Whilst many farmers are still waiting for their wives to tell them what their New Years resolution is … I thought it might be interesting to investigate
the top five farmers resolutions.
Following extensive research I have identified the following:
– Blow down the header before June 30
– Write down a list of things you need to fix on the header before your service tech arrives in July
– Have your tractor lunchbox last longer than 9.00am
– Clean the workshop
– Order your fertiliser
Feel free to write in and add your farming New Year Resolutions to the list!
If stones could talk
As part of my occasional series on historic buildings (and to entertain visiting family) I recently visited Martindale Hall. One of the most famous families in South Australia must be the Mortlock family.
This extremely wealthy family lived in large homes, grand would be an understatement, including the famous Georgian style mansion Martindale Hall built by Edmund Bowman, the same family who built Werocata Station’s grand mansion near Balaklava.
Edmund Bowman brought out 50 craftsman from London and 10 carpenters from Victoria. Working from dawn till dusk and living in tents the builders completed this mansion in just 23 months.
It must have done them in, as the majority returned to mother England as soon it was completed. Edmund surrounded the stately home with a polo ground, a racecourse, a boating lake, and a cricket pitch – where the England 11 played at least once.
Edmund had Martindale Hall built as an exact copy of the house in England of the woman he hoped to marry. Sadly it was not enough to entice her to the colony and it was eventually this build, subsequent droughts and over expansion during the depression of the 1880’s that sent him bankrupt.
There was one bit of luck for Edmund though, his constant visits to his bank manager may have enabled him to woo the manager’s daughter Annie Cowes and marry her. They had six children but only three ever lived in Martindale Hall.
Unfortunately, even this financial link was not enough to postpone the inevitable foreclosure and Martindale Hall was sold just 12 years after Edmund had completed it.
William Tennant Mortlock purchased Martindale Hall and the surrounding 11,000 acres from Edmund Bowman in 1892 for a relatively cheap price
of about £33,000 for his new bride (equivalent to around $5.5 million in today’s dollars).
It had cost Edmund around £30,000 just to build Martindale Hall. In case you were wondering an average six-bedroom home at the time cost about £600.
As was tradition back then a spouse needed to be of good breeding and for W.T. Mortlock his bride, also his first cousin, Rosye Tennant fit the bill
perfectly.
They had six children but only two survived to adulthood and one of them Fredrick Ranson drowned leaving only John Andrew Tennant to inherit Martindale. John died just 15 months after marrying his secretary Dorothy Beach in 1950, he was just 48 years old with no issue.
His wife eventually left everything to various causes both during
her life and upon her death in 1979 at the age of 71, thus closing a 130 year impact of the Mortlock family on the colony of South Australia.
Although the Mortlock family line died out its impact lives on in South Australia through the numerous bequeaths and generous donations to various bodies including the Adelaide University Medical School, Urrbrae High School, the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, State library and to the Church.
Worth a visit
Originally bequeathed to the University of Adelaide, Martindale Hall and the surrounding 45 acres were handed over to the SA government in
1986.
This grand mansion located just a few kms from Mintaro is an amazing look into South Australia’s past. The grand home has been restored and is now maintained by the South Australian Government.
It consists of 32 rooms over two stories and a large cellar of seven rooms. It has quite a few interesting features including a massive slate pool table
which weighs in at 1.5 tonnes, it is that large and heavy it was installed before the north wall was constructed.
The pool table is the only remnant of furniture left by Edmund Bowman in his tribute to his unrequited love. If you get a chance to visit Martindale Hall take it, for $20 you can wander about for as long as you like.
