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REGENTVILLE ARCHAEOLOGICAL

PROJECT

1985- 1993

Final Report to the National Estate Grant Program

Judy Birmigham and Andrew Wilson Centre for Historical Archaeology

University of Sydney

February 1994

Cover The Regentville mansion complex from the south during excavation, aerial view .

Andrew Wilson 1991

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Frontispiece The privy from the east, with artefacts in the privy pit.

Andrew Wilson 1991

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Table of Contents

About this Report

Chapter 1 Background to the Regentville Project

Chapter 2 Research Design and Methodology

Chapter 3 Results

1.

2.

3.

4.

The Central Regentville Complex: Ground Plan & Design

The Privy Deposit and Artefact Analysis

Other Analytical Programs

Contextual Investigation - Physical and Documentary

Chapter 4 Postscript

Bibliography

Appendix 1 The Excavation Team

Appendix 2 Contemporary Descriptions

Appendix 3 List of Stratigraphic Units

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70

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105

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128


List of Figures

Cover The Regentville mansion complex from the south, aerial view. A. Wilson 1991

Frontispiece The privy from the east, with deposit in situ in the privy pit. A. Wilson 1991

Figure 1. Plan of the Regentville mansion complex, showing all excavation areas.

Figure 2. Plan of the Regentville mansion complex, showing the areas laid out (outline) and features excavated (blocked) in 197Z

Figure 3. Plan of the Regentville mansion complex, showing the ground plan as surveyed in 1982.

Figure 4. Plan of the Regentville mansion complex, showing the areas laid out (outline) and features excavated (blocked) in 1985.




Figure 8. Plan of the Regentville mansion complex, showing the areas laid out (outline) andfeatures excavated (blocked) in 1991.

Figure 9. Flow-chart of the artefact-processing system developed for the Regentville Project.

Figure 10. Plan showing the interpretation of the mansion complex developed from the excavation 1992

Figure 11. Regentville, north (front) elevation. Reconstruction based on archaeological evidence and Martens' 1835 sketch. A. Wilson

Figure 12. Regentville. Front elevation (1824-5), compared to Old Government House, Parramatta (after 1816), and First Government House. Sydney, (1818-1825). A. Wilson

Figure 13. Regentville. Plan of enclosed yard area, compared to those of Old Government House, Parramatta (after 1816), and First Government House, Sydney (1818-1825).

Figure 14. Regentville. Ground plan, compared to that of the 1820

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30

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Government House Stables, Sydney, by Francis Greenway. 56

Figure 15. Plan of the Privy Complex within Area 4. 62

I Figure 16. Comparison of the functional groups of glass and ceramics from selected deposits, by mass.

63

I Figure 17. Comparison of the materials of glass and ceramics from selected

deposits, by mass. 64

I Figure 18. Comparison of the functional groups of ceramics from the Privy

and Non Privy deposits. 65

Figure 19. Comparison ofthefunctional groups of glass from the Privy and

II Non Privy deposits. 66

I Figure 20. Ceramics present in the Privy, shown by the dates of their I advertisements in the Sydney newspapers. The advertising date

II ranges are overlaid on the major occupation phases of Regentville.

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I Figure 21. Marked ceramics present in the Privy, showing their manufacturer's date ranges, overlayed on the major occupation phases of Regentville.

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Figure 22. Privy Deposition Model, showing the major stages in the development of the deposits within the privy complex.

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I Figure 23. Comparison of the frequency of the functional groups of artefacts from activity areas within Area 4.

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I Figure 24. Presentation of the frequency of bones by species in the midden deposit, Unit 151.

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I Figure 25. Presentation of the frequency of bones by body part in the midden

deposit, Unit 151. 79

Figure 26. Diagram showing the process of acquisition of the Regentville

I Estate by years. The darker area is the original Grant made to Thomas Jamison in 1806.

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I Figure 27. Diagram showing the proportions of the Regentville Estate acquired by grant and purchase. The darker area is the original Grant made to Thomas Jamison in 1806.

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Figure 28. Presentation of the relative size ofmajor family land holdings in 1830.

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I Figure 29. Presentation of the relative size of Jamison's land holdings in by location.

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I Figure 30. Plan of land grants in the County of Cumberland showing the size

of the Regentville Estate. 90

I Figure 31. Plan of the Regentville Estate showing soil types.

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Chapter 1

Background to the Regentville Project

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Overall Objectives

The decision to develop a major field project at Regentville was made in 1984 for two major reasons - the need for a frrst-class excavation at which archaeology students could learn modem field techniques and gain experience, and the urgent need to develop and teach more sophisticated, cost-efficient and effective methods of finds analysis. The site was chosen again for several reasons: it had been previously worked on by Sydney University Archaeology Society but neither completed nor published, it had been the subject of a previous Honours Thesis, it was under distant but inevitable threat of redevelopment by the Department of Housing, and it was conveniently close to Sydney. The adjacent landowners also proved to be extremely supportive.

The objectives of the Regentville Project are set out and discussed in detail in chapter 2 of this report. They are as follows:

1. Methodology - to set out explicit guide-lines for professional standards for both archaeological data collection in the field and its post-excavation analysis and synthesis, and to train current archaeological students at the University of Sydney- and elsewhere- in their proper use.

2. Community - to develop more effective programs of public participation and involvement in all aspects of the project than had hitherto been normal practice.

3. Research - to demonstrate the potential of historical archaeology to make its own significant contribution to aspects of Australia's recent history.

These objectives have remained constant throughout the project, appearing - albeit in updated and increasingly developed form - in all interim reports, submissions and publications. This report is intended primarily to present the results of the Project, and, more specifically, the evidence for the extent to which these objectives were achieved.

Summary of Events and Results, 1985-1992

The Project was planned in 1984 as a joint venture by archaeologists from the Universities, of Sydney (Judy Birmingham) and New England (Graham Connah). A joint submission for funding support was made to the National Estate Grants Program in that year, and the first field season took place in May 1985. Over one hundred student excavators and other volunteers participated, the excavation forming part of archaeological requirements at both universities. Archaeology students from Macquarie and Flinders Universities, and the Australian National University, also took part.

In the following year the University of New England's other commitments caused it to withdraw, and the project was taken over by the University of Sydney. It nevertheless continued to provide field training for students of other universities. Analysis of finds from the 1985 season occupied 1986.

As will be seen in the following account, progress reports on the Project were presented regularly to the funding authority (NSW Department of Planning). Public lectures on the progress of the Regentville project were given at professional conferences in Sydney 1987, Canberra 1988, Auckland 1990 and Melbourne 1991. Two professional papers have been published to date, and in addition over forty Honours and undergraduate research papers were undertaken, adding significantly to information on the site and the finds. Many of

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these will appear in print either independently or as part of a larger publication on the site.

The following summary outlines the progress, major events, participants, publications and reports throughout the eight years of the project in chronological order. The areas excavated season by season are set out on successive plans (figs. 2-8)

Summary of Results 1977-1992

This section summarises the process of the investigation of Regentville and its many contexts from the beginning of Sydney University's association with the site in 1977 to the completion of the current project in 1992.

1977

Ten day excavation at Regentville by the University of Sydney Archaeological Society. Students were able to stay at Huntington Hall, and excavated a discontinuous one-metre wide trench laid out from north to south across the site (fig. 2). This trench revealed the form of the central drain, and the cobbled floor of the stable block, but was otherwise too narrow and restricted to be informative. It was re-excavated in 1985 as part of the new project. The available 1977 field records were used to plan work in 1985, and are archived with the University's records ..

1982

Andrew Wilson chose the Regentville site and its owner as the subject of his Honours thesis in History at the suggestion of R. Ian Jack.. His thesis with its verbatim quotations of 17 contemporary descriptions of the site, its plans of Jamison's land grants, and its measured plans and drawings of surviving ruins (fig. 3) remained a major research resource throughout the later Project. No excavation was carried out in relation to this thesis, which was intended to provide the historical context missing at the time of the 1977 mini-excavation.

1985

The work carried out in the first season of the new Project comprised excavation, survey, and a soils investigation program. Wall tops of parts of the mansion, and some features of the courtyard were faintly discernible at surface level (fig. 4), and assisted in formulating excavation strategy. It was decided that two excavation areas should be laid out, both within the visible remains of the walled courtyard behind the mansion. Area 1 comprised, four 5-metre square panels separated by baulks in the traditional form, spanning the back wall of the mansion. Area 2 was a single 12-metre square, gridded into alphanumeric quadrats, towards the middle of the courtyard: it was designed to locate the remains of the kitchen outbuilding mentioned in the 1848 Notice of Sale (cf. Appendix 2).

Field-work comprised three weeks in the May vacation. Excavation of Area 1 was completed, supervisors Veitch, Ireland. Partial excavation of Area 2 (supervisor Pearson). Topographic survey by Wilson and Churchill. Soils investigation Dr. Davey. Laboratory Analysis followed.

Joint Directors

Assistant Director

Supervisors

Grahame Connah - Site

Judy Birmingham- Finds recording and Analysis

Andrew Wilson - Survey and Photography

Bruce Veitch, Jean Smith, Sue Pearson, Tracey Ireland, Diane Churchill.

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Soils

Administration

Visitation, work

1986

Brian Davey, Hal Geering, John Corbett, Chris Johnson

lima Powell

Work Experience, student projects.

In place of excavation work was carried out on the excavated material and reports submitted. Research was begun on building materials- shell from mortars, ceiling plasteron faunal material and some of the artefacts: a report was completed on the progress of the excavation overall ( cf. Connah 1986).

Laboratory Analysis

Publications, Lectures

Library Research-

Visitation, work

1987

Soils analysis, artefact cleaning and processing, MINARK program, report writing, accounts

First and Second Interim reports to the NSW Department of Planning. Interim Report 1 on the methodology to be employed in the Project (Birmingham and Wilson 1987) and Interim Report 2 on the first field season and its background (Connah, 1986, 29-42)

Continuing work on the historical context of Jamison and Regentville.

Work Experience, student projects.

This was a particularly productive year, in which the methodology of both excavation and artefact processing was refined, the results being set out in the Third Interim Report (see also fig. 5). In particular the classification guidelines for sorting and recording fmds were further standardised, and bugs which emerged during the processing 1986 were eliminated. Additional excavation in 1987 on Area 2 completed removal of the demolition rubble which covered it, and allowed reconstruction of the structure below it, largely from robbed wall trenches. Both stone and brick walls and the stone flags paving the kitchen were gone, but several features of the building could be inferred from what remained. A particular feature of this season was the excavation of a concentration of food refuse and household, debris adjacent to the south west corner of the building, as well as the identification of a later veranda added to the southwest side of the excavated structure. This was the first clearly-identifiable evidence of post-construction alteration.

Project Director

Assistant Directors

Supervisors

Soils

Administration

Field-work -

Judy Birmingham- Finds recording and Analysis

Damaris Bairstow - Site Director

Andrew Wilson - Survey and Photography

Julie Byrnes


lima Powell

May, three weeks. Excavation of Area 2 (completed),

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Laboratory Analysis-

Publications, Lectures -

1988

supervisor Wilson. Partial excavation of Area 3 Topographic survey by Wilson and Churchill (completion). Soils investigation Dr. Davey. Resistivity transects

wall and ceiling plasters completed (Capon), shell in mortar (Poulos, Young) bone from food refuse identification (Willingham), also soils analysis, and intensive artefact cleaning and processing (Fitzroy, Byrnes, Mider). Construction and use of MINARK database program and sorting codes.

Interim Report 3 (Birmingham, Wilson 1987) presented both field and finds processing work for the 1987 season, Also scholarly paper on the Regentville Project presented to the 1987 ASHA National Conference, Sydney.

The heavy rain in April caused adjustments to the excavation program: Area 2 in particular was too water-logged to be worked, and the focus of activity temporarily moved to other aspects of the service facilities in the Regentville yard. During this year a Sunday volunteer program in August worked successfully to allow final clearance of most of the Area 2 robber trenches. Additional study of the house and courtyard visible remains in conjunction with comparative studies enabled more complete reconstruction of the original form of the north facade and general ground plan.

Project Director

Field Director

Supervisors

Soils

Administration

Field-work -

Visitation



Judy Birmingham- Analysis and Finds

Andrew Wilson - Site and Photographs

Barbara Fitzroy - Finds Analysis and Data Entry

Dana Mider - Finds and Records

Nicholas Arnold - Architecture


Ilma Powell.

May two weeks, August six weeks (Sundays only), both periods affected by heavy rain before the excavation. Area 2 too wet to complete excavation even in August. Area 3 excavated. Architectural field study and reconstruction of the mansion and courtyard completed by Arnold and Wilson.

July-August Volunteer program on Sundays.

Soils analyses by undergraduates, artefact cleaning and processing, entry into MINARK program

Interim Report 4 on the 1988 field season (Birmingham 1989): Wilson, Archaeology and Colonisation 1988: paper at ASHA Conference,

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Canberra.

Library Research - Numerous research projects undertaken by undergraduates in Historical Archaeology courses.

1989

Further weather problems interrupted the excavation program, and major emphasis went into research projects by staff and students on related areas of historical enquiry (cf. student projects, Chapter 3.3), as well as a public exhibition and other public presentations.

Project Director

Soils

Administration

Field-work -


Publications, Lectures-

Library Research -

1990


Andrew Wilson - Graphics and Photographs

Barbara Fitzroy - Finds classification and Data Entry

Hal Geeting, John Corbett, Chris Johnson

lima Powell.

No excavation due to heavy rain.

Soils analyses by undergraduates, artefact cleaning and processing, entry into MINARK program

Exhibition, 'Digging for Meaning' in the Macleay Museum with many Regentville illustrations: launch of publication Archaeology and Colonisation at this event. Public lecture at the Royal Australian Historical Society on Regentville (J. Birmingham)

Numerous research projects undertaken by undergraduates in Historical Archaeology courses.

The excavation of the west wing confirmed first that this was the location of the billiard room rather than the coach house, primarily on the evidence of the elaborate wall and, ceiling plaster, as well as the formal aspect of such features as stonework and the position of the fireplace. Half the billiard room only was excavated. Excavation to the south of the billiard room wall revealed a hitherto unsuspected structure between this, the main drain and the external courtyard wall, at this point pierced by an opening. Work in this area could not be completed in the time available, so that a considered decision was made to delay investigation of the new structure until the following year.

Excavation of the stable block revealed that the area had already been excavated - probably by the recent owner George Baker in his desire to provide a historic park for visitors - so that there were very few finds.

Project Director

Field Director

Supervisors

Soils




Hal Geering, John Corbett, Chris Johnson

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Administration

Field-work -

Visitation -

Laboratory Analyses-


1991

Ilma Powell.

Excavation of two new Areas 4 (the Western Wing and Courtyard) and 5 (the western Stable Block). Soils investigation.

Open Day (16 July) at Regentville. 200 visitors.

Soils analysis, artefact cleaning and processing, MINARK program, report writing, accounts

Interim Report 5 on the 1989-1990 field program (Birmingham and Wilson 1991) to the NSW Department of Planning. Paper at 1990 ASHA International Conference, Auckland.

Completion of privy clearance, together with extensive work clearing and interpreting the stables.

Project Director

Field Director

Supervisors

Soils

Administration

Field-work -

Visitation -

Laboratory Analyses-


Library Research-





lima Powell.

September, two weeks. Completion of excavation of new Areas 4, the Western Wing, and 5, part of the Western Stable Block. Completion of Privy excavation and associated drains. Extension of Stable Block excavation to six stalls in all.

A video of the excavation and visitors was shot by Russell Workman (University of Sydney) during the excavation for future educational use.

Soils analysis, artefact cleaning, processing, and data entry into MIN ARK program.

Sixth Interim Report (brief) to the NSW Department of Planning. Honours thesis on ceramics including those from RGV privy: another on faunal analysis including RGV material .. Paper at 1991 ASHA International Conference, Melbourne.

Third year undergraduate projects on nineteenth century sanitation and privies, household ceramics, contemporary stable design in NSW etc ( cf. Chapter 3.3)

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1992

A small and specialist team in 1992 returned to the site to record the standing features and walls, and complete certain planning tasks, as well as particular small archaeological questions arising from laboratory work.

Project Director

Field Director

Soils

Administration

Field-work -

Laboratory Analyses -


Library Research -

Acknowledgments

Judy Birmingham - Analysis and Finds

Andrew Wilson - Site, Photographs and Computer Programs


lima Powell.

May, three days recording of standing structures. No excavation.

Soils analyses, artefact cleaning, processing, and data entry into MIN ARK program.

Preparation of Final Report to the NSW Department of Planning. Lectures to special interest groups such as the Ceramic Collectors Society and the History Teachers Association in-service workshops, and as the basis for Continuing Education teaching, Faculty of Architecture Urban Design coursework and PHA teaching both graduate and undergraduate. Regular reports appeared in archaeological newsletters

Fourth Year Honours theses.

The Regentville Project acknowledges the National Estate Grant funding that made it possible, the assistance of the Heritage Branch of the New South Wales Department of Planning who administered it, in particular Rob Power, Helen Temple, Meredith Hutton and Tracy Ireland for their support, and the University of Sydney for the use of the Centr~ for Historical Archaeology's large and well-equipped work-place. Thanks are also due to' the New South Wales Department of Housing and more recently the joint venturers of Glenmore Estate for their co-operation in providing access to the sites. The Project thanks with special warmth Ross Sinclair and his family, residents of an adjacent property, for their kindness and generosity in providing support and facilities.

The Project has throughout its eight years benefited considerably from the indefatigable work of Ilma Powell in providing administrative support, and from the tireless and consistent work of Barbara Fitzroy in ensuring the integrity of the Regentville artefacts database on which depends the validity of so many of the Project's results. It is difficult to imagine how the work could have been completed without them.

Finally the Project has throughout benefited from the enthusiasm and expertise of our own Sydney University's historical archaeology students without whom its objectives could not have been realised.

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Area4

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Area2

AreaS

0 10 :10 A

-c-=-===~----~===----- N

Figure 1. Plan of the Regentville mansion complex, showing all excavation areas.

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Cellar

i:::::::::;::: Main House ) Cdlu

:::::::::::,:::: 1.:-:.:·:· .·.·:·::·:·:=::-;::: :=:::::=::···:··

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Stables

lll A -=-=-=~==-----===~----- N

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Main House

Well or Tank ?

Stable Block Stable Block

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10 Seole ,.. ...... 20 A

-c~~=====-----~==~------ N

Figure 3. Plan of the Regentville mansion complex, showing the ground plan as surveyed in 1982.

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Main House

Kitchens


2ll A .c~~=====------=====------ N

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Figure 4.

:-:-:· :;::;: ~fh::::;:;:: :;:;:::;:;:;:;:_.:.::·:::

Plan of the Regentville mansion complex, showing the areas laid out (outline) and features excavated (blocked) in 1985.

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Main House

l I

Servants Quarters and Kitchens


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Figure 6.

.·.·.·.·.·.·.·,•,•,,•,•,•.·.··•.····. ::

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10 Scale ........ 211 A

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·.·.·.·.·.·.··:-:·:···· :-:·:·:·:·:·.·.·:: -:

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Plan of the Regentville mansion complex, showing the areas laid out (outline) and features excavated (blocked) in 1988.

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Main House

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Servant s Quarters and Kitchens


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Chapter 2

Research Design and Methodology

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Research Design

At the time of the 1985 excavations the major historical sources for the life and times of the former owner of Regentville, Sir John Jamison, were two-fold: in shorter form G. P. Walsh's entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, and the more recent and much fuller paper by Brian Fletcher, 'Sir John Jamison in New South Wales 1814-1844'.

These articles outline the career of Sir John. He was born in 1776 of Irish descent, and followed his father's occupation of naval surgeon, a profession from which he earned a knighthood in 1809 for curing scurvy in the Swedish navy, and retirement on half-pay in 1813. His father Thomas had already set a pattern of emigration to the colonies, land acquisition and illicit trading activities in among the Sydney traders, and following his father' death in 1811 Sir John followed the colonial path to New South Wales, prefering however the gains to be made by land investments to those of off-shore trading.

Four major areas of his enterprises over the next thiry years are prominent in the documentary sources which survive: his acquisition of huge tracts of land on the Nepean (including the Regentville estate), at Capertee in the Blue Mountains, and on the Namoi and Richmond Rivers, as well as (briefly) in the Hunter Valley, and in town: his reputation for lavish, even excessive, hospitality to local gentry, travellers and foreign visitors alike at his Regentville estate especially after the construction of his mansion in 1824-18266: his lively scientific and intellectual interests in introducing and developing a wide range of agricultural, viticultural, equine and other ideas and innovations which he thought would be good for the future of the colony: and his energy and capability in initiating and undertaking numerous public positions designed to develop the cultural institutions he considered important in the new colony, including in his later years his appointment to the Legislative Council, and his work towards representative government.

Other aspects of Jamison that are no less a part of his not inconspicuous proflle in the colony include his publicly unconventional domestic arrangements: his capacity to fall out with the colonial administators, especially the earlier more conservative ones: and his strong views on social order, including the conviction that emancipists should not mix freely with their betters, and a belief that assigned convicts should first be broken into heavy manual land clearance, and that they should never receive payment in cash.

In all Sir John emerges as a highly energetic and fmancially successful self-made man who became ultimately a victim of the 1840s depression - individual, certainly, but scarcely eccentric in a society in which social norms were manifestly elastic. That his knighthood gave him advantage, social and thus economic, in the colony is unquestionable - yet he seems to have received it for a wholly characteristic episode of innovative scientific opportunism.

As to the site of Regentville itself, neither of the historical accounts so far cited spent much time dealing with the surviving physical evidence of Jamison's activities. Considerably more informative was the work of Wilson (1982), who worked intensively on identifying visible features of the actual site for his Honours thesis in 1982. Wilson completed both the archaeological surface survey and the extensive library research that was embodied in his BA Hons. thesis (cf. Wilson 1982, and also 1988) .. Reference to this work will be made throughout this Report.

None of the sources cited, however, covered in any depth questions raised by the postJamison history of the site, from the death of Sir John in 1844 to the destruction of the mansion by fire in 1869. Fletcher briefly looked at the ownership of Regentville after 1844

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without conclusion, although he was able to identify two post-Jamison changes of use- one in 1856 as a private lunatic asylum, another in 1863 as Abels Family Hotel.

Research Questions

On the basis of the three major sources available in 1985 an original research design was drafted and submitted with the first grant application. In successive seasons it was reevaluated discussed and revised, yet remained substantially in place throughout the project. One reason for this was that the original design was a broad statement of policy which did not need to be changed. Subsequent revisions and additions were primarily matters of detail, responding to new finds and the questions raised by them.

It is however fair to say that the underlying research issues also became clearer in the course of the first few seasons, and these are briefly discussed here before looking at the detail of successive submissions.

The major issue in 1985 was to identify, on the basis of the sources then available, what, if anything, makes Sir John - and his pretentious mansion - an appropriate subject for extended further study, including the use of archaeological techniques.

In any historical consideration Sir John emerges as individually one of the most important of the early free immigrant settlers in the colony of New South Wales by whatever measure, and hence prima facie an appropriate subject for any form of further study. The most obvious measure is that of the wealth, size and opulence of his households and landholdings, whether taken from official records or from the accounts of individual contemporary travellers. Another is his own estimate of his worth to the colony, whether from his many public honours and offices, or his ultimately successful pursuit of a formal political role. A third acknowledges from today's perspective the impressive energy and intelligence of his contributions to colonial life - scientific, cultural and technological.

In further support of this position is the fact that virtually no Jamison family papers survive. This increases the value of any new information relevant to such a historicallysignificant figure, including that derived from archaeological sources.

Of more positive relevance archaeologically is the fact that Jamison, as well as his importance as an individual, can also be categorised as a key member of a significant class in the emergent colonial society of the three decades 1814-44 - the free immigrant colonists of outstanding enterprise who came to Australia to make good in as big a way as possible. From his arrival he clearly saw himself as even the leader of this group, the members of which were in his view to be clearly distinguished from other levels of colonial society,' most notably the emancipists. He identified with it in terms of his friendships with other free settlers of substance, in his intellectual and scientific pursuits for the advancement of the colony, and in his assumption of numerous public-spirited offices. Finally, after more than two decades of aspiration, he was able to identify politically with his class as a member of the Legislative Council.

Thus while archaeological techniques at a site such as Regentville cannot but add particularist detail about Sir John and his mansion, they have the potential to go further. Archaeology requires to work with classes, trends and social patterns if it is to achieve results beyond the antiquarian. While Sir John was an individual of distinction he was also an identifiable unit within the structure of British colonial society, and it is this which primarily validated the selection of the Regentville Project.

Similarly, while primary emphasis was necessarily to be on the Jamison occupation of Regentville, there was, as on any archaeological site, no avoiding investigation of the total occupational sequence. What developed as the documentary research proceeded was essentially a four occupance model for the mansion:

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Sir John Jamison phase Jamison family phase Hospital phase Hotel/inn phase

1824-1844 1844-18 1860-1864 1864-1869

with a fifth phase of steady deterioration and attrition (1869-1960), and sixth phase of active interference (1960-1985)

The development of the research design in detail is discussed below. Its focus however was, throughout, the detailed investigation of Sir John's showplace Regentville as his ultimate statement to the world about himself, the colony, and his place in it.

Thus the research design as formulated aimed at a dual emphasis - the detailed particularist investigation on the one hand of all aspects of the Regentville household, whether constructional or of usage, and on the other the positioning of whatever detail was found within its various colonial contexts, whether social, technological, cultural or political. In this way it was first proposed to assess the actuality of Sir John's Regentville statement against - or maybe holistically within - his documented image: and secondly on the basis of Regentville in the 1820s and 1830s to attempt an archaeological proflle of the free settler class in the colony of New South Wales.

1. Original Research Design, 1985.

The original research design for the Regentville Project as presented in the National Estate grant application 1984 is here set out in full since it has necessarily remained fundamental to the project throughout its existence.

'Regentville has been selected as the focus for the S. U.IC.N.E. joint training excavation as a result of the following argumentation.

The problem area which the research team wishes to investigate is that of the functioning of one of the early nineteenth century farming estates in the County of Cumberland. The proposal is to investigate the material dimension of life on such an estate in two aspects viz. communication and subsistence.

A number of such estates present themselves as suitable candidates for such an investigation. RegentVille is proposed largely because enough initial research has been done on both the site (A. Wilson 1982) and its owner Jamison (Fletcher 1979) to allow a research strategy to be based on a basis of historical and archaeological knowledge. Sydney University has already had one short season at the site (1978), as well as a number of field study trips. In addition it is convenient for access and is in public ownership.

Our proposal is to test this new category of data as a lead into reanalysis of such a typical farming system. This category of material culture is therefore seen as introducing a more holistic approach to a historic investigation. The RegentVille farming systems represent specific phases of the colony's social history. Its archaeological investigation should yield a cross-section through these phases. It is proposed that the material culture dimension will not simply flesh out the other categories of historic data but will yield a different kind of social history. The project is primarily designed to test this concept in the context of Australian historical sites.

The proposal envisages that a selection of the following features be sampled by excavation:

1. Cellar and/or main house floors. 2. Rubbish dump (when found)

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3. Servants' quarters. 4. Covered counyard. 5. Drainage features. 6. Vineyard and Winery. 7. Stables. 8. Farming Technology and Land Use.

The problems to be investigated fall into two categories.

The first concerns aspects of communication and subsistence within the estate, and features 1-4 above are broadly expected to yield data in these areas viz. kitchen and household debris I personal items, commercial data and food refuse as well as spatial organisation of associated features. These must contribute to questions concerning its role in trading networks, degrees of isolation and interaction between the estate and the outside world, status and rank within the estate and aspects of quality of life.

This area of enquiry can be formulated as follows:

1. Material culture at the site will show evidence of communication with Sydney and with its immediate locality on a distance gradient model.

2. Subsistence refuse from the house and from servants I quarters will be available, and will yield evidence of patterning in terms of status and rank.

3. Material culture and subsistence evidence generally will show patterning through time consistent with a model of a moving pioneer frontier.

The second concerns aspects of technological adaptation, for which features 5-8 are seen as relevant. So also are likely to be the construction features and fabric of the main house and servants' quarters (features 1 & 3). The data to be recovered here comprises techniques of building construction and design, the nature and origins of building materials and methods and approaches to land use and farming. The model to be tested here is that of the SFR (ASHA 1, 1983 pp. 1j) and investigative techniques mainly involve building materials analysis as well as the study of the spatial organisation, design and lay-out of the site.

This area of enquiry can thus be formulated as follows:

4. The technology of farming and land use on the Regentville estate will reflect contemporary British practice as known to Jamison, modified by his perception of what changes to be made to traditional practice in the light of both increasing colonial experience and his own increasing knowledge of his own estate.

5. Through time a broad and experimental base of farming practice will narrow to a more limited and standardised set of farming techniques.

6. Through time a similar process of adaptation and standardisation will be seen in other areas of imported technology.

It is not envisaged that all or even a major pan of these objectives will be achieved on the basis of the first season of excavation since the major emphasis in the project must be on its role as a training exercise. Similarly results will depend to a considerable extent on what is found. Conversely however, the proposers are emphatic that whatever is undertaken during the first season will form an entity and will be processed and published

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forthwith.

In conclusion it must be stated again that the underlying objective of this project outside its nature as a training excavation is to test the viability of using such archaeological sites to yield results significant in the context of Australian social history at all. Data cannot be manufactured if it has not survived, or has not survived in a usable mode. In short this project proposes to tackle head-on the question of what can historical archaeology really contribute .. '

It is now more clearly recognised that the original research design for any excavation represents as it were an ambit claim, subsequent revisions successively dependent on more specific interactions between historical context and actual findings.

At Regentville these interactions became concentrated in specific areas. Excavation and field study concentrated on the Area, i.e. the enclosed space behind the mansion and its wings in which were located the household utilities and service spaces. The identification and detailed study of these utilities and spaces came to absorb primary attention. Other areas encompassed the technology involved in the vineyard design, soil profiles on the estate, and the through time history of the site.

2. Developing the Research Design

This section recounts subsequent adjustments of the original research design mainly in terms of scale and scope as the study proceded, and to our mind represents an object lesson in the way research designs develop on a feed-back system, as now widely acknowledged. This process is explicitly analysed in the last part of this section for the benefit of those working in this field.

The plan for the 1985 excavation in its simplest form was set out by Connah in his publication of the season's work (Connah 1986):

'Potentially, the site of this house should be able to supplement our knowledge of Jamison's life. Archaeological evidence should also be able to throw light on the widely varying life styles of the inhabitants of a large agricultural estate in New South Wales during the early part of the nineteenth century. at one end of the socio-economic scale would have been Jamison himself, and at the other end the convict labourers.

It was primarily to explore such archaeological possibilities that excavations were carried out in 1985. It was also hoped that the work might form the initial stage of a long-term, ongoing excavation and field survey project that could examine various aspects of life and labour on this early estate: investigating not only the site of the house itself but also those of its associated outbuildings, and the sites or surviving remains of the vineyard, the winery, the dam, the mill, the cottages adjacent to the mill, the windmill, the earlier Jamison house, and the school and church. It was recognised that with the rapid growth of modem settlement in the Penrith district, such a project might not be possible for much longer. 1n addition, the 1985 Regentville excavation was intended to provide excavation training for a large number of university students and other interested members of the public.'

The excavation work carried out in 1985 addressed these questions in specific fashion.

'Having regard for the different socio-economic levels of the people who worked and lived at this site in Jamison's time, the 1985 excavations concentrated on two suitably contrasting areas of the site. The first of these,

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designated Area 1, was an undisturbed part of the imposing stone Jwuse in which Jamison had lived. 1he second, designated Area 2, was a sample half of the adjacent domestic building which Jwused (according to the 1847 sale notice), two kitchens, a bakelwuse, a servants' hall, and seven bedrooms which were presumably for the servants' use. It was Jwped to be able to compare and contrast the structures, the building materials and the cultural artefacts excavated in the two areas. '

The conclusions reached about both areas already indicate that a more sophisticated archaeological strategy would need to be employed.

'The overall impression gained from the artefacts excavated from Area 2 is similar to that gained from tlwse recovered from Area 1. It would appear that these items were residual fragments deposited in secondary locations. They were more informative about garbage disposal and the demolition of the structure than they were about the activities that went on within it. Perhaps the most important point, Jwwever, is that a supeljicial comparison slwwed no obvious socio-economic contrasts between the artefacts from the Jwuse and tlwsefrom the domestic outbuilding ... '

This first season led predictably to revision and especially concentration of the original research design and its ambit form. This revision was completed in 1990, when the shape and focus of what was needed for this site - the concept of the mansion complex as a microcosm of the estate as a whole- took its final form.

The 1987 season had research objectives which were specifically scaled down from the original research design, and refined to respond to the circumstances as well as the questions raised by the first season. (fig 6)

It was agreed that Area 1, which was completed in 1985, be abandonned, and work concentrated in Area 2. It was also agreed that excavation of the western half of the domestic outbuilding should be completed (i.e. Area 2) with the following goals: definition of its structural form, identification of its building materials and finishes, recovery of artefacts from deposits of primary or secondary deposition, and investigation of the changing forms and usage of the spaces both within and around it, especially those to the south west of the domestic structure from which concentrations of food refuse and kitchen rubbish had begun to appear in 1985.

The 1988 season proposed to continue work in Area 2, notably the fmal clearance of the robber trenches of the external walls. However, the heavy rain prior to the May 198R excavation left these trenches waterlogged, and a new excavation, Area 3, was opened between Area 2 and the back wall of the mansion to investigate further the junction between the domestic outbuilding and the main house. (fig. 7)

By this time the questions directing the excavation had been fined down to a set of queries focussed around how the courtyard functioned, and the specific placement, form and technology of the services within it. The mansion and courtyard were by now seen as a microcosm of the estate as a whole, with the expectation that Jamison's innovative and experimental nature, as well as his determination to present a highly successful image to foreign travellers and local gentry alike, would ensure that his household appointments -especially where visible to visitors - would reflect his self-promotional character just as much as consideration of the appearance and management of his estate in toto.

The results of the 1988 excavation answered some questions, and left more still outstanding. The former revealed both that the laundry and wash-house were certainly not located in Area 3, and that a covered passage way was, linking the back of the house with the kitchen. This covered way was reasonably to be identified with the one mentioned in the Notice of Sale. These discoveries indicated that the whole wash-house function must lie

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either further west along the back wall of the house, or further east. Given the obviously public entertaining character of the west wing, the eastern possibly was the more convincing.

The latter were summed in the revised questions posed in the Interim Report for the next phase of investigation:

Where were the wash house and laundry? Was there an 'internal courtyard' in the vicinity of the Covered Way? Where was the change in courtyard surface from the gravel of Area 3 to the flagstones (robbed) of Area 2? and How wide was the verandah around the mansion?

In 1990 these questions were addressed by means of a strategy which focussed on the design of the complex as a whole, especially the west wing and the courtyard adjacent to it .. It seemed likely that mysteries concerned with specific structures in the courtyard could well be solved by a greater understanding of the functions and services of the adjacent spatial units. Associated with the investigation of the west wing were other questions. These included:

Which of the pavilions housed the billiard room and which the coachhouse? How did the main block communicate with the pavilions? Where was the break between the two stable buildings? and Were there within the mansion complex any other structures not mentioned in historical sources?

To investigate these the two new Areas 4 and 5 were set out and excavated. Area 4 yielded first answers to questions about the west wing, then further questions about the unknown structure south of the billiard room. As noted, this new structure was deliberately left unexcavated until the following year. Excavation in Area 5 showed where the central stable entry lay, but produced more questions concerning the lay-out and fittings of the stalls, the position of the grooms' quarters, and questions of access into the stables from the south.

In 1991 excavation continued in Areas 4 and 5. work began on the new structure south of the billiard room, and the existence of the privy south of the billiard room was revealed, its abundant contents cleared, and the interesting and unexpected design of both privy and drains excavated and planned. Similarly the central part of the stable block was extensively excavated, including the substantial ramp confirming the existence of the stable yard to the south. A new Area was briefly excavated, Area 6 towards the northeast corner of the courtyard. It was laid out to cover a depression some 4m square which had always appeared damper than surrounding parts. It seemed possible that this might indicate the presence of a sub-surface well or cistern to provide house water, of which there was, otherwise no sign. Excavation quickly proved there was no such structure.

In 1992 there was No excavation, the field season concentrating on planning all standing and excavated structures.

In 1993 all efforts were directed to the analysis of excavated structures and especially finds. More intensive development of the research design and the seeking of answers followed moved concurrently with these analyses. Several return visits were made to the site, partly to complete detail of plans since 1988, partly to argue questions and solutions realistically on site, without the pressures of excavation, to ensure the best use would be made of the analyses of finds.

One such visit, that of Thursday 28.1. 93, was particularly fruitful and well illustrates this process. The enquiry related to the final confirmation of the laundry and wash room as the eastern and central rooms in the West Wing (Area 4). This had become the accepted interpretation since 1988 when the waste water drain then excavated appeared to terminate in a sump at the east end of the Covered Way.

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This interpretation seemed to be supported in 1992 frrst because of the discovery of the entry drain to the privy on a line consistent with exiting from the south wall of the eastern room, second because of the off-centre fireplace, more consistent with some form of water heating device than a formal chimney piece. Confirmation could only be sought by a small additional excavation - finding the exit drain through the south wall of this room, or by intersecting it in the courtyard before it reached the privy.

Against this identification were two counter arguments. First, how did Jamison and his guests enter the billiard room, since going through wash room and laundry would not be appropriate. The only door opening visible at existing wall heights was that between eastern and central! rooms. The only known door illustrated was a french window leading from the west verandah into what must have been the eastern room: the possibility of a door in the front facade of the billiard room appears visually unlikely. Most convincing of the arguments against external entry into the billiard room from within the courtyard is the confirmed lack of any steps to adjust for the change of height between courtyard and the presumed height of the suspended timber floor. External entry through the west courtyard wall seemed unlikely for reasons of security as well as aesthetics.

Second, both smaller rooms appeared to have been as generously lime-plastered as the billiard room itself, suggesting a formal entertaining or reception role rather than utilitarian ones. Lime in even 1826 was still in limited supply in the colony.

These arguments taken together caused re-appraisal of the original 1988 premise, that the laundry and wash-house were in the west wing, and the new hypothesis was formed that they occupied a comparable situation in the east wing.

In favour of this proposition was their proximity to the cellar and coach-house, also comprising service areas, rather than the particularly public entertaining area of the billiard room. Visitors would not otherwise normally enter the east wing. Against it was one major argument- that the main courtyard drain, which drained west, visibly ended at the covered way so that there would not be access to it from rooms further east. This had seemed totally convincing until the thought occurred that the main drain sump and grating beside the covered way, into which the bulk of household slops would go, was east, not west of it. If it were indeed the start of the drain, its logical siting would have been adjacent to the west side of the covered way to avoid more than a metre of pointless extra tunnelling and capping, plus weakening the covered way structure.

The most rational explanation was that the main drain continued north east, undetected by the stone robbers and therefore invisible under the intact gravel of the courtyard surface, to the back of the east wing where it serviced waste water from both household baths and' laundry. Inspection of the drain sump, over 1.5 metres deep at this point and hitherto always at least half full of water, suggested the drain might just continue in spite of deceptive appearances.

The one drainage query left to answer concerned the source of the inlet drain into the privy since on this assumption it did not come from the laundry and wash-house. This prompted a further discussion of surface drainage especially the problem of roof run off: since the mansion had a shingle roof it has been assumed there were no gutters for water collection. There were no sandstone eavesdrops along the south and east facing walls of the west wing, merely a red gravelly lateritic surface over gravel and river pebble. The proposition has now been set up that the eavesdrops may have taken the form of rubble drains or soakways, acting as receivers of roof run-off prior to its seepage into a collection pit - not a formal drain - just east of the privy. This arrangement has a precedent in the soak pit just south of the south wall of the privy, into which roof run-off from a small skillion dropped into a pit filled with chipped sandstone rubble, thence through a chute drain in the privy wall to assist in flushing the system.

These various on-site propositions produced another return to the documentary sources,

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primarily Dumaresq (Anon 1828, cf. Appendix 2), and the house Notice of Sale (1847) to check once again on the description of the internal arrangements of the complex. While the Sale Notice was familiar enough, Dumaresq added the important information that in 1828 the library as well as the billiard room was in the wings. This gave further support that the eastern, central, and western rooms of Area 4 comprised a gentlemen's entertainment and recreational suite for Jamison and his visitors, elegantly plastered and finished: and that household utilities must certainly be sought elsewhere. These conclusions were then tested by a number of different distributional analyses in which the proportions of various categories of finds could be compared and contrasted in the different spatial areas mentioned. Materials investigated included wall and ceiling plasters, and household and personal items.

The completion of finds data entry in November 1992 also allowed a major development toward total site history when manipulation of the 200,000 finds recorded on the database began. With increasing knowledge that finds from successive occupations of the Regentville complex could potentially be identified, a new set of questions were generated.

Methodology

The guiding principle of the Regentville project was that the site should be excavated and the finds recovered in a way which allowed a holistic approach to its analysis and interpretation rather than the more selective and partial traditional approach currently favoured by most practitioners of the 1980s (Birmingham 1990). In other words the site was to be viewed more in the manner of a prehistoric site: the totality of spatial activity in the form of artefact density was to be precision-mapped by use of 1m quadrats within the larger stratigraphic unit area, the nature of each stratigraphic unit defmed in terms of its interpretive significance - fill deposit, interface, soil etc. - and the totality of artefacts and residues from each stratigraphic unit taxonomically sorted and classified, then quantified by count and weight.

The primary benefit of this system is its combination of immense flexibility and extreme precision in seeking the standard archaeological relationships between different categories of artefacts, their distribution over space, and their stratigraphic constraints. These can be used to answer primary research questions set up before excavation, but are also self generating: new questions develop as analysis of data proceeds. A selection of results, together with examples of how analysis proceeds, can be seen in Chapter 3.

The following discussion of the Centre for Historical Archaeology (CHA) system, concentrates on outlining the key features that distinguish it from much current Australian historical archaeological practice. Detailed descriptions of CHA excavation and recording procedures have been given in Interim Report 3, 1987, and are not repeated here.

The excavbation record in all its forms is currently archived and stored at the University of Sydney.

1. The Pre-Structured Record

A notable feature of CHA excavations is the set of interlocking pre-printed recording sheets and registers which not only give these projects their distinctive style, but also provide the best evidence of their academic rigour.

Pro-forma recording sheets are not new. What is distinctive about the CHA system is the degree to which both field recording and data classification are pre-structured. An excavation and analysis procedure has been developed that uses pre-printed formats, prenumbered registers, and prepared classification codes that are mutually exclusive to ensure three things: first, duplication and error during data collection and recording are minimised

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by prepared formats and pre-numbering: second, ambiguity and inconsistency during the subsequent analysis of the data are minimised by the use of pre-set classification codes which ensure that any problems have to be clarified before data entry: third, prepared formats yield the greatest economy in information control, ensuring answers to essential questions and discouraging verbosity. While it is critical that essential data pre-defined in line with a specific excavation-analysis strategy is collected on site, it is equally important to avoid amassing mountains of repetitive documentation which becomes an unusable waste of time and space.

In the CHA system all site information feeds into a linked set of records, comprising preprinted data sheets, registers of data sheets, and electronic databases. There are for example four kinds of pre-printed· Data Sheets: Stratigraphic Record Sheets, in which one sheet is filled out for each stratigraphic unit, giving the description of the unit, its place in the stratigraphic matrix and cross references to plans, sections and photographs: Stratigraphic Quantification Record Sheets which record quantitative data from each stratigraphic unit excavated: Fill Unit Analysis Sheets sheets which record quantitative data from one in ten buckets excavated from stratigraphic units identified as fill: and Finds Inventory Sheets which record stage 1 analysis data and are fed directly into the inventory database. All plans, sections and elevations are drawn on to numbered A3 tracing film Plan Sheets placed over lmm gridded graph paper (scale 1:20 for site area plans, 1:10 for sections)

There are also Registers for different sets of primary data summarising overall progress: the register of stratigraphic units is a single serially-numbered list filled out when each new Unit number is assigned: this is reproduced as Appendix 3 of this Report. There are Registers of Field Plan Numbers, Field Section Numbers, and the Monochrome and Colour Photographic Registers respectively, listing exposure numbers, direction, subject and date of monochrome photographs. Again pre-numbering of unexposed rolls of films proved a useful device.

Finally there are the various databases, the key ones being the stratigraphic unit database [RGVUNITS] and the finds inventory database [RGVFINDS], into which every artefact sorted to stage 1, is directly entered in a form which will be susceptible to analytical retrieval and report production. Other databases include the Stratigraphic Quantification Database [RGVQUANT], the Fill Unit Analysis Database [RGVFILL], the Audit of Progress Database [RGVAUDIT] used during the excavation to monitor the progress of work on stage 1 analysis of excavated material, the Field Plan Database [RGVPLANS], the Field Section Database [RGVSECT], the Reduced Level Calculation Database [RGVLEVEL], used to calculate the reduced levels from field readings, and the Photographic Record Database [RGVPHOTO] used both as subject index to the photographic record and to generate captions. All these use the MINARK Scientific Database System. No primary excavation records are stored on electronic media, which are used only for data relating to the interpretation and analysis of stratigraphy and artefacts.

In the CHA excavation system overall all information is entered in accordance with pre-set coded forms which ensure that ambiguities and inconsistencies are sorted out at the point of entry, not left till an unspecified 'later' to cause unscheduled delay. The codes have been refined and tested over five years on a number of different sites: they can now be applied with minor adaptation to any Australian historic site. Another is that all hard information (dates, manufacturers, inscriptions, species idents, butchering marks) is entered directly into the database in a form usable in retrieval. Thus all codable information about finds -form, function, decoration, origins, date range, marks and more - is immediately available for use.

2. Minimum-Effort Management

Avoidance of excess documentation is only one example of the mm1mum effort management in the CHA system. Ideally a single track leads from the excavation to the

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final report, as the site data steadily changes from physical to written form, and through analysis to synthesis. While some delays may be unavoidable, double-handling of material and data, duplication and wastage of effort on work which does not contribute to the project goals, and back-tracking to remedy mistakes during the processing phase are all undesirable. In the CHA system finds are handled once only, to be coded into the database: thence all data flows in a single line through the database towards analysis, synthesis and interpretation.

This happens as follows. Finds remain in their tagged unit trays until washed, dried, sorted, classifed by codes and inventoried (hard copy)for subsequent database entry. They are bagged and numbered with their database number (preprinted to avoid duplication and also possible errors in writing a 'String of four-digit numbers). Only at this point, with inventory stage analysis completed, are they separated and boxed by material/function. Any catalogue stage processing that follows on individual material/function groups is retained in the finds boxing system.

MEM is aided by the pre-structured and pre-printed record sheets on CHA sites. It is also assisted by constantly looking for equipment that speeds processes. For example, the CHA designed the collapsible planning frame subsequently used in Jordan and elsewhere. Drawing through grid frames ensures speed, consistency and accuracy. The CHA grids are constructed of grey PVC electrical 20mm conduit stiffened with dowelling with holes drilled for fine string into 1 OOmm divisions. The grids are placed by reference to tape and string lines strung between the 2m wooden pegs. Another useful find were the 370mm diameter plastic sieves with 5mm apertures used as Unit Trays instead of traditional plastic bags or tubs. These sieves have the important advantages that first, cleaning and drying of the artefacts is achieved quickly and easily on site as the dirt and water drains immediately through the sieve, and second, as the artefacts do not have to be removed from the Unit Tray multiple handling was decreased thereby minimizing the possibility of damage or loss of provenance information by human error. When excavation of the Quadrat is completed the artefacts in the Unit Tray are washed under running water and the Trays laid out on racks to dry. At the end of each day the Trays of cleaned artefacts are transported to base to facilitate complete drying. After drying, the artefacts are sorted, inventoried and bagged, and the inventory entered into the Artefact Inventory Database. Only at this point do the artefacts leave the trays for final boxing by material/function.

3. Open Area Excavation

Excavation is always carried out over the largest area appropriate for the questions to be answered, with each stratigraphic unit totally excavated to the limit of the excavation area (area-cutting-trench). Meticulous field survey of such areas is an essential preliminary,, primarily to allow individual excavation areas to be keyed into a larger site plan, and secondly to allow new areas to be opened (or old ones re-opened) with accuracy and consisteny (Open Area Excavation)

The open area excavation strategy began on Area 2 in the first season: all new areas were similarly laid out. In each new area the problem to be investigated was defined, and the extent of necessary excavation determined. This was primarily done on the basis of the 1982-5 ground plan of the complex combined with sub-surface indicators defined on the spot. Thus Area 2 was set out to include all the west part of the kitchen building, together with an extended area outside it. Area 3 extended east along the back wall of the mansion from the edges of Area 1 to the cellar entry and south almost to the kitchen building. Area 4 west extended from the 1977 trench in Area 1 to two metres beyond the west courtyard wall, and south to include the main drain at its west end. Area 5 began at the east end of the west stable block, and was subsequently extended west, and also to include part of the east stable block.

These extensive areas allowed stratigraphic deposits to be removed totally, and stratigraphic relationships to be seen with extreme clarity. The stratigraphic sequence was

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not complex: such complexities as there were - the Area 1 back door step and possible structure of 1985, for example - invariably became clear in a wider spatial context. Vertical control was maintained by notional sections drawn at 2m intervals where required, by wall elevations and by spot heights on the upper surfaces of each stratigarphic unit.

The site survey was carried out using a Zeiss theodolite by Dianne Churchill in 1985, and completed in 1987, setting up a permanent and infinitely expandable reference system. Permanent datum points were selected, with reference to existing survey points: the survey provided an accurate and detailed site plan based on the same system of measurement as the excavated areas. The two-metre grid then physically set out with wooden pegs has remained to serve the excavation with precision ever since.

Following standard open area technique, standing sections were not left for recording except at the boundaries of the excavated area. The notional section system begun in 1985 was continued. The sections at the boundaries of the area and at the 4 and 8 metre lines running both north-south and east-west across the area were extended as excavation progressed.

4. Principle of Stratigraphic Supremacy

The field methodology combines the procedures of Philip Barker and Ted Harris i.e. on the principle of stratigraphic supremacy (Harris 1979). The sequence and character of each field stratigraphic unit (variously also called context, deposit, layer or feature) is identified and recorded at the time of excavation, and a field matrix of stratigraphic units maintained. Because the project is also committed to open area excavation there is little problem in identifying the stratigraphic sequence correctly as it happens. Each stratigraphic unit is excavated completely, either to its limits or to the edge of the excavated area. Progressive completion of the stratigraphic matrix across the site ensures stratigraphic correlations between areas wherever possible.

The practice of retrospective stratigraphy retrospectively (on the basis of the artefacts in each deposit) is particularly shunned.

Stratigraphic units are classified in two ways in order to be usable in the analytical process. First they are classified into one of six standard types: structure, natural soil, soil, fill, interface, negative interface. Second, at the end of the excavation these are sorted into the groups considered to be the most useful in the analytical program. These groups relate to an index used by the CHA for all historic sites. In this index the first digit relates to any, site: subsequent digits are site-specific. The validity of these groupings is a key factor in the real usefulness of the database analytical program. It is particularly important that they are finalised independently of artefact-derived information

5. Additional Spatial Control

Historic sites world-wide are excavated by cultural layer-deposit-unit rather than by the metric grids and spits to which many prehistoric cave deposits are constrained. The CHA system prefers a combination of the two approaches, using cultural layers as the primary determinant, but building in a secondary spatial control system along with it.

This additional spatial and stratigraphic control is achieved by superimposing on the unitlayer-context construct a 1m quadrat grid. Finds from each quadrat are labelled both by unit and quad, and maintain a separate unit-quad identity. The 1m grid is labelled on a simple alphanumeric system (A1, ClO), usually set up separately for each area. (Unit-Quad Control)

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6. Total Quantification

A major principle of the CHA system is that every item of archaeological data identified during excavation must contribute to the final analysis of the site. This requires simple quantification of what is excavated by weight, in which the weight of discarded soil can be measured against the weight and count of the artefacts in it. This is done for every quadrat of every stratigraphic unit throughout the site, so that a general figure of artefact density (or more precisely artefact percentage frequency) can be used for comparison across the total site - and preferably inter-site.

During excavation the removed deposit was placed in a bucket and any artefacts recovered were placed in a Unit Tray. The two products of excavation were then subject to separated procedures. Each bucket of deposit was weighed and the mass in kilograms entered on a Stratigraphic Quantification Record Sheet with the excavator• s initials and date. The deposit was then sieved through a 5mm sieve and any artefacts recovered placed in the Unit Tray.

The Stratigraphic Quantification Record provides a complete record of the excavation process thet can be used in detennining excavation efficiency and monitoring progress. It helps in checking data when anomalies arise or when labels have been lost or damaged. When checking the Regentville data it was used to detennine which units were excavated on a particular day, and on a particular day by a particular person.

7. Analysis of Demolition Material

Because so much of the excavated material comprised demolition rubble, whether in primary, secondary or some tertiary state, it was decided to carry the idea of demolition fill study further than has hitherto been customary on Australian historic sites. In order to compare and characterise the different kinds of fill across the site a Fill Unit analysis procedure was devised as follows.

Every tenth bucket from each quadrat was processed as follows. After the total mass had been recorded every tenth bucket was analysed for coarse components and the results entered on the Fill Unit Analysis Record. The deposit was sieved through a nest of sieves. Their components were described and the various fractions identified and recorded as follows:

Fraction One - broadly described as reusable building material. It consists of all stone or brick equal to or larger than half a brick (approximately lOOmm square). These were picked out of the lOmm sieve, described and their total mass recorded. Artefacts were, removed and placed in the unit tray.

Fraction Two - characterised as coarse rubble. It consists of all stone, brick or other material larger than lOmm. These were retained in the lOmm sieve, described and their total mass recorded. Artefacts were removed and placed in the unit tray.

Fraction Three - characterised as fine rubble. It consists of all stone, brick or other material larger than 5mm. These were retained in the 5mm sieve, described and their total mass recorded. Artefacts were removed and placed in the unit tray.

Fraction Four - characterised as soil. It consists of all components less than 5mm. They pass through the sieve and a sample of approximately one kilogram was retained for further analysis. The total mass of this Fraction is detennined by subtraction during computer analysis.

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8. Artefact Inventory

Finds processing is holistic, in that all excavated material is used in analysis and is retained as a single entity (fig. 9) .. It is in two distinct stages. Stage 1 is the inventory database stage. It uses a holistic approach to the finds, and sorts by taxonomic not typological classification: all material from each unit/quad is kept together during this period with no special finds selected, and no 'type series' created. Stage 1 when completed allows analysis in terms of spatial distribution, temporal range, and association using as variables a set of pre-defined categories expressed in percentage frequencies. Sorting proceeds per unit-quad by matching like with like in terms of defined codes for material, function and sub-function until it can go no further: the resultant groups - whether one object or many - are counted, weighed, bagged, labelled and inventoried into the database. Datable and manufacturing marks and inscriptions are included. Provided that the pre-defined categories are meaningful and consistently adhered to the results of the Inventory stage analysis will be both informative and interesting.

9. Artefact Cataloguing

At this stage inventoried items are physically boxed using the same categories. Sets of items suitable for further study may be assigned as research projects to individual students or recognised experts, a secondary level activity which does not hold up presentation of primary results.

At Regentville such categories as glass and crystal tablewares, some of the transfer printed wares, the architectural hardwares, food refuse bones, shell from mortar and others have proceeded to the cataloguing stage. additional information recovered during thois process is added to the existing database. This is a further significant advance on current practice, where 'specialist reports' on specific categories of finds are rarely incorporated into the overall interpretation of a large site.

10. Questions, Analysis, Retrievals

When database entry is complete, analyses can begin. Retrievals seeking significant linkages, variations and disconformities between different stratigarphic units (depositslayers-features) have many variables to work on. Answers may concern how deposits were formed, what they most resemble or differ from, what amount of disturbance they have undergone, and what their composition suggests in economic terms. Such questions, when considered in the light of others formulated on the basis of historical research, have the capacity to advance historical archaeological enquiry to a significant degree. The next stage of the analysis will see where appropriate the next level of analytical procedures such as, principle component analysis, regression analysis, and frequency cross-tabulation.

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Special Artefact Storage

L..----------

r-

Photograph

Add Photo I'IUIIIber' *' An<foct ]nwntory Sheet

Add Storage Box numb.,. to Anefact Inventory Shut

Refer to lAboratory Guide ors..p.rv;-

Fl/out Artefact lnwrrtory Shut

Classification

Description

Coonting

Weighing

Ubcling

Bagging

Figure 9. Flow chart of the arteacts processing system developed for the Regentville Project.

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Chapter 3

Results of the Investigation

I I I I II I I I I I I I I

1 - The Central Regentville Complex: Ground Plan and Design

Results of Site Survey and Remote Sensing Programs

Before any excavation was implemented, all existing information about the design and ground plan of the estate and the structures on it that could be gained from non-interventist techniques was collated and discussed. A key source was Wilson's 1982 Survey of the Estate, and especially his work on the mansion complex: this was interpreted particularly in relation to the 1847 Notice of Sale, quoted in full as the penultimate entry in Appendix 2.

Wilson's survey remained as a constant guide and check: at the same time it clearly needed checking and up-grading in the light of new information and new recording technology. The decision was also made to record as much as possible on the basis that further land development in the vicinity was bound to have a deleterious effect on them

In 1985 a full topographic survey within the courtyard was begun. In 1987 there was further input into the Topographic Survey of the courtyard, with the north west and western areas now completed with readings taken over a half-metre grid.

In 1987 an architectural field study of the mansion and courtyard ground plan was also undertaken in order to complete a detailed reconstruction of its original form. This was done by probing and measurement. The result was embodied in a series of drawings together with a scale model of the house now on display in the Macleay Museum. The line of the main drain was followed down towards the vineyard gully.

From 1985 to 1993 an active soils sampling and resistivity transect program was undertaken with the Soils Science Department of Sydney University. Results of both soil sampling and transects are in process of being co-ordinated and mapped by Soil Science personnel in conjunction with PHA students so that they can in due course be overlaid on to a plan of features as excavated.

The Soil Sampling program developed over the last three years under Brian Davey's_ leadership was continued. All these are part of the archaeological science dimension of the Regentville project which tests the Australian potential of these and similar techniques in the controlled circumstances of a historical archaeological research excavation.

The Excavation

Excavation at Regentville took place over eight years in three major phases:

Areas 1-2 Areas 2-3 Areas 4-5

1985 1987-8 1990-1

The steady progress in filling details of the layout of the mansion complex can be seen in fig. 10.

After 1985 all excavation was open-area, with strict quantification of all excavated material. The analyses flowing from this methodology are presented in the next section. In

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this section the processes of excavation, and the structures and features found, are discussed, together with emphasis on those excavation units and their contents which subsequent analysis proved to be informative.

For each excavation Area the excavation process is presented first, followed by a discussion of interpretation in the light of contextual information - especially historical descriptions and illustrations - available at the time. In some instances post-excavation analyses modified or added to these interpretations, and these changes are explained in the next chapter.

It is emphasised again that this project was concerned to investigate the 'Mary Ann back' rather than the 'Queen Anne' front of a comparatively grand colonial mansion. The reasons were, first, that no pictorial view or ground plan of the service area of Regentville existed in contrast to the grand Conrad Martens frontal views, and second, that further investigation of the mansion was likely to yield limited results for a maximum of resources in that nothing at or near floor level appeared to have survived other than the rubbish-filled cellars. Hence all five Areas investigated open onto or are within the enclosed courtyard -or as it was described at the time, the 'enclosed area'.

Area 1

This excavation area of some 8m x 7m was both begun and completed in 1985. It comprised four 3m x 3m square cuttings separated by traditonal .5m baulks, together with the lm x 7m exploratory cutting E, re-opened from a small earlier excavation in 1977.

The excavation of Area 1, set out adjacent to and over the back wall of the mansion, revealed the foundation courses of sandstone walls comprising a substantial portion of the south-western part of the house. These foundations suggested the possibility of six small rooms, but may well have had no such direct relationship to the room arrangements above them. Given the significant use of construction fill packing against the north face of the house wall robber trench they may have served rather to consolidate the foundations of what was to be a massive two-storey sandstone structure.

These sandstone foundations had been laid using lime mortar, the shells from which were subsequently analysed. The east-west walls were wider than the north-south ones, and evidently of primary load-bearing importance, since they were constructed directly on bedrock. The natural clay which overlay the bedrock was not cleaned down when bedding the north-south walls. The foundations terminated at some point below ground-floor height, and gave no indication of the location of doorways or french-window apertures, nor of the timber joists that would have supported the wooden floorboards.

Running from the back wall of the house in Square IC was a stone-based timber box -drain in a brick-lined trench on the same alignment as the timber drain already re-excavated in Trench IE. A slight depression in the ground surface indicated the continuation of this house drain towards the main courtyard drain 15m to the south west. In both Trench IE and Square IC it had a filling of dark brown sediment in which were fragments of bone, and fine ceramic and glass table and household wares.

New information about the interior of Regentville came from building materials recovered from the demolition rubble in or around the mansion. This included the presence of ceiling and probably wall plaster in some quantity, some of it painted. Plaster fragments were recovered from a number of places in Area 1 but came particularly from the fill of the robbed back wall trench in Square IC and Trench IE. The majority of these were plain white, others were decorated with raised bands, and others again painted grey or dark red.

The excavation of Area 1 also indicated the presence of a stmcture or feature attached to the back wall of the mansion. In the south-west part of Square ID were two sleeper

32


trenches at right-angles to one another. Between them and the back wall of the house was a spread of yellow clay (unit 50) which extended also across much of the southern part of Square IC. This clay appeared to be foreign to the immediate site and could have been part of a laid floor. Adjacent to the sleeper trenches the sandstone foundations of the back wall were appreciably wider than elsewhere, suggesting the possibility of a step in this position located near a back doorway of the house. The overall evidence suggested the existence of a timber structure, possibly with a clay floor, that was attached to the back of the house and could be entered from a back door of the house.

The stratification of Area 1 comprised the turf (units 1-4) and a shallow topsoil (units 5-8) containing a number of artefacts. Under these was a thin layer of demolition ntbble (9-12) which overlay the sandstone wall foundations embedded in a matrix of sterile construction rubble. These sat directly on the natural rock or clay surface, as discussed above, and supported the proposition developed elsewhere during soil studies on the Regentville site that the whole A horizon, the upper part of the natural soil proflle, had been removed prior to construction of the mansion. Bedrock consists of a soft red sandstone, visible as an unexcavated 'bench' at the western end of the northern cellar (Fig. 5). In some places the edges of the foundation trenches could be identified (Fig. 7) but in most instances they were either absent or not detected in excavation.

The construction rubble consisted of a mixture of clays and sandy clays with irregular lumps and fragments of sandstone. It was clearly an intentional packing of waste building material and spoil from digging foundationtrenches and levelling the site. It may have included spoil from digging the cellars. Artefactual material was virtually absent from the construction rubble but locally dense in some parts of the demolition rubble.

The demolition rubble was also distinguishable from the construction rubble by its more sandy consistency and by the presence of fragments of mortar and broken red brick, as well as lumps of sandstone. It was also noticeably sparse. As commented by Connah (1986)

'The most remarkable thing about the demolition rubble, however, was that there was so very little of it. Indeed, in some places it was absent altogether. It seemed curious that the destruction by fire and subsequent demolition of a two-storeyed stone building could have produced so little debris. It was equally curious that the thin layer of topsoil, that lay over the demolition rubble, should contain so much artefactual material, much of it fragmentary. These aspects of the stratification of Area 1 raise important questions about site formation processes, to which we shall return.'

Interpretation

Connah in 1985 identified what he saw as the six excavated 'rooms' in terms of the historical documentation as follows:

'Looking at the 1847 Sale Notice one might guess at their most likely use by a process of elimination. The bedrooms were preseumbaly in the upper storey and the two drawing rooms and the dining room must have been the large rooms occupying the northwestern, north-eastern, and south-eastern portions of the ground floor of the house. The entrance hall was apparently in the centre of the northern side. This leaves a brealifast room, a study. and a 'library and cabinet'. By 'cabinet' was probably meant a 'small private room' and the impression given in the sale notice is that the library and cabinet were one and the same room. These three rooms must have been in the part of the house excavated in Area 1 but what about the three remaining rooms uncovered in the excavation? Two of them probably formed a central corridor running from west to east that made an L-shape with the entrance hall. The two walls that crossed the corridor and entrance hall could have been load-bearing walls for the upper storey, that were

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broken by archways on the ground floor. A third such wall deduced by Andrew Wilson was found by excavation not to exist. The remaining 'room', immediately south of the entrance hall, may have been the location of the circular stone-built staircase mentioned in the sale notice, although Andrew Wilson thought that the staircase would have been more likely to have projected behind the main block of the house.'

As to the timber drain, it may well have serviced a later water closet within the house into the main courtyard drain, joining water already flowing through this system from the wash-house and laundry behind the main house. Connah was originally of the view, based on the nature of the finds in the smaller drain that it led from a scullery sink within the house itself: ·

'Such evidence would suggest dish-washing rather than rainwater but, as has been shown above, it seems unlikely that there was anywhere within the house where such an activity took place. '

Finally, he interpreted the possible timber structure near the back door of the mansion as belonging to either the laundry or the wash-house or both, on the evidence of the 1847 Sale Notice. The 1988 excavation (Area 3) subsequently revealed this was the covered way from kitchen to house (fig. 5). Connah in 1986 incorrectly interpreted the Sale Notice as indicating the Coach-house was in the western wing.

Area2

Area 2 was planned to explore the central part of the courtyard. More specifically it was intended to locate and investigate the remains of the kitchen outbuilding mentioned in the 1847 Sale Notice, if they existed, and the services and spatial relationships associated with such a building. Accordingly it was laid out in relation to a set of surface depressions which appeared to indicate the presence of sub-surface structural remains some 16m south of the back wall of the mansion, and 15m from the west courtyard enclosure. These suggested a rectangular structure about 25m long (east-west), and 7m wide (north-south). The Area 2 cutting was 12m x 12m, over approximately one third of the suspected structure at its western end, together with the adjacent courtyard curtilage. The removal of deposit from the 12 x 12-metre area was carried out in 1-metre squares or quadrats. These 144 quadrats were each identified by an alpha-numeric code: letters A-M from east to west, and numerals 1-12 from north to south. To avoid confusion, letter I was not used. Following a contour survey of the surface of Area 2. the turf was removed and the topsoil entirely excavated over the low mound of demolition rubble that lay beneath it over much of the centre of the area. This removal also exposed the natural sandy B horizon underlying the topsoil around the north, west and south sides of the area, as well as several minor structures located on this surface south of the building mound. The backfilling of the 1977 excavation trench was also removed where it cut through the area ..

Where the 1977 trench had cut through the mound it could be seen that the building from which the demolition rubble came had been of stone with internal partition walls of brick. It appeared that extensive parts of the original structure's external wall had been robbed, resulting in the depressions visible on the surface and shown on the site plan, although the 1977 trench suggested that fragmentary foundations of the southern wall may have survived in situ. Slight irregularities in the surface of the rubble mound suggested the possible survival of internal structural features. Excavation south of the rubble mound revealed two elongated areas of waterworn cobbles, obviously structural features (Units 130, 131), on Unit 100, the B horizon). These were provisionally assumed to defme the drip-lines of a an eavesdrop, most probably a verandah attached to the southern si4e of the outbuilding. As a result of bad weather, excavation of the mound of rubble itself was left for the next season.

The stratification of Area 2 was straightforward. Turf (unit 17) and topsoil (units 38 and

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T

51) overlay a shallow mound of rubble (unit 141) which overlay natural soil in the form of a pale-coloured sandy B horizon. There was some variation within the topsoil itself. Over the rubble mound and to its north and west, the soil was a rich brown top-soil (unit 51): to the south of the mound stretching right across the excavated area from east to west, it was a moist black loam with a strong smell (unit 38). This material was deeper than the topsoil over the rest of the area and had a pH of 8.5 in quadrat Fll, a more than usually alkaline reading even for Regentville soils: the natural sand beneath the rubble mound in Area 2 (as exposed in quadrats F3 and F4 by the 1977 excavation) gave a reading of pH 10 primarily as a result of the quantity of building lime in the ground water. A significant feature the Area 2 stratification was its shallowness - mostly less than .020m on all sides of the unexcavated building mound. At the end of the 1985 season Area 2 (like Area 1) was covered in plastic sheeting and bac'kfilled.

The 1987 season continued the excavation of Area 2, investigating the presumed servants' quarters/kitchen building. During the 1987 season 27.9 tonnes of deposit were removed in 2466 bucket loads.

The frrst task of the 1987 season was to remove the backfill and expose the plastic. After the removal of loose soil the plastic was taken up.

Excavation proper began with the removal of the 'mound' of the previous season, Unit 141, a deep deposit consisting of 18.09 tonnes of brick rubble and yellow sandy mortar with an artefact concentration of 0.66%. This Unit was interpreted as the rubble from the demolition of the internal partition walls between c.1930 and c.1960. Beneath this was Unit 142, a deposit of brown loam extending across the northern two thirds of the square and overlaying the robber trench fllls (Units 174-177) that marked the initial demolition of the building. In all, 5.63 tonnes of this deposit were excavated, yielding an artefact concentration of 0.40%. Unit 142 was interpreted as the accumulation of topsoil and regrowth of vegetation between c.1900 and c.1930.

Unit 151 was located immediately south of the remaining stub of the east-west rubble wall (Unit 155) which marked the south end of the main building. It consisted of 1.04 tonnes of grey-black loam with a high proportion of charcoal and the extremely high yield of 0.80% artefacts. Unit 151 is interpreted as a midden which accumulated against the south wall of the building and under the verandah.

Beneath Unit 142 were deposits of stone rubble and mortar (Units 174-8), the result of the robbing of the walls (Units 182-6). These deposits extended across quadrats A-K 2, A-K 8, K 3-7 and D 3-7 thus marking the location of the external walls. Within the area defined by these walls were the remains of brick partition walls (Units 144, 146 and 149).' Immediately north of the southern stone wall (Unit 155) a timber beam (Unit 152) extended the length of the internal partition wall. This beam was interpreted as a surviving bearer indicating that the servants' quarters had a wooden floor.

South of the main structure in the eastern sector of the excavated area, additional deposits of stone rubble (Unit 186) evidenced a flimsily built addition to the building. To the west of this structure, and associated with the midden Unit 151 was a timber beam (Unit 161) and a series of possible post-holes (Units 168-173). These indicate another lighter extension built of wood. The accumulation of Unit 151 under this structure indicates that it was of open form, possibly a verandah. The southern boundaries of both extensions were marked by lines of cobble stones (Units 130, 131 as numbered in 1985) indicating eavesdrop drains, which suggested that the extensions were of skillion form .

The lines of cobble stones stood above the soil when excavated. They would only have acted effectively as drains if they had been set into a gap in an existing paved surface. This, the absence of any type of gravel in these areas of the courtyard, and the relatively low concentration of artefacts in the soil surrounding the building (0.04%) suggest that the courtyard was originally paved with flagstones. They, like the other building materials,

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would have been removed from the site.

Unit 179 was a small deposit of stone rubble filling a rectangular depression north of the main building (quadrat El). It was interpreted as packing for a possible step or north-south walkway connecting with the servants' quarters and supports the view that the adjacent passageway is the entrance to the servants' quarters

Interpretation

Virtually the only historical information concerning the kitchen and servants' building is the description in the 1847 sale notice:

'The Out-Offices are also stone built, and consist of two kitchens and a bakehouse, communicating with the house by a covered way, a servants' hall and seven bedrooms adjoining, the whole being under one roof. '

(Sydney Morning Herald 16 Dec. 1847)

Archaeological excavations have confirmed beyond reasonable doubt that the Area 2 structure is the west end of the kitchen and servants' quarters outbuilding. In keeping with the practice of the time this building was discreetly placed out of sight in the courtyard behind the main house. The building was demolished and most of the building materials removed during the 19th and 20th centuries. Further site levelling after World War ll left few intact structural features. The lack of any foundations commensurate with bake-house ovens or fireplaces led to the conclusion that the area excavated consists largely of that part of the building which contained the servants' quarters.

The ground floor rooms were partitioned within the main structure, brick being used for the dividing walls. The plan of these divisions suggests a separate entrance, servants' hall and bedrooms on two floors.

Considering the distribution of artefacts and the historical description specifying seven servants' bedrooms, the building was interpreted as having one bedroom downstairs and six attic bedrooms upstairs. Each upstairs room opened off the central corridor lit by a dormer window in the western, and probably eastern, hip of the roof.

The survival of a timber beam, apparently a bearer, indicates that the rooms downstairs were timber floored. The absence of gravel outside the building, and the arrangement of the cobble-stone drains, indicate that the courtyard was paved with flagstones. That part of the kitchen area revealed in the excavation may also have been flagged.

Identification of the kitchen at the eastern end of this building also contributes to the interpretation of the layout the main house. The two buildings are known to have been connected by a covered way which therefore must also have been on the eastern side. It therefore follows that the dining room was also to the east, with the drawing room facing it across the central entrance hall.

The structural history of site was clearly revealed by excavation. The original servants' quarters/kitchen was constructed of stone. Internal partition walls were built of brick. At a later stage the building was extended to the south to provide a verandah and an additional room or rooms. These rooms were also built of stone or had stone footings. The extensions were flimsy in comparison to Sir John Jamison's original building and are interpreted as dating from a later occupation.

Both the archaeological evidence and the historical record indicate that the fire which destroyed the mansion did not affect the servants' quarters/kitchen. Destruction of this building was due to deliberate demolition. The stratigraphy reveals that the building was first robbed for cut stone. Subsequently, the ruin was abandoned for a period sufficient to enable regrowth and the formation of a thin layer of topsoil. The surviving brick partition

36


walls were eventually pulled down and reusable bricks removed. Photographic evidence shows that this demolition occurred after 1928. It is likely that some of the buildings on the hill south of the site were constructed using these bricks during the 1930s or 1940s.

The area including the building was levelled by bulldozer in the course of the 1960s development of the site as an amusement park. This resulted in the spread of topsoil and rubble across most of the site and the creation of a deposit of mixed archaeological material.

Connah, at the end of the 1985 season, was already having doubts about the degree to which the excavations in Areas 1 and 2 at Regentville could inform on social status differences between masters and servants, and indeed of the new information the site could provide in general:

'On the archaeological evidence alone we would, at best, be only able to make generalized statements about the socio-economic levels of the people who inhabited it. Although archaeological excavation at the site of the house and its outbuildings can inform the historian about details of plan, of building materials, and of constructional techniques, there is little new information that could not already have been obtained from the available historical documentation. '

He concluded in 1985 that the main interest of the site at this early stage lay in its contribution to site formation processes:

'Comparison of the historical and the archaeological evidence does, however, have a very real value but it is for the archaeologist rather than for the historian. What had been going on at this site to reduce two substantial buildings to such inconsequential remnants, sprinkled with shattered artefactual material? The archaeological evidence included only the last remnants of structures, indeed wall-robbing trenches showed that even those had been ripped out in places. Even the demolition rubble, that one might have expected to have covered these last traces, was minimal in the extreme.

Archaeologically, it is quite clear that almost everything of the slightest use had been removed from this site. Turning to the history of the site since the 1869 fire, it is apparent that in 1879, when the land was sold, 'the stone and the remains of the house were excepted from the sale . . . The buildings were demolished and the stone re-used in a number of buildings in and around Penrlth. ' This was not the end of the story, however, because as late as 1928 a photograph was taken of the ruins of the house that showed sandstone walls still standing over 2 metres in height and heaps of rubble in the vicinity (Fig. 3). It seems likely that removal of building materials continued to the middle of this century and then in about the 1960s the site was developed as an amusement park. As part of the attractions for the public, a large section of the house cellars was cleared and, almost certainly. the surface of the house site, at least, was tidied up with a bulldozer. Evidence of such 'landscaping' of this site survives in the form of a ring of stones around one of the trees on the house-site: clearly intended to form a garden feature of some kind. A concrete slab was laid over the north-western part of the house, reputedly as a floor to a building that housed a display of old cars. Another similar slab was laid at the south-eastern comer of the house yard (Fig. 5). The amusement park is now long gone but its impact on the site remains evident, particularly in the form of a double-decker bus that is gradually disintegrating with rust in the northeastern part of the house yard. That bus, indeed, provides a vivid reminder that, when considering site-formation processes, archaeologists need to understand the whole history of a site not only during but also since the events that are of principal interest. Site taphonomy, the study of how the historical reality is

· gradually transmuted into the archaeological reality, is a subject to which Australian historical archaeology could be making important and original

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contributions. '

Fortunately the 1987 season, and all subsequent seasons, were able to demonstrate that while site taphonomy is indeed a legitimate and promising area on which Regentville had much to contribute, the excavation of the Regentville courtyard had a lot more to offer in terms of new historical data than taphonomy alone.

Artefacts and Analyses

The excavation of Area 2 as an open area 12m x 12m with each archaeological deposit excavated totally over this space in 1m x 1m quadrats gave immense quantitative and spatial control over the excavated material. Both artefacts and the deposit within which they were found - mostly building materials resulting from demolition on this site- were counted and weighed in relation to the total amount of deposit removed for that unit. Thus each category of artefact could be assessed in terms of spatial frequency and frequency in relation to other categories: each deposit could also be analysed for the percentage frequencies of the building and other organic materials within it.

All this proved extremely valuable in relation to the interpretation of Area 2. It allowed indepth investigation of specific units such as Unit 141, the demolition rubble, and others to show depositional patterns. Also a number of analyses were carried out, of soils, bone materials, plasters and renders.

In addition, individual consideration of specific artefacts recovered proved equally rewarding in a different way. connah had already commented on some of the 1985 finds: 'The artefacts recovered from Area 2 consist of an assortment of fragmentary items comparable with that from Area 1. Fragments of glass and china and iron nails were particularly common. Although artefactual material was widely distributed over the excavated area. it seemed most common in the moist black loam to the south of the rubble mound. Whereas in Area 1 only selective sieving of excavated deposits was carried out, in Area 2 fairly comprehensive sieving and weighing of the excavated deposits was done. This should enable artefact densities to be worked out eventually but the subjective impression at the time of excavation was that greater quantities of artefactual material had been deposited at the back of the domestic outbuilding than elsewhere. Not only could this be explained by the time-honoured practice of throwing garbage out of the back door but some of this material may have been intentionally dumped onto what was very likely a rather muddy area in wet weather. Particularly informative fmds from Area 2 included a large iron hinge of Y -shaped plan, that fitted into a recessed area cut into one of four' sandstone blocks lying on the surface of the adjacent stable site. This hinge must have been from one of the gateposts at the main entrance to the house yard and the sandstone blocks must be remnants of those posts. The gateway was situated at about the centre of the eastern side of the yard. The hinge was excavated from superficial demolition rubble lying over the cobbled area in the southeast of Area 2. It actually came from Square D 11.

Other useful artefacts included several wine bottle prunts from the black loam and an iron hammer head from the northern side of the area. Perhaps the most remarkable item recovered, however, was an 1826 bronze coin of George IV. The overall impression gained from the artefacts excavated from Area 2 is similar to that gained from those recovered from Area 1. It would appear that these items were residual fragments deposited in secondary locations. They were more informative about garbage disposal and the demolition of the structure, then they were about the activities that went on within it. Perhaps the most important point, however. is that a superficial comparison showed no obvious socio-economic contrasts between the artefacts from the house and those from the domestic outbuilding.

In 1987 also a number of individual finds were obviously of interest at the time of

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excavation: some of these came from the demolition rubble mound unit 141, the great majority of them from what soon came to be indentified as a midden deposit just south of the outbuilding in Unit 38, rich in food refuse (butchered bone), tablewares and kitchen wares.

Area3

Area 3 was opened to the north and east of Area 2 at the beginning of the 1988 excavation season, partly because investigation of the relationship between the outbuilding and the back of the mansion was necessary, and partly because the incessant rain of 1987-8 waterlogged the sandy B horizon· of Area 2 and effectively terminated any attempts to complete the excavation of the robbed stone wall trenches.

Thus excavation in the 1988 season was concentrated in the new Area 3, laid out immediately behind (south ot) the main wall of the house west of the cellar entry (fig. 2). Its main purpose was to investigate the domestic arrangements between the back of the mansion and the servants' quarters, the only part of the complex where the architectural configuration remained unknown, and where it was unable to be determined from the historical records. (Birmingham and Wilson 1988)

One possibility for this area was that here perhaps was located the elusive 'wash-house and laundry', known from contemporary descriptions of the house to have existed in some relation to it. Since this had not to date been found in either Area 1 or Area 2 it was thought it might just prove to be within the new Area 3.

Two surface features, recorded in 1982 by Andrew Wilson on his 1:200 scale plan of the site, seemed to substantiate these expectations (Fig. 3)

The first was the linear depression known from the exploratory fieldwork in 1977 to indicate the collapse of a drain, which terminated approximately in the centre of the excavation area. This drain -of which the depth was known - appeared too deep to service merely the runoff from the roofs and yard (Connah 1985: 37) Secondly, a firmly embedded piece of sandstone protruded above the turf almost in line with the west wall of the mansion's main (that is, north-south) hall, suggesting the likelihood of a wall or other structural feature at ground level and below.

Area 3 also appeared to contain part of the massive courtyard drain (the Main Drain) which had first been exposed in 1977, and into which flowed a small feeder drain (the Timber Drain) excavated in 1987. Further information was sought about this system, which prima, facie appeared massively over-engineered for a normal household drain. This provided a second line of questioning for the investigation.

A third set of questions were more generally related to the internal arrangements, drainage and surfacing of the enclosed space behind the Regentville masnsion. These were to be pursued in all excavated areas.

The excavated area (Area 3) and the main features revealed are shown in plan in fig. 5. The topsoil over most of the area was excavated as Unit 191: it did not extend to the north side where the upper deposit was unit 190, a mound of demolition rubble against the back of the main house block. This had preserved a short length of the original house wall, the only section left standing on the site above ground level. The unit 190 rubble overlay and had protected from dismantling a stone construction interpreted as a tankstand, as well as the original sandstone flags (unit 222) adjacent to the south wall of the main house. On these flags just west of the tankstand was the charcoal deposit unit 212, clearly datable to the fire which destroyed the mansion on 22 May, 1869: this deposit also had been covered and protected by unit 190. The line of sandstone flags was interrupted by the sleeper beams of the covered way (units 214, 216 fill of west trench: units 218, 220 fill of east trench).

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West of the covered way the sandstone eavesdrop continued adjacent to the house wall (quadrats P1, Q1): immediately south of it was a mass of consolidated sandstone rubble (units 196 and 197) in quadrats P2-4 overlyingthe B horizon 199.

The first important feature in Area 3 to be identified and investigated in 1988 was the Covered Way. The servants' quarters and kitchens are known from historical sources to have been connected by a covered way (SMH 16 December 1847) and archaeological evidence was uncovered to add to this brief comment.

Two shallow parallel trenches were excavated, 1.5 metres (approximately 5 feet) apart, running across the excavated area from north to south and projecting the line of the mansion's main hall to the south. The covered way was thus built on the line of the central axis for the whole complex. Fragments of wooden sleeper beams survived in the northern ends of both of these trenches. These beams, and the absence between the trenches of the gravel that covered the rest of Area 3, suggested that the covered way was in the form of a low timber deck with a roof supported on timber columns. Close examination of the surviving sleeper beams for mortise joints may indicate the exact distance between the columns.

The remainder of a rough sandstone platform first excavated in Trench 1D during 1985 was also uncovered. From its association with the covered way, this must be the base of the back doorstep.

This identification of the mansion's back door in tum has implications for some internal arrangements of the house. Its location - and the overall design of the covered way to the western side of the main hall - indicates that the main staircase for the house must have ascended from the eastern side, thus establishing a major structural detail. This in tum would mean that the house's second staircase must have been further west. Thus servants would have entered the house through the back door and to reach the upper floor would immediately have turned through a door on their left to climb the smaller back stair.

The Sandstone Eavesdrop was the second significant feature to be identified in Area 3. Area 3 was keyed into the south-west comer of Area 1 by means of an overlap in order to better understand structural remains excavated previously (Connah 1986:39, Birmingham and Wilson 1988). This keying area revealed again the deposit of pugged yellow clay, clearly foreign to the site, first excavated in 1985. It was bounded by the southern wall of the house and the edges of a brick drain and sleeper trench, and was in 1985 tentatively interpreted by Graham Connah (site director for the 1985 season) as the floor of a light timber structure (Connah 1986:37). In 1988 sandstone flagstones were revealed during the excavation of quadrats in Area 3 adjacent to the re-opened 1985 Trench 1D. They were of' a similar width to that of the yellow clay deposit along the back wall of the house 193?, and there could be little doubt that they formed part of the eavesdrop for the roof of the main house. The pugged clay was used as a bedding for the stone flags in some sections.

Another key feature of Area 3 was the excavation of part of the original back wall of the Regentville mansion and of a tankstand later added to it. Along the northern edge of Area 3 was the only part of the original house walls to have survived, together with the only mound of original demolition rubble left in situ (unit 190). This was the rubble resulting from the original dismantling of the mansion some time after the frre of 1869 (1870 -1900). Unit 190 consisted of a sandy, mortar-based matrix which feathered out at the foot of the mound where it met the topsoil (unit 191).

Among the demolition rubble were several fragments of tuck-pointed mortar joints, indicating that the masons had been required artfully to create the impression that the stonework on the rear of the building was of as high a quality as it undoubtedly was on the facade.

The eastern half of the mound was excavated to reveal the southern face of the only

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11

original wall anywhere on the site standing above ground level. Butted against this was the base of another structure of which the function was not at first clear. At one stage it was thought to be the main stair, projecting behind the main block (Wilson 1982 Part 3.1). It was shown not to be original, however, in that it was built on top of the first eavesdrop and the masonry did not key into the back wall of the house. The discovery of a lead overflow pipe emptying into the Main Drain confirmed the alternative interpretation, that it was the stand for an iron water tank.

The tankstand proved to be only one of a number of later additions and alterations to the house. A number of pieces of flat roofing iron were found, along with a wrought iron gutter bracket. A second eavesdrop was found 1. 2 metres south of the first, though not on the western side of the covered way. Evidently the programme of repairs and alterations carried out in 1861 prior to the conversion of the house into the Shiels Family Hotel involved re-roofing with iron (probably without first removing the earlier shingles), the addition of gutters and downpipes feeding the tankstand, and a skillion to cover the tankstand, with its own new eavesdrop.

These fmds also shed further light on the shallow brick and timber drain excavated in Trenches 1D and 1E during 1985. This drain (the Timber Drain) together with the added tankstand suggests the conversion of one of the rooms along the back of the house from study or library to an indoor toilet.

Further investigation of the main courtyard drain was also carried at its eastern end. The north-eastern end of the mansion's main waste-water drain was the most obvious topographical feature of Area 3 before excavation, since a long ditch was left by the robbing of its stone capping at some time in the last 100 years. The exploratory excavation of 1977 had shown it to have been cut deeply into the bedrock but had yielded no further details. It proved to be rock-cut, two metres deep and with only the extreme north eastern section unrobbed. Here the drain stopped abruptly well south of the mansion wall. Excavation showed that a flat stone had been placed at the bottom of the cutting, with a packing of large river pebbles above to form a soak pit. Near the surface was a packing of gravel, while some large broken fragments of dressed stone on the surface not far away could be reconstructed to show that a square iron grating, cast with lugs at each corner, had formerly covered the soak pit set in a stone surround.

Immediately adjacent to the west the drain had been totally robbed, so that surface demolition material was found throughout the filling. In 1991 the main drain was investigated at its junction with the western courtyard wall in Area 4 (see below).

A fifth area of investigation within Area 3 was the Cellar Entry. The bulk removal of fillfrom the eastern half of the main mansion block during the 1960s left the upper half of the cellar doorway exposed, with a deep depression to indicate the stepped entry. In May 1988 the excavation of topsoil and demolition deposits in quadrats F1, F2 and F3 revealed the masonry treads and risers of three steps and a low sandstone retaining wall.

Interpretation

Excavation of the wash-house/laundry could be expected to provide details not only of its precise location, size form and context, but also of early nineteenth century sanitary arrangements not often available for complete investigation. (see Birmingham and Wilson 1988). It may be added that only excavation can show whether the description given indicates one or two structures.

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Area4

Excavation of the West Wing

In 1990 a new area (Area 4) was laid out over the West Wing of the mansion complex and the west and north west parts of the enclosed Courtyard, to gain insights into what was assumed to have been the Billiard Room and its relation to the main house block, together with whatever evidence the courtyard might prove to contain about its functions and use.

The location and extent of Area.4 can be seen on fig. 6. The excavation of this area yielded some of the most interesting archaeological information evidence yet discovered at Regentville which is best presented in a framework based on the life and dissolution of the mansion.

Excavation soon revealed the form of the structures in this Area, since some walls still stood to a height of nearly half a metre. Three rooms were identified, here refered to as the eastern, central and western rooms. While the presence of the western room (the presumed 'billiard room') was long suspected both from the tops of visible wall stumps and from remote sensing transects, important new details were added about the internal arrangements of this wing.

The western room was found to be a large well-proportioned rectangular room with a fireplace centrally at the south end. Access to it from the main house was through two intervening smaller rooms, the eastern and the central rooms (see plan, fig. 6). Two internal doorways were identified, between the eastern and central, and central and western rooms respectively.

The eastern room was 4.lm x 3.0m. Its eastern and northern walls had been totally robbed. It, like the western room, had a frreplace, also in the south wall, but not centrally placed. Its position well into the south west comer indicates that the room was not a formal entertaining room. The wall dividing it from the central room was of samel brick, with a doorway towards its northern end.

The room fill comprised demolition rubble with a large component of ceiling and wall plaster comprising unit 238, the predominant fill of this room. Below 238 was a small ashy deposit immediately above the floor level in the south part of the room which may represent the first event in the room collapse (unit 257). It may well be that 257 is associated with the fireplace located asymmetrically on the south wall. A large sample o( plaster finishes was recovered from this room fill, from which it could be inferred that in general a pinkish ceiling-toned ceiling plaster fell first, and substantial quantities of greyer toned wall plaster followed.

The central room was of the same size and appearance as the eastern room, its north wall also entirely robbed. All internal walls in this room, as in the other two, were plastered, as were the ceilings. Floors, which would have been of timber, were entirely missing throughout all rooms. A door, in line with that further east, led from the central room into the western room. Again a thick deposit of wall and ceiling plaster and mortar filled the room (unit 239), but with a more significantly different deposit below this (256) at former floor level in which there was a scatter of artefact material. The same kinds of plaster were found in 239 as in 238 - a pinker variety which can again be inferred from its deposition to have been ceiling plaster, and a grey-white wall plaster often with thick backing material attached.

The western room had been built on a grand scale. All the excavated walls were of stone although the fill within the western half remains to be excavated. There were finely dressed massive blocks along the north face of the north wall. Again large quantities of plaster

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fallen from walls and ceiling were found in this room, the grey-blue wall plaster being distinguishable from the pinkish ceiling plaster. Many fragments of ceiling plaster retained heavy beads, and the cornice moulding can be partially restored. Grey-white mortar used between the stones was a dominant feature of the room fill, in this room predominantly unit 244. There was less indication in the west room of any clear distinction between a lower and an upper event in the process of collapse. However, a thin brown soil deposit (265/266) with small artefacts underlay unit 244 in places around the east and southern edges of the room.

The courtyard adjacent to the west wing, parts of which had been investigated in previous seasons, was investigated over a large expanse. Top-soil overlay a thin sheet deposit of artefacts (unit 224) forming a sc!atter across the underlying surface. This surface was originally red lateritic gravel which survived over much of it under the top soil towards the south and east, and under the rubble closer to the west wing structure. Nearer the buildings the surface was more characteristically small river pebbles, and the red lateritic gravel may have been washed away in that area.

An interesting and unexpected feature of Area 4 was the continuation of the east wall of the western room south towards the line of the courtyard drain. A mass of rubble adjacent to it to the west seemed to have fallen from the chimney stack, or suggested some new and unsuspected structure here perhaps connected with the adjacent drain. It was not possible to finish excavating this unexpected feature before the dig closed, and this was a major factor in the decision to return to the site for a final season.

The Privy

The return to this area in 1991 revealed that the corner of the courtyard south of the billiard room and adjacent to the alignment of the main drain, was in fact the location for a sizable privy, part of the original construction phase, and apparently in use throughout the lifetime of the mansion. Excavation proceded by removal of the massive stone demolition material (unit 408) just south of the billiard room within what was apparently an L-shaped room formed by the south continuation of the east wall of the billiard room almost 3m beyond its south end, and a short east-west cross wall with return. Below the rubble appeared the wall of what at first seemed to be a cistern against the southern wall of the privy: the upper contents of this were excavated as unit 418, the bottom spit as unit 421.

In fact this turned out to be a seepage drain rather than a cistern. An inlet feeder brought water in under the south end of the east wall, it seemed from a waste-water drain under the courtyard coming from the direction of the eastern room. A lower level outlet drained this waste water through the south end of the west wall i.e. through the main courtyard' enclosure wall, and out into another impressive drain which turned sharply south outside the courtyard wall for 4m to join the main drain with a .080m drop. The inlet feeder was excavated a metre back from the privy as unit 412, the outlet drain for several metres as units 425 over 426.

This system is further discussed in section 3.2.

The 1990 season was distinguished by the abundance of occupational evidence found in one specific provenance, namely scattered directly onto the surface of the courtyard. These included many sherds of both Jamison's Mason's Ironstone service of the 1820s, and the 1860s green Chevy Chase transfer printed service found and discussed in previous seasons' reports, in addition to other ceramics, glass and architectural items

This set of material can convincingly be assumed to have covered the full occupation of the building from 1824 to 1869. Its distribution in a mixed scatter over a wide external area under most of the demolition associates is better explained in relation to the destruction rather than the occupation of the house.

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After the major demolition the stone from the north and east walls of the east and central rooms was robbed. Probably later again soil was imported to the north eastern part of Area 4 and a semicircular garden bed laid out. The robbing of the cap stones of the courtyard drain also took place, and caused increased run off from the adjacent edges of the courtyard.

AreaS

In 1990 Area 5 was laid out to investigate as far as possible the design and use of the structure or structures closing the south side of the Regentville complex, already partially identified as stables from the 1977 exploratory trench which revealed a spall section of a floor cobbled with large river pebbles. The 1990 c~g comprised 130p , lOrn F/W and 13m N/S. The 1991 cutting increased this by 112m to a total of 242m

Further support to this interpretation came from the 1848 Sale Notice. The stables gave prima facie promise of interesting results in terms of the project's research questions because of the high profile given by Sir John Jamison to bloodstock and racehorses: the assumption was made that no decisions concerned with their well being or with the impressions it was intended that visitors should receive would have been lightly made.

The area selected for excavation lay in the middle of the row of olives just to the west of the main north-south axis of the house and kitchen block. Surface topography suggested there were two blocks of structures along the south courtyard wall with a depression between them, a design feature also noted in the Sale Notice. Accordingly the cutting was sited both to avoid the worst of the olive roots and to include the change of level between the west block and central depression: even so an old Citroen had to be towed away and several seasons' spoil dump removed in order to get access to this part of the site.

The stratification throughout Area 5 was comparatively simple. Little topsoil remained over the western part of the area: what overlay the central depression was removed as unit 409, and what overlay the eastern block as 411. Below the thin topsoil was the demolition rubble from the dismantling of the stables - unit 225 over the stump of the north wall of the West block (both internal and external faces), unit 226 over the south wall of the West block (external face only), unit 415 over the east end of the West block, and unit 414 over the west end of the East block. In contrast to the massed demolition fills of Area 4, however, these units were shallow, compacted and localised. Within the structure the demolition rubble - where it occurred along the north wall - immediately overlay the stable flooring.

The courtyard surface adjacent to the north wall of the west stable block was investigated by means of re-excavating the 1977 trench, faintly discernible after re-surveying its alignment, together with .5m either side, comprising in total quadrats 29A, B, C and 28A, B, and C, all north of the stable. This cutting, 1m wide and extending 2m back from the stable wall, was re-excavated down to the top of unit 231, the B horizon, in which a small pit (unit 232) had been cut at its north end: it contained no artefacts. At its south end, however, it revealed a massive construction trench for a substantially-built rubble-core wall. This was the first real indication of the impressive character and exceptional quality of the structure Jamison had built to house his best horses. The construction trench was at least l.lm wide (NI 241), and packed with a heavy stone fill of irregular sandstone blocks (unit 228) to carry a stone wall of 0.5m width which survived to floor level. The south wall had also survived to floor level. The high quality of the construction techniques and materials used in the foundations alone indicates that the stables were built by skilled workers.

The stable block itself, 6m wide (external), comprised a substantial clay packing between the two exterior walls forming a level platform on which the internal partitions and hard flooring of the stable were constructed. Six identifiable compartments were found during excavation, of which at least five appear to have functioned as stalls. These varied between

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1.55-1.7m wide, and had cobbled floors, of river pebbles patched here and there with soft bricks on edge. Specific arrangements were as follows:

Stall1 -

Stall 2-

Stall 3-Stall4-StallS-

2. 7 x 1.55m: floor constructed of large sandstone blocks sloping north to south, east to west. 2. 7 x 1.6m: constructed largely of smooth river cobbles and some large sandstone blocks sloping as in Stall 1. A wooden beam divides 2.78 x 1.7m

2.7m x 1.7m 2.7m x 1.65m

Between each stall was a narrow trench filled with the remains of decaying timber, perhaps to be explained as what survives of original timber sleeper beams supporting half or full height wooden stall partitions. A feature of the most westerly (but one!) stall excavated was a layer of compact yellow clay overlying the partially cobbled flooring (unit 229), a material foreign to the site, and possibly introduced to repair the cobbles. Since it is not a particularly appropriate material for this purpose - neither waterproof nor hard - it may indicate a later change of use for this stall. Each timber beam slot was excavated as a separate unit, in order from the west units 230, 231 and following.

The stalls all abutted the north wall of the West block, extending some 2. 7m to the middle of the structure, and sloping minimally down into a .1m wide depression along the length of the block, which presumably functioned as a drain falling to the west end or south west comer of the West stable block to join the overall drainage system of the complex down into the vineyard gully. Internally along the south side of the West block was a uninterrupted cobbled passageway or corridor, 2.3m wide, allowing the movement of men and horses in and out of the stalls.

Directly opposite the stalls on the south side, at what appears to be the mid point of the West stable block, was an impressive cobbled ramp, 3m wide and of the same length, up and down which the horses were evidently led in and out of the stable. The ramp was socalled because of its downward slope from the floor level ofthe stables to the ground level south of the same. It is wider at the south end than the north, measuring 2.3m and 2.9m respectively. The three outer edges are lined with sandstone blocks and inftlled with cobblestones.

Nearby were found the remains of the stable door with the heavy ferrous gudgeons by which the doors were hung still attached to the wooden door frame.

When the excavation area was extended in 1991 it became clear that there were no more stalls at the east end of the West block. Instead, a stone wall was found dividing off what well fitted the historical description of the groom 1 s room, leading into the depression between the two blocks. Just beyond the east wall of this room, which also formed the east wall of the whole West block, was a small north-south brick drain falling to the south: its fill was unit 420. There is also historical documentation for the loft above the stables, probably with openings at each end for ventilation, and evidence for the character of the superstructure was found in a heap of timber slabs fallen on the east side of the horses 1

entry ramp.

Excavation continued eastwards in 1991, to establish the width and nature of the gap between the two stable blocks, and also to identify if possible which was the six-stall and which the ten.

The question of fenestration along the stable walls, both north and south, is an intriguing intellectual puzzle. The Sale Notice indicates clearly that the stable was oriented to the south, and standard 19th century stable arrangements would imply a blank wall facing on to the courtyard - or at best a wall with high level louvres or windows: blind fenestration

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seems most likely since- in addition to the implications of the Sale Notice- this has to be the side on which were the fittings for hay rack and manger. This seems unlikely to have satsfied Jamison's views of the appropriate: a south wall for the courtyard (i.e. the north wall of the stable block) could not be totally plain, especially with a formal opening in the south side of the courtyard complex.

What is interesting however is that the courtyard is clearly envisaged as having the north face of the Stable blocks as its southern boundary. Thereafter a whole series of utilitarian structures - the Stable Yard and the Garden - then extend well to the south beyond the formal elements of the Mansion and Courtyard.

There would also have been openings along the south side, and possibly on the north too, although here they would have been much higher, since the feed troughs and hay racks had to have been on this side. No window glass was found, confrrming comparative studies that suggest stable windows of this date may not normally have had glass partly at least to avoid the possibility of injury to horses.

Identification as the stable block was based on the stall partitions and cobbled floors, in association with the information given in the 1848 sale notice. There was however a marked lack of artefactual evidence generally. Virtually no fragments of glass or tablewares were found in the clean loamy soil covering the walls foundations and the cobbled floors, it would seem a manifest consequence of 1960s activities when the thenowner George Edwards uncovered the area in preparation for his 'historic park' display.

Evidence of prolonged use of the structure was clearly visible in the constant repairs to the original cobbles by patching with brick and occasionally with flagstones. These areas of patching corresponded in some stalls to major standing areas.

Further evidence of Jamison's management style in reference to his horses is apparent in the lack of rubbish anywhere in the vicinity of the horse stalls well beyond the limits of the 1960s disturbance. In contrast to the rubbish thickly spread along the south side of the kitchen verandah comprising bone refuse, glass and ceramic the whole stable area was rubbish free. This emphasises the demarcation between the central courtyard surface and the stable block, and supports the indication given by the stable ramp on the south side of the stable block that its orientation was to the south and not north into the courtyard, supporting the location of a stable yard to the south of the stable block as indicated in the 1847 Sale Notice.

All this supports the stratigraphic and structural evidence that the 151 midden deposit represents the discarded kitchen refuse from the later stage addition to the south side of the Kitchen Outbuilding. Its associated ceramic and glassware - notably the green Chevy Chase transfer print and associated finds - strongly supports an interpretation of this material as the rubbish from one of the later occupations of Regentville, perhaps both, when household management was less severe.

Interpretation

Of primary interest for the interpretation of the Area 5 structures is, as already mentioned, the 1847 Sale Notice with its important description of the arrangements to the rear or south of the mansion and courtyard. This is here quoted in full:

'In the rear of the fore-going, adjoining the wall are the Handsome stone Stables, which consist of one ten-stall and one four-stall, with three large boxes and two harness-rooms. The lofts are over the whole of the above stabling, and are about 160 feet in length by 15 feet breadth. The stable yard is enclosed by a paling, and contains also three loose boxes, slab built, with loft over them.

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Adjoining the stable-yard at the back lies the Garden, covering about four acres, full of choice fruit trees, vegetables, & c., and containing the gardener's house.

In the rear of the garden, a shed is partitioned off, and railed in to accommodate about thirty colts; it is well secured by a substantial fence and has a paddock attached, which contains stock-yards and draughting-yards. '

Sydney Morning Herald 16-18, 20-1 December 1847

Contextual Studies on the House·Complex

Historical archaeology students and staff carried out much research into the likely reconstruction of the mansion and outbuildings, and under Andrew Wilson's supervision an excellent three-dimensional model of the mansion and outbuildings was constructed by Nicholas Arnold.

Later staff work into preliminary research on contemporary 'great houses' in the colony, and an interesting series of graphics, some reproduced here as figs. 11-14 shows how grandiose Jamison's construction was in terms of both size and design.

On the less grandiose side, various student projects were dedicated to comparative studies of outbuildings such as stables (cf. especially Brewster, list in section 3.3) while Hourani investigated what the wash-house and laundry might have been like. (Hourani, Pam, 1990, 'House Sanitation and Water Supply in Sydney and Environs in the early 19th Century').

This paper and the questions it raised are summarised here.

This project was a first step in preparing a survey of any early nineteenth century domestic arrangements which related to the collection and storage of water: household washing, whether laundry or personal bathing: household privies and sewage disposal: and domestic drainage generally. This was seen as an essential context for the further investigation of such household management services

The basic point established in this survey is that the key elements of later nineteenth and early twentieth century sanitary and water storage technology had developed in England before the end of the 18th century, notably the flushing water closet and the double bend trap (Cumming's 1775 water closet, Hellyer's 1792 water closet, and the Bramah closet 1798): water could be conveyed in cast iron or wooden pipes from iron guttering to storage' tanks of iron, or bricks made watertight by the use of 'Roman' cement. Thus what is found in the colony is more likely to be a choice made on the basis of availability, cost and the social context of the householder than one constrained by the absence internationally of more sophisticated technology.

Hourani' s discussion covers what was considered desirable in laundries and kitchens in British popular works of the day (Loudon, Webster, Mrs Beeton). Ideally the kitchen/ scullery and the laundry were separate from each other as well as from the house, with stone-flagged floors and good drains, probably open, to ensure the run-off of waste water. Internal arrangements included tubs and heating arrangements.

Her preliminary study of six more substantial NSW rural properties of the 1820s and 30s suggests that where the evidence survives domestic arrangements in the colony appear to have varied in detail, but had the same general form: collection in stone or brick eavesdrop ground drains flowing into a subterranean brick or stone cistern, from which water was taken by bucket for household use (fhrosby Park, Horsley, Rouse Hill). Waste water would have been removed by slop bucket into the nearest waste water drain.

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The main thoughts provoked by this work are:

1. That the Regentville kitchen, laundry and wash-house would all have been stone-flagged, with ground drains leading into the main courtyard waste-water drain

2. That a house of such standing may well have had one or more flushing water closets emptying into cess pits, with commodes for other bedrooms

3. That lead or iron pipes around the house are a strong probability ·

4. That an iron main household water storage tank is also a possibility

Sir John was both wealthy enough and sufficiently aware of new European technology to use the newest and the best in sanitary and plumbing fittings for his mansion. If he did not, it would suggest that household hygiene and comfort was not an area in which he inclined to ostentatious spending. It is notable that no visitor commented on the comfort and efficiency - or splendour - of the household utilities: indeed, the reverse (cf. the account of, for example, Richard Bourke, Appendix 2), a fact that could support the latter model.

Reconstruction Drawings

The best historical record for the appearance of the Mansion complex are the two October 1835 sketches by Conrad Martens. These provide a general indication of what the complex looked like from the north east, and a close view of the north west comer of the main block and the balcony. The absence of any other contemporaneous records, especially original plans and any indication of the layout of the area (courtyard) have meant the excavations have been the best source of information on the dimensions, construction and layout of the complex. This information is best expressed and summarised in reconstruction drawings.

The frrst attempt at a reconstruction drawing was made by Wilson in 1982 (Drawing 7.8). In the absence of detailed information on dimensions from the archaeological investigation it was based on an elevation of St Matthew's Rectory Windsor, extended to conform to the dimensions recorded in the historical descriptions (Horton 1824, Anonymous [Dumaresq] 1827). St Matthew's Rectory is thought by architectural historians to be another major domestic commission by Francis Greenway, or the work of an as yet unidentified architect who designed both buildings. Only the north elevation of the main block was reconstructed, with details derived from the Martens sketches.

The next reconstruction drawings were undertaken using the results of the 1988 excavation season (Arnold 1988). A wide variety of comparative architectural information, including the use of dimensional modules, was combined with dimensions from the excavated remains to produce elevations of all four sides of the main block. The drawings were then presented as a 1:50 'white' model which not only gave a clearer impression of the building, but also helped to resolve some questions of proportions and construction and helped in interpreting the Martens drawings. The model was exhibited in the Digging for Meaning Exhibition at the Macleay Museum in 1989.

A further attempt was made possible by the results of the 1991 season, especially the excavation of the west wing, Area 4, and the stables, Area 5 (McManus 1991). For the frrst time it was possible to produce elevations of all the elements of the mansion complex, linked to an overall plan developed from the archaeological evidence.

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Further work on the recording of structures and the provision of computer aided drafting facilities at the University of Sydney's Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology has made possible a new set of computer generated and infmitely modifiable reconstruction drawings. These have been based directly on the computer stored and corrected excavation plans projected into the third dimension.

The north elevation of the complex shown in figure 11 is an example of these drawings.

Reconstruction drawings are useful in summarising and presenting the results of the excavation and in expressing those results in an easy to understand format. They are also useful in comparative comparative and contextual research, which helps place the 'lost' building in its historical context. ·

Figure 12 presents Regentville compared to Old Government House, Parramatta and First Government House, Sydney. The main elevations of all three buildings are shown at the same scale.

The elevation of Old Government House was redrawn from the original drawing by John Watts of about 1815 (Lucas and Cox 1978). The elevation of First Government House was based on the unattributed diagram 'Evolution of First Government House' in Proudfoot (1991).

All three elevations are shown at a scale of 1:500. The Old Government House elevation was scaled using the bar scale from the original John Watts drawing. The First Government House elevation had no scale, but the dimensions of the original 1788-1789 building are known from the 1808 plan sent to Britain by Governor Bligh, and this was used to provide the horizontal scale. The vertical scale of the diagram is problematic, it is extremely exaggerated and provides a distorted view of the house. This was corrected by reducing the vertical scale of the whole drawing in accordance with the height of First Government House given by Morton Herman (1954 page 13).

The similarity in style of Regentville with Old Government House is obvious. Both rely on the Palladian technique of a large central pavilions with smaller flanking pavilions. Old Government House only reached this form after John Watts' expansion of the original house in about 1816.

The two major extensions to First Government House undertaken by Macquarie were completed by 1818 and the house remained in this form until Darling extensions in 1825. By the time Regentville was built Macquarie's extensions had resulted in a substantial house, although it was not as large as Regentville. More importantly First Government House always betrayed its piecemeal growth in contrast to the single concept and execution that is clear at Regentville.

A similar comparison of the plans of all three house complexes, with particular attention to the enclosed 'area' or yard behind the houses, is shown in figure 13.

The plan of Old Government House was redrawn from a 1985 plan by P. B. Lennard (National Trust of Australia 1985). The plan of First Government House was based on the 1845 Mortimer Lewis plan of First Government House, with the Darling extension and the south privy removed so that the plan conforms to the 1818-1825 layout of the house complex as far as it is known.

All three plans are shown at a scale of 1:1000. The Old Government House plan was scaled using the bar scale from the P. B. Lennard drawing. The First Government House plan had no scale, but as with the elevation, the dimensions of the original 1788-1789 building were used as discussed above.

The similarity in layout of Regentville with Old Government House is once again clear as

49


far as the Palladian technique of the main building is concerned. Old Government House only reached this form after John Watt's expansion and it is not clear when the outbuildings were constructed. The final scheme is much smaller than Regentville, and does not provide a fully enclosed yard.

The topography of its site means that the yard of First Government House is offset to the west and not directly behind the house. For the same reason it is not precisely square. The servants quarters and kitchen are placed within the yard but aligned differently. They are also the same size as those at Regentville. The yard is enclosed, has the stables on the perimeter, and is a similar size to like Regentville. However, the First Government House yard does double duty as the domestic 'area' and the stable yard, as the stables open on to it. At Regentville the stables opentd on the side opposite the enclosed 'area' and the stable yard formed a further southern extension of the mansion complex.

Figure 14 is a comparison of Regentville with Government House Stables (now the Conservatorium of Music). This is a Greenway commission and one of the few surviving buildings with an enclosed yard as at Regentville.

50

I I II I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

Entertai

Billiaid ~--_____ _,

Room 1 ....... , _ _. ___ ) -----

---~----, --------~~-----

D .. --·~··:·:·:·:·:·:·:·: ;:;:;:::::;:::::;:;:;:::;:;:;:;:· ···:·:·:·:·:·:··.·.·.;.;.·.:.:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:::1

::r :=i

Kjt~.'hens and Bake~.=.: J :·!

Servant's Quarters .. _.,.~ :·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:-:·.::::.:·:·::·:·:-:·:· ... ·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·:·::·:· .. ·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·:.:::.:::::]

K;tchen Verandah

Gateway ·-:-:-:-:-:-:-.·:·:-:-:-:-:-:·. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:=· Gateway

SeiVants Quarters and Kitchens

I Ten Stall Stable Four Stall Stable

Gateway

211 A -c~~=====-----c===~------ N

10

Figure 10. Plan of the Regentville mansion complex, showing the interpretation developed from the excavation.

52

I I I I I I I I I

II II I I I I I I I I I I

D D

Figure 11. Regentville, north (front) elevation. Reconstruction based on archaeological evidence and Martens' 183 5 sketches.

53

I I I I I I I I I I I I I II

I I I I I I I

Figure 12.

REGENfVILLE 1825

DO 1J !JD

OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE after 1816

FIRST GOVERNMENT HOUSE 1818-1825

The front elevation of Regentville compared to those of Old Government House, Parramatta, and First Government House, Sydney.

54

I I I I II

I I I I I I I

II I II

I

I I I I I II

REGENTVILLE

1825

Yard: 52 metres by 41 metres

Enclosed Area: 21 SO square metres

OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE

after 1816

HRSTGOVERNMENTHOUSE

1825

Scale

0 10 20 30 40

metres

Figure 13. Plan of the Regentville yard, compared to those of Old Government House, Parramatta, and First Goverment House, Sydney.

55


..... _

0 10 20 30 40

scale metres

Figure 14. Plan and elevation of Regentville compared to those of the Government House Stables, Sydney, deigned by Francis Greenway.

56


3.2 The Privy Deposit: Artefact Analysis

The excavation in 1991 of the large deposit from the privy pit and drains, consisting primarily of table and household ceramics, glass and crystal, was a dramatic change from the well-mixed and redeposited building demolition with scattered artefacts that had, with one or two significant exceptions, characterised the previous excavation seasons. Recovery of this material, and its subsequent identification, classification and study, provided the most vivid insight into the life-cycle of a nineteenth century colonial residence yet known in Australia.

Nature of the Deposit

The privy deposit was slowly revealed, as the upper soil was removed, to be a densely packed mass of primarily ceramic and glass items in a matrix of faintly odorous sandy soil. Both inlet and outlet sluices were choked with soil, with similar material extending up to .5m in each direction.

No stratification was observable during the removal of the deposit, which consisted of a high proportion of complete, or near-complete, glass bottles and ceramic items of both bedroom and dining room origin. Subsequent conjoin analysis between the various units is now in progress to check the nature of deposition of this material and any subsequent disturbance, and also the degree of movement if any from inlets to outlet. Most items were cleaned, although a number of bottle deposits have been retained for residue analysis. A large sample of the soil matrix was also retained and is under analysis in the soils analytical program. Examination of this material for other identifiable organic remains and faunal species is also in progress.

Analytical Questions

The questions asked of this invaluable body of data (196,000 items) fell into two groups.

First, those involving the characterisation of the privy deposit both as a whole and in part, including the nature, origins and implications of individual items in it.

Second, those concerned with deposition - how the deposit was formed - ie. steady accumulation in situ, single dump as a secondary action, or successive dumps over time.

The Analysis Program.

The number of item entries into the 1991 database from the privy and its associated deposits was 5568: the total number of individual fragments was 196,000. This large sample ensures that results derived from it have a strong claim to significance.

During the analysis program the key variables used proved to be:

ID Number (item identification number) Weight (weight of item in grams) Number (quantity of objects/fragments comprising item) Unit (stratigraphic unit/context/deposit) Quad (lm quadrat/square within the site grid) Material (mortar, shell, glass, fine earthenware) Function (broad functional grouping - architectural, household, yard) Vessel (sub-functional- shape) Architectural (sub-function) Object (components of a numbered object) Set (components of an identifiable pattern set)

57


~----

The various analyses were implemented by using combinations of these variables to retrieve selected aspects of the entered data. The question to be asked dictated the selection of variables to be used. This is demonstrated in the discussion of figs. 16-22.

Most of these variables listed above are self-explanatory (unit, quad, weight, number etc): others are more sophisticated, requiring to be defined by a series of precise codes and guidelines to ensure consistency at the classification and entry stage (see Methodology in Chapter 2). For the more intensive stylistic study about the nature of the privy deposit both ceramics and glass were sorted into numbered sets, i.e. classes of table or toiletware of matching fabric and pattern or design (but not necessarily joining), and numbered objects, where joins or a strong presumption of joins indicated an identifiable individual object such as plate, teacup or tumbler. At the inventory or descriptive level 112 table and toiletware ceramic sets were identified in this study, including 186 numbered individual items, and 6 glass tableware sets including 59 individual items. The full list of variables and definitions, as well as the artefact database itself, can be made available on request.

For analyses involving the privy deposit, especially those related to the second group of questions, there were ten key units in and around the privy as previously described and fig. 15. Those within the privy pit were 417 and 422, with 408 over: 423 over 424 in the inlet drain, 425 over 426 in the outlet drain. In addition 418 over 421 comprised the disturbed fill of the south inlet drain, while 404, a particularly interesting deposit, represented material cleared out from the outlet drain and dumped as garden soil outside the west wall.

Some analyses involved comparison between the privy as a whole (i.e. all the above units were selected) and the non-privy deposits (i.e. all the rest of the excavated units). In some instances one particular non-privy deposit was selected for comparison (unit 151) because of its homogeneous character as a kitchen refuse heap: this made it an interesting contrast to the data in the ten units of the privy complex ..

Other analyses involved the comparison of one or more deposits within the privy with others also part of the complex: for example, selection of upper deposits in comparison with lower to assess the degree of variation, if any, and the comparison of inlet and outlet drains to assess movement within the privy complex.

In general all analyses resulted in numerical results, with degrees of similarity and difference expressed in terms of percentage mass (total weight in grams of selected variables) or percentage frequency (numerical count of objects/fragments). These were then expressed in both tabular and graphic form. The most interesting part of the operation then follows - namely, the interpretation of the result in relation to the question it was intended to answer. ,

The following selection of the analyses carried out illustrates the methods used and, more significantly, addresses the two groups of questions set out at the beginning of this section.

Question: What is the overall nature of the privy complex deposit, and how does it compare with the rest of the material from the RGV site? (Figs 16-19)

For these analyses the variables of unit, quad, material, and function were used, with weight and number.

Fig. 1 shows frequency distributions of glass and ceramic material material across the site: the bulk of the material omitted in this analysis are those covered by architectural and building materials variables.

The top left hand block indicates the composition of the privy deposit in terms of ceramic ware categories together with a glass-non-glass breakdown: the top right hand block gives the contrast with the non-privy deposits. They correspond fairly closely except for vitreous stoneware (lower percentage in privy complex), and fine earthenware (higher percentage in

58

I I I I I I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I I

privy complex). On the known contextual information that vitreous stoneware tablewares were mnore expensive than earthenwares, and also increased in frequency in the course of the nineteenth century. Two possible causes are that 1. the privy units contain the same date range of ceramic material as the non-privy units but more expensive: 2. that the privy deposit material is generally later. This result is further discussed later.

The remaining block graphics select three individual non- privy units for comparison. Not surprisingly the house demolition rubble is distinguished by its low frequency of ceramics, and high frequency of glass (including window and lamp glass, as well as bottle). The other two (midden and kitchen demolition deposits) have some variations (vitreous stoneware) but are broadly similar ..

In general, however, these comparisons, while promising something, are not yet immediately enlightening although they proved to be more so in retrospect.

Fig. 17 shows the same selection of stratigraphic units analysed by functional class of the items within them. This highlights an immediate distinction between the privy and nonprivy deposits: the privy shows a much higher frequency of household items than the nonprivy units, reflecting the high number of bedroom and toiletry items (basins, ewers, chamber pots), also lamp glass, in the privy. Tablewares are roughly similar, while kitchenwares (containers including glass bottles) comprise a higher percentage of the nonprivy deposit. Again in the selected deposits below the kitchen demolition rubble and the kitchen midden are closer to each other than to the overall demolition rubble, in that each has a significant quantity of household items. Significantly more tableware however came from the kitchen demolition rubble.

Figs 18 and 19 attempt to accentuate these tendencies by comparing privy and non-privy deposits for glass and ceramics separately. Fig 18 now shows the clear distinction in ceramic functional distributions: household items heavily predominate in the privy deposits, tablewares and kitchenwares in the rest of the site. From Fig 19 it can be demonstrated that both table and household glassware are more abundant in the privy than the rest of the site, and by how much.

Question: What is the date range of the material in the privy complex, and how does any patterning relate to the occupational phast>S of the Regentville mansion?

Two approaches were taken to this question.

First, the break-down of ware-pattern categories found in the privy was applied to an availability model. Fig. 20 presents the Regentville privy ceramics against the date range' over which each was advertised as available for purchase in Sydney, as compiled from advertisements in the Sydney Morning Herald: these availability periods are again set against the four historically-documented Regentville occupation phases.

This needs cautious interpretation, since the advertisements indicate availability for sale locally, while the wealthy Sir John can be assumed to have bought his tablewares directly from London well in advance of local availability. Conversely the assumption may be made that those fitting out the Asylum would have bought locally, from wares advertised as available. Thus Sir John's purchases of, for example, the Phillips and Baxter brown, green and red transfer print wares, if specially ordered as supposed are likely to pre-date significntly the general availability of these wares as advertised.

What these appear to indicate is that the accumulation of household rubbish in the privy complex overall, at least on the evidence of dated pieces, represents discards from all four phases of the Regentville occupation, i.e. a steady accumulation over forty years. Further analyses were needed, specifically designed to test this.

The second approach was more direct. Using the variable Inscrip[tion], all sherds with

59

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I II II

I I I I

manufacturers' marks were retrieved and researched. This enabled the chart (fig 21) to be compiled, in which the dates of manufacture of any marked pieces that could be dateranged were set against the historically-documented occupation phases in the Regentville mansion.

The number of marked pieces is not large: however, the result is a clear patterning into four groupings, the first two in the lifetime of Sir John, a third during the widowed Lady Jamison's occupancy, and the last in the short-lived Asylum phase. While it must be remembered that these are dates of manufacture, not purchase, the presumption has been made that especially in the earliest phase, a colonist of Sir John Jamison's style would in general tend always towards the new and the fashionable rather than the out-dated. The first phase of Sir John's buying is manifestly associated with fitting out the new residence, the second, some ten years later, ·perhaps with replacements associated with the growing family, and another newer table service. A specific sum (flSOO) is noted as having gone into equipping the Asylum - apparently never officially used. There is no contextual information to suggest that the owners of the Regentville Inn would have put additional capital into new household goods: the suspicious fire strongly suggests the reverse.

Question: H the privy complex steadily accumulated rubbish over all four phases of the house occupation, how does this relate to the actual functioning of the privy?

As discussed in 3-1, the privy was carefully designed to take advantage of water seeping in from the courtyard, and seeping out into the main drain outside the SW corner of the courtyard wall. However, this design did not make allowance for the high breakage rate of household ceramics: were servants in this particular colonial gentleman's residence worse than elsewhere? The accumulation of household debris, primarily of bedroom and toiletry sets, but also broken tablewares and bottles, must, well before it reached its final level, have steadily impeded then totally blocked the flow.

Investigation of this question and its follow-up queries seemed to get to the very heart of our understanding of the site and people of Regentville. At what point did household management so break down that any attempt to clear it was abandonned? if indeed anyone remembered how it had once worked.

Analyses for this investigation involved various selections and groupings of the ten selected units together with the object and set variables. Ceramic decoration, glass colour and vessel were also used.

The primary objective in the first analysis was to see whether there was any specific depositional patterning within the privy complex units. The procedure was to track the distributions of identified sets and objects, starting with the dated sets. This enquiry concerned the movement of fragments through the privy system. Units were grouped as east inlet (423,424), south inlet (418, 421), west outlet (425,426, 439, and 404 disturbed) and privy pit (417, 422, 408).

The model of deposition proposed was that during the Jamison period rubbish was already entering the privy complex in quantity, and came to choke the inlet and outlet drains as well as the pit. In keeping with Jamison's emphasis on good management, it is assumed that the pit was cleared out once or even periodically from with the outhouse, still leaving early rubbish intact as a filling of both inlet and outlet drains. Presumably neither of these fills completely blocked the flow.

After this period of probably regular clearance of all but the earliest rubbish from the privy complex, there appears to occur a single more extensive clearance operation referred to on the fig. 22 model as 'major clearance'. This is so-called because both the south inlet and west outlet original drains are opened from the outside, in each instance by those clearly ignorant of the original design of the system. Blocking material from the privy pit is removed externally: in the south drain some of it is thrown back (units 418, 421), mixed with the new red surface of the courtyard. In the west drain much of it is redeposited back

60


on top of the back-filled drain as garden soil (Unit 404).

This appears to be the last privy clearance. The subsequent accumulation builds up inexorably, and from the near complete condition of many objects within it remains essentially undisturbed until the abandonment and demolition following the 1869 fire.

The most revealing artefact distributions are those of 404 and the south inlet drain (418, 421). Unit 404 is clearly characterised by the presence in it of sherds from almost all the earliest datable ceramic sets, supporting the stratigraphic evidence that this deposit, dumped as garden soil outside the adjacent wall, was dug out from the outlet drain at some date when the total system was no longer fully understood.

The south inlet drain deposits present a different picture. The inlet drain itself was part of the original structure of the privy, built to direct ground water into the privy seepage system. The earliest dated disturbed material in this drain is the Phillips green transfer print (1830s-40s) and the Ridgeway Chimaera of similar date, the latest the Meakin ware beginning after 1852.

The conclusion from this appears to confirm the fig. 22 model which proposes an earlier phase of efficient functioning helped by an unknown number of clearances, when artefacts spread down the outlet drain, and a later major clearance presumably either because lack of regular servicing had caused severe blocking, or because of some external event (perhaps the leasing of Regentville about 1860).

The second enquiry was aimed at testing whether in any of the four privy components (east and south inlets, privy pit, west outlet) there was a significant change in content from lower to upper levels of each component. On the model proposed above such patterning would generally be expected in the privy pit, and specifically not in the south inlet, east inlet and west outlet.

This comparison proved negative.

61


00

Figure 15. Plan of the Privy complex within Area 4. The inlet and oulet drains are labeled and the direction of water seepage is indicated by arrows.

62

------ - ---

I I I ~

I I I I

I I I I I I

Kitchenware (52.2%)

Tableware (25.3%)

Household (22.5%)

Privy

_Kitchenware (60.3%)

Tableware (35.6%) --

Household(4.1%) __ __... __ _

Kitchen Demolition Rubble

Kitchenware (77.3%)

Tableware (22.6%) Household (0.1%) ---'----~

,House Demolition Rubble

Figure 16.

Kitchenware (62.9%)

Tableware (27.2%) ----l

Household (9.9%) ---11••• Non Privy

Kitchenware (66.7%)

Tableware (28.2%)

Household (5.1%) -------

Midden

I I I

Comparison of the functional groups of glass and ceramics from selected deposits, by mass.

63

I I I


Glass {62.0%) Oriental Porcelain (0.3%)

Porelain {3.5%) Vrtreous Stoneware {2.8%)

Fine Stoneware (1.9%)

Fine Earthenware {29.5%)

Red Earthenware {0.0%)

Glass (56.4%) Oriental Porcelain (0.1%)

Porelain (1.2%) Vrtreous Stoneware [1.7%)

Fine Stoneware (8.8%) Fine Earthenware (24.8%)

Red Earthenware (1.0%)

Kitchen Demolition Rubble


Porelain {0.1%) Vrtreous Stoneware (16.1%)

Fme Stoneware (0.1%) Fine Earthenware {5.8%) Red Earthenware (0.0%) · • / ·

· House Demolition Rubble

Figure 17.


Porelain (3.0%) Vrtreous Stoneware (7.8%)

Fine Stoneware (6.0%) Fine Earthenware (19.2%)

Red Earthenware (0.1%)


Porelain (0.8%) Vrtreous Stoneware (3.8%)

Fine Stoneware (9.4%)

Fine Earthenware (22.1%) Red Earthenware (1.4%)

Non Privy

Midden

Comparison of the materials of glass and ceramics from selected deposits, by mass.

64

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I , I I I I I I

Medical (0.13%) ----llllillll Kitchenware (4.90%)

Yard(O.OO%) -----. Other Cultural (0.13%) --~

Unidentified (0.07%)

Medical (0.00%) --

Kitchenware (18.14%) ---

Household (25.93%) --Yard(0.37%) ~----......._

OthetCultural(0.05%) --~"""""'=w;;;""""' Unidentified (0.24%)

Figure 18.

Ceramics from the Privy Deposits

Ceramics from the Non Privy Deposits

Comparison of the functional groups of ceramics from the Privy and Non Privy deposits, by mass.

65


Tableware (15.71%) Household (3.05%)

Yard (0.00".4) Other Cultural (0.000.4) --~


Tableware (10.95%) Household (0.680.4)

Yard(O.OO%) Other Cultural (0.000.4) -------3'


Figure 19.

Glass from the Privy Deposits

Glass from the . Non Privy Deposits

Comparison of the functional groups of glass from the Privy and Non Privy deposits, by mass.

66


Cream ware

White ware

Edged Wares

Sponged Wares

Dipped Wares

Printed Wares

Blue Printed Wares

Brown Printed Wares

Green Printed Wares

Flowing & Flowing Blue

Willow Ware

Mamie Wares

Ironstone China

White Granite

Pearl White

White and Gold

Gold Edge/Gold Band

Sprigged/Sprig

Blue Sprigged

Lustre

1803 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1868

Regentville Inn 1864-1869

Figure 20. Ceramics from the Privy, shown by the dates of their advertisments in Sydney newspapers, overlayed on the major occupation phases of Regentville.

67

----------------------'7~ ::r ~ -· ~I»(JQ

3 ~ e; I» ~ ~ o· o. N .., n-~· 0 ..,

g 3 s:: -· '"0 n ~til -·'"0 0 .., ::s ~

'"0 til ::rg

~ =· ~ ::s til -0 ::r .....,~

~~ ~ ::2. ag~ ::s ~

~til -· ::r =o

0\ ~ ~. 00 ::s

(JQ g. ~. .., 3 § s:: S> 2 &. til

0.

~ ~ ag

vtll

~ ~ ::!.. ~ ~ 0. 0 ::s

1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890

Mason's Ironstone Dinner Service

Spode Blue, red & gilt service

E. & G. Phillips Red TP Toilet Set

J.D. Baxter Brown TP plates

G. Phillips Green TP Toilet Set

Ridgeway & Sons 'CHIMERA' grey TP service

J. & G. Meakin Candlestick Holder

Hulse, Nixon & Adderley 'ALBA' Tea Service

E. & C. Challinor Saucers

Regentville Inn 1864-1869

Asylum Establishment 1860-1864

Jamison Family 1844-1860

Sir John Jamison 1824-1844


Figure 22.

refuse accumulates in pit and drains

Privy Pit

Privy Pit

refuse accumulates in pit

attempts to clear drains refuse redeposited most refuse removed

from site

refuse accumulates in pit

Privy Pit

1. Initial Accumulation

2. Periodic Clearance

3. Continued Accumulation

Clearance and accumulation repeated as necessary

4. Major Clearance

5. Latest Accumulation

0 Scale 1 2

Metres

Privy Deposition Model, showing the major stages in the development of the deposits within the privy complex.

69


I I II !

I

3.3. Other Analytical Programs

The privy deposit as discussed proved to be of considerable interest on the basis of the range of styles, dates, manufacturers and mixed original use of its contents. These were primarily studied by means of traditional stylistic and functional identification following extensive sorting and conjoining. Some other locations (for example, the kitchen midden deposit unit 151) warranted comparable treatment, and some categories of fmds such as buttons and table glass, and some individual finds, especially architectural hardware, required similar intensive qualitative and comparative study on manufacturing origin, date, cost-status etc. since they needed to be viewed more from the point of uniqueness than as functional categories. ·

For the great majority of finds from most of the stratigraphic units this treatment was clearly unrewarding, and primary processing paused after entry into the database by stratigraphic unit, material, function, other identification and classification as appropriate, number and weight.

This mass of meticulously collected and sorted data has the capability to answer an almost infinite range of questions based on frequency distribution of both individual categories of finds and combinations of categories. The questions arise from various sources - some from the original historical background, others progressively triggered as the archaeological and analytical work proceeds.

The selection of questions explored in this section is a small one designed to show some results, and also the potential for further work. Many students have worked on this material and we envisage a continuing program of further analysis for several years.

Questions based on the Analysis of Building Materials

Primary pre-existing architectural questions were traditional archaeological ones. What were the materials used for the complex? Where did they come from, and with what technological traditions were they acquired and used? From the answers to such question flow inferences about Jamison's colonial status, his perceptions of his status and how it was to be projected, and more objective information about economic resources in the colony in the mid 1820s.

Analyses involved included the identification and origin of the sea shell species in the lime mortar used in different Jamison structures in the complex: a comparative study of the fine' lime plaster Jamison ordered for his walls and ceilings: and an econometric study of the stone quarrying and fixing activity involved in the Regentville building program.

A second suite of questions for which the demolition rubble is relevant relates to the archaeological record itself and the processes of its deposition. Considerable light on the various phases of the long-drawn out demolition of the house and its outbuildings, and the robbing of its components, was shed by analysis of the nature, contents and precise distribution of the rubble. These so-called taphonomic questions, perhaps of less obvious interest to the public, are of considerable interest to archaeologists both for the intrinsic information they provide of the history of the site, and for the development and testing of the most appropriate and cost-effective ways of sampling site destruction processes.

Answering these questions was approached by testing the differential distribution of components in the demolition rubble (Unit 141), against the underlying deposits, such as the kitchen midden deposit (Unit 151. From these the cultural material from each lm quadrat of demolition rubble could be compared, on the basis of its quantified component materials, both to other quadrats of the same unit and to those of other stratigraphic deposits.

70


I I

I I I I I --

Associated with the analysis of building materials in this reference is the program of soil analysis carried out over the last eight years at the Regentville site, investigating the natural profile, imported soil materials, changes in composition of soils through land and household use, and specialist household deposits.

Some of these post-excavation studies and their results are briefly summarised here.

A specialist study of the lime plaster fragments from the 1985 season has documented the design, colour and composition of the Regentville mansion's ceiling and internal wall plaster Red, grey and white plaster have been identified. The linear designs of the cornice fragments - single, double and triple reeded - have close contemporary parallels at Bowman's Cottage, Richmond 1818 and Cleveland House, Surry Hills c.1823 (Capon, Joanna, 1986, 'A Study of Ceiling Plaster from Regentville').

Two specialist studies of the shell material surviving from the remains of the lime mortar packed between the ashlar masonry of the house, stables and other outbuildings retrieved from the computerised artefact inventory have been completed (Sale, Kathy and Leo, Pat, 1987, 'Regentville: From Midden to Mansion': Milroy, Nikki, 1991, 'A Study of the Shell Remains from the Stables at Regentville'). These studies present species identification and percentage frequency of the shell material surviving from the mortars used first in the construction of the mansion, and second of the stables. Analysis of the shells used in the mortar from the mansion (Sale and Leo 1987) demonstrated their source was likely to be the Aboriginal middens of Broken Bay, probably the south end.

The later analysis of the shell material by Milroy demonstrates that the stables were built as a separate event in the construction of the mansion complex, since it confirms the visual colour distinction that the mortar used in its construction is of a quite different batch from that in the main house. Shells present in the stables' mortar are also from typical Sydney region coastal middens, but present a slightly different species set from those in the mansion mortar. Since the complex is manifestly laid out as an entity, and the buildings completed within two years, these analyses - and hopefully more now from other dated buildings of this period - can be used to build up a sequence of precisely how the new colony's apparently abundant resources were exploited.

In a different area again a study of the architectural hardware items found up to 1989 demonstrated again that some could be firmly identified as of date and status most likely to be associated with the Jamison construction phase (Scarano, Sandra, 1991, 'Architectural Hardware from Regentville'.

Finally, specialist studies on aspects of both local and introduced soils have been completed, and studies of architectural items and materials are in progress.

Questions based on Analysis of the Household Debris

Looking beyond building materials to the mixed items of ceramic, glass and metal table and household items found both in and below the demolition rubble, a third set of questions relates to what can be deduced from these about the various households from which they came. How many, on the basis of date, original cost, stratigraphic origin, or even comparison with identified items from the privy deposit can be identified as coming from Jamison's original household. How many also can be attributed specifically to one or more of the subsequent three occupations of the complex before the fire of 1869?

Among these questions are some concerning the night of the fire, and the days that followed: here frequency distribution analysis of the ceramic and glass components in and below the lower demolition rubble scattered across the courtyard will prove especially interesting. Use of Maplnfo to plot this distribution directly from the MINARK database is now being implemented. This should show what patterns, if any, are exhibited by these

71

II I I I I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I I I

finds in terms of breakage/joins, size and groupings, with possible guidance to how they were dropped, swept or redeposited.

Plotting the distribution of different functional categories of artefacts also showed how activity areas are differentiated within the mansion complex (fig. 23). The two west wing rooms can be seen to have similar quantitative distributions of artefact functional classes, while the courtyard distribution is different (a significantly higher percentage frequency of household items - mainly bottle glass - and ceramic tablewares). It may be noted that identification of similarities and differences is a first step: interpretation requires the sensitive use of varied contextual information - historic and taphonomic. In this instance the scatter of artefacts over the courtyard during the household clearance after the fire appears to fit the data best, following more detailed analyses of the materials and spatial patterning involved.

Specialist ceramic study has confirmed a mid 1820s date for the ornate Mason's ironstone tableware found throughout the site. The range of sizes indicates that these sherds are the remains of a complete dinner service of 150 pieces. The service was probably purchased specifically for the new house and would have cost considerably more than a labourer's annual wage (Wilson, 1988, in 'A Failed Colonial Squire').

Another study has examined the relationship between the genuine stamped Mason's ware and the interesting number of related but different patterns that suggest breakages were being in-filled with non-matching pieces. (Layton, Bronwyn, 1990, 'Masons Look-Alike': A Ceramic Analysis). This studyn was later refined by Birmingham in the Set and Objects analyses (1993).

A third study turned to more modest sherds, the sponged wares not uncommonly found on other Sydney sites especially of the later nineteenth century. (Parry, Tanya, 1990, 'Regentville: Sponged Ceramic Ware') This identified and researched a specific type of British-produced low cost table ware known also in the USA and shown not to have been manufactured before 1845. It thus identifies a clear indicator of a post-Jamison., lower economic level of occupation wherever it occurs. It was significantly found (in small quantities) in the midden deposit 151, thus supporting its later date, and also in greater quantity throughout the topsoil deposits of Area 3. Again later work on Maastrecht wares quite widely found in eastern British colonies added to this information.

The brown and green transfer printed wares from the site overall (including the privy deposit) were the subject of another Honours thesis. (Lawrence, Rebekah, 1991, 'Regentville: Brown and Green'). It first analyses the site distribution of a green transfer print ware, identified as a pattern called Chevy Chase, and manufactured in England, and gives a precise analysis of the material in terms of table items, shapes, border and patterns, and colour. It establishes its availability date in Sydney as between 1844 and 1865, although the manufacturing date of at least one piece was earlier (PHILLIPS/LONGPORT 1822-1834). There is some other evidence to support the purchase of this ware initially during Jamison's lifetime (Pountney and Allies 1816-1835) although this is not strong (Lawrence p. 38-40): the pattern can be identified as 'Chevy Chase' (Coysh and Henrywood p. 81) but there is as yet little more background data on this ware. There may be a connection with Thomas Dimmock (junior) and Co. 1828-1859 through the use of a 'D' mark.

Lawrence's work raises the question of the identity of the purchaser. If Jamison purchased the initial dinner service, it could be expected to have been ordered directly from England and to be in the vanguard of fashion, like the Masons i.e. in the 1820s or 30s. If, conversely, it was ordered during the fit-out for Mr. Frederick Bell's asylum (1863-4) it might well have been purchased at a time when it represented an attractive but cheap ware readily available in Sydney. On probability the former date appears more likely i.e. purchse use and replacements during the main period of the Jamison occupation as the day to day tableware, given, first, the evidence of the one dated early piece, and, second, that

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initial purchase in 1863 is too close to the end of its general availabilty to allow for the many replacements identified by Lawrence.

One of the most valuable contributions to our knowledge of Regentville ceramics in the wider sense was provided by Megan Atkins' Honours thesis on nineteenth century newspaper advertisements offering ceramic tablewares for sale (Atkins, Megan, 1991, 'Not to be Excelled for Elegence or Utility: A Study of the Availability of Ceramics in Sydney 1803-1868'). This was based on earlier projects carried out by several generations of Historical Archaeology students, who systematically mined newspapers over this period for what imported tablewares were stated to available. On this basis Atkins constructed an availability model (already shown ~n relation to the privy deposit) ..

Two excellent studies have concentrated on glass tableware found before the privy deposit (but consistent with its contents) demonstrating that while several high quality fragments from heavy crystal tumblets, stemmed glasses and decanters were found of early nineteenth century date, another range of pressed and moulded stemmed glasses and tumblers is more consistent with an 1860 or later date, suggesting purchase and use in the Asylum (1860-4) and Inn (1864-9) phases. (Waghom, Annita, 1990, 'RGV: Non-Vessel Glassware', and Souter, Corioli, 1991, 'RGV: Glass and Crystal Tableware from the 1991 Regentville Excavation Catalogue')

Recovery of Food Refuse and Other Animal Remains

Bones recovered during the 1987 season have been retrieved from the computerised artefact inventory, studied and identified Analysis of species and condition confirms the preliminary results of similar material from the 1985 season (Willingham, Diane, 1986, 'Regentville: Spatial Patterns in Faunal Remains': Poulos, Lita and Young, Christine, 1987, 'Regentville: An Analysis of Faunal Remains').

These studies addressed many questions including diet, butchering techniques and site formation processes. Initial analysis provided two challenging results. First, lamb and mutton appeared to have been more popular that beef. Secondly, the high proportion of gnawed bones recovered from the midden deposit (Unit 151) under the rear verandah provided a graphic picture of the favourite haunt of the household pets (Figure 18, page 38).

These preliminary studies were in tum superceded by the work of Tony English in 1991 in his detailed analysis of the bone refuse from the kitchen midden. Bone material was found to be concentrated on the south side of the kitchen outbuilding under a late-period wooden' verandah extension. English's analysis shows that the animals were slaughtered locally i.e. estate-killed, and were not result of a more urban pattern of centralised slaughter and retail distribution. They also related to an essentially low quality diet. (English, Tony, 1991, 'This Muttonous Diet: Aspects of Faunal Analysis and Inter-Site Comparison in Australian Historical Archaeology') (figs. 24, 25)

His analysis of the bone material from the kitchen midden deposit of Area 2, Unit 151, concludes

'first that the deposit can be demonstrated to be linked to a pattern of human consumption on the basis of species and osteological elements present and an analysis of breakage patterns across and within species, and the detection of natural agents of attrition, Second, the diet represented was of a low quality in terms both of the meat consumed and the manner of its processing. There is a dominance of inferior rib pieces, and a high proportion of waste elements for each species. Consumption of roasts - beef, mutton, pork - did occur, yet use of soups and stews are likely to have been predominant. Processing was intensive and

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involved the breakage of elements for marrow extraction. '

However, the archaeological data has some limitations. As English comments, 'it must be stated that any assessment of diet based upon faunal remains will only present part of the picture. Many food items such as deboned meat cuts, offals and sweetbreads, sausages and smallgoods, may not be represented in the archaeological record.

A small scrap of bone from the privy made its own contribution to the picture of Sir John's character in a far more traditionally archaeological way. This was identified as coming from a quoll, or marsupial cat, an animal Sir John specifically recommended to other settlers in one of his Royal Agricultural Society addresses as a valuable addition to a household to keep down vermin.

Student Projects related to Regentville

From 1986 historical archaeology undergraduate students were encouraged to undertake a research topic related to Regentville as their major or other project for the year, and in 1991 two Honours students also chose Regentville-related topics for their fourth year theses. While these projects have necessarily varied in quality, since not all historical archaeology students are undertaking Honours degrees, this procedure has steadily built up a strong research base of contextual studies in many areas. The more significant results of these have been touched on in previous chapters as appropriate: the following is a full list in acknowledgment of often dedicated and rewarding work.

1985

1985

1985

1985

1985

1986

1987

1987

1987

1987

1988

Nyfakos, Athina

O'Brien, Brigid

de Beer, F. J.

Cameron, Jane

Dean, Christopher

Willingham, Diane

Rees, Peter

Poulos L. & Young C.

Morgan, Daniel

Sale, K. and Leo P

Hill, L & Wyncoll, G

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Sir John Jamison's attitude to Convicts

Regentville, the Estate of Sir John Jamison

Contemporary Wine-making, Brewing and Viticulture in the Cumberland Plain

Regentville, the Mansion: its Fixtures and Fittings

The Kitchen Gardens and Orchards of Regentville

Spatial Patterns in Faunal Remains

Regentville: a Video on Historical Archaeology in Australia

Regentville: an Analysis of Faunal Remains

Stabling, Horses and Racecourse of]]

Regentville: From Midden to Mansion

Regentville: a Report on the Faunal Remains


1988

1988

1988

1988

1990

1990

1990

1990

1990

1990

1990

1990

1990

1990

1990

1990

1990

1990

1991

1991

1991

1991

1991

Arnold, Nicholas

Mider, Dana

Jackson, Nicholas

Drew, Julie

Barnes, Kevin

Brewster, Delese

Callaghan, Colleen

Dredge, Rohan

Gay, Louise

Hourani, Pam

Layton, Bronwyn

McKenzie, Denise

McKenzie, Denise

Page, K. & Schroder, M

Parry, Tanya

Proust, Katrina

Ross, Malcolm

Wall, George

Milroy, Nicki

McManus, Tracey

Souter, Corioli

Boticki, Frank

Lawrence, Rebekah

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Regentville: a Reconstruction

Con structural

Blue, Green and Brown Edged Fine Earthenware

Regentville: an Analysis of Flat Glass

Regentville: an Analysis of Flat Glass

Colonial Agriculture

The Regentville Stables in Context

The Regentville Inn

Bottles from Regentville

Excavated Material from the Stables

House Sanitation and Water Supply in Sydney and Environs on the early 19th Century

'Masons Look-alike': a Regentville Ceramicb Study

Ceramics and the Regentville Project

Sale of the Regentville Estate

Faunal Remains at Regentville

Regentville: Sponged Ceramic Ware

The Land Ownership of Sir John Jamison

The Wines of Regentville

Social Structure at Regentville

Shell Remains from the Stable Block

Justifaction for the Conjectural Reconstruction of Regentville Mansion (with measured drawings)

Glass and Crystal Tableware from Regentville

An Analysis of the Soils at Regentville for their Grazing and Agricultural Value

Brown and Green Transfer Printed Wares from Regentville


1991

1991

Other

1987

1991

1991

Scarano, Sandra

Turton, Margaret

Wilson, Andrew

English, Anthony,

Atkins, Megan,

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Architectural Regentville

Hardware from

Surgeon Thomas and Sir John Jamison: an Irish Connection and Its Influence.

'The Failed Colonial Squire, in Birmingham, Bairstow, Wilson Archaeology and Colonisation

'This Muttonous Diet: Aspects of Faunal Analysis and Inter-Site Comparison in Australian Historical Archaeology'.

'Not to be Excelled for Elegence or Utility: A Study of the Availability of Ceramics in Sydney 1803-1868'.

I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I ·

I I I I I I

Religious (0 ) Pen;anal (0 )

OericaJ..Educatiooal (0) Cnft-Ttade (S)

Orpoie- Noofood (3 )

Food(S) Medical (0)

Kitchenware (17 )

Tablewan: (16)

Housdlold (1 ) Yard(O)

Olbr:r CUIIUial (2 )

Unideotificcl (17)

Figure 23.

West Room

Reli&ious (1 ) Pasooal(O)

Caical-fdncetimwl (2.) Cnft-Tmde (3 )

Olpnic-Noafoocl (6 ) Food(.9)

Medical(O)

IGichcnware (185 )

Tableware (167)

Housdlold (.9 ) Yard(l)

Olher Olltutal (11 )

Unidcnti£acd(64)

Religious (S ) Pen;anal (4) _ ____;~

Oerieai-Edueatiooal (130) Craft-Tmde (22 )

Organic - Noofood (102} Food(42)

Medi.c:al(l)

Kitdtcnware (344)

Tableware (262) Houscbold (54 )

Yard(lO) Olbr:r CUltural (17 )

Unideolified (184)

East Room

Courtyard Scatter

Comparison of the frequency of the functional groups of artefacts from activity areas within Area 4.

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Figure 24. Presentation of the frequency of bones by species in the midden deposit, Unit 151.

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---------------------~~ ~(Jq ~ c: = a g.~ o· = 0 ......, g. ~

l g (")

'< 0 ......, 0" 0 = f! ~

....,J 0" \0 8.

'< "0

~ .... = g. ~

e. e. g. = e. .g 1:/) .... .r 0 e . .... -V\ -

Fore Limb (0.7%) Hind Limb (1.1%)

Extremities (1.7%) Teeth (2.9%)

Vertebral Column (3.9%) Skull (4.3%)

Rib (64.7%) .

' ,


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3.4. Contextual Investigation - Physical and Documentary

One of the consequences of an archaeological investigation is that by concentrating study on a particular site it tends to increase the range of physical and historical context available for that site by seeking to compile information from sources, many of them not at all archaeological. By amassing an almost miscellaneous range of topographic and historical information the archaeologist may well make linkages between items of fact and data that significantly adds to the overall historical picture.

The basic source available in 1977 when the earlier work began at Regentville was Brian Fletcher, 1979, Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, on Jamison Is life. By 1985 Andrew Wilson 1s Honours thesis (1982) provided a complementary study in the form of a physical archaeological survey of the remains visible on the Regentville estate. This thesis also provided an invaluable series of verbatim quotations of what a succession of visitors to Regentville between 1824 and 1844 wrote about their impressions of the place and its occupant, as well as giving the sale notice of 1848 with the only full description of the lay-out of the buildings.

During the period of the Regentville project a number of students carried out primarily documentary research on a number of topic areas related to both Jamison himself, and other aspects of the Regentville site, some more physical and topographic, others more documentary. Some of these were actually able to find sparse but significant new crumbs of hard Jamison data. Others worked more on comparative material, attempting to build up a more three-dimensional picture of what living and working conditions on the estate might have been like. Among the better contributions on this topic were Morgan and Brewster on aspects of Jamison 1 s horses and stables, Hourani in searching for background on what the laundry and wash-house might have looked like, and Barnes, Ross and Boticki on various aspects of the estate and the work carried out.

Wilson also continued his research into Jamison, concentrating on the precise pattern of his land acquisition, shown here in a series of graphics (figs. 26-30). This presents dramatically the dynamic rise of Jamison•s remarkable wealth, amassed from selling meat to the Commissariat stores for issue to the high proportion of those in the Colony living on government rations during the period of a high convict and government employed population. The graphic comparisons of the size of Jamison Is mansion complex and yard with those of houses built for those of governor status presented in an earlier section (figs. 11-14) clearly underline the scale of his aspirations and indeed achievements, at least in real estate terms.

A further area of particular investigation was that of the later history of Regentville: not surprisingly this did not figure largely in pre-existing Jamison studies which essentially cut off at his death in 1844.

One priority was to investigate the occupations of the house site after Jamison Is death: first that of Lady Jamison and the family, then the abortive attempt to set up an Asylum on the site between 1860 and 64, and finally in 1864 by the transformation of the old mansion into an inn prior to its destruction by fire in May 1869. A second one was to investigate the wider disintegration of the Jamison estate through the rapid sales of the various parcels primarily to members of the family. A third was to look again at the circumstances of the fire, for which the inquest survives. This fascinating document, with all its implications of conspiracy, is attached at the end Appendix 2.

In the list of student projects set out in the last section the main contributions on these areas are those by McKenzie, Proust and Callaghan. all three of these papers were able to uncover primary information of considerable interest in comparatively untouched fields relating to Jamison 1

S landholdings elsewhere in NSW (Proust), and the post Jamison disintegration of his Regentville estate (McKenzie).

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Summaries of two of these papers are included here - those of Colleen Callaghan, which provided particularly useful information for the interpretation of the house site on its last occupation, and of Frank Boticki, who put together soils information for the estate overall with a view to consideration of its agricultural potential.

The Last Occupations of Regentville (Callaghan 1991)

Callaghan investigated the later stages of Regentville's occupancy, including the fire which destroyed the mansion on 22 May 1869. The details of the inquest on this fire, as well as the scantier information on the Bell Asylum phase, are of considerable interest in reconstructing how usage of the c6mplex changed in its later years, and the account of the inquest is attached in full to Callagham' s comments to indicate the value of such documentary sources for coming to a more comprehensive understanding of contemporaneous context.

'Only a few years after the death of Sir John Jamison, it was recorded that Regentville was already in a state of disrepair. Mr Frederick Bell decided to open a private asylum for insane and nervous patients at Regentville. With this object in mind, Bell leased the Regentville mansion and forty acres of land, including yards, garden and vineyards, and spent £1500 on repairs.

(Attorney General Special Bundles Bell to Col. Sec.)

The extensive grounds, gardens, vineyard, billiard room and bowling alley, with the enclosed play yards all proved to be appropriate facilities for the wealthy during treatment for their instability. Unfortunately Bell failed in his bid to have the government of the day allow him to conduct a private asylum.

'1863 - Penrith. Private Lunatic Asylum, Regentville. Principal: Dr. Wilmott, Superintendent: Mr. Bell

1864 - Penrith. Private Lunatic Asylum, Regentville. Principal: Dr. Wilmott, Superintendent: F. Watson'.

(Australian Almanac)

In 1864 the 600 acres of land which Sir John Jamison had purchased from the Rev. R. in 1816- on which the Regentville mansion had been built- was in the control of the Trustee Robert Venour Dulhunty. Dulhunty had arrived as a free immigrant in the 1820s and was' related by marriage to the Jamisons. He lived at Clarement, Penrith from 1839 until 1847 when he moved to Dubbo permanently. For a short time after the asylum closed the manager of the mill lived in the house. The house and its immediate lands were most likely still in good due to the repairs which Mr. Bell had effected, and at the time it probably seemed an excellent business proposition to convert the house and grounds into an hotel.

On paper, at least the property possessed everything required to make it an outstanding commercial success as an hotel - splendid scenic views of the Nepean and Blue Mountains; an elegant, well appointed house with ample sleeping accommodation and convenient parlours: excellent cooking facilities; more than adequate stabling for horses; billiard room; and pleasure gardens which evidently now included the bowling alley installed by Mr. Bell. Only minimum alterations would have been necessary in order to convert it into a fully operational hotel. It is known there was a 'bar or tap at the end of the kitchen' with a counter and a till. This would have been the 'public' area set aside for casual or local drinkers, and the formal rooms inside the house would have been reserved for more affluent patrons and possible resident guests.

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Sometime in 1864 or early 1865 John Shiels leased the building, together with forty acres of land,' from the Trustee under private agreement. His application for a Publican's Licence was granted for one year at the sign of The Regentville Inn, Mulgoa, for a fee of £150 in 1865. This Licence was renewed in 1866, 1867 and 1868.

At that time hotel names tended to reflect a measure of social comment. Names such as The Rose were understood by the illiterate when the symbol was painted on the sign of the inn; Cottages of Content and Carrier's Home were self explanatory; the Woolpack and Golden Fleece belong to the heyday of wool; and of course the Railway and the Commercial were in keeping with the changing times. Naming the hotel The Regentville Inn may have been a deliberate attempt to exploit any lingering social cachet still associated with Sir John Jamison and his f6rmer home, in the hope of attracting a more monied clientele.

It may have been hoped- and these hopes were probably not completely unfounded - to establish a custom based along the lines of that enjoyed by The Woolpack at Parramatta. A popular honeymoon hotel famous for its bowling-green, it was

'a commodious two-storey brick inn, with a green lawn before it, surrounded by a carriage-way railed in at front, with a gate at each corner (to admit of easy entrances and exits (and with) everything requisite to tempt you to stay another day to survey the lions of the place. '

Closer to home, it may have been hoped that Regentville Inn would eventually rival The Black Horse at Richmond, also famed as a honeymoon hotel. Licenced since 1819 to Paul Randall and his wife, in the sixties the house was still being successfully run by one of their daughters. This hotel had passages which

'turned and twisted and produced unexpected nooks and crannies. Curious little staircases went off to various levels .. its doors, window-frames, and wainscotes of the noble cedar that Australia has squandered. The bed-chambers were low and beamed with high narrow windows, and each had a sumptuous four-poster. The Bridal Chamber was a spacious apartment with windows opening toward the morning sun. '

The Visitors' Book of The Black Horse recorded scores of names in colonial renown, and the hotel was the finishing-post for horse-races along Richmond High Street.

From what is known of the plan of the original house of Regentville, taken in conjunction' with the evidence given at the inquest after the fire, it is obvious that the 'public' and 'private' sections of the Inn were well separated, with a clear social distinction being made between the two classes of customers. In order to obtain a drink, the casual or local patron would have had to skirt the main house and head around the back toward the kitchen area. This may not have been to the liking of the new breed of settler on the Nepean who were overwhelmingly ex-convict, and more democratic in outlook than those of the midlands around Paramatta.

It has been suggested that 'Shiels sought to cash in on the popularity of the district as a holiday resort. ' This seems unlikely. It was not until late in the century with the advent of the motor car that Wallacia and other towns along the Mulgoa Road began to be popular as holiday resorts. Regentville was in an isolated location. Too close to Penrith to become a holiday resort, it was yet still too far away to benefit from the expansions of the 1860s. Evvidently business had been failing for some time, as Shiels had complained 'to Mr Jamison that if the landlord did not take the lease off my hands (which evidently had 'above ten years' to run) I should be obliged to go through the court.'

The fire which destroyed the Regentville Inn occurred on a Thursday evening. On the

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previous Monday, Shiels had left Martha Wilcox who seems to have been a Young Person) in charge of the Inn and gone to Eighteen Mile Hollow at Woodford where he had an accommodation house for 'the public'. His wife notified him by letter about the fire. This arrived at Woodford at 9 o'clock on the Friday morning 'by the guard of the goods railway train'. Shiels left Woodford at 2 o'clock ' and stayed in Penrith after the arrival of the train. He did not go out to Regentville until about 8 o'clock it would have been far too dark to inspect any fire damage. Having noted the pivotal role of the Publican in these nineteenth century inns, Shiels' lengthy absence does not seem to point to a similar kind of personal business identification,

Evidently the Inn had not had any resident guests for a while, and Shiels obviously did not expect any to arrive after he left for Woodford, as staff was at an absolute minimum. On the night of the fire, 'the only occupants in the house at the time being two young women in the main building, (and Ellen Hogan was there only in order to keep Martha Wilcox company) and an old man sleeping in one of the outbuildings' - although Mr. Shiels' mother was also sleeping at the back of the main building. During the day 'a gentleman from Messrs. Bradley and Co; was the only one in the hotel'. That gentleman was listing the furniture in the Inn which was to go on sale the next day. The 'last person' to have a drink at The Regentville Inn was Paul Hogan after he drove the man from Bradley's back into Penrith. This was about 5 o'clock on the Thursday afternoon.

The house and furniture were insured with the Sydney Insurance Company, for £1500 and £350 respectively and Shiels had already received a £50 advance on the sale of the furniture, even though Dr. Willmott had a Bill of Sale for £400 on the furniture and chattels. Presumably this is the same Dr. Willmott who was the Principal at Regentville when it was temporarily a Lunatic Asylum. This gentleman seems to have been the eminence grise throughout the whole affair.

On the night of the fire, Charles Christopher Clarke who lived in a cottage at the Regentville factory, first helped remove furniture to safety, and then rode into Penrith to notify the police. Willmott's connection with the Inn must have been acknowledged locally, since even though it was the early hours of the morning, Clarke went directly from the Police to the Doctor' s home to notify him as well. Interestingly, Mrs. Shiels was also in his house, although Ellen Hogan said she had only been sleeping at Regentville since Mrs. Shiels had left for Woodford. It was Dr. Willmott who brought Mrs. Shiels out the next morning to inspect the damage from the fire. I think it is fairly safe to assume that when Mr. Shiels returned to Penrith, he went to Dr. Willmott's house frrst before going out to Regentville. Whether he went to discuss the fire or not, we shall never know.

As to the name of the inn, most articles which touch on the last years of Sir John Jamison' mansion generally note that it was 'converted into Abel's Family Hotel, and was still being used in this way when it was burnt down in the early hours of 22 May 1869.' Such statements are incorrect on two counts. First, the mansion was converted into The Regentville Inn, not a family hotel. However, as we have seen., the Liquor Act made no distinction between specific titles, and the laws for all were identical. Second, the mansion was never known as 'Abel's Family Hotel'. The Sydney Mail (29/5/69) in its report on the inquest into the fire at Regentville noted that the place was 'now known as Shiel's Family Hotel'. The two similar reports in the Sydney Morning Herald (25/5/69 p.3 and 29/5/69 p.5) do not mention this.

If such a name change did occur, it must have been after Shiels renewed his application for a Publican's Licence 'at the sign of the Regentville Inn' in 1868, and probably not long before the fire in May 1869. However the name was never officially registered . Whether it was a last ditch attempt on Shiel's part to put the hotel on a more personal footing by calling it 'his' Hotel, is something else we shall probably never know.

In conclusion, if the location of the hotels in a specific area at a given time can be takm as an indicator of that specific area's importance, then it can be said that Regentville in the

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second half of the nineteenth century was unimportant, while Penrith, particularly after the arrival of the railway, became the focal point for the district. In 1865 the Emu Plains district had eight hotels, by 1869 there were three, by 1870 there was only one - the Railway Hotel. The nearest hotel to south of Penrith was the Thistle at Luddenham, which was probably far enough · away to be independant. Such figures help to explain the commercial failure of the Regentville Inn.

A Study of the Physical Environment of Regentville (Frank Boticki 1991)

Any historical archaeological discussion of Jamison at Regentville must include an assessment of the estate's potentiai as a colonial estate with the advantage of hindsight as well as how it was perceived in contemporary accounts.

Boticki (1991) surveyed current assessments of the agricultural and grazing properties of the soils throughout the Jamison estate on the basis of Walker's 1960 County of Cumberland soils survey, and Russell's 1961 Soils Conditions and Plant Growth, and then compared these to extracts from Jamison's addresses to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of NSW. He also drew upon Atkinson (1826) for contemporary agricultural practices, and Fuller's 1888 Rural County of Cumberland Yearbook for actual rural produce returns from the Nepean area later in the century. His conclusion was that Jamison had in the 1820s considerable insight into the character and potential of the soil resources of his Nepean estate, knowledge tested and confirmed by the droughts of 1828-9, and the heavy rains of 1830.

The following are excerpts from Boticki' s report.

The landscape which comprises the Regentville estate falls broadly into the red and yellow podzols of the low undulating hills (the Wianamatta shale soils of the Cumberland and Menangle series), and the alluvial soils of the river valleys and river terraces (respectively the Nepean and the Elderslie series). Boticki characterises the various soil profiles in some detail, including texture, particle size, acidity (pH values), nutrients in the form of major and trace elements, exchangeable cations, and saturation characteristics, all of which affect their farming use potential. (fig. 31)

Of the alluvial soils on the estate, normally those frrst sought out by incoming European colonists, 'the typical Nepean alluvials, although extremely poor chemically for alluvial soils, are fairly fertile, a quality due to the depth and looseness of the soil and the rise of the Nepean river water in it by capillarity. The old leached alluvials from abandoned courses of the river are still poorer [the Elderslie upper terraces] .. '(Jensen p. 63), since' their nutrients are not renewed by flooding. Thus the Nepean series soils, although poor as alluvial soils generally, were the best agricultural land on the estate, but with the disadvantage of being flood prone: the Elderslie terrace soils, fertile but non-renewing, were flood free (except along South Creek, where they flood-prone, and of the same fertility as the Nepean soils). Boticki quotes J. B. Henson's 1889 study of the fertile Hawkesbury alluvial deposits, in which he clearly distinguishes the two distinct alluvial deposits: 'The soil is dark-coloured loam of very fine texture and of unsurpassed fertility. Under cultivation these flood plains produce splendid crops of lucerne and maize. The terraces are comprised of reddish and yellowish soil and reach end elevations of some 50 to 60 feet. Here the alluvial deposits get lost amidst the country. These terraces are from an older period described as the Pleistocene age .. The terraces are made up of ferruginous sand with a small admixture of clay. It contains extensive deposits of gravel and pebbles of all sizes. This gravel is made up of quartzite, altered sandstones and claystones with reef quartz pebbles. These upper terraces are also fairly fertile but require a higher degree of cultivation. For this reason very little has been cropped and much remains uncleared. Henson believed these upper terraces would best be used to grow fruit trees and vines since these do not require very much water'.

84


The shale soils comprise the majority of the Regentville estate, on the low undulating hills rising rarely above 60m Australian Height Datum. The red (Cumberland) and yellow (Austral and Hammondville) podzols are moderately acidic, the non-calcareous red brown earth (Menangle series) slightly acidic, and iron concretions are found throughout. In general they have some 9" of heavy loam or clay soil, with clayey subsoil. 'In wet weather the soil becomes sodden and muddy, sour and saturated due to lack of drainage and the impervious nature of the soil. In dry periods the soil becomes bone dry. (Jenson p. 158). In addition these Wianamatta shale soils lack sufficient quantities of mineral plant food, humus and nitrogen. Thus most are ill-suited to agriculture since their productivity depends heavily on extensive cultivation and fertilisation. Jensen comments they 'are poorly suited for citrus fruits. Orchards fail miserably on these shallow clay soils', and 'peaches and nectarines are better suited'. (Jensen p. 158-9).

Henson (1887) after describing the clay soil profiles describes their water retention characteristics. 'The surface soil is porous especially so on timbered areas. The clay subsoil is not easily saturated but once well wetted is not easily dried ... The effects of saturation are shown best by wells dug 10 to 12 feet into this profile. When these are filled with water the dry period results in rapid loss of water. This slows gradually until stopping entirely some four feet from the surface. The clay sub-soils are impervious to water, absorbing very little if any ... (Henson p. 223-4). Henson concludes that the higher shale soil lands would support livestock, but overall 'these undulating hills are not good for cropping purposes being too moist [lower areas] and lacking sufficient mineral and nutrient percentages' .

After discussing the other major soil formation factors, such the decrease in rainfall from coastal (50") to Regentville (30") and the resulting less leached and rather less acidic profiles towards the Nepean river than on the coast, Boticki turns to the colonial historical data to investigate the character of Jamison's land usage. It is useful to quote (in abbreviated form) his discussion 'Early Settlement and Regentville Soils'. 'The soils of Regentville are low in fertility as are most soils in the County of Cumberland, the reason being the low levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. These nutrients are vital for plant growth. The early settlers such as Sir John Jamison had only a limited supply of fertilisers and animal manure so these settlers depended on the fertility of the virgin soils. In many cases the soils would only produce two to three crops before extensive fertilizing was required to supplement the soils with the necessary nutrients. The physical qualities of the Wianamatta shale soils [also] made them unsuitable for agriculture. The shallow A horizon and clay subsoil impeded water entry and cultivation. Vegetation on the Regentville land also hampered agriculture. The Grey Box and Forest Red Gum were the most common trees found on the Wianamatta soils. The lateral rooting and tree stumps restricted the use of the plough. The plough was first used in 1795 but hand hoeing was the most common form of cultivation until 1820. The axe, hoe and mattock still remained important agricultural implements.

The first attempts at crop production in the colony in 1788 at Farm cove failed. A second Public Farm near Parramatta on the red podzolic soils of the Cumberland Plain produced good crops of wheat, barley and vegetables, but grain yields soon declined and within three years was producing little more than the seeds sown. James Ruse on a farm also near Parramatta grew wheat, maize and vegetables on similar soil and concluded that red podzolic soil 'was middling .. .it will make do with manure but without cattle it will fail' (Thompson, Moore, Northcote p. 758).

Thus the red and yellow podzols and red brown earths of Regentville could be used for agriculture for only a couple of years before the soil lost all its fertility. Then it was best suited for grazing unless it was replenished with nutrients.

85


\ 2km ....., __ I - --...L -

'

I ------

Grants 1331 ha (37%)

2km , __ I - --...L -I -------

Purchases 2266 ha (63%)

Figure 27. Diagram showing the proportions of the Regentville Estate acquired by grant and purchase. The darker area is the original Grant made to Thomas Jamison in 1806.

87

---------------------

00 00

~~

~~ S'tv =-· 00 o· ::s s, g-~ -~. ~ ~

~· s, [ 0.

~ s· (J'Q ~

~ !3 ~. ~

~ =: fl s· g ......

~

King Family Wentworth Family

Macathur Family

Jamison Family

.Blaxland Family

---------------------

00 \0

lod"''1 '"" .... ~~ = ~ g.~ o· = ~

~ ~ S) ~.

~ tl)

~·

a. [ g tl)

[ ~ s·

(1CI tl)

C" '<

~ ~. g .

Hunter Valley Bathurst District

Cumberland Plain - Regentville

Beyond Settlement

' ,


0

• Town Reserves

~Commons

l?1'dl Government Reserves

[21 Orphan's Grant

0 Private Grants

10

km

Figure 30. Plan of the land grants in the County of Cumberland showing the size of the Regentville Estate.

90

I

~ ·o -I

ell r:n -..... .9 0

I 0

r:n 0 ~ .9 N ·c; 0 -o

0 r:n N p.. ca -o ::: 0 ·;;:: p.. .£ ~ -o

~ < CIJ t:r:: I

I ~ D ~ .

I I I I I I I I I I I I Figure 31.

91 I Plan of the Regentville Estate showing soil types.

I


Chapter 4

Postscript

I I I I I I

I• I

i

:I II I I I I I I I I I I I I

Postscript

This Report was written as a report to be submitted to the National Estate Grant Program funding authority on the work carried under the terms of the National Estate Grant Program grants. It does not aim therefore to be a technical and comprehensive presentation of the excavation itself, a different exercise.

For this reason it has concentrated· on presenting the results of the work carried out, rather than cataloguing the processes and data of the excavation itself. The latter would involve presention of the many site recording registers, including all plans, registers and photographs, and the full database printout of 200,000 artefacts together with detailed structure and codes of the classification systems employed. This mass of documentation and data, which is excessively bulky in hard form, and requires technical expertise for access in electronic form, continues to provide the essential basis for on-going Regentville publication and research, and is moreover readily accessible to professionally-interested practitioners in the Centre for Historical Archaeology, University of Sydney (as well as funding authorities), where it is appropriately stored, along with the sorted and boxed finds, and other components of the Regentville Archaeological Record.

The Project has been an extremely successful one by all criteria, with significant flow-on effects into all levels of today's historical archaeological professional practice as students who have benefited from it increasingly have a presence in current public and contract historical archaeology. There was, in the mid 1980s, an urgent need for a frrst-class training excavation on a significant historical archaeological site. The Regentville system then became an up-dated model for a new generation of young archaeologists with stream.: lined and effectual methods of excavation and analysis, at last able to displace the older style Irrawang excavation mode (excavated in the late 1960s to 1976) as a cost-effective, productive model for the excavation of Australian historical archaeological sites in the 1990s.

Among its major site achievements were refined methods of archaeological survey, of stratigraphic excavation and analysis, and of overall site recording. Integrally associated with these has been its success in carrying out meaningful analysis on a properly constructed artefact database to generate information about the way in which it was deposited, and hence to important archaeo-historical conclusions flowing from this.

While this is a Final Report to the National Estate Grants Program, it in no sense marks the end of the project. Problems and lines of enquiry identified throughout the standard housekeeping work of sorting and ordering the data and records can now be pursued, especially those involving investigation and comparison with other sites here and overseas. This work will certainly proceed, along with publication of these significant results in the international literature.

The Centre for Historical Archaeology at the University of Sydney wishes to record its sincere appreciation of the continuing support the Regentville Project has received from the National Estate Grants Program, and those who administered it in the NSW Department of Planning, throughout its duration, 1985-1993.

Judy Birmingham, Centre for Historical Archaeology, University of Sydney. Director, Regentville Archaeological Project.

92


! I il

1 I

Bibliography

I I Bibliography


Primary Sources

Published Works

Anonymous ('X. Y .Z. ') 1965 'A ride to Bathurst, 1827'

in George Mackaness (ed) Fourteen Journeys over the Blue Mountains of New South Wales Horwitz-Grahame Sydney

James Backhouse & Charles Tylor 1862 The Life and Labours of George Washington Walker of Hobart Town.

Tasmania A W Bennett 5 Bishopsgate Street Without London

George Bennett 1834 Wanderings in New South Wales, Batavia, Pedir Coast, Singapore and

China; being the Journal of a Naturalist in those countries during 1832, 1833 and 1834

Richard Bentley New Burlington Street London 2 Vols

Charles H Bertie 1930 ' The Glory that was Regentville'

in The Nepean Times 30 August 1930 p 3

Baron de Bougainville 1837 Journal de la navigation autour du Globe Voll

Paris

Peter Cunningham 1827 1Wo Years in New South Wales

John Fairfax

Henry Colburn New Burlington Street London

David MacMillan (ed) Facsmile of above 1966 Angus & Robertson in association with the Royal Australian Historical Society Sydney

1951 Historic Roads round Sydney Angus & Robertson Sydney

Sir George Gipps 1924 'Gipps to Stanley' -dispatch 17 Dec 1842

in F Watson (ed) HRA Series 1 Vol22 p 481

1924 'Gipps to Stanley' -dispatch dated 1 Jan 1845, in F Watson (ed) HRA Series Vol24 pp 164-70

Olive Harvard 1938 'Some early French visitors to the Blue Mountains and Bathurst'

in JRAHS Vol24 1938 Pt 4 pp 246-7

1943 'Mrs Felton Matthews, Journal,

WLHarvard

in JRAHS Vol 29 Part IT 00 8-128 Part ill pp 162095 PartlY pp 217-43

1940 'Along the road to Bathurst in 1832' in JRAHS Vol26 Pt 4 pp 341-51

93

I I I I I I I I I il

II I I I I I I I I I I

Sir John Jamison 1924 'Jamison to Macquarie' letter dated 24 Aug 1814

in F Watson (ed) HRA Series 1 Vol8 pp 317-8

1826 The Third Anniversary Address to the Agricultural Society of NSW by the President

Agricultural Society of NSW Sydney

1827 'The Fourth Anniversary Address of the Agricultural, and the first with the additional style of Horticultural Society, of New South Wales. by the President of that body. Feb 15th 1827'

in The South-Asian Register October 1827 No 1 pp 86-9

1828 Repon of the Agricultural & Honicultural Society of NSW for 1828 by the President


1829 Repon of the Agricultural & Honicultural Society of NSW for 1829 by the President


1830 Repon of the Agricultural & Honicultural Society for 1830 by the President Agricultural Society of NSW Sydney

James Jervis 1946 'The Journals of William Edward Riley'

in JRAHS Vol22 Pt 4 1946 pp 217ff

Cyrille Pierre Theodore Laplace 1833 Voyage autour du Monde par les mers de I'Inde et de Chine sur 1a Favorite

pendant les a.nnees1830, 31 & 32

James Maclehose

1833 Volumes I and II, 1835 Volumes ill and N Imprimerie Royale Paris

1838 The Picture of Sydney and Strangers Guide in New South Wales for 1838 J Maclehose Hunter Street Sydney printed by J Spilsbury Jamison Street Sydney

John Ferguson (ed) 1977 Facsimile of above in association with RAHS

1839 New South Wales and Pon Phillip General Post Office Directory for 1839 James Maclehose Hunter Street Sydney

Lachlan Macquarie 1956 'Journal of a tour of Governor Macquarie's frrst inspection of the ing on

Tuesday the 6th of Novr 1810' in Journals of his tours in New South Wales and Van Dieman 's Land 1810-22 Trustees of the Public Library of NSW Sydney

1956 'Tour to the New Discovered Country in April1815' in Journals of his tours in New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land 1810-22 Trustees of the Public Library of NSW Sydney

1956 'Journal of a tour to the Cow Pastures and other parts of the interior in the month of Octr 1815' 1956 'Journal of a tour of inspection to Bathurst in Deer 1821'

in Journals of his tours in New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land 1810-22 Trustees of the Public Library of NSW Sydney

94

I

I I I I I I

:• I

i I

I I I II

I I I I I I I I I

W Moffitt 1837 New South Wales Calendar and General Post Office Directory for 1837

W Moffitt 23 Pitt St Sydney

Godfrey Charles Mundy 1852 Our Antipodes: or, Residence and Rambles in the Australasian Colonies.

with a Glimpse of the Goldfields Richard Bentley New Burlington Street London 3 Vols

Henry Parkes 1896 An Emigrant's Letter Home

Angus & Robertson Sydney

James Raymond 1832 New South Wales Calendar; and General Post Office Directory 1832

General Post Office Sydney

1834 New South Wales Calendar; and General Post Office Directory 1834 General Post Office Sydney



James T Ryan 1894 Reminiscences of Australia

George Robertson & Co. Sydney

facsimile of above 1982 by Nepean Family History Society Sydney

Malcolm Sainty & Keith Johnson (eds) 1980 Census of New South Wales November 1828

Library of Australian History Sydney

Henry Selkirk 1923 'Journey from Sydney to Bathurst in 1822'

in JRAHS Vol9 Pt 4 1923 pp 177-97

Charles Sturt 1833 1\vo expeditions into the interior of Southern Australia during the years

1828, 1829, 1830 & 1831 with observations on the soil, climate and general resources of the colony of New South Wales 2 Volumes

Smith Elder & Co. 65 Comhill London

Roger Therry 1863 Reminiscences of Thirty Years Residence in New South Wales and Victoria

Sampson Low, Son & Co. London

James H Watson

facsimile of above 1974 by J M Bennett (ed) Sydney University Press

1917 'Mulgoa, Present & Past' in JRAHS Vol4 Pt 3 pp 161-96

95


i I

I I I I I I

Newspapers

The Australian (Aust)

The Christian Advocate and Wesleyan Record (CA WR)

The Sydney Gazette (SG)

The Sydney Mail (S Mail)

The Sydney Monitor (S Mon)

The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH)

Secondary Sources:

Published works:

John Alexander 1970 The Directing of Archaeological Excavations

John Baker Ltd London

Philip Barker 1977 Techniques of Archaeological Excavation

B T Batsford Ltd London

D M Barrie 1956 The Australian Bloodhorse

Sydney

~-~-~- ~- -

J F Campbell 1932 'Early Settlement on the Lower Nepean River' New South Wales: Penrith to

the Hawkesbury River' in J R A H S Vol, 18 Pt 5 1932 pp 252-70

1935 'Historic Houses on our Great Western Highway: Penrith to Springwood' & Foreword by H H Curlewis (pp 289-91)

in J R A H S Vol. 21 Pt 1935 pp 292-305

C MH Clark 1968 A History of Australia

Melbourne University Press Melbourne Vol 11 and 111

Philip Cox & Clive Lucas 1978 Australian Colonial Architecture

Landsdowne Editions Melbourne

C H Currey 1968 Sir Francis Forbes


AD 1909 'Sir John Jamison, The Knight of Regentville'

in Sydney Morning Herald 10 April1909 p 7

Edgars Dunsdorfs 1956 The Australian Wheat Growing Industry 1788-1948

University of Melbourne Press Melbourne

96


M Barnard Eldershaw 1939 The Life and Times of Captain John Piper

Australian Limited Edition Society Sydney 1973 reprint of the above, with new introduction by the author Ure Smith in association with The National Trust of Australia

Malcolm H Ellis 1969 Francis Greenway

Angus & Robertson Sydney (1978 ed)

WDEvans 1929 'Pioneers of the Australian Textile Industry: 3 Sir John Jamison, ''The

Knight of Regentville'' ' in The Textile Journal of Australia -- Part 1 - 15 February 1929 pp 760-1, 775 Part 2-25 March 1929 pp 36-8, 46-7

Brian H Fletcher 1976 Landed Enterprise & Penal Society, a history of Farming and Grazing in

Australia before 1821 Sydney University Press Sydney

1979 'Sir John Jamison in NSW 1814-44' in J R A H S Vol. 65 Pt 1 June 1979 pp 1-29

John P Fogarty 1968 'The New South Wales Pastoral Industry in the 1820s'

in Australian Economic History Review Vol. 8 Pt 2 pp 110-22

Edward Harris 1979 Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy,

Academic Press.

Morton Herman 1970 The Early Australian Architects and Their Work


AHAHogg 1980 Surveying for Archaeologists and Other Fieldworkers

Groom Helm London

C Kaeppel 1935 'Sir John Jamison, Physician'

in Australian Quarterly No. 29 March 1935 pp 36-44

Jill Kerr 1962 'The Wool Industry in New South Wales 1803-30' Part 2

in Business Archives and History Vol. 2 Pt l pp 18-54

HE Laffer 1949 The Wine Industry of Australia

Australian Wine Board Adelaide

G J RLinge 1979 Industrial Awakening: A Geography of Australian Manufacturing 1788-1890

Australian National University Press Canberra

97


National Trust of Australia (NSW) 1985 A. House Full of Artefacts or Artefacts for the House: Papers from a Seminar

about the Interpretation and Presentation of Old Government House, Parramatta, 14 and 15 February 1985

National Trust of Australia (NSW) Sydney

Helen Proudfoot 1973 'Captain Piper and Henrietta Villa'

in J R A. H S Vol. 59 Pt 3 pp 162-181

Helen Proudfoot and others 1991 Australia's First Government House

Allen & Unwin with the NSW Department of Planning Sydney

Joanna A Richards ( ed) 1979 Blaxland-Lawson-Wentworth 1813

Blubber Head Press Hobart

Ian Ross 1976 'History of Rayner Tweed Mills'

in Goulbum and District Historical Society Bulletin. No. 107 September 1976 pp 1-6 and No. 108 October 1976 pp 2-6

HMSomer 1923 'Short History of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW'

in J R A. H S Vol. 9 Pt 6 1923 pp 309-32

Margaret J E Steven 1963 ' The changing pattern of commerce in New South Wales 1810-1821'

in Business Archives and History Vol. 3 Pt 2 pp 139-155

Christine Stickley 1978 The Charm of Old Penrith

Privately published Penrith

GPWalsh 1963 'The Geography of Manufacturing in Sydney 1788-1851'

in Business Archives and History Vol. 3 Pt 1 pp 20-52

James H Watson 1927 'Names of towns inNS Wales and how they got them - The association of

the Jamison Family with Penrith and the Nepean' in The Oddfellow April1927 pp 24-5

A K Weatherbum 1966 George William Evans, Explorer

Angus & Robertson Ltd Sydney

Andrew Wilson 1988 'A. Failed Colonial Squire: Sir John Jamison at Regentville

in Archaeology and Colonisation: Australia in the World Context. Australian Society for Historical Archaeology, University of Sydney.

Unpublished works:

George Bunyan Sir John Jamison & Regentville

Typescript in Penrith City Library Collection (no date)

98

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I II I I I I I

NSW Department of Education 1968 History of Regentville Public School1868-1940

J H Jamison

Article by Josephine Andrew, Division of Planning and Research September 1968

1964 Sir John Jamison

J McD Jones

(a talk given to the Nepean District Historical Society) Typescript in Penrith City Library Collection

1976 Nepean District Cemetery Records 180-1976 Xerox in Penrith City Library Collection

J D Partridge 1971 The History of Public Education in the Penrith Area to 1900

M Ed thesis University of Sydney February 1972

Regentville Public School 1968 Regentville Public School Centenary 1868-1968

Regentville Public School P & C Assn Regentville

Robert V J Varman 1978 A study of brick production: the brick as a criterion for dating buildings in

the Sydney area Notes for a tutorial in Historical Archaeology Uni. of Sydney

Andrew Wilson 1982 Regentville: An Historical Archaeological Study

B. A. (Hons) Thesis Department of History, University of Sydney

Illustrations

Mitchell Library:

Georgina Law 1841? Pencil sketch- of factory from North

Signed? upper centre Dated? upper centre 'Sunday 19th/41' Untitled

Conrad Martens 1835 Watercolour- view from theN W comer of the mansion Signed 'C. Martens

1835' at lower left 318 x 475 mm Untitled Monochrome photo of above 1979 by John Delacour from original in collection of Consolidated Press Holdings Ltd

1835 Pencil sketch touched in white 'View on the Nepean' Unsigned Dated 'May 21 - 1835' Titled at lower right

1835 Pencil sketch touched with white 'Regentville' Unsigned Dated 'Oct 17/35' Titled lower right

1835 Pencil sketch 'Mulgoa Valley' Unsigned Dated 'Oct 19/35' Titled lower right

1835 Pencil sketch touched in white 'Regentville' Unsigned Dated 'Oct 20/35' 202 x 300 mm Titled lower right

99

I I

!I : I


Thomas Woore Pencil sketch 'Regent Ville Sir John Jamison New South Wales'

Unattributed

Unsigned Undated Titled upper right Loose leaf in Thomas Woore's sketchbook

Watercolour 'Regent Ville' Unsigned Undated Titled lower centre Monochrome photograph in ML Small Picture File NSW Residences - Regentville

C H Bertie 1928 Photograph - ruins of mansion

Untitled

Don H Palmer 1963 Photograph -Red Cow Inn window inscribed "I was glad when they said

Unattributed

unto me'' With accompanying note on 'Regentville Chapel' 1965

Photograph - of factory and attendant buildings from escarpment Untitled Undated

Penrith City Library:

Unattributed Photograph - of mansion ruins

Untitled Undated

Private Collections:

Unattributed 1908 Copy of postcard 'The Old Factory, Nepean River, Penrith'

Titled upper left Postmark 'Sydney Feb 1908' (Collection of J Blaikie, Regentville)

Unattributed

Unattributed

Unattributed

U nattributed

Unattributed

Published:

Photograph - of factory from S W Untitled Undated (Collection of E B Addicott, Regentville)

Photograph - of facade of cottages from S W, before refurbishment Untitled Undated (Collection of E B Addicott, Regentville)

Photograph - of cottages from S W before refurbishment Untitled Undated (Collection of E B Addicott, Regentville)

Photograph - of cottages from N W before refurbishment Untitled Undated (Collection of E B Addicott, Regentville)

Photograph - of cottages from S W after refurbishment Untitled Undated (Collection of E B Addicott, Regentville)

100

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I II !

I I ll ----

J Clark 1833 Etching 'Regent Villa'

Hall & Co.

Signed lower right Titled lower centre 103 x 176 mm in Lieut Wm H Breton 1833 Excursions in New South Wales, Western Australia, and Van Dieman's Land, during the years 1830, 1831, 1832, and 1833 Richard Bentley New Burlington Street London Frontispiece

Photograph- 'The Old Tweed Factory on the Estate' inC R Staples Pty Ltd Nepean Gardens Estate Penrith Sale Brochure for Private Sale by C R Staples & Co.

350 George Street Sydney

G Hamilton Hammon 1904 The Nepean and Emu Plain 8 - Late Sir John Jamieson's (sic) Flour Mill

and Country Seat (to right of picture)

William Wilson

Signed lower left 103 x 150 mm (max) Titled lower centre in The Sydney Mail Wednesday 13 July 1904 p 97

1835 Etching 'Regentville- the Seat of Sir John Jamison' Signed lower right 88 x 100mm

Titled lower centre in James Raymond 1835 New South Wales Calendar, and General Post Office Directory for 1835 Sydney facing p 150

in J Maclehose 1838 The Picture of Sydney and Strangers Guide to New South Wales for 1838 Sydney facing p 171

Maps and Plans

Archives Office of NSW:

Davidson (surveyor) 1833 Plan of the proposed town at Emu Plains with small farms and reserves

500ft - 1 inch 1 sheet 978 x 705 mm black and coloured ink on paper with water-colour

G W Evans (surveyor) 1814 [Untitled Survey of route over Blue Mountains]

Scale 40 ch - 1 inch 1 of 2 sheets details unavailable

R Hoddle (surveyor) 1826 [Untitled Plan showing re-surveyed areas of Bringelly Road and Great

Western Road] No scale 1 of 3 sheets 625 x 820 mm Ink on paper with red ink and pencil notations

1826? [Untitled Plan of 'Proposed line of road' to west of existing Bringelly Road to bring Bringelly Road into line with the 'Road to Richmond]'

No scale 1 sheet 804 x 416 mm Ink on paper with watercolour

MWS&DB (Adastra Airways) 1946 Aerial photographs of the Nepean Warragamba

Area 20 ch : 1 inch 1 of 5 sheets 521 x 217 mm monochrome photomosaic on cardboard

101

'I !I


II I I I :I I

II

Registrar General's Department

Registrar General's Department n.d. [Parish of] Claremont

40 ch to 1'' 1 sheet 380 x 543 mm Ink on paper, watercolour and ink additions

n.d. [Parish of] Mulgoa- Chan on large flat 40 ch - 1'' 1 sheet 380 x 543 mm Ink on paper, watercolour and ink additions

F I Rusden (surveyor) 1831 Plan of Emu Plains and lines of road up Lapstone 29 July 1831

2''- 1 mile 1 sheet 640 x 477 mm Ink on paper with watercolour

1831 Plan of Emu Plains and lines of road up Lapstone 29 July 1831 2'' - 1 mile 1 sheet 631 x 423 mm Ink on paper with watercolour

1832 Survey of pan of the Blue Mountains May 31st 1832 2'' - 1 mile 1 sheet 1330 x 970 mm Ink on paper with watercolour

Registrar General's Department:

Samuel Jackson (surveyor) 1873 Pan of Western Division of Regentville

No scale given 1 sheet 329 x 248 mm Pencil & ink on paper with notations (in Primary Application No 3374)

I E Proust (surveyor) 1930 Registrar General's Department Deposited Plan No. 53374. Details

unavailable

Department of Lands:

Samuel Jackson (surveyor) 1863 Plan of road from Penrith to Greendale via Regentville and Mulgoa

20 ch - 1'' 1 sheet 975 x 500 mm Ink on paper with colour R337 1603

Dept of Lands of NSW 1947 Aerial photographs -Liverpool (County of Cumberland)

Run 33 58-63 Run 34 54-59

1978 Aerial photographs County of Cumberland 1: 16000 (ISG) 1978 (Mise 1029) NSW 2707 Run 12, 2336-7

Charles Scrivener (surveyor) 1899 Plan of pan of road 200 lks wide reserved within Thomas Jamison's 1000 ac

grant. Namely that pan from Mulgoa Road to the Nepean River 4 ch - 1 inch 1 sheet 680 x 208 mm Ink on paper with watercolour R6254 1603A

Housing Commission of NSW:

Housing Commission of NSW 1978 Site No. 7770 - South Penrith

1: 500 88 sheets 762 x 954 mm Ink on tracing film

Mitchell Library - Catalogued:

102


John LBrown 1932 RAJA Buildings in NSW Royal Australian Institute of Architects 1929-32

Vol2 f30 & 31

Reuss & Halloran (surveyors) 1882 Regentville Home - Part of R Cartwright's 600 ac Parish of Mulgoa

No scale given 1 sheet 253 x 372 mm Ink and watercolour

Samuel Jackson (surveyor) 1861 Plan of the eastern division of Regentville, known as Frogmoreto be sold ...

by Mort & Co . ... 9th Aprill861 Allen & Wigley Litho 1 inch : 20 chains 1 sheet 431 x 536 mm Lithograph hand coloured

Mitchell Library - Not catalogued as maps:

W T Brownwriff (surveyor) 1846 [Untitled Map of lands at Regentville indicating owners and mortgages

October 1846]

F H Reuss (surveyor)

No scale given 1 sheet 445 x 433 mm Ink on linen trace with colour and annotations ML A5317 Item 37

1863 Western division of Regentville for sale by public auction by Messrs Mort & Co.


External title: M/Regentsville (sic)/ Western Division/ Parish of Mulgoa/Mulgoa Road/Jamison lken Rose Thompson Grants/ (Roll 508)/F H Reuss Surv 1863

40 ch - 1 inch 1 sheet 512 x 345 mm Ink on paper hand coloured, later notes in pencil & ink

ML Sydney Subdivisions Penrith Box 1

1863 Central division of Regentville for sale by public auction by Messrs Mort & Co. at Beatsons Hotel, Penrith on Monday Jany 5th 1863


External title: M/Regentville/Penrith/Parish of Mulgoa/Central Division/J Jamison grantee/Bringelly Road/Mulgoa Road/F H Reuss/1863

20 ch: 1 inch 1 sheet 588 x 436 mm Litho on paper, hand coloured

ML Sydney Subdivisions Penrith Box 1

1879 [Untitled Msfor plan below]


External title: M/Regentsville House/Parish of Mulgoa/ J Jamison's sub. div./F H Reuss 1879/Mulgoa Rd/ Regentville Road/See Roll Plan 509 No scale given 1 sheet 967 x 322 mm Ink on linen trace ML Sydney subdivisions Penrith Box 1

1879 Regentville Estate. Penrith. 21 choice blocks of land including the celebrated Mill Hill on the Nepean River, and the site of Regentville House. For auction sale ... on Friday 17th October at 11 o'clock by Richardson & Wrench

No scale given 1 sheet 565 x 1002 mm Litho ML A5317 41

103


Private Collection A J Wilson:

IE Proust (surveyor) 1930 Nepean Gardens Estate. For private sale by the vendor C R Staples Esq

William Brooks & Co. Ltd Sydney No scale given 1 sheet 540 x 405 mm Printed, additional notations in red ink

Central Mapping Authority of NSW:

Central Mapping Authority

1975 Penrith U6460-9.1:4000 Orthophotomap Series Central Mapping Authority

1975 Prospect 9030-II- N Orthophotomap First Ed. 1:25000 Series Central Mapping Authority

1977 Penrith 9030-III-N First Edition 1:25000 Series Central Mapping Authority

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Appendix 1

The Excavation Team

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Appendix 1. The Excavation Team

The following is a list of students, volunteers and visitors who participated in work on site at Regentville. Many students also worked on the analysis of finds in the laboratory. The list is long, yet regrettably may still not be complete, especially in 1985: additions would be welcomed.

1985: May

Students (UG and PG)

Christopher Dean Jane Cameron Meredith Newton Jenny Dumble Julie Byrnes Angela Kenny

Supervisors

Judy Birmingham Grahame Connah Dianne Churchill Tracy Ireland Sue Pearson Jean Smith Andrew Wilson

Visitors

Tim Murray

1987: 17-29 May


Katherine Bishop Rebecca Bower Vanessa Crone Sally Davis Marita Fraser Patricia Leo Daniel Morgan Lita Poulos Peter Rees Faye Smith Julie Whitfield

Supervisors

Judy Birmingham Damaris Bairstow Julie Byrnes Ilma Powell Andrew Wilson

Visitors-Volunteers

Tracy Ireland Dianne Churchill Brian Davey Andrew Hill (Work Experience Program) Denis Gojak

1988: 7-28 May


Nicholas Arnold Megan Atkins Jamie Cameron Anne-Marie Corcoran MareeDavid Julie Drew TanyaElvig Phillip French Lisa Hill Kathryn King Luci-Anne Kreller Denise McKenzie Dana Mider Anthony Roberts Maria Schroder Karen Sowada Alasdair Taylor Margaret Wade Greg Wyncoll

Supervisors

Judy Birmingham Andrew Wilson Ilma Powell

Visitors-Volunteers

Kate Bishop Christopher Pean Marita Fraser Armon Hicks Peter Rees Martin Rowney Tamara Wassilieff

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1989: 3-4 July Supervisors

Students (UG and PG) Judy Birmingham Hal Geering

I Michelle Clack Andrew Wilson Toni Cozens lima Powell Deborah Edwards

I Tony English Visitors-Volunteers Phillip French Rachelle Graves E. Addicott Bernadette Hunt Wendy Armstrong

II Karen Hutchings Megan Atkins Kerrie Ireland Anthony Atkins Sonia Mellor Jan Barkley

I DanaMider Annika Carlsson Andrew Oakley (WEP) Vivienne Catalano

Bob Collins

I Supervisors Clare Collins

B. Croke Judy Birmingham Mark Dawley Andrew Wilson Cindy Galea

I Kate Gould Aub Grave Karen Hendrix

I 1990: 2 - 22 July John Jamison

Armon Hicks Students (UG and PG) Angela Hilder

David Howell

I Kevin Barnes Kitty Kahan Delese Brewster Julie Karajayli (WEP) Colleen Callaghan Kathryn King

I Martin Carney A. Kirwan Kim Collins Mary Kirwan Kym Earle Charlotte Layton

I Mark Dawley Sebastien Meffre Julie Dinsmore Cathy Mitchell Tony English Jenny Mitchell Louise Gay Meredith Newton

I Karen Hendrix Kelly Page Pam Hourani Nicholas Rodgers Kitty Kahan David Roelens

I Tamsin Kirwan Jean Roelens Bronwyn Layton Xanthi Pythagoras DanaMider Joanna Proust

I Seraphine Nguyen Doris Robinson Dannielle Orr Maria Schroder Katherine Page Sue Sewter Ruth Painter Karen Sowada

I Tanya Parry Skye Stevens (WEP) Belinda Perry James Trevillion Katrina Proust Bronwyn Vost

I Malcolm Ross Martin Rowney Wendy Schweingruber 19.7.90

I Maria Smith Sara McNeall and 120 children from St. Annita Waghom Paul's High School, Cranebrook. George Wall

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15.7.90 Andrew Pengilley (WEP)?

I Regentville Project Open Day (200 Victoria Porebski visitors) Joanna Proust

Frank Proust

I Malcolm Ross Tara Stoffels

1991: 6-21 July Patricia Pemberton I Colleen Phillips

II Students (UG and PG) Hugh Robinson Bronwyn Vost

Kevin Barnes (PG) Joshua Walmesley (WEP)

I Frank Boticki Pam Williams Joanna Crabbe Rohan Dredge 1992 May and October

I Tony English Caroline Gerke (PG) K ylie Seretis Mary-Noel Harris Claire Everett Gillian Hume (PG) Murielle Serenas

I Rebekah Lawrence Paul Rundle Tracy McManus Kevin Barnes John Meadows Katrina Proust

I Rudolph Meinhardt Michelle Barnes Nicki Milroy Jane Smither Sarah Pearce Toni Cozens

I Lynn Petrie (PG) Marc Verrey Katrina Proust Michael Therin Paul Rundle (PG) Diana Fatseas Sandra Scarano Catherine Seton

I Catherine Seton Maria Smith 1977 December Corioli Souter

I Trish Thams Margaret Turton Students

I Supervisors Robert Varman

Damaris Bairstow Judy Birmingham Andrew Wilson Andrew Wilson Warren Wickman

I Ilma Powell Barry Groom Marsha Isenberg

Visitors-Volunteers Julian Holland

I Greg Schofield

Helen Archer Eleanor Arnot Megan Atkins Colleen Kremer

I Michael Barry Stephen Hart Delese Brewster Dani Petocz Colleen Callaghan Alex Dane Jenny Dredge Richard Morrison

I Barbara Fitzroy Greg Symons Elizabeth Fortescue (UK) Stephen Gibbes (UK) Supervisers

I Neil Holbrook Pam Hourani Helen Temple Andrew Jones Kay Francis

I Joshua Klassen (WEP) Lynn Meskell Director DanaMider Cathy Mitchell Jean-Paul Descoeurdres

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Appendix2

Contemporary Descriptions

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Appendix 2 Contemporary Descriptions

Major contemporary descriptions of Regentville, in chronological order. Where the bibliographical reference is not to the author of the item, it is given at the foot of the extract.

Charles Gaudichaud - Beaupre et al, November 1819

MM Gaudichaud-Beaupre, Quoy and Pellion were three members of the French exploratory expedition led by Louis Descaules de Freycinet in the Uranie, which arrived in Sydney at the end of 1819. They visited Bathurst, and stayed with Jamison on the way. This extract from their joint account begins on 28 November 1819.

'From Penrith we went to spend the night at Regent-Ville, the country seat of Sir John Jamison, surgeon in His Majesty's Navy, etc., who owns considerable and very fertile property on the eastern side of the Nepean. The river, below his delightful residence, is 80 to 100 feet broad and 15 to 18 feet deep; its course is placid; its pure, fresh waters are well stocked with excellent fish.

Up till then we had met but poorly watered soil, only a portion of which seemed capable of cultivation; but on either side of the Nepean we saw unfold level country, where the trees were gigantic, and, although numerous, growing far enough apart to leave spaces where many grasses grew forming a magnificent natural meadow. The Nepean, in flood, increases the fertility of the plains it waters by depositing its silt, a favour for which it too often claims payment by rather extensive destruction.

After dinner, served with a wealth of silver which we little expected to meet in these lately wild regions, Sir John Jamison proposed a boating excursion, which M. Gaudichaud accepted. They visited the mouth of the Warragamba River which flows into the Nepean some distance south of Regent-Ville, and they enjoyed there the most picturesque view.

The next day our host was determined to accompany us as far as the foot of the Blue Mountains, and prevailed upon us to cross the river opposite his house, while our horses and impedimenta would take the highway by Emu Ford, where one usually crosses the Nepean. '

0 Harvard 1938

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Elizabeth Hawkins, April 1822

From a letter to her sister giving an account of her family's journey from Sydney to Bathurst where her husband had been appointed Commissariat storekeeper. The letter is dated 7 May 1822. This extract begins on 11 April 1822 six days into the journey.

'Hawkins and I went to dine with Sir J. Jamison, who had invited a lady and two gentlemen to meet us; here we partook of a sumptuous repast, consisting of mock-turtle soup, boiled fowls, round of beef, delicious fish of three kinds, curried duck, goose and wild-fowl, Madiera and Burgundy, with various liquors and English ale. I mention all this to show you his hospitality, and convince you it is possible for people to live here as well as in England. I was delighted with his garden. The apples and quinces were larger than I ever saw them before (it is now autumn in this country), and many early trees of the former were again in blossom. The vines had a second crop of grapes, and the fig trees a third crop. The peaches and apricots here are standing trees. He has English cherries, plums, and filberts. These, with oranges, lemons, limes, and citrons, medlars, almonds, rock and water melons, with all the common fruits of England;vegetables of all kinds, and grown at all seasons of the year, which shows how fine the climate is.

The next morning, Friday, the twelfth, we re-loaded. Sir John came to see us off, and presented us with a quarter of mutton, a couple of fowls, and some butter. •

William Horton, June 1824

Horton kept a Journal while working for the Wesleyan Missionary Society. This entry is dated 5 June 1824, and indicates that the building had not been completed.

'June 5. Sir John Jamison who resides on his estate opposite Emu Plains took me to see his new house. It stands on the top of a long gentle ascent and is certainly a noble mansion. It is 78 feet long by 45 wide, two stories high with a spacious cellar beneath. Each of the wings is 50 feet long. The outbuildings are detached and the whole premises will occupy about an acre of ground which is to be enclosed by a wall 14 feet high. It is built of fine durable stone and commands a very extensive and diversified prospect. Sir John is an intelligent scientific gentleman and has more than once manifested his friendly regard towards the missionary cause. •

Bonwick Transcripts

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Baron de Bougainville, August 1825

Hyacinthe Yves Philippe Potentin, Baron de Bougainville, led a French circumnavigation voyage in the Thetis and the Esperance in 1824-26. It was not the most productive of expeditions and the single volume Journal accompanied by an atlas of 12 plates was published in 1837. This extract starts on Friday 5 August 1825, after Sir John's carriage with four horses guided by a 'child' had collected Bougainville's party at Parramatta.

'We were, at that time, staying at the cottage at Regentville. Sir John dwelt there whilst awaiting the house of aristocratic proportions which he is having built in the neighbourhood .. Two steps away is the Nepean; this is a very sunken river, but at present it is not very deep. It forms a natural boundary to the County of Cumberland and separates the Jamison domain from that of the government on Emu Plains. . ... to the south east, on a small hill totally stripped of trees, is a new dwelling whose position dominates the surrounding countryside.

The Nepean at this point is hardly more than 100 metres wide. One can barely see 300 paces ahead, and the banks are stripped of trees; whilst this makes the contours clear, any scope for pleasant views and decoration of the countryside is lost. However, the rich crops of wheat, barley and maize which they produce twice a year amply compensate the owner - and will reward him for a long time, because the land here is excellent. The topsoil, well provided by inundations from the river, is not less than twelve or fifteen feet deep.

The Regentville property is 36 miles from Sydney. It consists of 9000 acres of land and supports 3000 sheep, 100 horned cattle, and 100 horses. Here, in the season, is made daily the best part of 80-100 lbs of a cheese which is like Chester and which keeps for a long time. This property, although quite considerable, is far from being Sir John's only possession. He has more, wideranging, properties near Bathurst, at Prospect Hill near Parramatta, and at Sydney - his house there is one of the best of its kind. He possesses a great deal: according to what he told me he has 23,000 acres of good land, the greatest part of which is without doubt not yet valuable.

After a brief rest in the small and very comfortable rooms which had been prepared for us, we visited the grounds and outbuildings of the dwelling. The servants' buildings are those of a well-run and large farm, the produce of which supplies all the basic needs of its inhabitants. The garden, which is cultivated ' with care, contains most of he fruit trees and vegetables of Europe. One sees norfolk pines, full of seed, and yet still small; the loquat tree, a fruit tree brought from China, whose fruit resembles a prune without a seed and of a yellow colour; peach trees above all in great number ....

Saturday 6th: We walked and walked for about nine hours and visited the new manor which is about 1112 miles away. Sir John, who is his own architect, made us go over every nook and cranny. The house is of trimmed stone, and is solidly built, to a nice plan. The woodwork is native cedar of a beautiful redbrown colour and the chimneys are made of marble taken from a neighbouring quarry. The great drawback of this residence, placed on high ground, is that it lacks absolutely any shade; they have removed all the surrounding trees and many years will pass before one will be able to be fully shaded from the sun ..... The manor was examined in every detail and the decision was taken to modify the principal entry to the house according to our suggestion. We continued on our walk in the direction of a beautiful valley where portion of the land has been cleared. The rest, stripped of trees, has nothing but stumps and is fenced off as pasture for the flocks.

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Peter Cunningham, 1827

Cunningham was a surgeon-superintendant on convict transports, in charge of the well-being of the convicts. He visited new South Wales in December 1819, September 1821, July 1823 and for an extended period from January 1825 until April 1826. He made numerous journeys during these visits, especially the last one, and these formed the basis of his description of the colony first published in London in July 1827. (MacMillan(ed) 1966, xviii-xxvii).

'A little above Emu Plains, the Hawkesbury (or Warragamba, as it is here called) emerges from among the mountains, sweeping past the rich and picturesque estate of Sir. John Jamison. His veranda'd cottage and farm buildings occupy a spot near to the bank of the river; but an elegant freestone mansion has lately been erected by him on a commanding site, which overlooks the rich vale spreading wider and wider down the opening vista before you, the river winding at a sluggish pace through this scene of exuberant fertility, and the abrupt woody range of the Blue Mountains towering behind until it steals slowly from your view. A clear cool spring of water is seen welling in the immediate vicinity of the house, a much-prized article here, while the land around is cleared to the extent of at least one thousand acres, and produces most abundantly all the varied productions of our clime.

'Sir John is president of the Agricultural Society, and his house the frequent resort of pleasure-parties from Sydney, who enjoy the unbounded hospitality for which the worthy knight is so celebrated among us.

'One of the largest tame kangaroos I have seen in the country is domiciled here, and a mischievous wag he is, creeping and snuffing cautiously toward a stranger, with such an innocently expressive countenance, that roguery could never be surmised to exist under it, when, having obtained as he thinks a sufficient introduction, he claps his fore-paws on your shoulders (as if to caress you), and raising himself suddenly upon his tail, administers such a well-put push with his hind legs, that it is two to one but he drives you heels over head! This is all done in what he considers facetious play, with a view to giving you a hint to examine your pockets, and see what bonbons you have got for him, as he munches cakes and comfits with epicurean gout; and if the door is ajar, he will gravely take his station behind your chair at mealtime, like a lackey, giving you an adminitory kick every now and then, if you fail to help him as well as yourself.

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Anonymous, March 1827

From the first of six letters published in consecutive issues of the Australian, beginning 13 March 1827. The letters are signed "X. Y. Z. " and it has been suggested that they were written by Captain William John Dumaresq, Governor Darling's brother-in-law (Mackaness 1965, 166).

On the right hand, and on a fine foreground, stood the palace of Regentville, the noble seat of Sir John Jamison. This splendid building is beyond all comparisons, the finest thing of the kind in New South Wales; it stands on the top of a gentle hill, and presents a front to the long reach of the river and rich vale of Emu, of 180 feet; the centre building being 80 feet in length, and the two wings 50 each. In the wings are comprised the library, baths, billiardrooms, & c., & c .. ; while the kitchens and servants offices, are detached in the rear, out of sight. Regentville is built of a fine free stone, dug on the estate, in the chasest style of Grecian architecture, and is no less remarkable in the interior for the good taste and richness of its decorations, and the profuse and constant hospitality of the noble owner.

William Riley, September and December 1830

Riley, the son of Alexander Riley of Burwood and 'Raby', kept a journal during journeys he made in New South Wales in 1830 and 1831. A transcript of the journal survives in the Mitchell Library (A2012). These extracts are from his record of a Journey to the Yass plains late in 1830. The first made on the way there, sometime in September 1830, the latter on his return.

'Regentville

.... the residence of Sir John about 26 miles from Parramatta on the Bathurst road, and 3 miles from Penryth, a town watered by the Nepean. The house, a modern stone mansion on a large scale fitted up in a very expensive manner a l'anglaise, commands a fine view of these plains, and of the numerous settlers' farms interspersed throughout them, but the trees about it having been carefully removed as if to render it more conspicuous. Sir· J., who is a retired Physician of the Fleet, is a knight of Gustavas Vasa, a distinction of which he is not a little proud, seems a pleasant man, of a vain ostentatious, but hospitable character, who, from all I can learn exerted himself to industry. Being, however, a radical, and having allied himself to the knot of individuals, who are far from respectable that form that party, he has been excluded from a seat in Council to which his wealth and general respectability would otherwise entitle him and possesses, in consequence, little political influence . . . . His reports to the Agricultural Society very verbose productions and making much of what in fact might have been comprised in a tenth of the compass, but proving, nevertheless, his attention to the subjects on which he treats.

Dec 3 To Sir John's, he does not farm extensively, though his lands, both grant and purchase, occupy 10,000 acres, but he rents out a large portion of the arable land, which forms a rich belt along the river, to small tenants, who pay him 1 pound an acre, where the land is cleared and stumped, and less in proportion to the labour required for its improvement. 1200 acres are thus rented to 40 tenants . . . . and he proposes offering more on similar terms and reducing his own stock to a choice selection of the best breeds. '

J Jervis 1946

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Cyrille Laplace, August 1831

Captain of the Favorite, Laplace led a French circumnavigation expedition which arrived in Hobart from Macao in July 183t, visited New South Wales in August and September, and returned to France via New Zealand and South America.

'The need to look after my always somewhat weak health ... The wish to see from close quarters all the details of the state of the colony, decided me to profit from kind invitations, and I accepted with eagerness that made to me by Sir John Jamison, one of the richest and most respected colonists of N.S.W., to spend with several officers of the Favorite some days at his residence forty miles from the main town on the banks of the Nepean.

Accompanied by de Boissieu and Serval, I left Sydney on August 12, under the guidance of Sir John Jamison, in a good coach drawn by four brisk horses ....

At last we entered a long avenue and descended before Regentville, a superb house which deserves the title of manor, not only for its type of architecture, since it lacks nothing, neither a terrace and two wings, nor an internal courtyard surrounded by servants' quarters, but also for the noble and welcoming manner with which the owner, Sir John Jamison, does the honours.

With what eagerness I hastened after dinner to breath the fresh air on the terrace, and to relish the peace of mind and body which cares had deprived me of for months! The calm of the fields was infinitely attractive to my spirit and every object appearing to my eyes united to make these emotions even sweeter. Before me spread an admirable vista illuminated by the last rays of the setting sun. From the plateau where Sir John's house is built I looked down on a countryside which the most beautiful products of Southern France, some still young, others turning ripe, speckled with a thousand colours. Rows of flowering peach trees, like snowballs, brought out the dark green of large native trees preserved to protect the plantation from the cold south winds. Here and there were sown small farms which formed so many red spots on the green of the land. A windmill, built on a hillside, stood out pleasantly from the blue of the horizon; the evening breeze slowly turned its large wings. I could have wished that its walls were less white, their construction less elaborate and mannered, it would have better reminded me of the humble and rustic village windmill, old friend of our childhood, which even in ripe old age one remembers tenderly. This windmill dominated several sheds washed by the Nepean ....

Then my host explained his numerous experiments and the improvements he expected from his properties. That windmill, whose charming display I had noted on the day of my arrival at Regentville, gave a sufficiently pure flour to be preserved in barrels and to be useful on long voyages. In the sheds near the windmill, beef was being cured by economic and sure processes. I had occasion to taste this salted meat more than once and I found it very good, both in appearance and quality; but as the salt used comes from England, costs a lot and increases the cost of the meat a great deal, it is to be feared that it is not suitable for export: at present it is consumed in the prisons and on the ships that visit Sydney.

On this magnificent property, no sooner was my curiosity satisfied by something, it was roused by another. One day when we climbed to the top of a hillock covered by limestone, my guide smiled at the surprise I expressed on seeing at my feet long lines of green and thick vines supported by perfectly straight props in the manner followed in our northern provinces. This memory of

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our happy France caused me an emotion which only an exile could understand. These beautiful plants seemed to me to be compatriots ... they had already born fruit under the Australian sky several times, but although drawn from our most renowned vineyards had so far given only a light wine, somewhat similar to that produced by the vineyards of the Loire . . . . The owners of vineyards, following Sir John Jamison, burn their wines to make brandy, which is hardly worth more .... From the side which we had just climbed, we discovered large areas of wheat covering at once the depths of the valleys and the flanks of the hills. I expressed my astonishment at seeing such different terrains being used in the same way: Sir John explained that until experience had taught them to defy the floods, no less frequent than the droughts, Australian farmers had preferred to sow grain on lower ground rather than on the crest of mountains, but than now the two kinds of cultivation are severally adopted and often succeed equally in the same year. To what other disasters are they not, however, exposed!

One morning, a little after sunrise we embarked, the two officers of the Favorite, myself and my host, in a light boat, rowed by four sturdy convicts. As soon as we left the small landing stage at the foot of the windmill, we began to fight against a strong current. The river, still swollen by the winter rains, ran its deep course between two steep banks... On the left we left Regentville, whose plantations ran as far as the ridge of the rocks ... '

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Richard Bourke, October 1832

From 'Hasty notes of a Journey to Bathurst' an account of a journey made with his father (Governor Richard Bourke) by Richard Bourke the younger. Also in the entourage were the governor's ADC, Captain Westmacott and Anne Bourke (his sister). The account was written for his other sister, Janet. The extract begins on 19 October, the day the Journey commenced.

'The Road to Emu plains on which is situated the house of the gentleman with whom we intended taking up our quarters, is one of the best in the environs of Sydney. The Country through which it runs is well cultivated and naturally pretty, but I believe I was rather too much and too pleasantly occupied with mes compagnons de voyage to pay as much attention to this as it deserved. The latter part of the road however certainly struck us as being tiresome, & we were by no means sorry to arrive at Regent Ville after a drive of twenty-one miles four of whom had been through Sir J. Jamison's Park. The House is well situated as regards a view of the country in front, but it has with singular awkwardness been placed completely out of sight of the beautiful River Nepean which winds most picturesquely thro' the plains below. We were received at the door by Sir J. Jamison himself, & ushered through rows of domestics into what may be called in this Country a very good House, & what in England could not be styled a bad one. And now for some account of the Master- Sir John Jamison began life as a Physician, from that he entered as Surgeon into the Navy in which he rose to be Physician of the Fleet & was created by the King of Prussia a Knight of Gustavus Vasa. At this Juncture Sir John visited Australia, settled and has amassed on-dit a fortune of ten thousand a year. He is very hospitable tho' a very stagy man, and his House is as uncomfortable as one would from a Sailor and a bachelor. In the course of the day our party was increased by Mr & Mrs Forbes, (he is Chief Justice) The Governor, Westmacott and Anne .... There were a number of visitors at dinner & casual droppers in whom it will certainly not be necessary to describe.

Saturday 20. The temperature today has been intensely tropical, and our plans of amusement were formed by Sir J. certainly without the slightest attention to the weather. It was predetermined by him that we should be amused by a water party and cold collation. We accordingly submitted with great resignation, & were rowed up ten miles of the Nepean under a sun that would have dissolved the hardest Indian. However we were as gay and merry as usual, and after some accidents most moving ones too, to the meats and wines, we returned in the cool of the Evening some by water and some by land. The scenery from the River is certainly beautiful, but it is also very unvaried. You may fancy a noble river running between two very lofty & well wooded banks, now & then broken by a rocky precipice, and at this season covered with native flowers. This you may say sounds very well - agreed - but it is very tiresome. I Joined the Equestrians on our return & was much more pleased by riding through ten miles of the best cultivated & prettiest valley I have yet seen here. We stopped at several of the cottages which are extremely pretty, in general covered with yellow Jesmaine & multiflora roses. Dinner as usual, music in the evening. Memo. un peu stupid.

Sunday 21. A New South Wales hot wind or in other words a regular sirocco, prevented our going to Church today. The Evening was however delightful, & we walked from after dinner until twelve in the verandah (you would not have liked that. old girl). The party was increased by the officers of the ship Challenger now in harbour, & the Evening was the pleasantest that Anne or I have spent since our arrival. Memo - the bugs bit so dreadfully last night that I made interest with Dolly the housemaid & was allowed to sleep on the drawing room sofa.' W L Harvard 1940

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William H. Breton 1833

Lieutenant Breton's account of his excursions in Australia between 1830 and 1833 were published in London in 1833. The frontispiece of the book is an etching of Regentville by J. Clark.

pp 136-7.

'Regentville - Windsor

At Regentville, situated very near the Nepean, which is here a beautiful piece of water, with some highly interesting scenery, the country becomes much more open, much land has been cleared, and from the house there is a very extensive view towards Windsor. On the right of the river the soil is of the most fertile description, the settlers are numerous, and there is a considerable portion of land in cultivation . . . . The houses in this district are the best that are to be found in the "Bush", most of the settlers in the other parts of the country residing in their original huts, some of which have been erected eight or ten years or more; or else they have built small cottages, which although very clean and neat, are often much too small for families. However, those who reside between the Blue Mountains and Sydney can scarcely be said to be settled in the "bush"

Sarah Martin, December 1833

Wife of assistant surveyor Felton Matthew, she accompanied him on his surveys and kept a journal. This entry includes a description of the vineyard and mansion seen while travelling north along Mulgoa Road on 5 December 1833.

'December 2nd. Drove to Mulgoa, and took up our quarters at Wimbourne, where we remained till Thursday, and then returned home. Wimbourne is the residence of Mr George Cox, and a very pretty place the garden is in excellent order; and the shrubbery very beautiful in the variety both of native trees and shrubs, as well as those of an English shrubbery. A short distance from the house, on the side of a rocky range, is the vineyard which is advancing rapidly: the vines are loaded with fruit, though only three years old -

In returning we passed close by Sir John Jamison's vineyard at Regentville, this is of much greater extent, and laid out with great taste, in terraces on the sides of the hills, and surrounded by hedges of the china rose, and lemon; some of the vines are on trellises, others only trained up a single pole, they all have a very beautiful appearance. Many persons expect this country will become as famous for the production of wine as Madiera, or the wine countries of Europe: it is very certain, that the vines of almost every description, flourish and bear most luxuriantly, on dry and rocky lands where nothing else could grow.

A nearer view of Regentville gave us a much more favourable opinion of it, than we had formed from a distance; it is a handsome stone edifice, with a fme Porticoe, and balcony above it, the latter is quite a novelty here, and with its iron railing has quite an English look; the view from it is extensive, but of course tinged with the sameness which pervades the whole country.

0 Harvard 1943

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George Bennett, 1834

Bennett's journal of his travels as a naturalist between 1832 and 1834 were published in London in 1834 in two volumes. Early in the first volume he briefly describes Regentville and its setting:

p97.

'The view from Lapstone Hill, on gaining its summit , was very splendid: a large extent of country appeared from this elevated site: the Nepean river was seen winding its course through lands rich for pasturage, as well as in the cultivation of grain. During the harvest season, the prospect must be much increased both in richness and beauty. The situation of Windsor was pointed out; but a haze being over the distant village, the houses were not distinguishable. Regent Ville, the beautiful residence and farm of Sir John Jamieson, was included in the view.

James Backhouse et al, Dec 1835 & Oct 1836

The Life and Labours of George Washington Walker ..... was written by James Backhouse and Charles Tylor, and published in London in 1862. The book was based on the Journals the three kept while doing missionary and temperance work for the Society of Friends. The first two entries refer to 16 December and 19 December 1835, the third to 24 October 1836.

p 232.

'The Post Office is also the Police Office, and the Bench being then engaged in trying some prisoners, we were formally introduced to the Magistrates by Captain England, with whom we had become acquainted on a former occasion. Sir John Jamison showed us much civility, and invited us to take up our abode at Regentville, his elegant mansion.'

pp 232-3.

'At nine o'clock we repaired to Regentville to breakfast. The house is furnished in a style much on a par, I should suppose, with the most opulent of our English gentry or nobility. The vineyard behind the house occupies fifteen acres, and contains according to the statement of the owner, between 30 and 40,000 vines, including upwards of 200 varieties. The vine is becoming an object of serious attention with many of the most prosperous colonists, in the hope of ultimately being able to manufacture wines that may prove profitable for export.

pp 263-4: (travelling from Winboume to Penrith)

'24th - The tract called Mulgoa, so named from a creek which joins the Nepean River near Regentville, the residence of Sir John Jamieson, is a very interesting portion of the country. The land has been cleared to a great extent by the proprietors, and patches of trees have been left at suitable intervals, with so much judgement, that it has all the appearance of an English park. The rich cultivated lands bordering on the Nepean River forcibly remind the beholder of the waving com fields and fertile meadows of an English landscape. No portion of the colony we have visited bears stronger evidence of labour and capital judiciously applied, and its inhabitants include some of ate most respectable as well as most opulent settlers in the country.

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James Maclehose, 1838

The Picture of Sydney ... has a small section devoted to Regentville, which includes this description,and an etching by William Wilson. It is the only private house to be given such prominence. This may be simply because of Jamison's notoriety, but the fact that the book was printed by J. Spilsbury of Jamison Street, Sydney might indicate some connection.

pp 171-2.

'Regentville - This splendid mansion, vying in magnificence of structure with the princely residences of some of the nobility of Great Britain is situated about thirty-five miles from Sydney, and within a quarter of an hour's ride to the township of Penrith, on the road to Richmond. The wealthy founder of this beautiful edifice, is Sir John Jamison, K.G.V., a member of the Legislative Council; and one of the oldest and most respectable of the colonists of New South Wales. The beauty of the surrounding scenery, being situate at the foot of the Blue Mountains, cannot fail of rivetting the attention of the stranger on first beholding Regentville - heightened as it is by an extensive and well laid out park, large and well cultivated garden, and splendid agricultural improvements. On this valuable estate, also, there is the largest vineyard in the colony, besides well stocked orchards: and it is to the patriotic exertions of Sir John Jamison, that Australia is indebted for the first manufacture of wine, some of the samples of which have been of the very highest quality. It is hoped that others of the wealthy class of Sir John Jamison, will follow his meritorious example in this particular, by which means the unwholesome as well as pernicious liquid imported into New South Wales as Cape Wine, will for the future cease to be brought to our shores.'

Henry Parkes, August 1839

An extract from a letter to his family and friends in the UK describing the experiences of himself, his wife and their infant since arriving in Sydney. The letter is dated 1 May 1840; Parkes was hired by Jamison in early August 1839.

pp 88-89.

'At length, being completely starved out, I engaged as a common labourer with Sir John Jamison, Kt., M.C., to go about thirty-six miles up the country. Sir John agreed to give me 25 pounds for the year, with a ration and half of food. This amounted to weekly:-

101/2 lbs. beef- sometimes unfit to eat. 101/2 lbs. rice- of the worst imaginable quality. 6 & 3/4 lbs. flour- half made up of ground rice. 2 lbs. sugar - good-tasted brown. 1/4lb. tea- inferior. lb. soap - not enough to wash our hands.

2 figs of tobacco - useless to me.

This was what we had to live upon, and not a leaf of a vegetable or a drop of milk beyond this. For the first four months we had no other bed than a sheet of bark off a box tree, and an old door, laid on two cross pieces of wood, covered over with a few articles of clothing. The hut appointed for us to live in was a

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very poor one. The morning sunshine, the noontide shower, and the white moonlight of midnight, gushed in upon us alike. You will, perhaps, think had you been with us, you would have had a few vegetables at any rate, for you would have made a bit of garden, and cultivated them for yourselves; but you would have done no such thing! The slave-masters of New South Wales require their servants to work for them from sunrise till sunset, and will not allow them to have gardens, lest they should steal a half-hour,s time to work in them I should mention that our boxes, coming up from Sydney on Sir John's dray, were broken open, and almost everything worth carrying away was stolen. I made this at first a very grave complaint, but only got laughed at for my pains, and told that was nothing. During the time I was at Sir John's, I was employed mostly in a vineyard consisting of sixteen acres of land. I was there during the vintage season, and left Just as we had done wine-making in the middle of last February, having been in his service six months. This estate of Sir John • s is named Regentville, • and is situated about three miles from the small town of Penrith, on the bank of the Nepean River, and about the same distance from the first range of the Blue Mountains.'

Godfrey Charles Mundy, 1846

Mundy's three volume description of the Australasian colonies was published in London in 1852. Both his references to Regentville are in volume one, from impressions gained on a visit made to the area in 1846.

p 149.

p 151.

'There are some really fine estates in this neighbour-hood; that of the late Sir John Jamison is in sight of the inn. The name of Regentville, is, in the mind of the colonists, associated with the times and practice of unbounded hospitality and profuse expenditure, such as never again will be seen in New South Wales. •

'From Fernhill I rode to Regentville. There are sermons in its stones, in its gardens and wineries ruined and run to waste, its cattle-tramped pleasure grounds, its silent echoes. My foot sank through the floor where many a joyous measure had been trod. The rafters were rotting that had oftimes rung to the merriment of host and guest; and, if rumour lies not, there were "sad doings" as well as merry ones at Regentville in the days of its prosperity.

Just below the park in the valley stands the huge shell of a steam-mill which cost 7, 000 1. and was intended for a mill of all trades; and not far from it a windmill equally remarkable for size and solidity. The steam-mill never got up its steam to any good purpose for its enterprising builder; and as for the windmill - putting aside its present want of sails - its poSition is so surrounded with high hills that it can never have raised the wind to a remunerative amount for him or any one else. '

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Notice of Sale

Sydney Morning Herald 16, 17, 18, 20, 21 December 1847

Tuesday, 21st December

'A portion of

THE SPLENDID ESTATE OF REGENTVILLE

consisting of 1560 acres, about 600 of which are cleared and stumped, and about 150 under cultivation. Together with, THE ELEGANf FAMILY MANSION-HOUSE, GARDEN, GROUNDS, VINEYARD, &c.

To be sold by auction by Mr Lyons, at his Mart, on Tuesday, the 21st December, at 12 o'clock precisely. Mr Lyons has been favoured with instructions to dispose of this princely property which is delightfully situated on the Nepean River, and thus described in the title deeds: All that piece or parcel of land .... containing by admeasurement 600 acres .... commonly known as Hawkstone. And also, all that piece or parcel of land . . . . containing by admeasurement 500 acres .... commonly known by the name of Hayes. And also all that piece or parcel of land .... containing by admeasurement 460 acres .... commonly called Regentville.

'The following valuable improvements have been made on the Hawkstone grant: First, Regentville House', substantially built of stone, with a tasteful Colonnade in front and on each side, surmounted with an Iron Balcony front which there is a delightful prospect of the adjacent country. It contains Entrance Hall and 15 rooms, viz.:-

2 Drawing-rooms 1 Dining ditto 1 Breakfast ditto 1 Study 1 Library and Cabinet 9 Bed-rooms

The principal stair-case is also stone built and circular. A wash-house and laundry are attached, and there are spacious cellars under the House. The Right Wing consists of an immense coach-house, with store above; The Left Wing contains the Billiard-room.

The Out-offices are also stone-built, and consist of two kitchens and a bakehouse, communicating with the house by a covered way, a servants' hall and seven bed-rooms adjoining; the whole being under one roof. All of the above offices are contained within an area of 180 feet square, enclosed by a substantial stone wall about 10 feet high.

In the rear of the fore-going, adjoining the wall are the Handsome stone Stables, which consist of one ten-stall and one four-stall, with three large boxes and two harness-rooms. The lofts are over the whole of the above stabling, and are about 160 feet in length by 15 feet breadth. The stable yard is enclosed by a paling, and contains also three loose boxes, slab built, with loft over them.

Adjoining the stable-yard at the back lies the Garden, covering about four acres,

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full of choice fruit trees, vegetables, & c., and containing the gardener's house.

In the rear of the garden, a shed is partitioned off, and railed in to accommodate about thirty colts; it is well secured by a substantial fence and has a paddock attached, which contains stock-yards and draughting-yards.

The Vineyard is on the left of the house, and contains about seven acres of terraced vines, and about three and a half acres of field vineyard. It has also a stone-built house, containing four rooms, a large cellar for manufacturing wine, with winepress and still.

Immediately in front of the wine cellar there is a large dam, receiving the water from two gullies; is about 300 feet in circumference, by about 10 feet in depth, and has never been dry.

Of the above valuable tract of land, occupying 1760 acres, the Hawkstone portion lies on the banks of the Nepean River; the grants of Hayes and Regentville adjoining it in the rear, and being intersected by two creeks, the Mulgoa and the

The Vineyard is let for 100 pounds a year, and a portion of the land, comprising about 150 acres under cultivation, is let for 100 pounds a year, in addition to which about 600 acres are cleared and stumped.

Regentville is considered to be one of the most valuable properties in the County of Cumberland, it having been selected by the late Sir John Jamison, K. G. V., in the youthful days of the colony, by whom the house was erected, it was his favourite residence for many years, and the numerous tasteful improvements made by him at an immense outlay prove the high estimation in which this property was held by him.

It will be seen by the minute description given above, that it is a most complete estate, and that the house possesses every convenience requisite for a family of the highest respectability, whilst the land may be pronounced equal to any in the county for agricultural purposes.

Terms at sale. Title indisputable, being direct from the Crown.

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Inquest on Fire at Regentville near Penrith

(From our Paramatta Correspondent, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 May 1869 p. 5)

An inquest on the frre, which occurred early on Friday morning last, at Regentville, near Penrith was commenced on the following Saturday, and concluded this (Wednesday) evening before M. G. T. Clarke coroner for the district and a jury of twelve. Mr. Thomas Hellyer appeared on behalf of Mr. Shiels, the occupier of the property consumed.

Martha Wilcox, sworn, stated, I was in the Regentville House, yesterday (Friday) morning, about half-past 1; I was in the room known as the landing-room, at the top of the stairs; I was sleeping there; I went to bed about 9 o'clock; I know it was about half-past 1 that I first saw the fire, for when I came down stairs it was that time; the landing room was just over the front entrance (hall door); Ellen Hogan, a young girl, was sleeping in the room with me; a crackling noise awoke me; we both awoke together; as soon as I awoke I said "I think the house is on fire''; she said, "Oh, it never could be;" I got out of bed opened the door leading out of our room and ran to the door of the ball-room, and through a crack in that door SAW the flare of fire; I saw all the roof on fire; it was in the big room towards the back of the room the most, and in two places in the ceiling, as if the whole roof was on fire; I ran down stairs and gave the alarm; I said, "the house in on fire;" Ellen did not look through the door, but as I called out we both gathered up our clothes and ran down stairs and gave the alarm to Mrs McLean. By Mr. Fulton: There had been no fire in the room that evening; we (Ellen and I) went to our room together that evening:

I took the candles and put it on a chest of drawers that we had in our room: the candle WAS in a flat china candlestick; I got into bed last and put the candle out myself; no one else slept in the house since the flood; I fastened all the downstairs doors, including glass windows that evening about 5 o'clock; I then left the back door open; I fastened the upstairs windows before I went to bed; they were as securely fastened as I always fastened them; one of the upstairs windows had no fastening; I mean by the back door, the door leading to the kitchen from the house; the room I first saw the fire in contained furniture; Ellen is younger than I am, I was left in charge of the house and property by Mr. Shells; when I went to bed I fastened the back door (by Mr. Hellyer) and bolted it; - that day a gentleman from Messrs Bridle and Coos was the only one in the hotel; a list was being taken of the furniture for the sale next week; the Rev. Mr. Paugh also came that evening with Mrs. Gurkha, they left about 4 or 5 o'clock; after 5 o'clock we had tea in the back dining-room by candlelight, using the same and stick as that I took up to the bedroom: Ellen, Mrs. McLean and myself had tea together; no one that I know of was near the premises after than hour; I heard no noise; Mrs McLaren slept that night in the store where she usually slept; I have been in the employ about eleven months; there is a bar or tap at the end of the kitchen; the last person supplied by me was Peter Hogan, when he returned about S o'clock after taking the gentleman from Bradley's to the Penrith station; on packing up our clothes we ran together down the stairs out of the back door; I then saw the fire coming out the eastern end of the house - the far end from here, I called Mrs McLean - she awoke; so soon as I called out the house is all on fire she answered at once. (By Foreman; There was no trap-door in the ceiling of the room when I was the fire first, and we then looked about for matches, and at last lit a candle by the kitchen fire; I am sure that the fire spread from the room; I only saw frre in that part of the house in the big front room up stairs, and I feel certain that the fue was confined to that room when I first saw it -

(Mr. Fulton; There was no fire in any part of the house since the flood)-

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There was no balcony to any part of the house; there was a ladder on the premises, at the end of the billiard room the room we are now in; it is there now; after I saw Mrs. McLean I ran away to Hogan's the nearest neighbour, when I returned there was no one else had come; I was I think, about ten minutes away; as I returned from Hogan's I could discern that end, the eastern end, all alight on the roof; the zinc was all burning and red-hot; I don't know that there were or were not shingles under the zinc; the stores were left in my care; no liquors were kept in the main building that was burnt; all were kept in the bar; when I entered the bar missed some brandy from a case - five bottles; I noticed the case had been moved onto the bar counter; whilst I was in the bar after daylight, Mrs Shiels came home and she pointed out to me the <;ase of brandy; I then missed the bottles; I kept the key of the tap room; I entered it first and at once noticed that the case had been removed; I then went to the door out of the tap leading into the backyard; I discovered that the nails had been dawn, and the door had been forced open from the outside; I had no one about the premises using the ladder; at the time I first observed the fire it appeared in the roof in the comer furthest away from the old standing wall of the old laundry which is attached to the main building but does not run up higher than the ceiling of the first floor of the house; only the persons from the factory came up to the fire. (By Mr. Fulton)

Mr and Mrs Hogan came first, and they, Ellen and I, commenced removing the things and furniture; I have not seen anyone lurking about, nor have I heard anyone threaten to do any harm; the only matches in the house were kept in the pantry; (Mr Smith) the trap-door into the roof was in the pantry ceiling, and it was opened when I returned from Woodford; it was in the comer; the last time I noticed it was open; I do not think anyone could have got there without me hearing them; no sheet of metal was blown off the roof lately, nor do I think there was any breakage in the (front?); I had to unbolt the back door when we came down stairs, I did not get to any of the openings; I when I came back from the Hogan's Mrs McLean was removing the furniture; whilst I was in the kitchen, Mrs Shiels pointed out to me a bag containing some brandy bottles outside the bar door; the upstairs windows I closed when I went to tea, I could not fasten securely the window nearest the laundry wall; some of the ceiling in the big room where I first saw fire has been down ever since I came here; the furniture was being removed out the back door during my absence at Hogan's and none of the front entrances opened that I know of;

I was only a fortnight absent at Woodford since I first came into this employ about eleven months ago, since then I only know the removal of one table; I took no notice of the furniture at Woodford to say that there was any there that was here; I recollect also a couch either horsehair or morocco, some house linen, sheets, pillows, pillow cases, towelling etc. also went to Woodford, they were packed in cases to go; the things went to and fro between the two houses, here and Woodford; the last that came back came at Easter; Mrs Shiels came out early in the morning with Dr Willmott; she seemed to treat me very coolly, she said 'how did this happen?! I replied "I wish I knew how it did happen'; these were the only words between us; she came over to this room where the furniture saved from the fire was; the police came about half-past three or four o'clock when they interrogated me; Mrs Shiels went round the building and then came into this room; I was in the bar when Mrs Shiels came having just gone in there; when I saw the case on the counter I went round to the till and found it has been robbed; Mr Shiels went away last Monday night -------------------------- I did not say anything to Mrs Shiels, I know that there was some silver in the till, but then there were only a few coppers; an old man was in the employ, in bed, ailing for some days; I did see Mrs Shiels crying after she arrived; (Foreman) I never heard anyone say they were frightened that the house would be burned down; when I returned to the room with Ellen to fetch some

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more of our clothes, we did not bring down the candle.

Ellen Hogan, being sworn, stated, I was sleeping in the same bed with Martha Wilcox on Thursday night last; we went to bed about 9 o'clock, Martha carried the candle; I got into bed frrst; she put the candle out; Martha said, 'What's that?' hearing a crackling noise she went out of the room, and I said 'Oh, all the house is on fire'; we ran out without our clothes on; we seemed both to awaken at the same time; Martha unbolted the back door and we both ran to the store; I turned round to look at the fire, it was then in the north-eastern corner of the house, on the roof which was covered with metal; I saw it quite red; it appeared to be -----ing one sheet after another; I did not observe any of the sheets of metal to be off; I do not believe any person could have put fire to the roof from the inside; when I first saw the fire it was in the corner furthest from the old laundry wall; I was only visiting here, coming to sleep here only since Mrs Shiels has been at Woodford; I saw Mrs McLean and old Robert about the premises, we went round the house after giving the alarm at mother's; when we returned we found fire lying on the ground; that end of the roof was gone; there was no fire next the laundry wall; I heard a noise after the candle as put out; Martha said 'did you hear that?' I said 'I think it's a footstep. 'it passed off at that, as we thought it was a stray horse; we went to sleep and were awakened by the crackling I before spoke of. I never saw anyone lurking about, as I came up of an evening or went home of a morning. I don't know that anyone knew that only we two slept in the house during Mrs Shiel's absence; I did not hear any dogs barking that night.

Ellen McLean, sworn, states: I am Mrs Shiel's mother. I was sleeping on the premises at the back of the main building on the night of the fire; I went to bed about 9 o'clock as usual; I did hear a dog bark; It awoke me about 11 o'clock, and about two hours after the two girls came into my room and said 'the house is on fire'; I got up, ran half way up the stairs; saw the roof on frre at the corner of big room next the hall door; the fire was dropping down on the floor; the girls ran to Hogan's; I began removing the furniture, and on their return they assisted me, we go as much as we could out; old Robert was sleeping in the next room to me; I woke him and told him the house was on fire; no one slept in the house but the two girls; I had tea in the back dining-room by light of a candle, which candle the girls took into the pantry when I went to bed at 9 o'clock; before I went to bed I went all round the house to see if all was secure; one end of the house the spouting was off; all the metal was on; there was no fire in the house for some time; that was a fortnight ago.

Peter Hogan, sworn, states: I remember my sister and Martha Wilcox coming down to my father's (I should say about 1 o'clock on Friday morning) to give the alarm: I quickly came up and saw the fire in the room; I came in the back way, looked in the passage, then went round to the front door, and, looking up, saw the roof on fire; could not tell where the fire began; asked both my sister and Martha how it took place; they both said, 'they did not know'; they pointed out to me the furthest corner of the building, and told me they ran out of the house as quick as they could; I assisted to take furniture out; Mr Clarke, from the factory, was the first to arrive that I saw.

Charles Christopher Clarke sworn, I live at a cottage at Regentville factory; between 12 and 1 o'clock on Friday morning, my wife called out that Regentville House was on fire; I replied 'Oh, nonsense!' she ran out, and I went to the door and observed it was as she had said; Mrs Clarke went to call up the men, and I went to give Mr Gow the alarm; the fire was in the roof; it was about a quarter of an hour before I saw the fire show through the front windows; I can say that the fire was in the top story (sic); I got my horse at once saddled and proceeded to the fire; on coming up I did not think of making inquiries how the fire took

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place, my only object was to assist in removing the furniture; afterwards I asked Martha how it occurred; she told me she was awoke by a crackling noise, an d on looking through the door saw the fire; that she ran down to Hogan's to give the alarm; I tried to get all the furniture 1 could out of the house, and then went into to Penrith to give the alarm to the police, and from there to Dr Willmott; I told him that the Regentville House had been burnt down; he said, 'Mrs Shiels is here'; you had better wait and come in; Mrs Shiels is here'; he said, 'Good God •!; I went inside, and Dr Willmott expressed his regret in a general manner as to the burning of Regentville;

I never have given any information to the Police as to what occurred at Dr Willmott's that morning, nor have I spoken to any person about it; Dr Willmott did say to the effect, and I did communicate to the police 'that it ought to have been done three months ago', 'or it's a pity it was not burnt three months ago', I could not say what Mrs Shiels did say; she certainly did express her surprise and astonishment; the Dr said he could not drive out then, that his horses were "too fresh", but that he would drive her out in the morning; Mrs Shiels was not in the room when Dr Willmott said to the effect "that it was a pity, it ought to have been done three months ago"; I surmised that I knew his reasons; that it would have been more beneficial for Mr Shiels; I did not hear his name mentioned; there was a remark made that Mr Shiels "was a damn'd fool for paying the insurance money"; I suppose he meant the premium; nothing that I know was said, except that I said I did not think there could be any blame attached to Martha; I suppose it was about 4 o'clock, when I got in, and I was in Dr Willmott' about an hour and- a-half.

This concluded the evidence taken on Saturday, which the Coroner requested should not then be made public.

Inquest resumed at half-past 10 o'clock, Wednesday, 26th instant.

John Shiels sworn, stated: I principally reside at Regentville; I go up the mountains occasionally, as I have had a house up the mountains at different times cautioned Martha to be careful with her candle-lights; every room in the house contained furniture, the usual furniture of sitting and bed rooms; I got a letter from my wife on Friday morning, 21st instant, by the guard of the goods railway train, that the fire occurred; I received it at Woodford about 9 o'clock a.m.; I started from Woodford about 2 o'clock; I stayed in Penrith after the arrival of the train, and went to Regentville about 8 o'clock p.m., and that was the first time I saw the premises from the Monday I left; the property is insured in the Sydney Insurance Co's office, both the house and the furniture; the house is for 15,00, the furniture for 350; the last premium I paid on the 1st May instant; the furniture had been insured 4 or 5 years for this amount, and in the same office; I had taken some of the furniture to Woodford; I had a list, but not ;with me now, but I know there were two tables, a couch, and some chairs; on two occasions by drays lately some of the silver went up, but I don't think any of the house linen or blankets were removed, for all the linen was new for Woodford; I could not say of the value of the linen that was left behind; I had given notice of the intention to sell, and advertised the sale for to-day, of all the furniture that was left at Regentville, any furniture that was removed, was removed before the last premium was paid; when I plilt the sale in Messrs. Bradley and Newton's hands, I got an advance of 50 upon the sale; I also have tried to dispose of the lease of the house with the furniture; I cannot say what was the value of the lease;

I cannot say how long the lease has to run, but I can say it was above ten years; I had never offered to give up the lease; I have said to Mr Jamison that if the landlord did not take the lease off my hands, I should be obliged to go through

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the court; my stock-in-trade Was not insured. There was a bill of sale for 100 on the furniture and chattels at Regentville (sic) to Dr Willmott; therefore, all the property of every kind properly belonged to Dr Willmott; the insurance was in my name, because the property would have belonged to me if I had paid its liabilities; it was insured before I got it; on Thursday I was at home at Woodford until half-past 5 all day, then I walked down to Mr Thomas Ellison's inn, about three miles this side of Woodford; I had something to drink; I left there about half-past 7, got back to Woodford about 10 o'clock; my sister-in-law, Jane McLean was up when I returned; I slept on the sofa in the sitting-room we were using; I was up early next morning, but did not see any one then; I did not undress myself, and slept with my boots on; Miss McLean saw first, then the housemaid, Kate Lennox, about, perhaps, a quarter of an hour after; I saw Miss McLean at about 7 o'clock am; it was about half-past 7 o'clock p.m. when I left Ellison's, but it would not take three hours to walk from Ellison's to Woodford; I was drunk during the 12 hours that elapsed from the time I left Woodford for Ellison's about half-past 6 o'clock until I saw her the next morning; I never went to Ellison's before to get drink; when I left Ellison's I got half-pint of rum and took it with me, and, although I was not drunk when I left Ellison's, still I drank it on the road, and lay down and slept; I did not drink it all; I gave what I had left to James Margarson, the cook at Woodford, after breakfast, about 9 o'clock; there was about a glass left; when I left home I promised to bring the cook some rum; I was lying down when the letter from my wife was brought to me by Miss McLean about the fire; it was after that I gave the rum to Margarson; it was more than an hour certainly after I saw Miss McLean and Kate Lennox that my wife's letter was brought to me; I was Sittitlg on a sofa or chair; it is always reckoned 18 miles from Woodford to Penrith; it was a moonlight (sic) night; why I walked to Ellison's was because my horse was not convenient, and the man was employed elsewhere; I sometimes travel from Woodford by the road, sometimes by train; when I travel by the road I travel down the road and over the Nepean Bridge; once I did come across the Nepean in a boat of Mr Merchant's, which is opposite Regentville; it is not three months ago;

I did it then for the purpose of saving time, when I was in a hurry; I cannot form any opinion as to how Regentville House caught fire; I believe, from the inquiries I have made from Martha and others, from how the frre was discovered, that the house must have been set on frre; I have had some falling out and disputes with some neighbours - one is William Hudson; also angry feelings and differences have occurred between the Donohoes and myself; I had John Donohoe to Court lately for------ of the peace; Hudson was a witness in my behalf, but swore against me; the disturbance was ---- ----- about some clothes that were stolen from Regentville; the case at the Police Office was dismissed by the magistrates; I know of no other persons that expressed any ill-will against me; I cannot imagine how any one could have fired the roof of the house without putting fire to the eaves; there was no ladder about the place above 14 feet; one day William Hudson, alias 'Bill the Trasher, • met me in Brown's-lane; there was a boy, named Mason, there also; Hudson said 'he would like to stick a knife in me - if not he would have satisfaction out of me in other way -that he would have put a---------------------- -------------match in me some day;' Hudson resides in a hut on the Mulgoa Creek; the furniture was removed on two occasions by drays. (By the Foreman) Bradley and Newton were aware that Dr Willmott had a bill of sale over the furniture when he made the advance of 50; I told Dr Willmott that I had got the advance; he was satisfied;

I have paid Dr Willmott off some 1 00; I have got receipts of payments made each time to Dr Willmott; the Donohoes did not threaten anything else except once. (By Mr Thomas Hallyer) I principally (sic) went to Ellison's about a little

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dog; I was drunk, and one may have seen me on the road between Woodford and Ellison's Hudson had a knowledge of the premises; having lived there for years. (By a juror) none of the metal that I know of was off the roof of the house; the plaster was down under the eaves.

Thomas Ellison, sworn: I am a licensed publican, at Seventeen-mile Hollow, Bathurst Road; I know John Shiels; he lived at (B)ass's (Woodford), about three miles from me; he came to my place between 6 and 7 o'clock on Thursday evening last; he came, he told me, for half-a-pint of rum for his old baker; he treated myself and sonin-law; we were talking of the sale at Regentville, as I wanted some things; he took some rum, rather over half-a-pint; there is a dog of his at our place; he stopped until it was dark- except the moonlight, between 6 and 7; he took the rum with him; I watched him going up the road toward Woodford; I saw him go fully quarter of a mile, for I had to go into the paddock for a horse; my house is fourteen miles from the river; I think he said if the furniture only brought 300 he would be satisfied.

Catherine Lennox, sworn, stated: I am in the employ of Mr Shiels, at Woodford, and reside there as housemaid; I recollect last seeing Mr Shiels on Thursday evening, the 20th instant, at Woodford, about 5 o'clock; I know he had left home; I remember a letter being brought on Friday morning to Woodford, for Mr. Shiels, about 10 o'clock •••••.•

127

I I I I I !I I II


Appendix 3

List of Stratigraphic Units

I I I

Appendix 3. List of Stratigraphic Units

List of Stratigraphic Units 1985

I 1 Turf Panel A 1

I 2 Turf Panel B

1 3 Turf Panel C

1

I 4 Turf Panel'D 1

5 Soil Panel C: Soil layer: bottom of topsoil

I 1

6. Soil Panel B: Soil layer: bottom of topsoil 1

I 7. Soil Panel D: Soil layer: bottom of topsoil

1 8. Soil Panel A: Soil layer: bottom of topsoil

1

I I 9. Fill Panel B: Lighter clay with rubble fill

1 10. Fill Panel C: Lighter clay with rubble fill

I 1

I 11. Fill Panel D: Lighter clay with rubble fill 1

12. Fill Panel A: Lighter clay with rubble fill

~I 1

13. Structure Panel B: N/S wall : South end 1

'I 14. Structure Panel B: N/S wall: North end 1

I 15. Structure Panel B: FJW wall : E end

1

I 16. Structure Panel B: FJW wall : W end 1

17. Turf

I 2 18. Fill Panel C: Lighter clay with rubble fill

1

'I 19. Structure Panel C: N/S wall : North end

1 20. Structure Panel C: FJW wall: West end

1

I 21. Fill Panel C: Heavy yellow clay 1

22. Fill Panel C: Dark soil with rubble fill. House wall robber

I trench, upper demolition rubble 1

23. Fill Panel A: S/E Comer, heavy clay and rubble

I 1

24. Structure Panel A: Sandstone wall. N/S : South end 1

25. Structure Panel A: EIW wall: Eastern end

I 1

I 128

I

II I

I 26. Structure Panel A: E/W wall: Western end

I 1 27. Fill Panel A: Northern end, rubble fill

1

I 28. Fill Panel A: Clay and rubble with ashy deposit 1

29. Fill Panel D: Wall debris fill N of wall 36

I 1

30. Fill Panel E: Fill of 1977 trench A - north end 1

31. Structure Panel E: E/W wall; North end of Trench

I 1 32. Structure Panel E: N/S wall : East end of Trench

1

I 33. Structure Panel E: E/W wall projecting West from South

end of32 1

34. Fill Panel E: Sandy fill with sandstone rubble within

I 31132/33 1

35. Fill Fill, of 1977 Archaeological trench A

I 2 36. Structure Panel D: E/wall East end

1

I 37. Fill Panel D: Rubble fill South of 36

1 38. Soil Top soil - black loam

2

I 39. Fill Panel E: Fill, sandy clay with sandstone rubble 1

40. NI Panel E: Negative interface trench for 41

I 1 41. Fill Panel E: Fill of trench 40 yellow mottled sandy

clay

II 1

42. Fill Panel B: Fill beneath 11 darker clay becoming more prevalent

I 1

I 43. Fill Panel B: Fill beneath 9 similar to 42 building debris?

1

II 44. Fill Panel D: Fill, demolition debris over wall 36

Eledge of panel 1

45. Fill Panel A: Northern side sandy clay - with sandstone

I rubble fill 1

46. Fill Panel E: Rubble, brick & stone south of 33 = 59

I 1 47. Fill Panel E: Fill, of 48 dark grey brown loam with

charcoal

I 1

48. NI Panel E: Neg. Interface, diagonal linear feature 1

49 Structure Panel D: E/West wall now 2 parts - West end (36

I Bend) 1

50. Fill Panel D: Orange clay protruding through 37

I 129

I

II I

1

I 51. Soil Topsoil 2

52. NI Panel E: Negative Interface trench for 53

I 1

53. Fill Panel E: Fill of trench 52 yellow mottled sandy clay

1

I 54. Natural Soil Panel E: Natural soil = 103 1

55. NI Panel E: Negative interface trench for 56

I 1 56. Fill Panel E: Fill of trench 55 yellow mottled sandy

clay 1

I 57. Fill Panel D: Clay & rubble fill N of 49 1

II 58. Fill Panel E: Clay & mortar fill N between 57 - 61

1 59. Fill Panel E: Rubble - sandstone and brick fill = 46

1

I 60. Void

61. Fill Panel D: Demolition rubble N of wall E of mortar

I clay

1 62. Fill Panel D: Cement South baulk of D center

1

I 63. Natural Soil Panel D: Grey clay East of 62 1

64. Natural Soil Panel D: Grey clay West of 62

I 1

65. Structure Panel D: Charcoal extending down into soil 1

'I 66. Natural Soil Panel A: Heavy clay, S/E comer (between walls

25 & 24) 1

67. Natural Soil Panel A: Sandy clay- S/W comer (between walls

I 25 & 24) 1

68. NI Panel E: Neg. Interface, cut into natural filled

I with 46 =59

1 69. Fill Panel E: Rubble, brick & stone Sth of wall 31

1

I 70. NI Panel E: Negative Interface trench for 71 1

71. Fill Panel E: Fill of trench 70 yellow mottled sandy

I clay 1

72. Fill Panel E: Rubble stone Nth of 33

I 1

73. NI Panel E: Negative Interface trench of 74 = 52 1

I I

130

I ------

I I

74. Fill Panel E: Fill of trench 73 yellow mottled sandy

I clay= 53 1

75. Fill Panel D: Stone layer SE of panel Sth of 36

II 1

76. Natural Soil Panel B: NE of panel clay - orange & brown 1

I 77. Natural Soil Panel B: SW of panel clay - orange & brown

1

78. Fill Panel E: Fill, sandy deposit under 56 above 55 1

I 79. Fill Panel E: Fill, grey black deposit with charcoal 1

80. Natural Soil Panel D: A-2 horizon material SE of panel

I 1

81. Natural Soil Panel D: Dark clay on NS axis same as 64 1

I 82. Fill Panel E: Fill, yellow sandy sediment within 79

1

83. Fill Panel E: Fill, mixed rubble in grey/brown dirt 1

I 84. Structure Panel C: Brick Structure, SW corner (western side of drain)

1

I 85. Structure Panel C: Brick structure, SW corner (East side)

wall of drain 1

86. Fill Panel C: Drain fill, yellow sand

I 1 87. Natural Soil Panel C: Natural sandy soil (A2 horizon), Sth end

1

I 88. Fill Panel E: Mid-brown drain fill, under 82 1

89. Fill Panel C: Loose, friable yellow sand beside (east

I of) brick struc

1 90. Fill Panel C: Nth end (east of wall 19) sandy clay

rubble fill

I 1

91. Fill Panel C: Black deposit: West side of drain 1

I 92. Fill Panel C: Black deposit east end of drain

1 93. Fill Panel C: Loose sand west of brick drain

1

I 94. Fill Panel C: Rubble fill of robber trench 1

95. Structure Panel D: Wall beneath 58 N/S axis Nth side of

I panel 1

96. NI Panel C: Negative interface of robber trench &

I clay

1 97. NI Panel C: Negative interface of construction rubble

1

I 98. Void

99. NI Cutting of 1977 trench

I 131

I

I I

1

I 100. Natural Soil Sandy brown - reddish brown - base of 1977 trench

2

I 101. NI Panel E: Negative Interface, filled with 83 1

102. Structure Panel E: Structure - stone base of drain 78 - 79 1

I 103. Natural Soil Panel E: Natural Soil below 39, cut by 73, 70 1

104. Fill Panel D: Stone packing (Nth of 49) of wall

I 1

105. Fill Panel D: Fill, wall construction trench W of wall unit 95

1

I 106. Fill Panel D: Fill, wall construction trench E of Wall unit 95

1

I 107. Fill Panel D: Stone packing Nth of wall unit 36 1

108. Fill Panel D: Light brown clay & rubble NW of unit

I 1

109. Fill Panel D: Sandy light brown soil imediately above clay NE

1

I 110. Natural Soil Panel D: Natural- SW comer 1

111. Fill Panel C: Dark brown sandy drain fill

I 1

112. Structure Panel D: Timber in situ of 65 & 81 1

I 113. NI Panel A: Construction trench on south side of wall 25

1

I 114. Fill Panel A: Fill of construction trench on south side

ofwall25 1

115. NI Negative interface of Panel A: construction trench

I at Nth end 1

116 Void

I 117 Void

I 118 NI Panel C: Natural sandy clay SE comer

1 119 NI Panel D: Negative interface under 105

1

I 120 Fill Panel D: Construction trench between 49 & 108 Nth of 49

1

I 121 NI Panel D: Under 120 Nth of 49

1

I I 132

I

I II

122 Fill Panel D: Construction trench under 109 Nth of 36

I 1 123 NI Panel D: Under 122 I 1

11 124 NI Panel D: Under 106

1 125 Fill Panel B: Construction trench Wst of 13

1

I 126 Fill Panel B: Construction trench Sth of 15 1

127 NI Panel B: Under 125

I 1

128 NI Panel B: Under 126 1

I I 129. Structure Panel C; Stone base of drain (84-85) II 1

I 130. Structure Brick and rubble stone metaling within 38

II 2 131. Structure Line of cobble-stones running N/S

2 132. Natural Soil Panel B: Fill, natural stone & grey clay N/W Quad

II 1

133 Natural Soil Panel B: Fill, natural stone & grey clay N/E Quad 1

I 134. Natural Soil Panel B: Fill, Natural sandy clay S/W Quad

1 135 Natural Soil Panel B: Fill, Natural orange - grey clay S/E

1

I 136. Natural Soil Panel E: Natural Soil A2 South end of E 1

137. Natural Soil Panel E: Natural Soil A2 centre of E

II 1 138. Natural Soil Panel E: Natural rock N end ofE (exposed 1977)

1

II 139. Fill Panel B: Fill construction trench Est of 13

1 140. NI Panel B: Negative interface under 139

1

I List of Stratigraphic Units 1987

141 Fill Brick demolition rubble over kitchen

I 2

142 Soil Discontinuous brown soil layer 2

I 143 NI Removal of top of 144

2 144 Structure Line of bricks, wall base

2

I 145 NI Removal of top of 146 2

146 Structure Line of bricks, wall base

I 2

I I 133

j_ ---

II I :I I I

'

I• I II I

I I I I I :I ; I I •

II

I , I I

i

:I

147

148

149

150

151

152

153

154

155

156

157

158

NI

NI

Structure

NI

Fill

Structure

NI

NI

Structure

Fill

Fill

Fill

Removal of bricks between 144 - 146, filled with 141

Removal of top of 149

Line of bricks wall base

Removal of bricks of 149 filled with 141.

Grey black dirt with charcoal and bone against southern wall of kitchen (midden)

Wooden beam in 141

Removal of floor above beam 141

Removal of top of wall 155

Stone wall

Yellow mottled clay in C9 only

Very dark brown mottled fill L11. 10 Yr 2/2

Dark mottled fill, labelled 142 and 151 from D, C, B, A, 9 & 10

159 Natural Soil Buried 'A' horizon DCBA 9 & 10

160

161

162

163

164

165

166

167

168

169

170

171

Fill

Structure

NI

Fill

NI

NI

Fill

NI

Fill

NI

Fill

Fill

Sandstone rubble, B5 etc

Wooden bearer (shadow only) within 151 running FJWin 9

Trench cut into natural soil for 161

Mottled dirt and clay fill of 164

Rectangular cutting into natural filled with 163

Removal of Natural Soil (hoe marks) in the area occupied by 151

Mottled dirt fill with sandstone, brick and concentrations of charcoal filling, 167

Cutting into 'B' horizon filled with 166 Band A, 9 and 10

Fill of possible posthole H10, dark soil- 151

Possible posthole H10

Yellow clay fill W of 168, fill of possible posthole 169

Dark soil fill of possible posthole 173

134

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

II I

172 Fill Yellow clay fill of possible posthole 173

I 2 173. NI Possible posthole, K10 filled with 171 and 172

2

I 174. Fill Stone and mortar rubble fill of E-W trench A-J 2 2

175. Fill Stone & mortar rubble fill of N-S trench K 2-8 2

I 176. Fill Stone & mortar rubble fill of N-S trench D 3-7 2

177. Fill Stone & mortar rubble fill of E-W trench A-E 8

I 2

178. Fill Stone & mortar rubble fill of N-S trench D 9-10 2

I 179. Fill Group of stones partly filling 181, E1

2 180. Fill Dark soil deposit in 11 & 12 Qabelled 38)

2

I 181. NI Shallow depression in natural partly filled with 179 2

182. NI E-W Robber trench filled with 174, A-J 2

II 2

183. NI N-S Robber trench filled with 175, K 2-8 2

184 NI N-S Robber trench filled with 176, D 3-7

II 2 185 NI E-W Robber trench filled with 177, A-E 8

2

I 186 NI N-S Robber trench filled with 178, D 9-10 2

187 Void

I 188 Void

~I 189 Void


I 190 Fill Demolition rubble of back wall of house 3

191 Soil Topsoil

I 3

192 Soil Topsoil 3

193 Fill Yell ow mortar flll in F 1, 2 and 3

I 3 194 Fill Grey/black fill with charcoal and organic material

in tankstand, East part ofF1, 2 and 3

I 3

195 Fill Mid-brown fill with grey and yellow mortar inclusions

I 3

196 Fill Consolidated sandstone rubble Q2, 3, 4 3

197 Fill Consolidated sandstone rubble P2, 3, 4

I 3 198 NI Dark-stained top of B horizon P2, 3, 4, 5; Q2, 3,

4,5

I 135

J

II I

3

I 199 Soil B Horizon P2, 3, 4, 5; Q2, 3, 4, 5 3

200 Fill Coarse riverstone gravel with fine gravel overlay

I in places PQ 6-9 [fill over main drain]

3 201 NI 1985 Panel D Excavation?

3

I 202 Fill 1985 Panel D Backfill 3

203 Fill 1985 Panel C Backfill

I 3

204 NI 1985 Panel C Excavation 3

I 205 Fill Demolition rubble in T and V 1 and 2 3

206 Fill Concentration of demolition rubble in M7, M6,

I L7,L6

3 207 Fill Dark deposit (rotted wood) in A-D 10 Shadow of

EW sleeper beam

I 3

208 Fill Grey brown soil with yellow sandstone inclusions of S. end of 186 in D10 only

I 3

209 Fill Post hole Fill 3

210 NI For209

I 3 211 Structure Window frame in GHJ 2 -burnt wood

3

I 212 Structure Burnt wood over flagstones in L and M 1 and 2 3

213 Fill Mottled yellow clay deposit in F 1 3

I 214 Fill Dark soil fill of N-S trench for covered way N 8, 9, 10

3

I 215 NI Trench for 214 3

216 Fill Dark soil fill of NS trench for covered way beam I N2-6 'I 3

217 NI NS trench for 216 3

I 218 Fill Dark soil fill of NS trench for covered way beam M 1-6

3

I 219 NI Trench for 217 3

220 NI Trench for NS beam of covered way - fill removed

I as 191

3

I I

136

,I

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ll

221

222

INT

Structure

Top of222

Line of sandstone flags - S of back wall of building


223

224

225

226

227

228

229

230

231

232

233

234

235

236

237

238

239

240

241

242

243

244

Soil

INT

Fill

Fill

Fill

Fill

Fill

Fill

NS

Fill

Soil

Fill

Fill

Fill

Fill

Fill

Fill

Fill

NI

NI

Fill

Fill

Removed as one unit: Topsoil covering most of Area 5, including the stable building

Courtyard Surface: quadrat finds

Stable north: Demolition rubble in association with the northern wall of the stable

South of stable: Demolition rubble in association with the southern wall of the stable

Dark soil below 225

Construction trench N

Compacted yellow clay

Decayed beam in 22 N/S stall division

Sandy below 227 Stable north B horizon

Fill of pit cut into 231 sectioned, possible posthole

Area 4 topsoil. Bulk removal

South DR, stable south, contains lateritic gravel

Brick DR East

Brick DR South

Stone DR South west

Stone DR Eastern Room [=401]

Stone DR Western Room

Brick DR North

Cut for construction trench stable north

Cut for 232

All of FJW pipe trench south

DR Billiard Room - Bulk Removal

137

3

3

5

4

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

4

5

4

4

4

4

4

4

5

5

5

4

II -~~~

I 245 Fill DR N of Billiard Room- Bulk Removal

I 4 246 Fill Of decayed beam. Stall division

5

I 247 Fill Of decayed beam. Stall division 5

248 Fill Of decayed beam. Stall division 5

I 249 Fill Of decayed beam. Stall division 5

250 Fill Of decayed beam. Stall division

I 5

251 Fill Robbed Wall 4

I 252 Fill Dark stain ?rotted door in 239

4 253 Fill DR south of billiard room

4

I 254 Fill Mortar N wall of billiard room 4

255 Natural Soil North of billiard room

I 4

256 Fill DR Ceiling, west room = 406 4

I 257 Fill Ash deposit centre of east room

4 258 Fill Grey clay verandah base

4

I 259 Fill Construction fill within house 4

260 Fill Browner [red] soil south of billiard room

I 4

261 Soil Brown soil George Edwards garden 4

I 262 Fill Construction fill of stables

5 263 Soil Buried A horizon SW of stable ramp entry

4

I 264 Fill Soil within stable flooring 4

II 265 Soil Billiard room eastern side. Brown soil with finds

4 266 Soil Billiard room, below 244, in places 265

I . 4

I 267 Fill Fill of RT, S end of E wall of billiard room

extension [consider with 253] 4

I List of Stratigraphic Units 1991

401 Fill DR in E. room- H2 3 G2 G3 started [remnant of

I top DR, = 238]

4 402 Turf Turf in SW comer

4

I 403 Fill West of west courtyard wall 4

404 Soil Yellow garden soil against west wall of privy- fill

I 138

I I II

from clearing of drain 4

405 Fill Mixed deposit N slope of drain 4

I 406 Fill Ceiling plaster west room [=256]

4 407 Soil Brown garden soil W of W courtyard wall N of

I threshold

4

408 Fill Fill of Privy 4

I 409 Soil On E'end of W stable 5

410 Fill Privy DR: S of privy 4

I 411 Soil On centre of W stable 5

412 NI Floor of W central room

I 4 413 Soil Timber stall partition W

5

I 414 Fill DR Rubble around dividing wall W stable 5

415 Fill DR Rubble over E stable 5

I 416 Fill RT fill, Send W courtyard wall 4

417 Fill Privy Pit fill [ =422]

I 4

418 Fill Red soil fill, South Privy Entrance 4

I 419 Fill Dark mottled fill stain over 418 in patches

4 420 Fill Of NS brick drain E of W stable

5

I 421 Fill Dark DR below 418, South Privy Entrance 4

422 Fill Silt in Privy Pit [ =417]

I 4

423 Fill Upper fill on privy inlet drain Tl4 4

I 424 Fill Lower fill of intake drain T14

4 425 Fill Upper fill of outlet drain W14 and other quads

4

I 426 Fill Lower fill of outlet drain W14 and other quads 4

427 Fill Construction fill, sandstone rubble, over outlet

I drain 4

428 Fill Dark fill immediately over capping stones X17 4

I 429 Fill Outlet drain, capstone. N end. 4

430 Fill Outlet drain, capstone

I 4

I 139

J

r1 ;I I

'

I I II


1:

431 Fill

432 Fill

433 Fill

434 Fill

435 Fill

436 Fill

437 Fill

438 Fill

439 Fill

BR = Brick rubble DR = Demolition rubble NI = Negative interface INT = Interface RT = Robber trench

Outlet drain, capstone 4





Outle~ drain, capstone 4

Outlet drain, capstone. Send. 4

Mixed deposit, clean-up of drain after opening 4

Possible contaminated fill top of drain [ =425] 4

140

bir i ii 'i -...

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