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History of Winbourne
The Aboriginal people of the area now covered by Winbourne were known as the Mulgoa or Mulgoey or Mulgowi clan of the Darug people. The Darug people were a large language group occupying the Cumberland Plain Woodland. See a link to the map
‘Mulgoa’ means black swan (Cygnus atrus) in Darug. Black swans still breed in the Mulgoa district, and a pair bred successfully on the ‘Swan Dam’ at Winbourne in the 1970s and 1980s.
For more details see Winbourne, Mulgoa – The Missing Page
The Cox era
This is a sketch of the orginal Winbourne mansion. It was built by William Cox.
William Cox was born at Wimbourne Minster, Dorset, England on 19th December 1764. Eventually, he became a Lieutenant in the New South Wales Corps. He arrived in Sydney to stay on 11th January 1800, accompanied by his wife and four sons:- James aged 10; Charles aged 7; George aged 5; and Henry aged 4. After an unsuccessful start at “Brush Farm” (Pennant Hills), William and his family settled in 1804 at Windsor, on his Clarendon property. Years later in 1815, he was in charge of constructing the road over the Blue Mountains - over 100 miles of road was built in six months.
The Coxes became interested in land in the Mulgoa district, and Edward at the age of 4 years, received the first grant of 300 acres in 1810. This property is known as “Fernhill”. George’s grant of 600 acres was made out in 1816. It was the future site of “Winbourne”. (The sun-dial in the middle of the roundabout bears the date 1809, the year when it was made by a notable silversmith of the time, R. Clint. It was installed at ‘Winbourne’ some time after 1824). George also took up land in the Mudgee district (“Burrundulla”), as did his father and brothers.
In 1822-23, George married Miss Eliza Bell of Belmont, Richmond. They lived firstly at “The Cottages” - the Cox’s Mulgoa outstation, situated beyond the present St Thomas’s Church - and there the first son, George Henry Cox, was born.
Boarding House Period
For a good part of its history, Winbourne was a holiday resort. This is the view of the stables from what is now the oval. The wooden structure was removed in the resoration in the 1990's.
Christian Brothers/Edmund Rice Continuing Period
(to come)
Other photos of historic interest |
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| Site of old pump | Winbourne 1963 | Rainwater storage |
