Bowman House, Richmond

About

Bowman House is a heritage-listed former residence and now Hawkesbury Area Office of the National Parks and Wildlife Service at 368-370 Windsor Street, Richmond, New South Wales, an outer suburb of Sydney, Australia. It was built from 1817 to 1820 by James Blackman. It is also known as Bowman's Cottage. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

The lower Hawkesbury was home to the Dharug people. The proximity to the Nepean River and South Creek qualifies it as a key area for food resources for indigenous groups. The Dharug and Darkinjung people called the river Deerubbin and it was a vital source of food and transport.

Governor Arthur Phillip explored the local area in search of suitable agricultural land in 1789 and discovered and named the Hawkesbury River after Baron Hawkesbury. This region played a significant role in the early development of the colony with European settlers established here by 1794. Situated on fertile floodplains and well known for its abundant agriculture, Green Hills (as it was originally called) supported the colony through desperate times. However, frequent flooding meant that the farmers along the riverbanks were often ruined.

On 1 January 1810, Governor Lachlan Macquarie replaced Governor Bligh as Governor of New South Wales. Under Macquarie's influence the colony prospered. His vision was for a free community for white colonists, working in conjunction with the penal colony. He implemented an unrivalled public works program, completing 265 public buildings, establishing new public amenities and improving existing services such as roads. Under his leadership Hawkesbury district thrived. He visited the district on his first tour and recorded in his journal on 6 December 1810: "After dinner I chrestened the new townships...I gave the name of Windsor to the town intended to be erected in the district of the Green Hills...the township in the Richmond district I have named Richmond..." the district reminded Macquarie of those towns in England, whilst Castlereagh, Pitt Town and Wilberforce were named after English statesmen. These are often referred to as Macquarie's Five Towns. Their localities, chiefly Windsor and Richmond, became more permanent with streets, town square and public buildings.

Construction of Bowman Cottage was commenced in 1817 by James Blackman, the local constable and later gravedigger and sexton. Blackman erected the frame of a brick nog cottage during what turned out to be for him an all too brief period of prosperity. He was subsequently dismissed as constable and as a consequence found himself in financial difficulty which resulted in the forced sale of his property to George Bowman.

Bowman completed the cottage by 1820 and by 1824 it had attained its present appearance.

At the time the cottage was built Richmond was still a rustic town made up of clusters of buildings separated by paddocks and dense patches of bush. The bulk of the houses were built to timber and Bowman Cottage was one of the few substantial buildings. It was built close to Windsor Street on the edge of two acres of garden and vegetable beds.

A brick stable block stood at right angles to the rear of the house and parallel to this was a timber barn with a cobbled courtyard between. Both buildings have long disappeared except for a small section of the stables which still stands.

The cottage remained in the ownership of the Bowman family until the 1920s when George's twin sons Andrew and Edward began to subdivide the land. By 1930 the cottage was sold and subsequently divided into two semi-detached houses. It remained this way until it was purchased by the state Department of Environment and Planning.

The cottage was originally earmarked for demolition in order to make way for a housing development. It was saved when it was purchased by the Department of Environment and Planning in 1974, and restored to the tune of $300,000 over time.

Conservation of the building was commenced in 1982 and was carried out under the supervision of the Historic Buildings Group of the Department of Public Works.

Bowman Cottage in Richmond has a twin located 23 kilometres from Dunedoo in Warrumbungle Shire : the Merotherie Homestead, which George Bowman acquired and extended throughout the nineteenth century in the same style as his house in Richmond. Like his Richmond House, the core of Meruthera Homestead was built by an earlier occupant of the land, in this case, according to family legend, a shepherd who built a small house there in ironwood in the 1820s. George owned the property until his death in 1874 and in 2011 the house and some of the property it remained in the ownership of the Bowman family.

The lower Hawkesbury was home to the Dharug people. The proximity to the Nepean River and South Creek qualifies it as a key area for food resources for indigenous groups. The Dharug and Darkinjung people called the river Deerubbin and it was a vital source of food and transport.

Governor Arthur Phillip explored the local area in search of suitable agricultural land in 1789 and discovered and named the Hawkesbury River after Baron Hawkesbury. This region played a significant role in the early development of the colony with European settlers established here by 1794. Situated on fertile floodplains and well known for its abundant agriculture, Green Hills (as it was originally called) supported the colony through desperate times. However, frequent flooding meant that the farmers along the riverbanks were often ruined.

On 1 January 1810, Governor Lachlan Macquarie replaced Governor Bligh as Governor of New South Wales. Under Macquarie's influence the colony prospered. His vision was for a free community for white colonists, working in conjunction with the penal colony. He implemented an unrivalled public works program, completing 265 public buildings, establishing new public amenities and improving existing services such as roads. Under his leadership Hawkesbury district thrived. He visited the district on his first tour and recorded in his journal on 6 December 1810: "After dinner I chrestened the new townships...I gave the name of Windsor to the town intended to be erected in the district of the Green Hills...the township in the Richmond district I have named Richmond..." the district reminded Macquarie of those towns in England, whilst Castlereagh, Pitt Town and Wilberforce were named after English statesmen. These are often referred to as Macquarie's Five Towns. Their localities, chiefly Windsor and Richmond, became more permanent with streets, town square and public buildings.

Construction of Bowman Cottage was commenced in 1817 by James Blackman, the local constable and later gravedigger and sexton. Blackman erected the frame of a brick nog cottage during what turned out to be for him an all too brief period of prosperity. He was subsequently dismissed as constable and as a consequence found himself in financial difficulty which resulted in the forced sale of his property to George Bowman.

Bowman completed the cottage by 1820 and by 1824 it had attained its present appearance.

At the time the cottage was built Richmond was still a rustic town made up of clusters of buildings separated by paddocks and dense patches of bush. The bulk of the houses were built to timber and Bowman Cottage was one of the few substantial buildings. It was built close to Windsor Street on the edge of two acres of garden and vegetable beds.

A brick stable block stood at right angles to the rear of the house and parallel to this was a timber barn with a cobbled courtyard between. Both buildings have long disappeared except for a small section of the stables which still stands.

The cottage remained in the ownership of the Bowman family until the 1920s when George's twin sons Andrew and Edward began to subdivide the land. By 1930 the cottage was sold and subsequently divided into two semi-detached houses. It remained this way until it was purchased by the state Department of Environment and Planning.