Arnprior is a heritage-listed homestead and farm at Mayfield Road, Larbert, in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1827 by William Ryrie. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 November 1999.
History Arnprior has associations with the Ryrie family, dating to the 1820s. Scottish-born Stewart Ryrie (1778–1852) immigrated to Australia in 1825 on board the Triton with his second wife Isabella Ryrie (née Cassels) and the six children from his first marriage. Ryrie's two eldest sons were William (born ) and James (born ). Stewart Ryrie had served as a deputy assistant commissary general in the British Army during the Peninsular War in 1808–1815, stationed in Spain and Portugal.
On arrival to Sydney in October 1825, Ryrie took up an appointment as the deputy assistant commissary general, based at the Commissariat Stores at Circular Quay.
On 22 September 1826, William and James Ryrie wrote to the Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay, stating their intention to "reside on the Land to be granted to us" as they were unable to find suitable work in Sydney.Edwards 2007: 16 In , William Ryrie was granted Portion 4 of the Parish of Larbert in the County of Murray. Ryrie's grant encompassed 2560 acres and was a roughly rectangular parcel of land located to the north of the Shoalhaven River and to the north-east of the Village of Larbert. It appears that Ryrie's grant had earlier been occupied by a William Bradbury.
It appears that Bradbury held a Ticket of Occupation for the land he had been living on at Curraduck-bidgee (Kurraducbidgee) prior to 1826.Edwards 2007: 17 'Bradbury's Station' is shown on Robert Hoddle's 1824 map of the Braidwood District, roughly in the vicinity of Ryrie's grant. Bradbury later moved to the Bungonia area.
William Ryrie's land grant was named Arnprior in memory of Isabella Ryrie (née Cassels)'s family home in Scotland.
The 1828 census indicates that a house on William's 2560-acre land grant, Arnprior, was under construction at this time, as was a house on his brother James's grant Durran Durra. The census recorded that there were 18 people living at Arnprior including workforce of eleven (ten of whom were convicts or ex-convicts). It also recorded that there were 35 acres of cleared land and 23 acres cultivated land at Arnprior, compared to one acre cultivated and cleared land at Durran Durra. Arnprior had 553 head of cattle and 1100 sheep, while Durran Durra had 75 cattle and 540 sheep.
The house on William's land holding faced the Shoalhaven River, but was set back from it, possibly because the river was known to regularly flood. Physical inspection of the house suggests that it began modestly (comprising four rooms) and was added to over the nineteenth century to accommodate the extended Ryrie family. The house eventually had thirteen rooms.
Stewart Ryrie retired in 1829. The following year, he arrived at Arnprior to live with his wife Isabella and their three young children: John Cassels (b. 1826), Alexander (b. 1827) and David (b. 1829), and it became the family home. William's younger brothers Donald, then 18 years old, and Stewart, aged 16, also lived at Arnprior.Tallaganda Rural Heritage Study 1992; Edwards 2007: 18
Another resident at Arnprior in the 1830s was the Greek-born shepherd Ghikas Boulgaris ( Jigger Bulgary) who was married to Mary Lyons at the property in 1836. Their two youngest children, Xanthe and Catherine, were born at Arnprior.
In 1837, William Ryrie advised the Governor of New South Wales on the best routes and staging posts for a postal service between Melbourne and Sydney.Griffiths 1976: 39; Ellis 1989: 34
In January 1840, the Arnprior land grant was formalised. The 1841 census showed that 48 people were living at Arnprior and Durran Durra in that year. The two properties had been amalgamated following the death of James Ryrie in 1840.Edwards 2007: 19
In 1845, William Ryrie travelled to Scotland where he married his step-mother's sister Marianne Cassels.Griffiths 1976: 39 Although he returned to Australia in the interim, William died in Scotland in 1856.Edwards 2007: 74
In 1852, Stewart Ryrie Snr died. His second youngest son Alexander managed the property until , at which time he moved to the property he had purchased near Canberra named Micalago.(National Library of Australia News July 1996, Vol. 1 No. 10, pp. 3–5: http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/1996/jul96/story-1.pdf)
Major floods hit the Braidwood and Queanbeyan districts in August 1853. Hobart newspaper The Courier reported that the "government township of Larbert was ... under water, presenting the appearance of another Gundagai" and that Arnprior was also "surrounded by the flood, but as it stands on higher ground than the opposite side, it escaped destruction".Hobart Courier, 8 August 1853: 2
The house at Arnprior "extended hospitality to the travellers on the track from Goulburn and Bungonia" through to Braidwood, who arrived late at night or were held up by floods at the adjacent ford over the Shoalhaven.Ellis 1989: 34 In 1853, Samuel Mossman and Thomas Bannister published their account of travelling through NSW and Victoria, at which time they visited Braidwood and Arnprior: "Further on you come to Arnprior, the estate of Mr. Ryrie in the county of Murray, on the Shoalhaven River, about 152 miles from Sydney. Here there is a considerable quantity of land enclosed, but the property is not highly esteemed; gold has been found upon it, however; and we sincerely hope that it will ultimately be of great value to its possessors."Mossman and Bannister 1853: 182
The Ryrie grant was bisected by a road leading directly north from Braidwood to Bungonia. This road passed directly through the Ryrie property, across the ford at Larbert on the Shoalhaven River and another ford on the Boro Creek, passing through Mayfield and alongside Glen D'Or. There is some suggestion that this was a Cobb and Co route. In the south-west portion of the original Arnprior grant lies a road easement leading to Lake Bathurst through Mayfield.Map of the Parish of Larbert 1924, NLA: http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-vn4274945
The 1867 Postal Directory recorded that Mrs M. A. Ryrie, Helen, Anne, and John Ryrie were residing at Arnprior. These were the wife and children of William Ryrie. Alexander Ryrie purchased the property from his brother John Cassels in either 1867 or 1876.Gary Dutaillis & Associates Pty Ltd 1991: np; Edwards 2007: 19
By the late nineteenth century, the extended Ryrie family had moved away from Arnprior, to the Monaro district and to Port Philip (Melbourne). In 1902, the property passed out of the Ryrie family when it was sold to Frank M. W. Cooper. He in turn sold to John Welsh in 1906. One of Alexander's sons, Vincent, repurchased Arnprior in 1928. It appears that Vincent Ryrie retained Arnprior until the 1950s, at which time it passed through a number of hands: first it was sold to William Hyde, who sold to J. B. Hibberson, who in turn sold to G. L. Gouge.(Gary Dutaillis & Associates Pty Ltd 1991: np)
In 1968, the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board proposed a scheme, known as the Shoalhaven Scheme, to supply water to Sydney and the South Coast. The proposed Welcome Reef Dam on the upper Shoalhaven River, in the vicinity of Braidwood, was to be part of the second stage of this scheme.
From 1968 through to the mid-1980s, the Water Board set about purchasing privately owned pastoral holdings in the area between Braidwood and Goulburn for the proposed Welcome Reef Dam and catchment area, eventually acquiring 37,000 acres. Arnprior was resumed by the State Government on behalf of the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board at this time.
The boundaries of the original land grant to William Ryrie have altered considerably since . Today, the original Arnprior grant has been halved; but it now includes 261 acres of land granted to F. H. R. Martin (Portion 221 of the Parish of Larbert) and part of 80 acres originally owned by John Cassels (Portion 53 in the Parish of Larbert). Arnprior also includes part of the Village of Larbert, namely the church and the cemetery.
Description The property is accessed from Mayfield Road along a gravel drive. Near to this intersection is the former township of Larbert, and within the Arnprior boundary are the stone foundations of a former church, small cemetery and several mature pine trees. A cottage with attic roof and the ruin of a single-storey structure just outside the Arnprior boundary are also likely to be part of the former township of Larbert.
The homestead of Arnprior is set on a plateau overlooking expansive plains and grazing country to the east and toward the Shoalhaven River, the land gently sloping up to the rear. Directly in front of the residence are the remains of an early orchard, yucca sp. and a grouping of mature radiata pines. Outbuildings and other mature cultural plantings are located to the west and south of the homestead.
The Arnprior property comprises the following elements: Homestead () Cottage (1970s) Outbuildings and cattleyards Church footings and cemetery Landscaping
Homestead () Arnprior Homestead is reputed to have been constructed between 1827 and 1830. The earliest parts of the homestead would appear to be the four central rooms located under a double hip roof. This section has timber framed with beaded weatherboard walls and two central rubble stone chimneys. Rubble stone (rendered) additions on either side possibly date from the s. Other later additions and alterations, and major internal alterations include wall relining s and s; and s verandah enclosures, kitchen fitout, shower and lavatory facilities within the eastern enclosed verandah. The eastern verandah is enclosed with modern profile steel sheeting and later windows and fibre cement internal linings. The various construction stages are legible in the roof line, as no attempt has been made to consolidate and form one roof. As such the roof is a mixture of double hip, and skillion roof forms, and is clad with corrugated iron, although the original timber shingles to the central double hip roofs remain beneath. In addition to the two central chimneys, two other similar chimneys are located at the northern and southern side of the homestead. The rubble masonry walls have been roughcast externally and plastered internally.
Internally many of the original lath and plaster walls have been lined over in the 1920s or recently removed. The original ceilings of lath and plaster have fallen away and were relined in the 1920s and again in the 1980s. A number of walls have been exposed, and internally the timber stud frame walls show evidence of original lath and plaster as well as early wallpaper coverings. Original floorboards remain. One early cedar chimney piece remains, while other chimney pieces have been either removed or replaced with modern face brick surrounds. There is other evidence of early skirting and dado and picture rails behind later wall linings. A hand carved cedar door architrave remains to the original front door, and features a distinctive thistle motif. All window joinery is later, apart from original but altered window sashes to the weatherboard walls. A cellar is located under the southern 1840s addition to the homestead, and has granite walls, dirt floor and the remains of a lathe and plaster ceiling. Many of the locks are later possibly s. Evidence remains of the evolution of the building through its present exposed structure.
The eastern verandah has a later concrete floor covering original stone flags. The original verandah posts have been replaced with steel poles; however, the original verandah beam remains in place.
Stabilisation works including window, roof, drainage, render and other propping works were completed on the building August 1995.