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TYNTYNDYER (TYNTYNDER) HOMESTEAD
Other NamesTYNTYNDER HOMESTEAD , TYNTYNDYER HOMESTEAD Location70 TYNTYNDER HOMESTEAD ROAD BEVERFORD, SWAN HILL RURAL CITY
File Number601226LevelRegistered |
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead, including the homestead building,
store and cellar building, shed and the grave of Andrew Beveridge. Peter Beveridge
remained at Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) until the late 1860s and developed
a keen interest in, and an extensive knowledge of, the Aboriginal
people of the region. He learnt their languages and customs and
employed large numbers of Aboriginal people on his property. He wrote
extensively on Aboriginal customs, becoming well known on the subject
by the late 1860s. His knowledge and insights became important to
Europeans' understanding of the Aboriginal people in the region, and
became influential in anthropological circles. During Peter's
occupancy, Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) was used as an Honorary
Correspondent Supply Depot for the distribution of government rations
to the Aboriginal community from 1863 to 1866. In 1876 the Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) pastoral run was sold to the
Holloway family and successive generations retained ownership for 120
years. The property, much reduced in extent, was set up as a house
museum and opened for guided tours by the owners from the 1960s for a
period of time. In 1996 the Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead property,
including the buildings and their contents, was purchased by the
Indigenous Land Council on behalf of the Aboriginal community. The site is part of
Wadi Wadi country. Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is of historical and architectural
significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following
criterion for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register:
Criterion A
Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria's cultural history.
Criterion D
Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class
of cultural places and objects.
Criterion H
Special association with the life or works of a person, or group of
persons, of importance in Victoria's history. Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is significant at the State level
for the following reasons: Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is of historical significance as one
of the earliest surviving homesteads built at a remote pastoral
station in Victoria. The buildings erected between 1846 and 1854
provide evidence of the earliest phase of post-contact settlement in
north-western Victoria. [Criterion A] Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is of historical significance as a
place of early interaction between Aboriginal people and European
settlers in Victoria and demonstrates the shared histories of these
communities. The place was important as an Honorary Correspondent
Supply Depot for the distribution of rations to the Aboriginal
community. [Criterion A] Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is of architectural significance as
an intact surviving example of an early colonial vernacular homestead
in Victoria and as a demonstration of early timber bush construction.
The earliest 1846 section demonstrates the use of drop log
construction and both the 1846 and 1854 sections display the use of
round Murray pine sapling roof members and shingle roofing. The latter
components are clearly visible in the verandah structure of the 1854
section. Clay bricks used in these early phases of construction were
made on the site. [Criterion D] Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is of significance for its
association with Peter Beveridge, who wrote extensively on the subject
of the Aboriginal people of Australia. His work, based on knowledge
gained during his occupation of Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead from
the late 1840s to the late 1860s, provided European Victorians with
insight into, and understanding of, the Aboriginal people of Australia
in this early period. Beveridge also displayed a keen interest in
natural history and the local flora and fauna and assisted Ferdinand
von Mueller with his plant collections at the Melbourne Botanic
Gardens. [Criterion H] Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is also significant for the
following reasons, but not at the State level: The remnants of nineteenth and twentieth century landscaping, trees
and plants all contribute to an understanding of the development of
Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead. The homestead complex is on a sandy
rise and is surrounded on the north, west and south sides by a Pepper
Tree windbreak, totalling eighteen Schinus molle trees. The
main garden features three terraces on the east side and is planted
with two Olea europaea trees, a rare Justicia adhatoda,
(Malabar Nut) and, on the central terrace, five Washingtonia
filifera formally planted along the main path, and two
Phoenix canariensis. The lower eastern terrace was planted as
an orchard, of which only a Fig tree now remains.
Brothers Andrew and Peter Beveridge travelled to the far north-west of
Victoria in 1845 and established one of the first European settlements
on the Victorian side of the Murray River at Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder)
Homestead. A third brother, George, who followed, established the nearby
station Piangil where Andrew was killed by Aboriginal people in 1846,
allegedly over stolen sheep. The resulting Melbourne trial of three
Aboriginal people, Bobby, Ptolemy and Bullet-eye, and the public
execution of Bobby and Ptolemy, was a significant event demonstrating
the tensions and conflict of the period. Following this event the
Beveridge parents and three other brothers joined those at Tyntyndyer
(Tyntynder) from 1847 to 1853. Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead was
developed from 1846 with construction of a drop log homestead building
that year. In 1854 brick additions were made to this homestead and a
brick store and cellar building were constructed.
Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) Homestead is situated on a sandy rise south of
the Murray River to the north of Swan Hill and consists of a number of
buildings and structures relating to its use as a sheep station and
later as a tourist facility. The original section of the Tyntyndyer
(Tyntynder) Homestead was constructed as a simple gabled, two-roomed
building using drop log construction and Murray pine sapling rafters
covered with timber shingles. This building was encased in brickwork in
c1850s, however part of the log construction remains visible in the
interior of the building. In 1854 a brick addition, with similar roof
construction, was made to the south, more than doubling the
accommodation of the original building. A verandah to the east faced the
river and a terraced garden which was developed with various trees and
planting. Corrugated galvanised iron covers the original shingled roofs
of the homestead. A separate building, originally containing a cellar,
storeroom and men's quarters, was constructed in 1854 and this was
converted for use as a school room, tutor's room and bedroom during
Holloway family ownership. This building is of simple gabled brick form
with sapling rafters and corrugated galvanised iron roof. Other farm
buildings were constructed at Tyntyndyer (Tyntynder) over a period of
time and some of these have been demolished. Those that remain include a
shed which incorporates a portion of limestone wall from the
blacksmith's building. A number of additions to the homestead,
particularly to the west and north, a notched log building and buildings
to the north of the homestead were constructed in the late 1960s-70s.
Andrew Beveridge's grave lies to the south-west of the homestead. The
original headstone and surround been replaced, however the original
broken inscription plaque is fixed to the grave.
Group
Farming and Grazing
Category
Homestead Complex