Europeans in Eckersley

Please refer to our earlier post about the Lost Suburb of Eckersley, for some background information.

The history of “Grodno”, Isaac Himmelhoch’s vineyard at Eckersley is peopled with some fascinating characters. The first of these was Charles Adam Marion de Wroblewski. 

From Le Courrier Australien 1972

Wroblewski was born in Grodno, Lithuania, Russia and educated in Russian Poland, reportedly studying Chemistry in Vienna. He came to Australia in 1885 and was employed as an analytical chemist with the Royal Commission for the Conservation of Water in New South Wales. Travelling widely in the colony, he worked at such locations as Rooty Hill, Warren and Mungindi. After returning to Sydney he analysed water samples and completed maps. In 1888 he was employed by Monte Cristo Pyes Creek Silver Mining Ltd. During the shearers' strike in 1890 Wroblewski was a special constable and earned thanks by Sir Henry Parkes's government for his services. 

The second of these interesting characters was Baron Piero Cavalchini, who arrived in Sydney in 1887. It is believed that Wroblewski and Cavalchini met at the French Club in Sydney and hatched an idea of making wine in Australia. Wroblewski had already taken up 320 acres at Eckersley in 1886, and named it after his birthplace, Grodno. He began to develop it. 

Cavalchini took up a selection of 960 acres at Eckersley in 1889. In 1896 Wroblewksi took up 960 acres, although I could not determine if he was taking ownership of Cavalchini’s conditional grant.  These grants were in wild country, with poor sandy soil. This was perfect for Cavalchini’s theory of poor soil growing the best wine. Grodno was "improved" with about 22 acres of vineyards, 350 fruit trees, 20 cleared acres, and a further 30-40 partially cleared. The two gentlemen were viewed as a source of wonder to the few farmers in the district. Parties from Sydney of many European nationalities would come for a visit, and the French cook at Grodno was kept busy. 

Sale of Grodno in 1892, Daily Telegraph

Joachim Tester, a Swiss national and practical vigneron, was brought in to develop the vineyard. He also took up land at Eckersley – 80 acres in 1889. Grodno was terribly expensive to develop, and for several years no return was made. Despite the fact that the first wine produced proved to be of excellent quality, Wroblewski and Cavalchini were forced to mortgage the property and it was put up for sale in 1892.  It was at this point that Isaac Himmelhoch, a Polish financier would become the owner of Grodno. 

Vineyards at Grodno, Sydney Mail 1901

Wroblewski had married Daisy Serisier in 1891, the daughter of a French storekeeper and vigneron. They would go on to have three children, two boys and a girl. After losing Grodno, Wroblewski busied himself by launching the French-language weekly Le Courrier Australien. He transferred Le Courrier Australien to Léon Magrin in November 1896 and took his family to Victoria, where he established an importing firm. In 1903 he moved his business to Perth and founded the City & Suburban Advertising Co., later run by his son Charles. During World War I Wroblewski returned to Sydney and is said to have become an interpreter for the military, using his knowledge of seven languages. His elder son Leo Emile served in the Australian Imperial Force and was killed in France in 1918. Wroblewski retired to Melbourne and died in 1936. His wife, daughter and one son survived him. 

Cavalchini returned to Naples in 1892. Not much is known of his life after returning to Europe although he still continued to maintain an interest in wine making. In 1905 he took out a patent in France for a composition to combat insect parasites of plants, in particular Phylloxera, an insect that causes serious damage to vineyards.

Their legacy at Grodno was expanded and improved by Isaac Himmelhoch who made a huge success at Grodno, building wine cellars, planting more vines, and modernising. Grodno Vineyard became known as the best vineyard in the state, producing a record vintage of 6000 gallons of wine in 1906. Himmelhoch died in 1911, and sadly, Grodno was resumed in late 1913 by the Commonwealth Military authorities. Thus ended the dream started by Wroblewski and Cavalchini and continued by Himmelhoch. 

Written by Claire Lynch

Sources - 

Trove

Ancestry

A snapshot of the lost suburb of Eckersley

In the early 1800s, a small township developed within the boundaries of what is now the Holsworthy Field Firing Range on the eastern side of the Georges River. The Parish of Eckersley had been named in 1835 by the Surveyor General after Nathaniel Eckersley, who was a Quartermaster-general during the Peninsular War which was part of the Napoleonic Wars. There was, however, no European settlement there until it was opened for selection under the Crown Lands Act of 1884.
The first blocks applied for were between Punchbowl Creek and the Georges River. An interesting mix of people settled in the area. The first to take up their selection were the Etchells brothers, Harry and Frank in 1889. They distilled bootleg rum made in illegal stills in the bush. Other settlers included Leonce, Gustave and George Frere, and Charles and Edmond Kelso. The Freres selected large acreages at Eckersley where George Frere established a vineyard. Charlie Kelso decided his land was unsuitable and forfeited it in 1892. James Heffernan extracted shellac resin from the trunks of tree ferns and sold it to a gunpowder merchant. The Everetts ran the little post office from their selection at Eckersley, and also grew grape vines and apples. They were very well respected and were given a big send off when they left the district in 1902. The Trotts also lived at Eckersley - Whyndam Albert Trott and his wife Lavinia. Mr Trott was away working for weeks at a time, possibly due to his occupation as a builder. Jules Pierre Rochaix also had a house at Eckersley, but he exchanged his land for two blocks at Mount Colah. He was a detective with the New South Wales police force, just one of 14 detectives in a force of just under 2000 officers and constables.

The early Eckersley settlement

 
Further along the river other families built homes and established vineyards and orchards, including Nathaniel Bull, a former mayor of Liverpool, and Isaac Himmelhoch, who cleared and terraced his land with stone, and built a large winery and cellars.
In 1891 there were more than 30 small farms in the area, but by 1912 the Post Office closed. The remoteness of the area, and the fact that the soil proved to be not as suitable as first thought, were contributing factors to the demise of Eckersley. Its fate had been sealed when Lord Kitchener, visiting Australia on military matters, declared Holsworthy as the site for a permanent army camp. The Army took possession in 1913, and the rural settlement was abandoned. The settlers were paid no compensation.
Today only a few ruins, stone walls, wells, and foundations remain of Eckersley.

Written by Claire Lynch
Sources
Grist Mills Vol.8 No.4 "The Road to Frere's Crossing".
Grist Mills Vol.16 No.1 "Snippets of history of the Georges River".
www.visitsydneyaustralia.com.au/lost-suburb-eckersley.html
www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au "History of our suburbs"
Trove

Happiness at Last

 

Ruby Etchells photographed while at Teacher's College around 1908

Ruby Etchells was only a young child when her mother Nellie passed away from blood poisoning or septicaemia in 1894. The family lived on a farm near the remote settlement of Eckersley. Nellie was brought to Campbelltown on the back of a cart to get medical attention but died before she could be helped.

This tragedy crushed young Ruby. She and her brother Harry were taken from their farm as children and brought to live in Campbelltown with relatives. For years Ruby pined for her mother. She was often in trouble for being late to school because she would visit the cemetery and sit near where she believed her mum had been buried. She was heard to say "Why did you go, why did you leave me?"

She and Harry had become close after their mother died, obviously sharing and understanding the sadness that both were experiencing. When Harry enlisted in 1914, Ruby felt more alone than ever and was devastated by his death at Ypres in 1917. For more about Harry's death and Ruby's reaction, please read my previous blog post at http://campbelltown-library.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Etchells%20William%20Henry

After the war, Ruby decided to travel to France to visit her brother's grave. On the sea voyage over she met a man named Jack Matthews, who managed a coconut plantation on the Solomon Islands. A romance resulted and they married. After so many years of sadness Ruby's life had turned around. They continued to live in the Solomon Islands before returning to Australia and settling at Wahroonga in Sydney.

Update

Last week I came across the transcription of an interview of Ruby Matthews done in 1976. She had returned to the area for the first time since she left. Her age at the time of the interview would've been about 86.

The scene of the interview was Eckersley and Ruby was trying to find the remains of the old house where she lived as a girl. A garden and fruit trees were all that remained. She goes on to describe how she was four when her mother died. After her death, she lived with her grandmother. When her grandmother died, she lived with an aunt, who lived in a house at 19 Queen Street, where Clinton's Motors was located until recently.

Ruby went teaching at Wangi Wangi, near Lake Macquarie before visiting her brother's grave in France. Her children included one boy named Stanley and three girls.

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

McGill, Jeff  2001
Campbelltown and World War One 1914-1918

Bob Etchells Interview, 9 April 2015