Emu Bank Homestead - Belconnen, ACT, Australia
S 35° 14.308 E 149° 04.204
55H E 688361 N 6098547
This Historical Marker is to the east of the Belconnen Library.
Waymark Code: WM10587
Location: Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Date Posted: 02/28/2019
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The sign is elevated in the retained garden at the eastern side of the Belconnen Library. It reads:
"This English Elm tree is the only surviving evidence of a flourishing 10,000 acre sheep station established here in about 1826 by Ginninderra's first landowner, George Thomas Palmer. He built Emu Bank Homestead on this site to house his estate managers, and visited it frequently. This area was known as 'the Emu Bank Paddock,' even though the last of the formerly prolific emus had been shot in 1869.
"On Palmer's death in 1854 his daughter Susan Adriana inherited his estate. After her marriage in 1862 to the property's manager, William Davis, the estate continued to flourish. However, Davis's real claim to fame was his invincible cricket team - the Ginninderra Eleven. In 1877 he sold Palmer's Ginninderra and Gungahlin properties to Edward Kendall Crace.
"One of the last families to live at Emu Bank was that of Matthew O'Brien, for many years a boundary rider for the Crace family. He became well known in the community as a champion sportsman, and for playing the violin at local dances.
"The land was resumed by the Commonwealth Government in 1915 and became part of the Federal Capital. The Emu Bank Paddock now lies under Lake Ginninderra, formed in 1969 by the damming of Ginninderra Creek. Other sections are now occupied by the Cameron Offices and Belconnen Mall, which were built in the 1970s. As you travel along Emu Bank or enter the library, reminisce about Belconnen's rural past."
Address: Chandler Street, Belconnen, ACT, 2617, Australia
Visited: 0713-4, Sunday, 2 September, 2018