For decades people have reported either visiting a wonderful house at Flint and Steel that disappeared by the time they went back again or finding the residue foundations of what was clearly once a substantial place that had been constructed in the bush.
What is so unusual about this house is where it once was - at Flint and Steel Point, overlooking Flint and Steel Beach in the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park. The existence of a spring near this location, with crystal fresh water, made it possible to live there.
Built by a gentleman named Eardley Henderson McGaw, born at East Road, Invercargill (New Zealand) on May 15th 1891, to John Henderson McGaw and Minnie Phoebe Kate Brind (married in 1890), the house itself was said to have started small and grown and grown.
In The McGaw House, Flint and Steel Bay, Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park, 1920-1971 and 1984 by Tessa Corkhill ( A report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Historical Archaeology II, University of Sydney, October 1984) Tessa explains a Land Titles search showed that Eardley Henderson McGaw, Manufacturers Agent, was issued with a Certificate of Title on December 13th, 1928 – according to Document 44 of this file this was the result of an oral promise by the owners of the land, John Miller and Rosa Jane Mobbs. Mr. McGaw had a statuary Declaration, dated August 30th, 1928, in which he states that;
'‘some four or five years ago I entered into a verbal agreement with Miller and Mobbs that “if I erect a cottage to the value of £160 within 4 years they would give me the land on which the cottage was erected”
He had apparently been living nearby on a 'flat piece of land on the Hawkesbury' by the early 1920's.
McGaw house - circa 1920 [4.] McGaw House circa 1930 [4.]
The section of land given to McGaw was only a small portion of the 640 acres owned by Mobbs and Miller which had originally been a land grant to William Lawson in 1834 (Portion 7). William Lawson is best known for his participation in the first European crossing of the Blue Mountains. Originally the land had been selected by a young Irish immigrant, Alexander Stuart Waddell, in 1831. He left the colony before taking up the grant and in 1834 it was granted to Lawson instead, who claimed to have purchased it from Waddell. The acreage remained in the possession of the Lawson family for 90 years, though no use was ever made of it.
When William Lawson passed away in 1850, the land passed to his daughter, Rebecca Bettington and, when she died in 1882 it, together with her other estates, went to her five children who, acting through trustees, quickly began to sell off their inheritance. The inaccessible Commodore Heights lands proved difficult to dispose of, especially after the establishment of Ku-ring-gai Chase, so in 1911 the whole was offered to the Chase Trust for £1 per acre. Unfortunately, the Trust had no power to make the purchase and the Department of Lands declined the offer.
After World War I the last surviving trustee of Lawson's estate, Robert Chevin Ghest, sold Commodore Heights, and although the formal transfer of ownership did not take place until 1924, the land passed into the hands of John Miller, a surveyor, and Rosa Ellen Jane Mobbs, wife of auctioneer George Mobbs, who agreed to purchase it for £1500.
Their plan was to develop Commodore Heights, subdividing parts of it for waterfront sites where purchasers could erect weekend villas. There was, however, a major problem of access. Commodore Heights, while accessible by water, could not be reached by land except through Ku-ring-gai Chase, where there was no road.
Early in 1919 Miller, without permission, began to construct a road through the Chase towards Commodore Heights. When the Chase trustees learned of this they quickly put a stop to it. Nevertheless, Miller did not abandon his plans and in the early 1920s he offered a parcel of land at Flint & Steel Bay to New Zealand-born Eardley Henderson 'Mac' McGaw, on condition that he build a house there which would serve to attract other investors. McGaw leapt at the opportunity and set to work, using local materials as far as possible and bringing in the rest by rowing boat from Brooklyn.[3.]
In 1925 another surveyor, Sydney William Stokes (S. W. Stokes & Miller), joined the development syndicate and soon took over its management. Mr. Stokes campaigned hard for the dedication of a public road from Terrey Hills to Commodore Heights, and, despite opposition from the Ku-ring-gai Chase Trust, he eventually persuaded the Lands Department and Warringah Shire Council to agree to his proposal. In 1927 land was resumed from the Chase and road construction began.
Pittwater-road to Commodore Heights on Broken Bay. — Fair to rough; bad patches in wet weather. N.R.M.A. GUIDE TO ROADS WITHIN 50 MILES OF SYDNEY (1928, September 6). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224690203
(BY C. S. HARNET)
A rough road branching off from the Pymble to Mona Vale Highway, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Tumble-Down-Dick, leads through part of Kuring-gai Chase to a veritable surfeit of panoramic views, embracing Broken Bay, the Hawkesbury estuary, Pittwater, and Brisbane Water. The road winds along the backbone of a peninsular which separates Cowan Creek from Pittwater, and glimpses of these waters may be seen as one's car bumps over the rock-strewn road. The surface of this is the only deterrent to a delightful motor trip, offering 12 miles of beautiful scenery, which is quite new to almost every visitor to the northern suburbs.
Attempts have been made to put this road in some kind of order, but the heavy rains wash away all but the heaviest stones, so that its condition is as bad now as ever it was. Evidently the trust want to keep this portion of the Chase "terra in-cognita," as the cost to the Government would be very little commensurate with the pleasure a good approach would give to the thousands who would make West Head and its environs their objective at week-ends.
Fine as the scenes are as one passes along the tortuous roadway, they are completely overshadowed and forgotten at the end of the trip by the views of the Hawkesbury River in the west, Patonga Beach to the north-west, Ocean Beach, Woy Woy, and, in the distance, Gosford due north, with the rugged coastline up to three points carrying your vision out to the horizon. Just below is Lion Island, and to the east Barrenjoey, with Palm Beach filling in the southern portion of the picture.
An easier approach is by way of Palm Beach by car, then by rowing boat or launch to one of the beaches lying below these heights.
The climb up is steep in places, but easily negotiable; and this route has the advantage of varying one's method of locomotion, which offers some advantage in winter. The car certainly gains by it. It is preferable to trying to walk from Pymble-road, as some do, for the distance by road is about 12 miles, and the road almost as hard to walk over as to motor.
But to those who appreciate something new and strange the trip is confidently commended, especially when the wildflowers are displaying themselves in profusion. WEST HEAD. (1931, September 26). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 9. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16806091
Mr. Stokes, acting through Miller and Mobbs, applied to have Commodore Heights converted to Torrens Title in order to ease the process of subdivision. By late 1928, Stokes became the proprietor of the entire estate apart from three small lots at Flint & Steel Bay, one of which went jointly to Miller and Mobbs, one to Stokes' wife, Louisa, and the other to 'Mac' McGaw who, by that stage, had built a serviceable house which he and his wife, Minna, were intending to run as a guest house.
Almost immediately after gaining title to almost all of Commodore Heights he offered it for sale, promoting it as being 'admirably suited for Development into a select Waterside Resort and Country Club.'
SUBDIVISION AREA.
630 ACRES.
Including COMMODORE HEIGHTS, WEST HEAD, and FLINT and STEEL POINT, ABOUT 3 MILES FRONTAGE, ALONG DEEP-WATER RESERVATION
RIGHT OPPOSITE PALM BEACH and BARRENJOEY.
APPROACHED from GORDON or PYMBLE by New Road through
KURING-GAI CHASE.
MAGNIFICENT VIEWS.
Admirably suited for Development into Select Waterside Resort and Country Club. ESTIMATED TO SUBDIVIDE INTO 150,000 SELLING FEET
AUCTION SALE of the ABOVE, in the ROOMS, 92
PITT-STREET, on FRIDAY, 18th JANUARY, AT 11 A.M.
RICHARDSON and WRENCH, LIMITED,
92 Pitt-street, Sydney ;
BLOOMFIELDS, LTD., 115 Pitt-street, Sydney,
Auctioneers in conjunction. Advertising (1928, December 15). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 25. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16516933
No purchaser came forward though. In 1929 a second attempt at selling portrayed what Stokes now called the 'Riviera Estate' as an opportunity for someone to make £1 million out of it 'by correct handling.' The result, however, was the same.
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Thinking that a new approach was needed, in 1931 Stokes and others established the Riviera Co-operative Country Club which proposed to subdivide the estate into 250 residential lots plus a golf course, casino and other resort facilities. A glowing prospectus was issued for 'The Beautiful Riviera' but this was the time of the Great Depression, and no investors were to be found, apart from three individuals who purchased small plots at Flint & Steel Bay where the McGaw house was still growing, as it was to continue to grow for the next 30 years.
In 1934 the land was sought by those in charge of Kuring-gai to extend the park, only this time a resumption of the whole was requested:
WEST HEAD.
Resumption Requested.
A deputation from the Kuring-gai Trust yesterday asked the Minister for Lands (Mr. Buttenshaw) to acquire 640 acres of land at West Head, known as Lawson's grant, in the Pittwater area, and add It to the lands of the trust.
The Minister admitted that the land rightly belonged to Kuring-gai Chase, and he regretted that the Government had not acquired the land before it was purchased by the syndicate which now held It. He promised to ascertain the cost of resumption. The whole of the facts would be placed before the Cabinet. WEST HEAD. (1934, February 9). The Sydney Morning Herald(NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17046878
Meanwhile, what had started as something simple had become something substantial and a guest house for holiday makers:
THE HOUSE THAT MAC BUILT
By 'Braemar'
THE doctor told Eardley McGaw that he had a bad heart and must give up work. McGaw took the doctor's advice because the warning was grave. So he went and lived in a cave on the Hawkesbury River. He lived the life of a caveman for six months, and then he built a house of palm-tree bark. Many rats, however, came to live in the house with him, and the games they played running about in the bark were disturbing. He, therefore, started on the 'House that Mac Built.'
Six years he took to build it as it stands to-day. Room was added to room until nine were constructed. Soon it will be finished to stand as a most creditable monument of one man's work.
'THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT MAC BUILT.'
As you can see by the photograph, the appearance of the house suggests something of the Swiss, the Norwegian, the Basque, or maybe the French or German. The walls and floors are concrete; and wonderful work it is for a man who has had no previous experience in building. He has even achieved a very creditable archway, and the fireplace is a masterpiece of graceful lines with coloured concrete blocks, to give a decorative appearance. The floors on the ground floor, too, are of .green, red, and ochre-coloured concrete blocks. ' The floors of the top story are of cut timber. The only materials Mac bought were the joists, floor boarding, concrete, and cedar doors, and they were purchased second-hand at a sale in Sydney. The cedar doors came from Sir John and Lady Hay's Sydney house, and are valued to-day at over £12 each. The sand for the concrete was carried up from the river in kerosene tins — and the hill is a very steep one. (His heart was on the mend, no doubt.)
THEN, when the walls were built, the real 'magnum opus' began. Mac started to gather shingles for the roof. He went into the hills and searched out forest oak. He would find a tree, cut it down, saw the trunk into 15-inch sections, quarter them, then split them into shingles. He would fill a chaffbag with about sixty or seventy, lift them on his back, and walk the two or three miles to the house. (I think his heart must have been almost normal then.)He hewed his shingles out of gulleys, and he lowered them down precipices, and always there was that arduous two or three miles walk. The house is roofed with 50,000 shingles. How far did he walk? You can work it out for yourself, but I should say that he must have covered a couple of thousand miles carrying his bag of shingles. He had, of course, the journey there, which would also amount to over two thousand miles, as well as the simple little performance of cutting the shingles. Now, as you travel down the Hawkesbury River, you may see this house that Mac built standing halfway up the cliff. He and his wife run it now as an accommodation house, and should you desire a peaceful holiday under novel conditions in a house where the huge windows have no glass frames in them, where you climb up ladders to bedrooms to gaze out beneath overhanging eaves across a blue river to the golden sands of Patonga Beach, then you may ask the launchman to drop you there. It says a lot for the climate of the Hawkesbury River that it should build up a sick man into one who can carry a 70lb load up a steep hillside without any undignified loss of breath; who can walk in to Pymble in five hours over a rough track. I trust that no unforeseen set of circumstances will ever bring me into physical conflict with the man.
WHILST on a trip there recently I learned a little of the local legend. Next to Flint and Steel, where the house is built, is a beautiful little beach with the sorrowful name of Hungry. According to the ancients, a fisherman was out in his small boat when a large shark attacked him. Seizing his oars, he rowed with some eagerness to the beach and leapt from his boat. For three days the shark cruised up and down the beach and the fisherman dared not re-embark. Hence, very properly, the name of Hungry. At the head of Cowan Creek is a small flat rock known as Shark Rock. Many decades ago an Irish convict boy was sent as ' an assigned servant to a farmer on the Hawkesbury. At home he left a beautiful Irish colleen. She was as faithful as she was beautiful, for she located him and came out to find work with the self-same farmer. And they worked on the farm for as long as the restless Irish romance which flowed in their veins would let them. Then they stole the farmer's boat, his rifle, some provisions, and rowed down the river as if the devil himself was behind them. For two years they lived happily in a cave which overlooks the Shark Rock at the mouth of Cowan Creek. Then someone betrayed them and soldiers came to the cave. They called on the boy to surrender, but he would not. They fired at him and he returned their fire. They killed his beautiful Irish colleen, but he still went on firing, though she lay bleeding to death in the dust on the cave floor. Then the sun went down, and he left the cave and clambered on to Shark Rock so that he could swim away unnoticed. But unfortunately for him the full moon shone out, and they shot him as he was about to dive. Presumably he was eaten by sharks. Every night at eight o'clock on the nights of the full moon his ghostly phantom may be seen on Shark Rock.
THE last black of the Barrenjoey tribe was killed on Hungry Beach. Two shark-fishermen had camped on the beach. The last of the Barrenjoey tribe saw their camp gear, and in spirit of pure cussedness, or misplaced humour, he mixed their sugar with sand, scattered their food about, tossed their bedding here and there. Then, when the men returned, he rather foolishly stood on a nearby rock and laughed at them. One of the white men very deliberately went into his tent and brought out a gun. And that was the last of the last of the Barrenjoey tribe. It is interesting to know that the old 'sharkers,' as they were called, often used turtle as bait. These Newcastle turtles are the biggest in the world; sometimes they grow to a length of ten feet. The specimen' in the Sydney Museum is eight feet and it is considered a small one. They come into the Hawkesbury during the Summer months, and are captured by approaching them cautiously from the rear and harpooning them through the shell. The turtle is then drawn in to the beach, slashed with a knife, and pegged in the shallow water. Sharks then arrive in scores and shark lines are set around the turtle. Hundreds of bream also gather for the feast, but they are unfit to eat when captured, since the rank flavour of the turtle oil permeates their flesh.
SHARKING was popular on the river in the old days, and the inhabitants used to engage in that pursuit when the fruit-trees did not require attention. Oil was extracted from their livers and sold at 3/- a gallon. Occasionally they also extracted grim horrors from inside their prey. The remains of two bodies are buried near the pier at Flint and Steel. One was identified. The cabin-boy of the Bonny Dundee was lost overboard eight miles out to sea from Barrenjoey. He was found inside a captured shark and recognised by his clothing. Let that be a warning to the featherbrained who bathe or fall recklessly into the waters of the Hawkesbury. Who knows that' the shark which you may nourish will be captured or that you may be recognised by your Spooner costume or by the sad remnants of your old school tie? THE HOUSE THAT MAC BUILT (1936, February 5). Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), p. 37. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160639623
Who were the guests - mainly fishermen according to many a Summer and Winter report:
Messrs. A. Cohen and W. Mayo, at Flint and Steel Reef, Broken Bay, last week-end caught two dozen black bream from a pound to a pound and a half weight. They caught the fish near Mr. McGaw's home, at night, and were beaten by a couple of large fish too heavy for their tackle. West Head, which Is close to Flint and Steel, yielded a good bag of black bream to Mr. V. Aveling, one day during the week. There Is usually a swell at this place to test the stomachs of inshore fishermen. Fishing Season Starts (1934, January 21). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 22. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230516181
Fishermen Travel The Open Road
By Wobbegong
Although the A.F.A. had what was called merely a short hike of 12 miles from Tumbledown Dick (Gordon-road) to Flint and Steel Reef last week-end, some participants carried their rods and tackle. Fred Turner, having no rod, fashioned one from a bush sapling and tried for blackfish. There were many old-timers of the species among the blackfish about Mr. McGaw's wharf, and some were soon on the wharf. So satisfied was one of the anglers that Fred Turner would not land a fish that he offered to eat any he caught raw and uncleaned. Had he been kept to his offer he would have been a sick man to-day, for the agile Fred landed a large blackfish with much difficulty on his primitive rod. Three daughters of fishermen took part in the hike, which began on Saturday morning, and Included a pleasant stay at McGaw’s a dance at night, and a return by launch to Hawkesbury station and train to the city the following day. This is a hike that may be recommended to a limited party of a dozen. The road in places Is too bad to put a good oar on, but there Is usually good fishing at the end of it. Fishermen Travel The Open Road (1934, July 1). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 46. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229559099
Staying at McGaw's at Flint and Steel were Mr and Mrs. George Walker, Mr. and Mrs. J. Fairfax, and W. H. Mayo. A few good fish were landed, best being a black bream of 3 ½ lb. by the A.F.A. champion, Bill Mayo. LET'S GO FISHING (1936, February 2). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 25. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230090182
The fact that there was now a 'new' road to access the area was also getting some press:
''SUNDAY SUN" MOTOR NOTES
(Conducted by Lionel G. Wigmore)
Kuring-gai Chase May Be Reached By New Road
Surprisingly little has become generally known about a new road which opens up a further section of Kuringgai Chase to the motorists," and is ideal for a half or whole day bush outing.
A venturous turn on to its inviting red surface last weekend brought, instead of the usual regrets at being lured into rough bush tracks or a curt dead-end, refreshing vistas of Hawkesbury scenery, with distant hills merging under a soft bloom into the horizon.
Near the end of four miles of quite good surface, with the exception of a few potholes and corrugations, the road winds round the side of a steep gorge to a hillcrest below which lies a glimpse of Coal and Candle Creek, flowing into Cowan Creek. At this point the road is still under construction, and the surface Is soft and deeply rutted, though quite negotiable in good weather. Nearby are the tents of 200 workers engaged in continuing the road down to the water. Total length of the road, which Is being constructed by the Public Works Department with unemployment relief money, will be about six miles, bringing It to within about two miles of Cottage Point, About two miles before the new road branches from Pittwater-road, French's Forest-road runs off to the right to provide direct access from Manly, Mosman, and thereabouts. Hitherto motorists in these suburbs have had to travel up Pacific Highway and down to Bobbin Head to reach the Cowan Creek section of the Chase. There Is a possibility that after the present Job is completed, another branch road will be constructed leading to McCarr's Creek, opposite Church Point, at the head of Pitt-water. Proposals have been made also for a road to Commodore Heights, above West Head, which lies opposite Barrenjoey at the mouth of the Hawkesbury. This map, specially prepared by the N.R.M.A., shows the approximate course of the new road to Coal and Candle Creek. The track which continues to Cottage Point, and the track to Commodore Heights, are indicated by double lines of dashes.
''SUNDAY SUN" MOTOR NOTES (1937, May 2). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 9 (SPORTING SECTION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229411398
The Australian Depression of the 1930's was a time when people did the best they could with very little. Some moved to the shores around Pittwater to camp under canvas and fish to feed their families. Others, like 'Mac', utilised what came to hand and adapted:
People Who Built Their Own Homes
The "home-made" homes about Sydney were visited last week by Monday Magazine reporters and photographers. These amateur-built houses made by men and women for themselves to live in are, in some cases, lovely and amazing examples of architecture, with features of startling originality. A Blue Mountains township has a £1000 home built with a borrowed trowel ! >
WHAT can truly be described as a dream-house come true is the home of Mr. E. H. ("Mac") McGaw and his wife Minna — former buyer in a big city firm — overlooking the placid reaches of Pittwater. Years of mental planning, followed by 15 years of actual building, have gone into the McGaws' lovely home at the foot of the hills at Flint and Steel, Broken Bay.
"I began building with the vision of a weekend shack," said Mr. McGaw, who had had no practical experience of building or architecture. "At the time I was working In the city, and my idea was to build a refuge for my wife and self where we could find relief from the clatter of everyday city life." The McGaw house is unique in design and construction, something novel and beautiful. All the stone he blasted from the hillsides, for the woodwork and shingles he felled the river oaks. The entrance hall is Roman, concrete floors are glazed in green and buff yellow, floors are waxed oak, and heavy beams and rafters under the shingle roof are reminiscent of old English.
In the early stages of its construction Mr. McGaw lived the life of a recluse in a cave near one of his old camp sites. "I like to regard this place as an unfinished symphony in stone because, in spite of the fact that I have been on it for 15 years, there are still many additions I have in mind. "When I feel that I need a change I just pick up my fishing tackle and go off for the day. I come back refreshed, with perhaps new ideas and certainly new energy."
Of a casual and easy-going type, Mr. McGaw does not set himself up as an expert, and is always canvassing suggestions from his friends and visitors. In this way he has gained valuable hints which he has exploited in the building of his model home. He has carried out his original plan for a remote retreat by erecting it 13 miles from his nearest neighbor. Special attention has been paid to the domestic fittings so that Mrs. McGaw's housework is reduced to a minimum.
Wherever possible, built-in furniture has been installed, and in the compact kitchen there is an oil-burning refrigerator and a spring water system. Many of the windows are in stained glass picked up at auction sales around the city, which were also the source of many other fittings, such as the doors. Some of these once graced famous Sydney mansions now demolished.
The McGaws who found happiness in building themselves a home in the lonely Broken Bay wilderness
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This is the house that "Mac" built (left). In the Broken Bay hillsides he found his philosopher's stone — good Hawkesbury sandstone — and blasted and shaped it. The shingles he made of oak.
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Large and rambling, the house has been so built that it can ever be extended. Cultivated trees rival the bush plants in luxuriance. Fruit abounds all the year.
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Above: Every glance outside takes in a vista of placid water and rugged ranges. Only the launch from Patonga and an occasional fishing boat ever break the stillness.
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Interiors of McGaw's "home-made" home are executed to give comfort and aesthetic delight. Note the magnificent fireplace, with its artistic vari-colored inlay.
ANOTHER monument to the efforts of an amateur builder is a home in the tiny Blue Mountains township of Bell. This is a solidly-constructed modern bungalow type of house valued now at £1000, built, stone by stone, by Mr. Robert Osborne, mail contractor, and his wife. In more than 12 months of building their only tool was a borrowed trowel. And an old motor truck was used as portable scaffolding. "Nil Desperandum" is the name the Osbornes have painted on their house — it was the spirit they showed in building it. First, they had to clear and level rocky and heavily timbered virgin land. Huge stones had to be hauled by truck for miles. And water was hand-carted in kerosene tins, along with sand, for the making of mortar. There are four main rooms and kitchen, bathroom and laundry, all attractively furnished and equipped. To the main house the Osbornes have added a shop and a garage. Behind the building of the house is a story of hard times and stout hearts. For when the Osbornes went to the mountains from Sydney eight years ago their capital was £1.
"After disheartening setbacks I got the mail contract and made arrangements for transport," said Mr. Osborne. "The contract was for five years, and it was necessary for us to have a home. "We decided to build ourselves, although we realised we had no knowledge of building. But I had a grand helper . " And Mr. Osborne turned proudly to his wife, who added, "Bobbie and Val helped a lot, too."
Bobbie is their nine-year-old son and Val their daughter who turned six last week. "Hundreds of tons of stone — much of it picked from a disused quarry— went into the house." continued Mr. Osborne. "We could only work in the afternoons, as my job kept me occupied in the mornings, and we were still maintaining a temporary home three miles out. "In less than a year enough of the house was up to provide us with shelter, and we moved in."
Although a Katoomba bank manager recently valued the house at £1000, Mr. Osborne estimates that it cost him in actual materials only £300. Among the many people who stopped at Bell to watch Mr. and Mrs. Osborne carving out their home was Lord Lothian, recently appointed British Ambassador to the United States. Last year he was in Australia attending the British Commonwealth Relations Conference. Both Lord Lothian and Captain Victor Cazalet, M.P., also a delegate to the conference, complimented the couple on their resource and determination.
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The Osbornes of Bell, in the Blue Mountains, toiled to build this home from the stone of the neighbourhood.
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Mrs. Osborne was visited here by Lord Lothian, British Ambassador at Washington, and congratulated upon the beauty " and quaintness of the home which she and her husband built.
AN outstanding example of amateur building is the lovely home of Mr. Ernest Verey on the hills of Palm Beach. Of two storeys, it is built of stone and wood, and surrounded by more than an acre of graduated sub-tropical gardens. When the owner retired from business several years ago he thought out a home the building of which would occupy his idle hands.
He had a small cottage overlooking the golf links, and when the land next to this was offered for sale he bought it. Rocky and desolate, this acre has been transformed. A roadway-drive has been built and from the huge stone boulders all the stone necessary for building walls and foundations was quarried. Mr. Verey engaged two local men, and between the three of them they soon had foundations laid and a wall — 163 feet, long and seven feet high-erected. The lower floor of the house is stone. Every piece Mr. Verey examined and chose. The colors vary and he wanted to be sure not too much of one colour was put together.
"One day I went to town — that explains all the yellow pieces together at the back," he laughed. The house, which took 18 months to build, has four bedrooms, lounge and dining-room, billiard and reception rooms. "I called it Arcadia, because I thought that name meant haven of peace," said Mr. Verey, "but I was rudely informed that its actual translation is Home of Simpletons' However. I'm not going to change it."
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The Palm Beach home of : Mr. Ernest Verey, a show place in the neighborhood was largely the work of his hands. He assisted fondly in the building from foundations to roof.
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Not the least reward of Mr. Verey's labor is the physical fitness he enjoys. He's health personified.
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Play of sun and shadow in the spacious gallery which runs the length of Mr. Verey's home. Here again can be visualised the great work entailed in hewing the hillside stone and treating it.
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The solid masonry of this 150ft. wall is another tribute to the industry and enthusiasm of the city business man, and he is justly proud of it. He himself chose every piece of stone.
A TALENT for amateur building has found expression in a novel and striking way in another home at Palm Beach — that of Mr. George Coulter, formerly of J. C. Williamson. Mr. Coulter has devoted himself to developing a new angle of interior decoration, with the result that his home has some surprising and picturesque features. Most extraordinary of these are actual miniature waterfalls let in the walls of the winding staircase.
The recesses are lined with papier mache, down which water cascades when Mr. Coulter turns a master tap. He operates the waterfalls to surprise and entertain his guests. The show spot of Mr. Coulter's home is the lounge-room, which is semi-circular, with a huge plate glass window extending nearly the length of the wall. The rest of the room is panelled, and on each of the panels Mr. Coulter has modelled large poinsettias in wood. There are several secret sliding panels in the house. These are operated by concealed press buttons. Behind one panel is a pantry, another hides the kitchen, and at the press of another button a bedroom is revealed. The winding staircase leads to a landing which appears to be a dead-end until Mr. Coulter presses a button and a panel slides back disclosing his billiard-room.
People Who Built Their Own Homes (1939, August 7). The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), p. 12 (Daily Telegraph Monday Magazine Supplement). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247782856
Flint and Steel House circa 1939 - the original house with its French doors can be seen to the left of this photo
The above, in the case of the McGaw house, is all the more poignant when you find out that the house and area was resumed by the Commonwealth in November 1939 for the duration of World War II. Some records indicate the McGaws were permitted to stay in the home during the conflict and that some of the personnel posted at places like the West Head Battery, were billeted with them.
When Mr. Stokes failed to shift the land he defaulted on his mortgage and left the problem in the hands of his mortgagees who, in April 1939, managed to sell the land to a Sydney real estate agent who quickly onsold it to a recently formed company, Tumbala Pty Ltd.
Less than five months later, just days before the onset of World War II, the New South Wales Government resumed the whole of Commodore Heights, 'for the purpose of public recreation'. The brand new owners claimed significant amounts in compensation, though it is not clear how much they received.
The resumption of the land at that time had more to do with defence than with public recreation and the state government immediately ceded control of the West Head area to the Commonwealth government, which established two gun emplacements at the foot of the cliff. Searchlights were mounted and observation posts built at various points, while an anti-submarine net was stretched across the mouth of Pittwater from Commodore Heights to Barrenjoey. During the war, about 90 men of the 18th Militia Battalion were stationed at West Head, housed in quarters near the present Lookout.
At Flint & Steel Bay the Navy was in charge. Mines were laid in Broken Bay and Mac and Minna McGaw's guest house business was put on hold for the duration, though they were frequently visited by Army and Navy personnel stationed in the area and apparently had other guests.
Military Close Hawkesbury Area
The Hawkesbury River from Dangar Island to Flint and Steel Point has been closed to boats by the military authorities. Porto Bay west of a line from Green Point and Flat Rock and Cowan Creek and its tributaries west of Cottage Rock are not included in the prohibition. Applications for special permits to enter or approach the prohibited areas may be lodged at Headquarters, Lines of Communication Area, Victoria Barracks. Full particulars of the type, registered number, if any, and other details of the boat and owner must be given. Military Close Hawkesbury Area (1942, November 22). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230584351
Terry, Michael. (). McGaw house known as Flint and Steel, near Lambert Peninsula, Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park, New South Wales, 1941, 2 Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-241535306
Terry, Michael. [5.]. McGaw house known as Flint and Steel, near Lambert Peninsula, Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park, New South Wales, 1941, 1 Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-241535152
After the war Eardley McGaw was appointed to two non-paying honorary positions and the guesthouse was reopened:
DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Appointments.
WILD Flowers and Native Plants Protection Act, 1927-1945.— The undermentioned persons have been appointed as Honorary Rangers for the purposes of this Act:—
Bales, Desmond Joseph, 10 Ward-street, Willoughby; Jonkers, Charles, Coal and Candle Creek, Ku-ring-gai Chase, Terrey Hills P.O., via Chatswood; King, Frederick Robert, 4 Turramurra-avenue, Turramurra; McGaw, Eardley Henderson, Flint and Steel, Ku-ring-gai Chase, via Brooklyn; ...
J. J. CAHILL, Minister for Local Government.
DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT. (1948, August 13). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), p. 2055. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224781463
APPOINTMENTS.
HIS Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has approved of the appointment of the undermentioned persons as Honorary Inspectors under section .. of the Fisheries and Oyster Farms Act, 1935-1942:—
McGaw, Eardley Henderson, Flint and Steel, via Brooklyn.
APPOINTMENTS. (1948, November 12). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), p. 3028. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224784243
Yes - there were oyster leases at Flint and Steel:
Sydney, 3rd July, 1931
APPLICATIONS FOE LEASES FOR OYSTER CULTURE.
IT is hereby notified that the undermentioned pergpns have applied to lease for oyster culture the portions of land described hereunder opposite their respective names.
Objections may lodged at the Fisheries Branch, Chief Secretary's Department, within thirty days of the date of this notice against the leasing of any of the portions. If interference with a hauling ground is alleged, a statutory declaration by a licensed fisherman must be submitted to the effect that the area has been hauled during the preceding twelve months. ...
No. 36,044, by C J. Tolman, on the south-eastern shore of Flint and Steel Bay, Hawkesbury River, about 350 yards north-easterly from the south-western corner of portion 7, parish of Broken Bay, county of Cumberland, frontage 200 yards. APPLICATIONS FOR LEASES FOR OYSTER CULTURE. (1931, July 3). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), p. 2266. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220365390
He was also one of those on the spot men who, alike the fishermen of Palm Beach, the Goddards, Carl Gow, the Gonsalves, would go out to rescue those who were in danger:
Boy feared drowned; mate safe
A youth is believed to have drowned when a 12ft dinghy overturned in Broken Bay today. Another youth was rescued after being in the water for an hour. The missing youth is John Ironmonger, 19, of Olive Street, Asquith. Ironmonger and John Leonard, 18, of Griffin Street, Balgowlah, were sailing from their camp at Hungry Beach, on the southern side of Broken Bay, .to Patonga for stores when the accident occurred. The accident was seen by Mr. W. McGaw, of Flint and Steel Point, who was watching the boat through field-glasses. He set out by launch to rescue the youths but could not find them and went to Patonga for help. John Leonard was picked up by fishing boat almost a mile from the scene of the accident.
"My mate and I were going to Patonga from our camp at Hungry Beach when a sudden gust of wind overturned the boat," said John Leonard.
"The boat sank almost immediately and we had to try to keep afloat on the oars. "We saw Mr. McGaw come out in his launch but, although we called out he didn't see us. "The tide parted us and the last I saw of Johnny he was holding on to the oar but coughing and spluttering. "I had just about given up hope when I saw the fishing, boat which' picked me up," he added. -"We searched for Johnny but couldn't find him in the choppy water.' Boy feared drowned; mate safe (1951, February 5). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 1 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229192908
There were also others who wanted the land by then - imagine this, an oil refinery in this pristine site. The Chase Trust again called on the government to resume the area and incorporate the lands into the park:
CALL TO EXTEND BUSH SANCTUARY
Kuring-gai Chase Trust has made a fresh appeal to the N.S.W. Government to resume 100 acres of private land at Cottage Point in the heart of the Chase.
The president of the trust, Mr. C. C. Burnside, said yesterday that this action had followed reports that an oil company had sought to establish an oil refinery on the point.
Mr Burnside said that although these reports had been denied, the trust was greatly concerned that an area of freehold land should remain in the heart of the Chase
'We have seen the menace of this land being used for some industrial undertaking that would ruin the natural beauty of the surrounding bushland and waters," he said.
FOR 30 YEARS
"For 30 years we have been pressing the succeeding Governments to resume it and in-corporate it in the Chase."
[Last week the president of Warringah Shire Council, Councillor Fisher, said the council had received a letter from Mr. Holt of the City and Inland Estates asking whether 100 acres would be available at Cottage Point or Commodore Heights for the Caltex Oil Refining Coy.
Chairman of directors of Caltex Oil (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. Mr. W. E. Field denied there had been negotiations between his company and Warringah Council for a refinery at Cottage Point. He also denied that Caltex had inspected sites in the Chase or had authorised any other body to make representations.]
Mr. Burnside yesterday repeated his claim that rangers in the Chase had recently spoken to men who described themselves as oil company experts.
He said Leading ranger Harding had seen four car-loads of men in the Coal and Candle Creek area.
SHOWN MAPS
"One of them told Harding the party was inspecting possible sites for a £36 million oil refinery," he said.
'The men told him they were oil company experts They laid out maps on the ground and on the maps they showed Harding the proposed sites.
"Cottage Point was No. 1 choice for the site, with Commodore Heights on West Head second choice.
Mr Burnside produced a report dated May 18 from Ranger E. H. McGaw at Flint and Steel Bay on West Head, on the opposite side of Pittwater to Barrenjoey.
The report said that "oil company" representatives had surveyed the area, but had spoken to no one.
THREE SITES
It was suggested they were considering West Head, Cottage Point, and Patonga, on the northern side of Broken Bay. Mr. Burnside said Commodore Heights had been incorporated into the Chase. An oil refinery on any part of the Chase would ruin the "pristine state of the beautiful bushlands" by "smog" and effluence. CALL TO EXTEND BUSH SANCTUARY (1952, June 1). The Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW : 1949 - 1953), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18503390
In 1952 a prize winning story penned by Mr. McGaw, ''in front of a warm fire at night'' is published. The first prize, worth thousands of pounds, was not won by him but he did secure a, for then, small fortune for his efforts. The story runs in full under Extras and features a convict story and the Windsor-Hawkesbury locale itself. Its existence points out that this was a resourceful man who could turn his hand, and mind, to anything he set himself to.
Eardley McGaw's father, John Henderson passed away in 1900, aged 42, when he was just 9 years of age. His mother remarried in 1901, to William Spence Smith.
A strong tennis player, in March 1909 he is playing at Gonville Tennis club in boys versus girls matches:
GONVILLE TENNIS CLUB
Next Saturday afternoon what should prove an interesting and enjoyable match will -be played on the Gonville Tennis Club pourts between the lady and gentlemen players, the latter conceding their fair opponents in each game 15 points out of 30. Following are the- players: — Mrs Dimes v. L. Jones, Mrs Lundius v. Kendall, Miss Bignell v. Brown, Miss Vile v. McGaw, : Miss Davey v. Bignell, Miss Porter v. R. Spurdle, Miss Wright v. Bourne, Mrs Caldwell v. P. D. Jones, Miss Perry v. E. Rice, Miss Smith v. F. Webb Jones, Mrs Kondal v. H. Rice, Miss S. Davey v. Barkman, Miss Munro v. Smith, Miss Kernohan v. Groves, Miss Mat aura v. Wainwright. Afternoon tea will be provided by the gentlemen. At a meeting of the committee last evening it was doeide'd to hold a concert in aid of the club funds- early in May. It was decided to take in hand the top-dressing of the courts immediately after the close of the present hea?on, so as to secure a good winter growth. WANGANUI HERALD, VOLUME XXXXIV, ISSUE 12708, 2 MARCH 1909
By December 1909 he was in Sydney - according to some verbal anecdotes from his friends he cam as a ships stoker or engineer. His 'weak heart', as noted in the above articles, was the reason for a more 'retiring life'although the building game is one of the most physically strenuous there is. Others state he had T.B. - which may have been the cause of the heart problems and the shift to a warmer, drier climate.
NOTES BY "FOOT-FAULT."
Mr E. H. McGaw, who last season won the junior singles in the Gonville club, is now in Sydney, and was a spectator at the Davis cup contests. He writes me a very interesting letter about it from which I make the following extracts: — Speaking of the doubles he says,
"It was a magnificent struggle, especially the first set, 12-10. Brookes would serve first and win ; then McLaughlin would equalise. Wilding would put us to the front, and Long would make matters even again. Brookes never lost his serve during the whole afternoon — from 3.15 to 5.45. Wilding played the safest game of all, rarely making a mistake, and never throwing away a chance. He played a better game, to my mind, than Brookes. McLaughlin has a marvellous serve, one especially tying up Brookes. It is a sort of a chop, and breaks rig/it across. Once it broke . through Brookes' arm and right behind hi... back, but he threw away several chances by trying to break up the others with reckless driving." "One of the features of our men's play was the way they placed everything, but when they v.a smash the ball ".vent out of sight. Brookes placed the ball beautifully and ran the Americans off their feet. He would stand in the same place the whole time while the Americans were galloping all over the court." — "The volleying was tremendous and hardly a stroke was played without a marvellous lot of spin on it." — "Long is a wonder. His ground work is beautiful. He was more careful than his partner and just as brilliant." — "It is impossible to describe the play. If you were told about some of the strokes you would doubt your informant's sanity. The fastest drive was taken and placed beautifully. Sometimes Brookes would miss a ball but before you knew it he had spun round in a circle and got in a good return." — "The visitors were by far the more brilliant, but Brookes wore them completely away as the third set shows, it only taking a few minutes to play as against an hour for the first."
All of which goes to show that Mr McGaw thoroughly enjoyed himself at the 1909 Davis Cup contests.
The Referee reports the matches very fully. Speaking of McLaughlin in ...WANGANUI HERALD, VOLUME XXXXIV, ISSUE 12945, 9 DECEMBER 1909
Eardley married Minna Robertson Wright in 1919 in Sydney. Anecdotes state he first came to the area as a timber cutter prior to settling in that first 1920 humpy style dwelling.
7266/1919 MCGAW EARDLEY H WRIGHT MINNA R SYDNEY
Minna died in 1959.
MCGAW MINNA ROBERTSON 29903/1959 Parents: EDGAR GRAHAM ANNE MENZIES Registered at: ASHFIELD - NSW BDM's Records
Mac married an old friend, Beatrice Fullagar, and they continued to live at the guesthouse. Bea had apparently lived in another small house at Flint and Steel Bay. After he died she 'returned to Victoria'.
In 1961 the whole of the land came under the 'Ku-ring-gai Chase Act 1961' which was gazetted in 1962.
Act No. 43, 1961.—"An Act to make provisions relating to the dedication of Ku-ring-gai Chase as a public park; to provide for the appointment of trustees of the Chase under the Public Parks Act, 1912, as amended by subsequent Acts; to provide for the addition of Crown lands thereto; to validate certain matters; and for purposes connected therewith." ACTS OF PARLIAMENT ASSENTED TO (1961, December 1). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), p. 3878. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220287381
MAIN ROADS ACT, 1924-1960.—PROCLAMATION
(l.s.) K. W. STREET, by Deputation from His Excellency the Governor.
I, Lieutenant-General Sir Eric Winslow Woodward, Governor of the State of New South Wales and its Dependencies, in the Commonwealth of Australia with the advice of the Executive Council and in terms of section 31a of the Main Roads Act, 1924-1960, and in pursuance of the Transport (Division of Functions) Act, 1932-1960, do hereby proclaim the road described in the Schedule hereto as a Tourist Road, and I further give and notify the number set opposite thereto to the said Tourist Road.
Signed and sealed at Sydney, this eighteenth day of October, 1961.
By His Excellency's Command, P. D. HILLS, Minister for Highways. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!
Schedule
Road No. Description
No. 4005 Tourist Road West Head road from Coal and Candle Creek road (Main Road No. 525) generally northerly through Ku-ring-gai Chase for approximately 9 miles to West Head within the Shire of Warringah.
(D.M.R. No. 479-75) (160) MAIN ROADS ACT, 1924-1960.—PROCLAMATION (1961, October 27). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), p. 3431. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220285959
KU-RING-GAI CHASE ACT, 1961.—PROCLAMATION
(l.s.) K. W. STREET, by Deputation from His Excellency the Governor.
I, Lieutenant-General Sir Eric Winslow Woodward, Governor of the State of New South Wales, with the advice of the Executive Council, and in pursuance of the provisions of subsection two of section one of the Ku-ring-gai Chase Act, 1961, do, by this ray Proclamation, appoint the fifth day of March, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-two, as the day upon which the said Act shall commence.
Signed and sealed at Sydney, this twenty-eighth day of February, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-two.
By His Excellency s Command,
C. A, KELLY.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!
KU-RING-GAI CHASE ACT, 1961.—PROCLAMATION (1962, March 2). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), p. 578. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220247382
Mr. McGaw was then given a 'permissive occupancy' and plans to open up the park more to tourists were announced:
£25, 0000 Tourist Plan for Ku-Ring-Gai Chase
Commodore Heights, a remote peninsula of Ku-ring-gai Chase overlooking Broken Bay, Pittwater and Cowan Creek, is to be developed as a tourist area. The Ku-Ring-gai Chase Trust plans to spend £25, 0000 in the next three years on the area. This amount includes a grant of £20, 0000 announced recently by the Minister for Lands, the Hon. k. C. Compton, MLA. The work to be done includes construction of a scenic lookout on West Head, the provision of scenic walks to aboriginal rock carvings, and construction of a kiosk, shelter sheds, toilet blocks and parking facilities. £25,000 TOURIST PLAN FOR KU-RING-GAI CHASE (1964, July 3). Western Herald (Bourke, NSW : 1887 - 1970), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141978792
The National Parks and Wildlife Service was established by the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1967 (Act No.35, 1967), but in fact had been formed administratively during the preceding months by the amalgamation of officers formerly attached to the Fauna Protection Panel, and the Parks and Reserve Branch of the Department of Lands, and functioned as a Branch of that Department.
On October 1st 1967 the Service assumed an independent existence, with the Director of National Parks and Wildlife directly responsible to the Minister. The Act reserved twenty five areas as National Parks, State Parks and Historic Sites, to be administered by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The prime objectives of the legislation were: the reservation of national and state parks and historic sites already in existence or to be provided in the future; and their preservation, care, control and management and to these ends, the bringing together in one service the related functions of national parks and fauna and flora protection.
The Act repealed the Kosciusko State Park and Ku-ring-gai Chase Acts and abolished the Fauna Protection Panel and office of the Chief Guardian of Fauna. Amendments to the Fauna Protection Act and Wildflowers and Native Plants Protection Act vested all the powers, duties and responsibilities contained in those Acts in the Director, National Parks and Wildlife Service.
In June 1967 Mr. McGaw became ill. His wife Bea moved them to Narrabeen but they returned to 'Flint and Steel House' for the Summer and then lived at Narrabeen again during the Winter of 1968.
In May 1968, National Parks & Wildlife Service wrote to Mr. McGaw asking him to ''remove all structures and vacate the site by December 1968".
At the same time a group of architecture students who visited and fished in the area applied to the national trust for the building's inclusion on their Register of Historic Buildings. Some of these students were spoken about in the Mike Kitching Profile, as Antonia his wife explained a few years ago;
As stated by the Kitchings, the 'Mac' home was mysteriously destroyed by fire in June 1971. According to a witness, one Ranger Spencer, he spotted the conflagration around midday from the water but the house was too far gone to do anything to save it. A fire crew was put on standby in case the fire spread into the National Park.
Post-fire conjecture ascribes the start point for the fire to both a concrete platform below the house where barbecues had been held and a nearby woodhouse.
National Parks and Wildlife, after the National Trust showed interest and stated the building could be maintained by a group of architects, deferred demolition but asked the trust to reconsider in light of "obligations which the Trust and the service may find it difficult to meet"( N.P.W.S.3, June 1969).
Although described in a May 1971 letter laying out a scheme for its use as 'one of the finest examples of Australian vernacular architecture' the NP&WS described it as composed of 'bits of flotsam and jetsam', 'compiled of junk' and described it as a ruin rather than a building.
Despite the differences of opinions the building was certainly unique and was liked by a good many people over the decades. It fits the 'Arts and Crafts' design of the era it grew and grew through. Mr. du Faur, the main originator of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, had a home in this style built in 1890 - a happy coincidence or....?
Mr. McGaw himself had been a custodian of a kind of all he surveyed while at Flint and Steel Beach - saving those who had come unstuck on the water and the bush itself from all those pillagers who had denuded the hills of so much flora during the decades preceding the presence of rangers, voluntary or otherwise.
Ms. Corkhill's research states 'Mac' found a lot of materials such as the Art Nouveau stained glass windows in the home on demolition sites at Hunter's Hill.
Cement Arch and Stained Glass window inside Flint & Steel House [4.]
Stained Glass window inside Flint & Steel House [4.]
He built a jetty to allow access and apparently sold cosmetics on trips to town to gather more cement powder for construction, as well as the other items recycled from demolition sites.
The house faced north-west, across the entrance to Cowan Creek. As reported in the above articles there was a garden of non-native plants, some citrus and with access to all that fish and shellfish, as well as fresh water for mixing with cement (and an abundance of sand from the beach and sandstone rubble for the aggregate) getting the house built and then extending it over the decades would have been no problem.
Most of the base floor was composed of concrete according to what remained on site during Ms. Corkhills 1980's investigations.
"It was used for pillars, chimney stack, walls, floors, arches, floors, tiles, outside paths, outside paths, steps and structures, even for the kitchen sink." [Page 28].
Corkhill's research, in which she spoke to people who knew 'Mac', states he used to moor his boat at Pyrmont where there were numerous cement companies.
The outside shower rooms and toilets were also constructed from cement and were based on octagonal and pentagonal designs - so unusual and made to be attractive. He must have been a pretty good 'home-builder' to be able to execute such designs.
Tessa Corkhill's research showed there was also some post-fire destruction that must have been carried out to destroy the solid stone foundations. Her on site work found an abalone shell embedded in cement in what would have been the shower block to be used as a soap holder. So attention to little details was also part of this home.
The sandstone that shows in the pictures would be the on site Hawkesbury sandstone which came from a 'quarry' 100 metres north-east of the house.
The shingles that predominate so much of the upper portions of the home were made from local casuarina trees. Later on he apparently got the same from Mackerel beach in Pittwater. Shingles from this wood are known for their longevity and durability, some still working well on rooves 100 years after first being installed.
Some of those used on the house and on the, by then, vine covered gazebo were still present on the site during Ms. Corkhill's investigations, despite the reported ferocity of a fire which reduced much of the property to ashes.
Terry, Michael. (). Pagoda at the McGaw house known as Flint and Steel, Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park, New South Wales, 1941, 1 Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-241535270
Terry, Michael. (). Pagoda at the McGaw house known as Flint and Steel, Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park, New South Wales, 1941, 2 Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-241535379
Eardley Henderson McGaw passed away in 1975. The death is not registered in New South Wales.
The site of the McGaw home is still visited by people today who wonder over the remnants of the ruins, although, with the encroachment of more and more introduced weeds, they become harder to distinguish from the surrounds.
Flint and Steel Beach - In Broken Bay immediately to the east of Flint and Steel Point. Also shown as White Horse Beach. It is said there was a house there in the 1920s and the owner sometimes exercised a white horse on the beach. Flint and Steel Beach is mentioned by Surveyor Larmer in 1832 as already being named as such. The origin of the name could possibly be connected with the shape of this feature.
Source: Powell, John P. 1994, Placenames of the Greater Hawkesbury, Hawkesbury River Enterprises, Berowra, p.44
WEST HEAD
Happy it is in the blossom time,
In the blossom time of spring,
When the morn is in its golden prime
And birds are on the wing.
Blue of the tide upon either hand,
From the sea to Broken Bay,
And the grey old lichened boulders stand
Knee-deep in flow'ry spray.
Blithe at the heart for the wattle's sake,
And the scent the warm wind spills,
Where the Hawkesbury lies, a gleaming snake,
Amid the deep blue hills— ;
Stirring the bee's with their honeyed load
From the blossom feast beneath,
Happy it is to take the road
That winds across the heath.
ELLA MCFADYEN.
WEST HEAD. (1929, January 4). Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article85927422
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1919.
PROCLAMATION.
D. R. S. de CHAIR,
Governor,
I Sir Dudley Hawson Stratfokd de Chair, Governor of the State of New South Wales, with the advice of the Executive Council, in pursuance of the Local Government Act, 1919, do hereby (1) alter the boundaries of Erina Shire as constituted by proclamation in Government Gazette No. 121 of 7th March, 19(X), and reconstituted by proclamation in Government Gazette No. 4 of 15th January, 1908 (as altered by proclamation in Government Gazette No. 6 of 22nd January, 1908), £he boundaries of Colo Shire as constituted by proclamation in Government Gazette No. 121 of 7th March, 1906, and altered by proclamation m Government Gazette No. 216 of 21st December, 1917? the boundaries of Baulkham Hills Shire as constituted by proclamation in Government Gaaette No. 121 of 7th March, 1906, the boundaries of Castlereagh Municipality as constituted by proclamation in Government Gazette No. 603 of 9th September, 1895, and altered by proclamation in Government Gazette No. V9 of 8th December, 1922, the boundaries of Richmond Municipality as constituted by proclamation in Government Gazette $o. 109 of 18th June. 1872, and added to by proclamation in Government Gazette No. -169 of 30th May, 1906, and the boundaries of Windsor Municipality as constituted by proclamation in Government Gazette No. 50 of 6th March. 1871, and added to by proclamation in Government Gazette No. 361 of 16th May. 1906, (a) by adding to Erina Shire that part of the Hawkesbury River covered by a triangle of which the northern and southern approaches to Wiseman's Ferry and a point on the southern side pf the river approximately 13 chains south-easterly from the southern approach to the ferry form the points; (b) by adding to Colo Shire that part of the Hawkesbury River covered by a triangle o£ which the most south-easterly point of the parish of St- Albans and the northern and southern approaches to Wiseman's Ferry form the points • and (r) by altering the position of the boundary dividing tho Colo Shire from the Oastlere^g]i, Richmond and Windsor Municipalities and Baulkham Hills Shire from the right bank of the Nepean and Hawkeshury Rivers to the middle line of those rivers, so that the boundaries of the said Erina, Colo and Baulkham Hills Shires, and Castlereagh, Richmond, and Windsor Municipalities shall be as described in Schedules
"A," "B," "C," "D," .< W and hereto respectively; and (2) order (i) that the provisions of Ordinances Nos. 56 ("Butchers' Shops and Smallgoods Shops"), 61 ("Public Collections"), 54a ("Electrical Installations"), 42 ("Wild Flowers"), and 57 (with the exception of Part (B) thereof) ("Fish, Oysters, Crustaceans, Rabbits, Poultry and Game") under the said Ac|, which were applied to Erina Shire by proclamations in Government Gazettes No. 98 or 23rd June, 1922, No. 2Q ef 16tli February, 1923, No. 50 of 27th April, 1923, No. 9 of 18th January, 1924, and No. 147 of 21st November, 1924, respectively, shall apply to Erina Shire as hereby altered: (ii) that the provisions of Ordinance No. 31 ("Bridges, &c., Weight of Loads") under the said Act, which were applied to Colo Shire by proclamation in Government Gazette No- 146 of 13th October, 1922, shall apply to Colo Shire as her«b;y altered; (iii) that the provisions of Ordinances Nos. 42 ("Wild Flowers") and 56 ("Butchers' Shops and Smallgoods Shops") under the said Act, which were applied to Baulkham Hills Shire by proclamations in. Government Gazettes Nos. 155 and 129 of 21st Octpber, 1921, and 1st September, 1922, respectively, shall apply to Baulkham Hills Shire as hereby altered; and (iv) that the provisions of Ordinances Nos. CI ("Public Collections"), 60 ("Driving Loose Animals"), 68 ("Burials")* and 54a ("Electrical Installations") under the said Act, which v^re applied to Windsor Municipality by proclamation h in Government Gazettes Nos. 89, 101, 177, and 142 of 24th Juno, 1921, 15th July, 1921, and December, 1921, and 7th November, 1924, respectively, shall apply to Windsor Municipality as hereby altered.
The Minister for Local Government has by virtue of section 20 (2) of the aforesaid Act, as amended by the Local Government (Amendment) Act, 1920, dispensed with the making of any arrangement as to the apportionment of assets, rights, and liabilities between the areas affected by this alteration of boundaries.
[h.G. 1924-118-389-89]
Signed and sealed at Sydney, this twentieth day of February, 1925.
By His Excellence's Command,
J. C. L. FITZPATRlCK. GOD SAVE THE KING!
Schedule "A."
Erina Shire (as altered).
Commencing; on the shore of the South Pacific Ocean (Catherine Hill Bay), at the south-east corner of portion 20, parish of Wallarah, county of Northumberland ; and bounded thence by the southern boundaries of that portion and portion 10 westerly to the shore of Lake Macquarie; by the southern shores of that lake generally westerly to the mouth of Mannering Creek; by that creek upwards and tho eastern boundary of the parish of Morrisset southerly to the boundary dividing the parishes of Morrissel, Mandolong and Dora from Munmorah, Wyong and Obiey; by that boundary generally westerly and north-westerly to the south-eastern boundary of the Land District of Maitland; by that boundary and part of its southern boundary southerly and westerly to the eastern boundary of the parish of Lockyer; by the eastern boundaries of that parish and the parishes of Wallambine and St, Albans: iand by the Great Northern road generally southerly to the left bank of the Hawkeshury River at Wiseman's Ferry; by a line south-westerly along the line of ferry to the right bank of that river; by that bank downwards to the north-east corner of portion 8, parish of Marra Marra, county of Cumberland; bv a line north to the left bank of that river: by that bank downwards to a point west of the northernmost point of Spectacle Island j by a line east to that point, and a line easterly to Mullet Point: thence a line east to the left bank of the river; and by that bank downwards to Juno Head; by a line easterly to Flint and Steel Point; by the right bank of the aforesaid river downwards to West Head; thence by a line north-easterly to Box or Hawk Head: and by the shore of the South Pacific Ocean generally northerly, to the point of commencement.
Schedule ''B."
Colo Shire (as altered).
Commencing at the junction of Wollemi Creek with the Colo River; and bounded thence by the Colo River downwards, and Wollangambe Creek and Bowen's Creek upwards to the western boundary of portion 16, parish of Bilpin. county of Cook; by that boundary southerly to Bell's line of road to Richmond; by the centre of that road south-westerly to Tomah Creek; by that creeps and the Grose River downwards; by the western and southern boundaries of the parish of Nepean generally southerly and easterly to the middle of the Nepean River; by a line along the middle of that river and Hawkesbury River downwards to Wiseman's Ferry; by a line north-easterly along the lino of ferry to the left bank of the Hawkesbury River; by the Great Northern road and the south-eastern and eastern boundaries of the parish of St. Albans, county of Northumberland, and the eastern boundaries of the parishes of Waliambine and Lockjer, north-easterly and northerly; by the northern boundary of the parish of Lockyer north-westerly and south-westerly, and by the range forming the southern watershed of Yengo Creek generally westerly to a point east ! of the confluence of Yengo Creek with the Macdonald River; by a line west of that confluence, by the Macdonald River upwards; by the southern boundaries of the parishes of Putty, Tollagong, Sturt and Oorieudgy, county of Hunter, generally westerly ; by the north-eastern boundary of the parish of Jamison south-easterly; by the northern boundaries of the parishes of Innes and Wirraba generally easterly ; and by Wollemi Creek downwards, to the point of commencement.
Schedule "C."
Baulkham Hills Shire (as altered.)
Commencing at the confluence of the Hawkesbury River with the Cattai Creek; theme by that creek upwards to the north-western boundary of the parish of Nelson, county of Cumberland; by that boundary south-westerly and part of Lho southwestern boundary of that parish south-easterly to the middle of the Old Windsor load; by that load south-easterly to the road foiming the northern boundaries of portions 13S, 137, 336, and 143, parish of St. John, by that read and the Toongabbie road generally easteily to the Main Northern road; by that road generally southerly to the boundary of the Municipality of Parramatta; by that boundary and boundaries of the Municipality of Dundas generally north-easterly to the mad from Srmington to Castle Hill, via Pennant Hills; by that road and the Main Northern road northerly to the right bank of the Hawkesbury River at Wiseman's Ferry; by a line north-easterly along Hit? line of ferry to the middle of the Hawkesbury River; and thence by a line along the middle of that river upwards, to the point of commencement.
Schedule "D."
Castlereagh Municipality (as altered).
County of Cumberland, parishes of Castlereagh and Londonderry, area about 521 square miles: Commencing at the intersection of a line along the middle of the present main channel of Nepean River with the southern boundary of the parish of Ham Common; thence by the boundary dividing that parish from the parishes of Castlereagh and Londonderry, easterly to the middle of the road from Richmond to Parramatta; by a line along the middle of that road, south-easterly to the middle of South Creek; by a line along the middle of that creek upwards to the northern boundary of the Municipality of St. Marys, as proclaimed 4th* March, 1890: by that boundary, being the northern boundaries or portions 316, 113 and 112. parish of Londonderry, and its prolongation -westerly to the middle of the road from Bringelly to Windsor; by a line along the middle of that road southerly to the middle of a road along the southern boundary of portion 113, parish of Castlereagh; by a line along the middle of that road westerly to the western boundary of portion 89; by that boundary southerly to the southern boundary of lot D of a subdivision of portion 89; by that boundary of that lot and its prolongation westerly along the southern side of a lane , and a line along the middle of the Castlereagh-road westerly to the eastern boundary of portion 56; by part of that eastern boundary southerly; by part of the northern and the eastern boundary of portion 57 easterly and southerly to the right bank of the Nepean River aforesaid ; by that bank of that river downwards to its intersection with the easterly prolongation of the southern boundary of portion 4, parish of Nepean, county of Cook; by that prolongation westerly to the middle of that river; and thence by a line along the middle of that river downwards, to the point of commencement.
Schedule "E."
Richmond Municipality (as altered).
County of Cumberland, parishes of Ham Common and St. Matthew, area of about 21 square miles: Commencing at the intersection of a line along the middle of the present main channel of Nepean River with the southern boundary of the parish of Ham Common; thence by the boundary dividing that parish and the parishes of Castlereagh and Londonderry, easterly to a line along the middle of Rickaby's Ponds Creek; and thence by that line along the middle of that creek downwards and by a line along the middle of the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers upwards, to the point of commencement.
Schedule "F."
Windsor Municipality (as altered).
County of Cumberland, parishes of St. Matthew, Pitt Town and Gridley, area about 40 square miles :
Commencing at the intersection of the middle line of Rickaby's Ponds Creek with a line along the middle of the Hawkesbury River; thence by that line along the middle of that river downwards, and a line along the middle of Cattai Creek upwards to the north-western boundary of the parish of Nelson; by that boundary south-westerly and part of the south-western boundary of that parish south-easterly to the middle of the Old Windsor road • by a line along the middle of that road south-easterty to its intersection with a line rectangularly distant 20 chains in a south-easterly direction from the north-western boundary of portion 2, parish of Gidley; by a line south-westerly j parallel to the north-western boundaries of portions ! 2 and 1 to Eastern Creek; by that creek downwards; by the southern boundaries of portion 47, parish of St. ^laithcw, westerly to South Creek; by that creek upwards lo the middle of the road from Richmond to Parramatta; by the south-western boundary of the parish of St, Matthew north-westerly to the middle of Rickaby's Ponds Creek aforesaid; and thence by that middle line of that creek downwards, to the point of commencement. [4046] LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1919. (1925, February 27). Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), p. 1063. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223006438
National Parks and Wildlife Service
From NSW State Archives and records
The National Parks and Wildlife Service was established by the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1967 (Act No.35, 1967), but in fact had been formed administratively during the preceding months by the amalgamation of officers formerly attached to the Fauna Protection Panel, and the Parks and Reserve Branch of the Department of Lands, and functioned as a Branch of that Department.
On 1 October 1967 the Service assumed an independent existence, with the Director of National Parks and Wildlife directly responsible to the Minister. (1)
The Act reserved twenty five areas, as National Parks, State Parks and Historic Sites, to be administered by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. (2) The prime objectives of the legislation were: the reservation of national and state parks and historic sites already in existence or to be provided in the future; and their preservation, care, control and management and to these ends, the bringing together in one service the related functions of national parks and fauna and flora protection.
The Act repealed the Kosciusko State Park and Ku-ring-gai Chase Acts and abolished the Fauna Protection Panel and office of the Chief Guardian of Fauna. Amendments to the Fauna Protection Act and Wildflowers and Native Plants Protection Act vested all the powers, duties and responsibilities contained in those Acts in the Director, National Parks and Wildlife Service.
A number of bodies were established under the 1967 legislation to advise the Service on various aspects of park and wildlife management, including the National Parks and Wildlife Advisory Council (3), the National Parks Advisory Committee of Architects (4), the Advisory Committee on Aboriginal Relics (5) and the non-statutory Parks and Reserves Scientific Committee. (6)
The Service was reconstituted under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (Act No.80, 1974) the purpose of which was to consolidate and amend the law relating to the establishment, preservation and management of national parks, historic sites and Aboriginal Sites. This legislation was effective from 1 January 1975.
"As a result of the Machinery of Government review, State Fisheries was transferred on 3 January 1975, from the portfolio of the Chief Secretary to the Minister for Lands and Forests and, together with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, formed one administrative unit under the control of the Director of National Parks and Wildlife Service as a Permanent Head". (7)
There was a reorganisation of the Head Office administrative structure in 1976 with the creation of the Environmental Education and Extension Services Section and the Scientific Services Section and the strengthening of the Protection Services Section. (8)
By the National Parks and Wildlife (State Recreational Areas) Amendment Act 1980 (Act No.80, 1980), responsibility for the administration of State Recreation Areas, previously with the Department of Lands, became that of the National Parks and Wildlife Service. These areas continued to be managed by the Trustees responsible to the Minister.
The Wilderness Act 1987 (Act No.196, 1987) consolidated the Service’s responsibility for the investigation, protection and management of wilderness in the State.
In 1995 the Urban Parks Authority was abolished and its functions transferred to the Service. (9)
During 1994-95 the Service "underwent a major restructure and a number of new functional areas were created. The aim of this organisational change was to help ensure a coordinated approach to the management of an integrated system of urban and regional parks with significant recreational facilities in natural settings".
The Environmental Policy Division within the Policy and Planning Directorate was responsible for formulating, developing and implementing environmental policies and procedures aimed at protecting, conserving and managing the heritage of NSW and providing input into Cabinet proposals;
The Conservation and Planning Assessment Division within the Policy and Planning Directorate was responsible for identifying, assessing and planning the conservation of nature and Aboriginal culture within NSW, and historic heritage within the reserve system;
The zone teams within the Policy and Planning Directorate were established to ensure the optimal delivery of the Service’s core business of nature and heritage conservation;
The Technical Services Directorate was created to manage and direct technical and scientific initiatives;
The Cultural Heritage Service Division within the Technical Services Directorate was responsible for carrying out original and relevant environmental research, representing the Service on scientific committees, providing comment and advice on research and surveys conducted outside the division;
The Geographic Information Systems Division within the Technical Services Directorate was responsible for maintaining a central archive of flora and fauna survey data, administering databases, and compiling and analysing biological, environmental and cultural data for State Index Map." (10)
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (Amendment) Act 1996 (Act No.58, 1996), added Regional Parks to the existing categories of land managed by the Service. Regional Parks were created to "provide open space and recreational opportunities in urban setting." (11)
The National Parks and Wildlife Service Amendment (Aboriginal Ownership) Act 1996 (Act No.142, 1996) enabled the transfer of ownership of dedicated areas to Aboriginal Land Councils. Transfer of ownership was subject to the areas being leased back to the Minister for the Environment under a joint Management regime. (12) In September 1998 the Mootwingee National Park, Mootwingee Historic Site, and Coturaundee Nature Reserve were the first dedicated areas to be transferred back. (13)
By 30 June 1997 the organisational structure of the Service was expanded to include an Aboriginal Heritage division. The purpose of the unit was to "provide a coherent and consistent approach to Aboriginal Heritage in the Service and ensure that Aboriginal Communities are able to participate in the management of their heritage." (14)
The Marine Park Act 1997 (Act No.64,1997) established the Marine Parks Authority, which was to be comprised of the Directors – General of NSW Fisheries, Premier’s Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. The aim of the Act was to declare areas of water and adjoining land as Marine Parks in order to "conserve marine biological diversity and marine habitats and maintaining ecological process". (15)
In 1997-98 the Service had implemented the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (Act No.101, 1995). (16) The purpose of the act was principally to: conserve biological diversity and promote ecologically sustainable development; to prevent the extinction and promote the recovery of threatened species, populations and ecological communities; to protect the critical habitat of those threatened species, populations and ecological communities that are endangered; to eliminate or manage certain threatening processes; ensuring proper assessment of activities impacting threatened species, populations, and ecological communities. (17)
The NSW Scientific Committee was established in 1996 under s.127 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act: to consider threatened species nominations, and to decide which species, populations and ecological communities should be listed as endangered, vulnerable or extinct in New South Wales; deciding which threats to native plants and animals should be declared key threatening process under the Act; reviewing and updating lists of threatened species, populations and communities and key threatening process in the Schedules of the Act. (18)
The Service was restructured in 1998-99, following the completion in November 1998 of a major review of the Service commissioned by the State Government. (19) The restructure resulted in "a change in the composition of the executive, with the appointment of eight directors under the Director-General. Four of these Directors were regionally based and responsible for the on-the-ground activities across the state, while four directors lead corporate directorates". Two new corporate directorates, Policy and Science, and Community Programs were also created. (20)
In 2002-2003 most of the provisions of the National Parks Wildlife Service (Amendment) Act 2001 (Act No.130, 2001) commenced. The Act involved a number of significant amendments to the Principal Act including "a review of reserve types, standardisation of the system of reservation [of land], a consistent system of making plans of management, the insertion of management principles, increase in some penalties, a review of leasing powers and updating of provisions in relation to Aboriginal cultural heritage." (21)
The Threatened Species Conservation (Amendment) Act 2002 (Act No.78, 2002) modified the criteria for listing a population as endangered, and also added vulnerable ecological communities as a category that could be listed under the Act. These amendments were in response to a review of the Act by a Parliamentary Committee in 1997, which recommended "certain legislative amendments and procedural changes were required to better secure the [policy] objectives." (22)
After the election in March 2003 the Service was renamed the National Parks Service and the following responsibilities were removed: The Parramatta Parks Trust, and the staff responsible for the administration of Regional Parks under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 were transferred to the Department of Sport and Recreation; staff who were principally involved in the administration of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, and staff from the Threatened Species Support Unit; and staff who were principally involved the administration of the provisions of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 which were administered by the Minister for Natural Resources were to be transferred to the Department of Sustainable Natural Resources. As the whole wildlife function appeared to have been removed from the Service, it appeared to have been abolished and reconstituted as the National Parks Service. (23)
ENDNOTES
(1) National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1967 s.4 (12); NSW Government Gazette (No.103), 22 September 1967, p.3445.
(2) National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1967 - Second and Third Schedules.
(3) National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1967 s.9.
(4) National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1967 s.40.
(5) National Parks and Wildlife (Amendment) Act, 1969 s.33a.
(6) Report of the National Parks and Wildlife Services for the period 1 October, 1967 to 30 June, 1969 p.8 in Parliamentary Papers 1969-70-71, Volume 7 p.8.
(7) Public Service Board Annual Report, 1975, p.77.
(8) National Parks and Wildlife Service Annual Report, 1975, p.3, in NSW Parliamentary Papers 1976-77-78 volume 9 p.993.
(9) National Parks and Wildlife Service, Annual Report for the year 30 June 1995, p.5.
(10) Ibid., p.9.
(11) National Parks and Wildlife Service, Annual Report for the year 30 June 1997, p.9.
(12) Ibid. pp.8-9.
(13) National Parks and Wildlife Service, Annual Report for the year 30 June 1999, p.6.
(14) Annual report 1997, op. cit., p.6.
(15) Ibid., p.9.
(16) National Parks and Wildlife Service, Annual Report for the year 30 June 1998, p.6.
(17) Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 s.3.
(18) http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/About+the+NSW+Scien... (accessed 29/07/2004).
(19) National Parks and Wildlife Service, Annual Report for the year 30 June 1999, p.7.
(20) Ibid., p.9.
(21) National Parks and Wildlife Service, Annual Report for the year 30 June 2003, p.10.
(22) http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Threatened+Species+... (accessed 19/08/2004).
(23) NSW Government Gazette (No.67), 2 April 2003, pp.4300-4333.