Riversdale

Riversdale is the original property purchased by Arthur and Yvonne Boyd on the Shoalhaven River. The property is now part of Bundanon Trust’s land holding of 1,100 hectares and comprises the original homestead, the Mordant Family Library, Arthur Boyd’s original studio (now an administration building) and the Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre, established through the generosity of Sydney businessman Fred Street.

HISTORY 

The land on the Shoalhaven River which includes the property Riversdale was first sighted by government surveyor James Meehan in 1803. Settlement in the Shoalhaven started around 1822, Bundanon was purchased by Dr Kenneth McKenzie in 1838 and on 10 June 1853 Captain Charles Wardlow, of Darlinghurst, selected Portion 101 in the Parish of Illaroo – later naming it ‘Riversdale’.

Captain Wardlow was born in Belfast, Ireland, in c1807 and had emigrated to Australia with his wife Frances nee Hughes (also born Belfast) in the 1840s. The Wardlows moved to their 64 acre block with their young daughter Sarah Isabella and built a house. The disastrous Shoalhaven River flood of 1860 impacted dramatically on the surrounding land. The river rose 120 feet at Burrier before dropping to 75 feet at Eearie (west and downstream of Riversdale) and 50 feet at 'Long Reach'. Captain Wardlow's house, Riversdale, was destroyed. Only four chairs were saved from the house, which was rebuilt.

On 20 October 1869, Sarah Isabella Wardlow married David Smith Petrie, a solicitor. Petrie had emigrated to Australia from Scotland during the goldrushes, but later resumed his profession, working for Thomas Marriott at Terrara. The couple went to live at Riversdale. Only a few months later, in May 1870, there was an even bigger flood than that which had been experienced in 1860. At Bundanon fences, yards and buildings were washed away and other buildings severely damaged, however the extent of the damage at Riversdale is not recorded. Captain Charles Wardlow died a few weeks later, on 11 June 1870, at the age of 62, and was buried at Riversdale (location to be determined).

Ownership of Riversdale passed to his daughter Sarah (Wardlow) Petrie. David and Sarah Petrie had five children. Their first, Charles Wardlow Petrie, was born on 1 August 1870. He was followed by Harriett in 1871 (later Mrs Robert Condie), David in 1875, Frances Mary in 1876 (later Mrs Jack Weir) and Elizabeth who died in infancy in 1884. Frances Wardlow (Captain Charles Wardlow’s widow) died in 1887 and was buried at Riversdale. Looking to expand the property, David Smith Petrie purchased a further 310 acres over the next eight or so years.

In 1891 there were once again major floods and it is likely that the Riversdale homestead was once again destroyed and subsequently rebuilt. In 1893 David Smith Petrie was killed by a falling tree while clearing land. He was 62. On 15 September 1896 Charles Wardlow Petrie married Sarah Mottram. Sarah was the daughter of Henry Mottram who had come to work at Bundanon in the 1860s where he met and married Philadelphia Wooden, domestic, daughter of selector Benjamin Wooden. Charles selected a property of 100 acres, now known as 'Gipsy Point', and appears to have moved there soon after his marriage. Charles and Sarah had five children, with Alfred (July 1897), Albert (September 1898) and perhaps Walter (November 1900) being born before they returned to Riversdale in 1900 or 1903. The three boys were followed by Stella in March 1903 and Bertha in October 1908.

In the meantime it would appear that one of Sarah Petrie's brothers, Henry Mottram Junior, had been resident at Riversdale. Henry married Mabel Glanville in 1902. They honeymooned at Riversdale and their first child, Marjorie, was born there on 31 December 1902. According to Marjorie Mottram (later Hodges), her parents had no transport while at Riversdale and to get supplies for the family her father would row across the Shoalhaven River to his father-in-law, John Glanville, and go by horse and buggy to Nowra, about 12 miles away. Another child, Allan Mottram, was born at Riversdale on 26 May 1904 before the family moved to 'Watersleigh'.

In 1902 the estate of David Smith Petrie had been sold. Robert Condie of Beeweeree purchased 80 acres, with the remainder being purchased by Charles Wardlow Petrie and his brother David Petrie Jnr. It is not known whether Sarah Isabella Petrie stayed on at Riversdale after her son's marriage in 1896, or throughout the time that Henry Mottram and his family were living there. Sarah signed Riversdale over to Charles Wardlow Petrie on 25 September 1905. She died in 1919. Between 1912 and 1954 it is presumed that Riversdale was leased.

It was sold out of the family in 1954 to George Roy Harvison Walker of Cambewarra. Roy Walker then sold to Shirley and Colin Walker in 1963. In the summer of 1971-72 Arthur & Yvonne Boyd first visited the Shoalhaven staying at Sydney art dealer Frank McDonald’s property, Bundanon (jointly owned with Sandra and Tony McGrath). Falling in love with the heat, colour and clarity of the Shoalhaven landscape, Arthur asked McDonald to look out for a property nearby that the Boyd’s could buy. Some months later McDonald sent photographs of the Riversdale property to the Boyd’s in England – they were so impressed they bought it site unseen. They engaged the services of Sydney architect Andre Porebski to restore the old farm house and build another in the same style joined by a covered walkway. This would house the Mordant Family Library. He also designed and built Arthur a studio. The Boyds added two other lots of land to Riversdale and purchased a right of way. In 1979 Arthur & Yvonne Boyd also purchased Bundanon from McDonald and the McGrath’s.

Reference:
Peter Freeman, The Bundanon Trust Properties Heritage Management Plan 2007, Vol, April 2007
Brenda Naill, the boyds, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne University Press, 2002
David Chalker, Bundanon Trust: the early years, (Draft), 2005

1. In Cambewarra A. Clark claims that they arrived in 1844 however this is unlikely as the birth and death of their infant daughter Frances in 1842 is recorded on the NSW Register of Births Deaths and Marriages. The family name is frequently spelt 'Wardlaw' in NSW BDM records.
2. The Illawarra Mercury February 17, 1860.
3. Cambewarra
4. Clark, Cambewarra
5. Marjorie Phyllis Hodges, A Little of My Life, produced and published by Pam and Bruce Cowie, date unknown
6. The Shoalhaven Telegraph 5th March 1902