Kelburn

The original land grant was taken up in 1831 by Scottish settler, and widow, Janet Templeton (1785-1857). Janet’s original two-storey stone farmhouse still stands on the property but later owners built a new, sprawling, Federation-style brick homestead around 1904.

When the Historic Houses Trust visited Kelburn during a very dry season early in 2004 - to document a particular section of the garden - the property had been owned and occupied by the Friend family for more than 90 years. It was probably Mrs Elizabeth Friend (1886-1975) and her daughters Margaret and Jean who were responsible for the creation of a special paved and rock-walled place within the garden, featuring a gazing globe and a small fountain set in a shallow tiled basin. The gazing globe, a mirrored sphere usually set on a stone or concrete pedestal, was fashionable in 1930s gardens in Australia, along with sundials and birdbaths. The globe was intended to mirror the beauty of sky, clouds and trees and sometimes was itself reflected in water when sited near a pool.

Photographer: Ross Heathcote

Date Photographed: January 2004

Original image format: transparency film: 6x6cms; 35mm photographic negatives

Copyright: Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Photograph Ross Heathcote