The traditional owners of this land were the Turrbal people, first sighted by John Oxley (who named Breakfast Creek) when he visited the area in 1823. Apparently the initial contact was peaceful, if wary, but things deteriorated after Oxley's hat was stolen by an aboriginal man, who was later shot by one of Oxley's men. Subsequently the land became a pastoral property developed by Patrick Leslie who first constructed the house, which was later improved by Captain John Wickham and then George Harris. The house was used by US armed forces during WWII, and since then it has operated as a museum and historical site. Recently I took this photo of Newstead House (below) from the same position near the large fig tree. Click on the photo to see a larger version.
(Photo: © 2009 the foto fanatic)And there is one more item to include in the history of Newstead House. The wedding of tff and his beautiful spouse took place there many years ago. It was a soft, grey and rainy November day, and that meant that our plans for a garden wedding needed to be adapted to avoid transforming our guests into wet and soggy messes, so the ceremony took place on the verandah instead. For the purposes of authenticity, I have included a suitably anonymous photo of the ceremony, complete with aforementioned grey sky (below).
(Photo: © 2009 the foto fanatic)And, I am pleased to report that mrs tff is still beautiful and that we are still very happily married!
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tff
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