The Hermitage is a heritage-listed residence, former research institute and government office located at 1–13 Pennant Avenue, Denistone, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It was possibly designed by architect John Bibb and built from 1838 to 1842 in the Australian colonial Victorian era style. It is also known as The Hermitage and Garden. The property is privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
History
Early colonial history The Ryde area was highly suitable for farming and orchards, and early land grants to marines were given to encourage agriculture. In 1792 land in the area was granted to 8 marines; two of the grants were in the modern area of Ryde. Isaac Archer and John Colethread each received 80 acres of land on the site of the present Ryde-Parramatta Golf Links, now in West Ryde. Later in 1792, in the Eastern Farms area, 12 grants, most of them about , were made to convicts.Pollen & Healy, 1996
Much later these farms were bought by John Macarthur, Gregory Blaxland and the Reverend Samuel Marsden. The district remained an important orchard area throughout the 19th century.
John and Ellen Blaxland
The Hermitage was built from to 1842 for John Blaxland, the eldest son of the Blue Mountains explorer Gregory Blaxland. It was made of stone and clay bricks made on site. The house is said to have been designed by the architect John Bibb but there is some conjecture over this. Curby (2003, 2) notes it was commissioned by Dibbs for Blaxland. Its land consisted of which Thomas Forster had amalgamated from four early farm grants in the 1830s and sold to John Blaxland in 1838.
John Blaxland held several important positions during his life. He was a merchant of independent means. For some years he was the Director of the Australian Joint Stock Bank and also the Auditor of the City Bank. In 1863 he became a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council and held this position for over 20 years.Parliament of New South Wales, Former Members Archive. He was a strong advocate for the erection of the Parramatta and Iron Cove bridges.The Argus (Melbourne) 29 January 1884, p. 5.
Some of John's children obtained prominent positions in the community. Frederick Blaxland qualified for the Bar in 1870 and became the senior partner in the legal firm Messrs Blaxland Mawson and Rose in Cooma. He was also for some years, the Mayor of Cooma.Sydney Morning Herald, 6 September 1933, p. 17. Herbert Blaxland became a doctor and was appointed Medical Superintendent of the Gladesville Hospital.Sydney Morning Herald, 13 April 1904, p. 10.
During their lives John and Ellen had a strong association with St Anne's Church, Ryde and today there still exists a Communion table in the Church with the following inscription. “To the glory of God and in memory of John Blaxland and Ellen his wife (née Falkner), of the Hermitage, Ryde.”Sydney Morning Herald, 1 May 1926, p. 8.
John died in 1884 and Ellen continued to live at the Hermitage for three more years. An advertisement appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald in 1887 for the sale of the furniture at the Hermitage by order of “Mrs Blaxland" .Sydney Morning Herald, 7 May 1887, p. 16. At that time her only daughter Lucy married Sydney LevickNew South Wales Births Deaths and Marriages and Ellen went to live with her. She died in 1903 at the age of 85 at her daughter's house. An obituary appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald at the time of her death outlining some details of her life and noting that she was “an old and respected resident of Ryde where she lived for over 40 years".Sydney Morning Herald, 16 October 1903, p. 5. In 1905 The Hermitage was subdivided and put on the market. A large advertisement was put in the newspaper giving a colourful description of the property.Sydney Morning Herald, 15 November 1905, p. 15. Professor James Pollock bought the house in 1910.
John Blaxland and his wife Ellen had panoramic views down to the Parramatta River and beyond when they stood on their front verandah. Nine children were born to them and raised there. The house originally consisted of a main block with 12 rooms and encircling verandahs. It had attic rooms and a western rear kitchen wing. The east wing of bedrooms was added in about 1860, connected to the main block by a curved screen wall. At an unknown time a stable wing was built as part of the Home Farm which included stock yards, an orchard and a vineyard. Like many of the mansions built in the Ryde district in the 19th century, the Hermitage was essentially a country house surrounded by a spacious estate. Around 1875 extensive farm improvements were made including a vineyard with a gardener's cottage and wine house (north of the homestead and yards and north of what today is Blaxland Road), an orchard (north-west of the house and yards), a dovecote, animal pens, paddocks and stockyards (north of the homestead).
1885–1894 – House leased or unoccupied Around 1884 several large estates in the district including the Hermitage were subdivided. After the death of John Blaxland in 1884, Ellen took up residence with her daughter Lucy at "Minimbah", Longueville. The Hermitage lay virtually unoccupied until 1905 except for a few years when it was let out to a series of tenants.
A drawing of the site entitled "Plan of the Hermitage as it was long ago" showing its original layout and garden setting was drawn by L. M. Levick in 1912, the husband of Blaxland's daughter, Lucy. Levick's drawing shows the layout c.1870, which included subsequent additions to the property made by the Blaxland family (1842–84), including the two additional bedrooms built to the east wing and the west stables wing...Two orchard buildings also existed and the house originally had a driveway connecting to Blaxland Road. On the opposite side of this road were an orchard and a vineyard with gardener's cottage. Other associated outbuildings are clearly marked on the plan including animal pens and stockyards likely to have been installed when improvements to the farm commenced.
At Ellen Blaxland's death in 1903 the land around The Hermitage was subdivided and sold in several auctions held in the period 1905–1919. The Hermitage and all the estate south of Blaxland Road was subdivided and sold at auction in 1905.
Subdivision of the estate (1905–1964) Thomas Gosper, an "illuminating artist", purchased the adjoining subdivided one and a quarter acre block in 1907 and built a single storey Edwardian style house called Wandilly in about 1908. This is the house now known as Wollondilly.
Professor James Pollock
James Arthur Pollock was born in 1865 in county Cork in Ireland. His father was James Wheeler Pollock who was a damask manufacturer and his mother was Emma Brierley. He had one brother and one sister whose names were Hugh and Annie. He obtained a Bachelor of Engineering Degree from the Royal University of Ireland in 1884. However, in 1885, because of a decline in the family business, he migrated to Sydney and his family followed later.
He obtained a job in as an astronomical assistant and in 1889 gained a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Sydney and won the University Medal. He was employed by the university in the Physics area and ten years later became a professor at the age of 34. He never married. The house had many alterations during this time.
In 1910 he bought The Hermitage and lived there with his unmarried sister AnnieJames Pollock’s war records and subsequent letters show that Annie also resided at The Hermitage until his death in 1922. In 1916, at the age of 51, James enlisted to fight in World War 1. He served in France in the Mining Corps and trained tunnellers to use equipment that he had helped to design. After the war he returned to his work at the university.
Shortly after his return he advertised the sale of The Hermitage stating that the house was too large for him. The description of the property was:
“Situated on the heights and commanding glorious panoramic views taking in Parramatta River and other features right on to the Western Mountains. The bungalow residence stands in its own grounds of two and three quarter acres, the latter laid out in lawn, garden and orchard. The residence is most substantially built of brick on stone foundations, slate roof. Contains 3 reception rooms, 7 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, kitchen and laundry. All modern conveniences, 250 feet verandahs. Detached garage, man’s room and fowl houses.”Sydney Morning Herald, 4 September 1920, p. 16.
James died in 1922. Annie was his sole beneficiary,Letter with James Pollock’s war records and after The Hermitage was sold she moved to another house in Sydney. She died thirty years later in 1952 and left her estate of about 40 thousand pounds to the University of Sydney to promote research in Physics and for the memory of her brother James.Sydney Morning Herald, 19 November 1952, p. 7
A drawing by Mrs Z. M. Levick dated 19 July 1912 showed the homestead facing the drive to the "white gate" to its east, a paddock to its south-westl fruit trees, a vineyard, strawberry patches and an orchard to the homestead's west and north-west; a grass yard between the two wings of outbuildings rear and north of the homestead, animal pens (fowls, rabbits, pigsty, bail, stock yard) and paddock to its north, a tennis ground "made when Frank and I grew up" to its east, a bush house and round summer house to the east of the homestead's eastern wing of bedrooms, Blaxland Road to the north of the orchard and stock yard and beyond this bush to the north/northwest, a vineyard, oranges, wine house and gardener's cottage and water hole where the clay was sourced for the bricks to the north of Blaxland Road.Zinn, 2009
The Nicholson family (1923–52)
Theo Nicholson (David Theodore Field Nicholson) was born in 1894 in , Sydney. His father was James Beath Nicholson and his mother was Ethel Catherine Beath. His father James had migrated from Scotland in 1885 and had helped to established and later owned the Standard-Waygood Company which was a large engineering firm. Theo went to work in his father's engineering business and later took over the management of the company.
In 1920 Theo married Elinor Young (Winifred Elinor Broughton Young) who was born in 1896 in Bundaberg, Queensland. Her father was Horace Edward Broughton Young and her mother was Ellen Elizabeth Thorne.New South Wales Births Deaths and Marriages. The Young family owned a property called Fairymead Sugar Plantation near Bundaberg. Elinor met Theo when her family came to Sydney for holidays to escape the heat. Both the Nicholson and Young families were very religious and were strongly involved in Christianity. During the 1930s the Nicholson family conducted a Sunday School at The Hermitage. This was a lively household with family, servants and frequent visitors, all interacting under the careful guidance of Elinor Nicholson. The house had not been the scene of such vivacity since the Blaxland family had occupied it.
In 1923 Theo and Elinor bought The Hermitage and lived there until 1952. Five of their six children were born there. One of their daughters Elinor Catherine (Dr Catherine Hamlin ) became famous for her work in obstetrics and gynaecology to women in Ethiopia. She has written a book about her life in which she gives some colourful details of her childhood at The Hermitage. She wrote: