Happy Birthday Eureka! Words by by John Chappell
EUREKA'S GENESIS
The year is 1914 and the month is October: C J Turner's model home and hoped for Eldorado has just been completed and he has been able to move in his half- sister Ella Tabitha as housekeeper from his recently sold "Whare Pakaha" in what would become Turner Road and also transfer his half-brother Albert James with the horse "Prince" and sulky from there also. C J Turner was always well dressed as a former banker and never rode a horse or manned a sulky which was why "Ab" as he was known was indispensable to his being in Berowra. His wife Caroline rarely came to Berowra and was looking after their 14 year old son, Oliver Clive at Marrickville. The new house from the Greek meaning "I have found it" had the signature recessed entrance as had his previously home built 6 years previously : both entrances were protected from inclement weather and from inquisitive and few passers-by.
Charles James Turner, born 1859 had been a manager throughout NSW for the Australian Joint Stock Bank until he resigned on June 30,1895 when the Bank experienced financial difficulties before being absorbed by the Australian Bank of Commerce and lastly by the Bank of N S W. Early in the 1900's he had begun poultry and egg auctions in Quay Street, Haymarket in the City and had plans to expand this operation and source eggs from his putative farm, firstly on the 3 acres at "Whare Pakaha" and in late 1914 from across the road at "Eureka" with its 10 acres bounding the future Woodcourt, Alan and Turner Roads. When he was looking for a name for his 1908 house his only daughter Violet out of 7 children, had recently been visiting he mother's relatives in Christchurch N Z where she had been sent for a period "to get over" the man who was to be her husband anyway, come 1914, and chose the enigmatic Maori name for "white man's house", which is now the site of the Medical Centre and hotel, flanked by the still extant Norfolk pine trees now over a century old and showing their age.
Time had now moved forward to July 7, 1915: the slaughter of the courageous Australian infantry had begun at Gallipoli just over two months earlier and 7 servicemen from Berowra were to pay the supreme sacrifice during WWl, including CJ and Caroline's third son, Robert Malcolm. "Prince" is now conveying the occupants along the dusty road from Berowra Station to a then unnamed dirt track and halts in front of "Eureka", barely 8 months old. Uncle Ab held the reins while homeless Charles and Violet Woof (nee Turner) with their precious week old daughter Enid moved carefully to the ground and sheepishly mounted the side verandah steps and turned left along the enclosed front verandah and inside to the main room of the house, which was to be their home untouched and neglected for the next 35 years. The only change was to be in 1937 when electricity came to Berowra and they could only afford to wire two sides of the house leaving this main room, the hub of their lives especially in winter to, as in the rest of the house, until 1937 with kerosene lamps and from 1930 an Aladdin lamp with its bright mantle. The house had no bathroom, no plumbing save a tap in the alcove between breakfast room where my grandfather was later to sleep in his carefully manicured bed, and the kitchen. This tap from an elevated tank outside was the only source of water to be used for drinking, cooking and providing water for the kettles on the kitchen fuel stove and in the main room fireplace. Bloodwood trees (gum) on the uncleared land were used as a fire with wood sticking out and pushed in as required. Baths were taken in a large tub with hot water from the kettles. This took place in the main room, and being in front of the fire was welcome.
Charles Victor Maher William Spencer, known as Charles Spencer Woof was a "traveller" for a wine and spirits company and when caught drinking during business hours lost his job just at the time my mother Enid was born. When my grandparents and mother arrived at "Eureka", Violet's father, C J Turner could see the answer to his quest to provide eggs for his Haymarket auction room and so he welcomed this homeless couple who would quickly settle in at "Eureka". Ella went to live with her brother Ernest Turner, and Ab to the care of his sister Daisy. He wasn't able to fend for himself and so needed supervision.
Originally the post office was situated on the railway station but in 1915 an application was made to have this service situated on the Highway backing onto the railway station. The single telephone line came from Turramurra via Hornsby and a manual telephone exchange became a reality in the post office store with Daisy Foster at the exchange and her husband and 3 sons handling the general store and deliveries by horse "Dolly" and cart. Mail was collected at the post office or if a delivery was to be made to a household any mail went with that. It was fortuitous that the manual telephone exchange came into being just as C J Turner was establishing his poultry farm. "Eureka's" telephone number was Berowra " 2 ".How much of, or when, the land was cleared at "Eureka" is not known : the corner section near "The Crossroads " and a section on Turner Road next to Mantons ("Wittianga" 1886 -another Maori word ) was never cleared, only a middle section on Turner Road facing "Langside" was cultivated as suitable sloping ground. An adequate supply of water was the next requirement and two wells were dug on the west side of "Eureka" near Alan Road and these rarely went dry. Suitable poultry pens came next and with it the need for chook feed. At this time horses from Hansom Cabs were becoming available and Charlie Woof secured one, a half draught horse "Laddie" who was used for ploughing and later doubled as pulling the "Sociable" up and down Berowra Creek. The middle land at the bottom of the property was ideal for growing maize and corn. Such was Charlie Woofs success in growing crops up to 10 feet, the sight later became a tourist attraction for buses. The corn cobs on drying yielded the corn which went into a corn grinder and the cobs and stalks used for silage for the dairy cows and bull.
Jersey cows were acquired and a jersey bull "Bill" who inhabited the Woodcourt Road bottom section which remained uncleared. Bill wasn't particularly friendly and it took a neighbour John Heazelett and my grandfather together to change the ring on his nose to enable Bill to be a little more friendly. There was also a Friesen cow whose milk was used to "water" down the rich jersey milk. They all had names; "Blossom", "Girlie" etc. My mother Enid began milking jersey cows at the age of 5 and eventually at least 2 and sometimes 3 cows a day and when she went to school, not until the age of 7, delivered milk on the way to. Butter was made from the cream and also ice cream which was kept in a container at the bottom of a well, the coolest place.
Fruit trees of every description were planted on the east side of "Eureka" and a "coach" house erected where a converted petrol engine was placed and water was pumped from the well to a small tank on a high stand and water gravity fed to the various water troughs for the chickens and the cows and "Laddie". My grandfather realised there was a market for "day old" chickens and purchased an American incubator capable of handling a 1,000 eggs at a time. Heat from a coke oven percolated through the incubator and at night when the temperature fell below 103 degrees F. a wire which ran from there up to my grandfather's bed, rang a bell and he would come down and stoke up the oven. The various breeds of fowls, "Plymouth Rock", "Leghorn, "Orpington" etc. were kept in groups of 20 hens to one rooster to ensure proper fertilisation and according to demand either sold the eggs or used them for the incubator, a tricky business juggling breeds of fowls and the use of eggs.
With such expansion my grandfather bought a 1908 Albion chain driven truck to bring feed supplies from Hornsby over the still rough dirt road. The road north of Brooklyn on the southern side of the Hawkesbury River didn't pass through Berowra but further west via "Wiseman's Ferry", so the Pacific Highway wasn't in its seminal stage and the hand pumped petrol bowser at Berowra's general store was the only one north of Hornsby to the Hawkesbury River. Feed was stored in a huge barn in containers made from piano crates
In 1925 my grandfather C S Woof took over his father in law C J Turner's mortgage on "Eureka". The Great Depression came and my mother said "we were so poor, there was never any money, but we were never hungry". Custard was eaten every night except Sunday when as a treat, custard powder was used. Fruit in season was abundant and given to various families during the Great Depression. I never heard my grandparents or mother complain once; they were too busy just surviving and often John Heazelett doubled to take "Laddie" and the "sociable" (cart where the passengers faced each other) taking fishermen up and down "The Creek". At night with no safeguards the reins were let loose and the better sight of "Laddie" led the occupants safely to the top. If the "sociable" was loaded, my grandfather would give the reins to another and would walk up by a short cut from Berowra Creek to the Crossroads (where Turner and Berowra Creek Roads met) and Berowra Station.
C J Turner's only daughter, Violet SOMERS Woof, kept the home fires burning. When Enid came up from milking the jersey cows with their small teats on a cold frosty morning, her mother Violet would be ready at the fuel stove to warm her frozen hands. Violet also doubled as a labourer on the farm carrying chook feed and other heavy lifting chores.
Robert Somers' (1760-1840) daughter Catherine married CHARLES Turner and Elizabeth Friend married JAMES Borthwick so C J Turner was named for both his grandfathers. C J Turner wanted to name his daughter after Edith Somers at his father's request, but refused as both Henry's daughters named Edith Somers after his grandmother died: one soon after birth and one aged 14 years, so it was Violet Somers! Violet had no farming experience before arriving at "Eureka's" gates in 1915. Her mother Caroline (nee Shields) and her two aunt all had a profession, that of teaching and Violet's was millinery; learning the skills at McCathie's and then working at McDowells' before marriage.
"Laddie" was acting like a racehorse following Manton's horse "Flame" next door, and on one winter's afternoon fell through the protective cover and down the dry well. Despite valiant efforts by many to dig him out and without mechanical means he had to be put down. My grandfather never owned a rife and was so fond of animals; others had to shoot when necessary.
When WWII came there was a manpower shortage and Charlie went to work for Hornsby Council which turned into 20 retiring at the age of 75 in 1960 and the farm slowly closed down.
The mortgagee foreclosed on "Eureka" in 1950 and the 10 acres for subdivided, the blocks selling for 50 pounds and the house (still standing at 17 Alan Road) for 950 pounds including an acre of land locked pasture where the cows had originally grazed on kikuyu grass Charles had imported from South Africa. Thus ended 35 years of living at "Eureka". C J Turner stayed at his dream home off and on until he died in 1941.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY "EUREKA" - A PROUD BEROWRA HERITAGE CENTENARIAN!
The year is 1914 and the month is October: C J Turner's model home and hoped for Eldorado has just been completed and he has been able to move in his half- sister Ella Tabitha as housekeeper from his recently sold "Whare Pakaha" in what would become Turner Road and also transfer his half-brother Albert James with the horse "Prince" and sulky from there also. C J Turner was always well dressed as a former banker and never rode a horse or manned a sulky which was why "Ab" as he was known was indispensable to his being in Berowra. His wife Caroline rarely came to Berowra and was looking after their 14 year old son, Oliver Clive at Marrickville. The new house from the Greek meaning "I have found it" had the signature recessed entrance as had his previously home built 6 years previously : both entrances were protected from inclement weather and from inquisitive and few passers-by.
Charles James Turner, born 1859 had been a manager throughout NSW for the Australian Joint Stock Bank until he resigned on June 30,1895 when the Bank experienced financial difficulties before being absorbed by the Australian Bank of Commerce and lastly by the Bank of N S W. Early in the 1900's he had begun poultry and egg auctions in Quay Street, Haymarket in the City and had plans to expand this operation and source eggs from his putative farm, firstly on the 3 acres at "Whare Pakaha" and in late 1914 from across the road at "Eureka" with its 10 acres bounding the future Woodcourt, Alan and Turner Roads. When he was looking for a name for his 1908 house his only daughter Violet out of 7 children, had recently been visiting he mother's relatives in Christchurch N Z where she had been sent for a period "to get over" the man who was to be her husband anyway, come 1914, and chose the enigmatic Maori name for "white man's house", which is now the site of the Medical Centre and hotel, flanked by the still extant Norfolk pine trees now over a century old and showing their age.
Time had now moved forward to July 7, 1915: the slaughter of the courageous Australian infantry had begun at Gallipoli just over two months earlier and 7 servicemen from Berowra were to pay the supreme sacrifice during WWl, including CJ and Caroline's third son, Robert Malcolm. "Prince" is now conveying the occupants along the dusty road from Berowra Station to a then unnamed dirt track and halts in front of "Eureka", barely 8 months old. Uncle Ab held the reins while homeless Charles and Violet Woof (nee Turner) with their precious week old daughter Enid moved carefully to the ground and sheepishly mounted the side verandah steps and turned left along the enclosed front verandah and inside to the main room of the house, which was to be their home untouched and neglected for the next 35 years. The only change was to be in 1937 when electricity came to Berowra and they could only afford to wire two sides of the house leaving this main room, the hub of their lives especially in winter to, as in the rest of the house, until 1937 with kerosene lamps and from 1930 an Aladdin lamp with its bright mantle. The house had no bathroom, no plumbing save a tap in the alcove between breakfast room where my grandfather was later to sleep in his carefully manicured bed, and the kitchen. This tap from an elevated tank outside was the only source of water to be used for drinking, cooking and providing water for the kettles on the kitchen fuel stove and in the main room fireplace. Bloodwood trees (gum) on the uncleared land were used as a fire with wood sticking out and pushed in as required. Baths were taken in a large tub with hot water from the kettles. This took place in the main room, and being in front of the fire was welcome.
Charles Victor Maher William Spencer, known as Charles Spencer Woof was a "traveller" for a wine and spirits company and when caught drinking during business hours lost his job just at the time my mother Enid was born. When my grandparents and mother arrived at "Eureka", Violet's father, C J Turner could see the answer to his quest to provide eggs for his Haymarket auction room and so he welcomed this homeless couple who would quickly settle in at "Eureka". Ella went to live with her brother Ernest Turner, and Ab to the care of his sister Daisy. He wasn't able to fend for himself and so needed supervision.
Originally the post office was situated on the railway station but in 1915 an application was made to have this service situated on the Highway backing onto the railway station. The single telephone line came from Turramurra via Hornsby and a manual telephone exchange became a reality in the post office store with Daisy Foster at the exchange and her husband and 3 sons handling the general store and deliveries by horse "Dolly" and cart. Mail was collected at the post office or if a delivery was to be made to a household any mail went with that. It was fortuitous that the manual telephone exchange came into being just as C J Turner was establishing his poultry farm. "Eureka's" telephone number was Berowra " 2 ".How much of, or when, the land was cleared at "Eureka" is not known : the corner section near "The Crossroads " and a section on Turner Road next to Mantons ("Wittianga" 1886 -another Maori word ) was never cleared, only a middle section on Turner Road facing "Langside" was cultivated as suitable sloping ground. An adequate supply of water was the next requirement and two wells were dug on the west side of "Eureka" near Alan Road and these rarely went dry. Suitable poultry pens came next and with it the need for chook feed. At this time horses from Hansom Cabs were becoming available and Charlie Woof secured one, a half draught horse "Laddie" who was used for ploughing and later doubled as pulling the "Sociable" up and down Berowra Creek. The middle land at the bottom of the property was ideal for growing maize and corn. Such was Charlie Woofs success in growing crops up to 10 feet, the sight later became a tourist attraction for buses. The corn cobs on drying yielded the corn which went into a corn grinder and the cobs and stalks used for silage for the dairy cows and bull.
Jersey cows were acquired and a jersey bull "Bill" who inhabited the Woodcourt Road bottom section which remained uncleared. Bill wasn't particularly friendly and it took a neighbour John Heazelett and my grandfather together to change the ring on his nose to enable Bill to be a little more friendly. There was also a Friesen cow whose milk was used to "water" down the rich jersey milk. They all had names; "Blossom", "Girlie" etc. My mother Enid began milking jersey cows at the age of 5 and eventually at least 2 and sometimes 3 cows a day and when she went to school, not until the age of 7, delivered milk on the way to. Butter was made from the cream and also ice cream which was kept in a container at the bottom of a well, the coolest place.
Fruit trees of every description were planted on the east side of "Eureka" and a "coach" house erected where a converted petrol engine was placed and water was pumped from the well to a small tank on a high stand and water gravity fed to the various water troughs for the chickens and the cows and "Laddie". My grandfather realised there was a market for "day old" chickens and purchased an American incubator capable of handling a 1,000 eggs at a time. Heat from a coke oven percolated through the incubator and at night when the temperature fell below 103 degrees F. a wire which ran from there up to my grandfather's bed, rang a bell and he would come down and stoke up the oven. The various breeds of fowls, "Plymouth Rock", "Leghorn, "Orpington" etc. were kept in groups of 20 hens to one rooster to ensure proper fertilisation and according to demand either sold the eggs or used them for the incubator, a tricky business juggling breeds of fowls and the use of eggs.
With such expansion my grandfather bought a 1908 Albion chain driven truck to bring feed supplies from Hornsby over the still rough dirt road. The road north of Brooklyn on the southern side of the Hawkesbury River didn't pass through Berowra but further west via "Wiseman's Ferry", so the Pacific Highway wasn't in its seminal stage and the hand pumped petrol bowser at Berowra's general store was the only one north of Hornsby to the Hawkesbury River. Feed was stored in a huge barn in containers made from piano crates
In 1925 my grandfather C S Woof took over his father in law C J Turner's mortgage on "Eureka". The Great Depression came and my mother said "we were so poor, there was never any money, but we were never hungry". Custard was eaten every night except Sunday when as a treat, custard powder was used. Fruit in season was abundant and given to various families during the Great Depression. I never heard my grandparents or mother complain once; they were too busy just surviving and often John Heazelett doubled to take "Laddie" and the "sociable" (cart where the passengers faced each other) taking fishermen up and down "The Creek". At night with no safeguards the reins were let loose and the better sight of "Laddie" led the occupants safely to the top. If the "sociable" was loaded, my grandfather would give the reins to another and would walk up by a short cut from Berowra Creek to the Crossroads (where Turner and Berowra Creek Roads met) and Berowra Station.
C J Turner's only daughter, Violet SOMERS Woof, kept the home fires burning. When Enid came up from milking the jersey cows with their small teats on a cold frosty morning, her mother Violet would be ready at the fuel stove to warm her frozen hands. Violet also doubled as a labourer on the farm carrying chook feed and other heavy lifting chores.
Robert Somers' (1760-1840) daughter Catherine married CHARLES Turner and Elizabeth Friend married JAMES Borthwick so C J Turner was named for both his grandfathers. C J Turner wanted to name his daughter after Edith Somers at his father's request, but refused as both Henry's daughters named Edith Somers after his grandmother died: one soon after birth and one aged 14 years, so it was Violet Somers! Violet had no farming experience before arriving at "Eureka's" gates in 1915. Her mother Caroline (nee Shields) and her two aunt all had a profession, that of teaching and Violet's was millinery; learning the skills at McCathie's and then working at McDowells' before marriage.
"Laddie" was acting like a racehorse following Manton's horse "Flame" next door, and on one winter's afternoon fell through the protective cover and down the dry well. Despite valiant efforts by many to dig him out and without mechanical means he had to be put down. My grandfather never owned a rife and was so fond of animals; others had to shoot when necessary.
When WWII came there was a manpower shortage and Charlie went to work for Hornsby Council which turned into 20 retiring at the age of 75 in 1960 and the farm slowly closed down.
The mortgagee foreclosed on "Eureka" in 1950 and the 10 acres for subdivided, the blocks selling for 50 pounds and the house (still standing at 17 Alan Road) for 950 pounds including an acre of land locked pasture where the cows had originally grazed on kikuyu grass Charles had imported from South Africa. Thus ended 35 years of living at "Eureka". C J Turner stayed at his dream home off and on until he died in 1941.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY "EUREKA" - A PROUD BEROWRA HERITAGE CENTENARIAN!