Wonnerup House is a heritage-listed farm precinct in Wonnerup,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The current house was built in 1859 by George Layman Jr., one year after the original house built in 1837 by his father, George Layman Sr., was destroyed by fire. The dairy and kitchen survived the fire because they were separate from the house. Stables and a blacksmith workshop were later additions to the farm. In the 1870s, when the lack of a school in Wonnerup was an issue for the local residents, George Layman Jr. donated land near Wonnerup House for a school, which was built in 1873. In 1885 a teacher's house was constructed. The precinct was purchased by the

National Trust of Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...

in 1971 and opened to the public in 1973. The name Wonnerup comes from the Nyungar term. Wanna describing a woman's digging stick, up meaning water.

Background

In 1827 George Layman, then 17 years old, immigrated to Australia from England and settled in

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, with his brother Charles. Van Diemen's Land was initially a

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

, but became a colony in its own right in 1824. In 1829, Layman was attacked and robbed of all his money by escaped convicts, and decided to work his passage to the new

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...

, arriving in October 1829. He married Mary Ann Bayliss in Perth in 1832; the couple established a homestead in Augusta. However, Augusta failed as a settlement, and many of the settlers chose to exchange their grants there for land in the Vasse region. George and Mary Layman moved to Vasse in 1834 with their two young daughters, Harriet and Mary. Their son George Jr. was born in 1837, the same year that George built a homestead on his land. This cottage was followed by a separate dairy and kitchen complete with cellar and large ovens. The Laymans had two other children, Charles in 1838 and Catherine (Kate) in 1841. Relations between the European settlers and the native

Wardandi The Wadandi, also spelt Wardandi and other variants, are an Aboriginal people of south-western Western Australia, one of fourteen language groups of the Noongar peoples. Name There are at least three theories about the meaning of the tribal eth ...

people were strained to the point of violence, resulting in several Aboriginal deaths. In February 1841, after a long days work at the Layman property, George Layman was speared to death by Wardandi elder Gaywal. According to several witnesses including Robert Heppingstone, Layman had gotten involved in an argument between Gaywal and another Wardandi tribesman Milligan over the stealing of Milligan's allocation of damper by Gaywal. Layman pulled Gaywal's beard, which was considered a grave insult. A manhunt for Layman's killer went on for several weeks, involving much bloodshed as Captain Molloy, the Bussell brothers, and troops killed an unknown number of Aboriginals. One source has described these events which later became known as the

Wonnerup massacre The Wonnerup massacre, also known as the Wonnerup "Minninup" massacre , was the killing of dozens of Waadandi Noongar people by European settlers in the vicinity of Wonnerup, Western Australia in February 1841. The massacre on Waadandi-Doonan lan ...

; however, no government records were written to describe the event. The posse eventually shot Gaywal and captured his three sons, two of whom were imprisoned on

Rottnest Island Rottnest Island ( nys, Wadjemup), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class ...

. A year after George's death, Mary married Robert Heppingstone. They had two children, Arthur and Robert. Heppingstone owned a whaling operation that operated from Castle Rock, in addition to running the Wonnerup farm. On 6 September 1858, the whaling boat ''Champion'' with Heppingstone at the tiller was ferrying goods in rough seas from the Castle Bay whaling station to a boat offshore. While turning, it was hit by a wave that threw Heppingstone across the boat, and before he could recover, a second wave hit, upending the boat. Three crewmen were rescued, but Heppingstone drowned in the accident. Earlier that same year, in February 1858, the Layman cottage burned to the ground; only the dairy and kitchen in the separate building escaped the flames. At this stage, 20-year-old George Layman Jr. took over the management of the farm and the whaling operation. In July 1859 George married Amelia Harriet Curtis and started building a new house, the current Wonnerup House, for his family using local limestone and timbers. The wooden roof shingles were later covered with corrugated iron.

House

The house was built in stages, with four rooms and a hall at the outset and a kitchen and scullery added around 1862. In 1925 a bathroom and toilet were introduced. Expansion of the kitchen and dairy which survived the fire was completed in 1872. In the 1880s and 1890s, Wonnerup House was one of the district's most lucrative dairy farms. The main gates were cast-iron-mounted onto limestone columns. These gates were erected to the memory of George Layman Sr. A tablet set into the columns reads: "George Layman came to Western Australia in 1829 aged 18 years, Augusta 1830, Wonnerup 1834, speared by natives 1841".

Land

The land on which Wonnerup House stands was originally surveyed as Sussex lot 4, which George Layman Sr. purchased after he received title to Sussex lot 3, some . Over time, the Layman family purchased adjoining acreage; at its peak, the farm covered an area of over . George Layman Jr. handed over management of the farm to his youngest son, James, in the 1900s. After James' death in 1911, the farm was passed back to his parents and four unmarried sisters to manage. Eventually a nephew took over the management, and in 1962, with the death of the last Layman sister, the farm was sold and subdivided, with the parcel of land upon which Wonnerup House and associated buildings are located being acquired by the National Trust of Australia in 1971. This sale included the furniture, personal effects and Aboriginal artifacts collected by the Layman family since 1829. In 1973 the National Trust opened Wonnerup House to the public and the Western Australian Government then gave the old school house and teacher's residence site to the National Trust.

School and teacher's house

Over the road are the school (1873) and teacher's house (1885) built on land given to the government by George Layman Jr.

References

External links

{{commons category, Wonnerup House
Wonnerup
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National Trust of Western Australia The National Trust of Western Australia, officially the National Trust of Australia (W.A.), is a statutory authority that delivers heritage services, including conservation and interpretation, on behalf of the Western Australian government and co ...

State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Busselton Historic house museums in Western Australia Busselton National Trust of Western Australia