and published works on celebrated criminal trials in Scotland.

 Pamela Smith

This article was taken from The Making Of A Mountain Community; A Biographical Dictionary of the Springwood District

More on the Arnott Family:

Arnott’s had its origins in West Maitland when William Arnott, a baker and pastry cook, set up business in 1853.  A series of floods caused him to move to Newcastle where he leased property in Hunter Street and began baking bread, pies and biscuits.  The company went from strength to strength and by 1880s, the firm was producing and distributing 80 different varieties of biscuits.  The firm employed over 800 people in 1901, the year that William Arnott died and 1800 people in 1929.  Halse Rogers Arnott, his youngest son, qualified at the University of Sydney in 1925, receiving the Degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery.  He was created a partner in the Arnott’s business in 1902 and remained Chairman of the Board until 1961.  In the 1930s Halse designed a house located in Burns Road, Wahroonga.  At one time he owned Bulwarra located at Hunters Hill, which was purchased by the actress Cate Blanchett in 2008. 

 Ref:

The University of Sydney, Alumni.

Sydney Morning Herald, House of the Week, 1.8.2009.

Newcastle Regional Museum, Arnott Partnership Agreement, 1904.

How did that get its name?: Fels Avenue Springwood

Have you ever wondered how streets, parks and other landmarks acquire their names?  Fels Avenue, located in the vicinity of Springwood Public School was named for Frederick Fels who purchased land there in the latter part of the 1890s.  Fels, born in Warsaw Poland in 1858, travelled to England then to America in the 1880s, on the pretext of buying goods for his business.  He left behind a wife, who he subsequently divorced, and several children and eventually married Dora.  Relatives of Frederick Fels suggest the pair may have been acquainted before Dora left Poland destined for America and marriage.  

The couple arrived in Australia in 1889, where Frederick took up the manufacture of butter coolers and canvas bags before moving into the more lucrative market of money lending.  The latter venture was initially financed by his wife.  Dora, an enterprising lady, set up her own dressmaking business which is perhaps why everyone knew her as Madame Fels.      

It seems that Frederick was ever mindful of his debt to his deserted family in Warsaw because he sent money to them when he was financially able.  Son Stanley migrated to Australia in 1896, moving in with Frederick and Dora when they lived at Annandale.  Stanley’s arrival - and perhaps the financial position of Dora and Frederick - encouraged the migration of the remaining Fels family. 

The Springwood property purchased by Frederick and Dora in 1899 comprised of several acres of land forming the border between Valley Heights and Springwood.  Frederick Somers had been the original owner of a conditional purchase in the 1880s.  The property had been put in Dora’s name, a was common practice for that time, because it safeguarded the wife in the event of a husband’s bankruptcy and eluded death duties when he died. 

In 1900, the Fels moved into their newly built Springwood home.  Fels Ridge/ Felsridge, as the photograph illustrates, was a stunning example of early Federation-style architecture.  The home had several tall chimneys that soared high above the tiled roofline of the commodious brick home, while the front veranda and upper storey balcony overlooked a wonderful circular driveway.  Financially comfortable, the Fels were able to employ local men Thomas Jones and George Mills as gardeners and to attend to any maintenance of Felsridge.  Double gates located on Bathurst (now Macquarie Road) once marked the entrance to the property.

Dora and Frederick continued in their separate businesses and Frederick, who was described as a ‘financier,’ occupied rooms at 295 Pitt Street Sydney.  In a move that would prove unfortunate the childless couple adopted Dora’s niece and Frederick’s granddaughter. 

In 1907, Frederick was a trustee of Martins Lookout.  He is said to have had a great fondness for the local flora and fauna of the area and - at his own expense - put a man to work clearing a track some two or three miles out from Springwood.  The Nepean Times newspaper later regaled the splendour of hidden streams, tumbling clear pristine waterfalls and stalactites - unhindered and undisturbed - formed from the minerals in the water.  Rare ferns grew in great profusion along the track and great stacks of giant logs lay petrified on the wilderness floor.  It is unfortunate the location of this track has been lost.  

A public spirited man, Frederick donated a sum of money to the School of Arts building fund in 1907.  In 1908, he was elected Vice President along with Messrs. Charles Rosenthal, Grant and Foster and retained the position the following year.  He was elected to the committee when the first Annual General Meeting was held in the newly erected School of Arts building, in 1913.  He was also a member of the Springwood Progress Association.  During 1908, Frederick - with the assistance of Mr Maidment, proprietor of the Royal Hotel - installed a Rider-Eriksson hot air engine on the Springwood property to pump water for domestic and irrigation purposes from the gullies below the house. There is no evidence to suggest if they were successful.

In 1914, Frederick founded the Mortgage and Loan Finance Company of Australia.  Sadly, he died the following year.  The years following Frederick’s death were troubled and turbulent for Dora and the trouble stemmed from the earlier mentioned adoptions.  Frederick’s first wife appealed his will because most of his estate had been bequeathed to their mutual granddaughter, Miss Blessing Fels-Stuckgold.  Eventually the Supreme Court overturned the terms of Frederick’s will and the estate was divided between Blessing and Frederick’s first wife.  The latter died five years later and rests, perhaps somewhat uncomfortably, with Frederick in Rookwood Cemetery.

The name of Miss Blessing Fels-Stuckgold appeared in local newspapers around 1915, along with other young ladies who raised funds for wounded soldiers during the First World War.  Like most of the other large estates in the area the Fels estate was subsequently subdivided and Dora, or Madame Fels, left the mountains around 1920.  Family information suggested she lived in Mosman during the early 1930s, however, the date and place of her death are unknown.

Local myth implied the house burnt to the ground in the 1968 bush fires; however inspection of the property in 2000 revealed that the central spine of the house remained intact along with the driveway, a water-well in the garden and original plantings.   Today the property is known as Blue Gum Lodge and functions as an Anglican Youthworks Outdoor Centre.

Pamela Smith

References:

Blue Mountains City Council image collection.

Blue Mountains City Council local studies collection.

Nepean Times, Various editions.

New South Wales Births, Deaths and Marriage indexes.

Sands Indexes, Various editions.

Springwood Historians, The Making of a Mountain Community: A Biographical Dictionary of the Springwood District, Springwood Historians, 2001.