BEGINNINGS
The
story of "Braemar" begins in Scotland, on the southern edge of the
Firth of Clyde where the industrial seaport town of Greenock lies in the shadow
of the Ayreshire Hills. It was here, in the birthplace of the legendary pirate
Captain William Kidd and the pioneer inventor of the steam engine James Watt,
that the man who built Braemar, James Hunter Lawson, came into the world on 22
April, 1836.
While
little is known of the childhood and youth of the young James Hunter Lawson, by
the time he was nineteen and about to embark upon the long journey to Australia
he had acquired the trade of a cabinet-maker. These skills were to benefit him
in the years ahead but, on arrival in Sydney in 1855, he apparently decided to
try his hand at other work. In the first five years of his residence in
Australia the number of cabinet-makers operating in Sydney declined
substantially and this restriction of employment opportunities may have
influenced his decision to apply for a hotel licence in 1858. By this time,
too, he was married with a wife and baby daughter to support.
Emma
Glen, whom he married at St. Andrews Cathedral in Sydney on 27 November, was
twenty years of age, the eldest daughter of Robert Glen a resident of Pyrmont
and an engineer with the Hunter River Steamship Company. James and Emma's first
child, also named Emma, was born in the year he became licensee of the Royal
Oak Hotel on the corner of Union and Pyrmont Streets, Pyrmont.
 |
| Braemar plans, 1892 |
In
1860, when the Lawson's second child James Robert was born, the family was
still resident at the Royal Oak. Sometime in the next five years, however,
James Hunter Lawson made a decisive career move that saw him return to the
furniture business. By 1865 he was in partnership with George Cadell, running a
furniture warehouse at 245 George Street, Sydney. His residential address had
also changed to 49 Mill Street, Pyrmont.
Over
the next fifteen years the business changed location several times (from George
Street to Jamieson Street and back to George Street), a couple of partnerships
came and went, and the family moved to Queen Street, Newtown. In 1882 James
Hunter, well established now in the furniture trade in Sydney, returned to
Britain where business and the investigation of overseas trends no doubt took
an equal place in his preoccupations with renewal of family ties. On his return
to Sydney his business entered upon a period of expansion.
In
the Sand's Directory for 1884 the listing reads for the first time as -
"Lawson, James and Sons, Cabinet-Makers, Art Furniture Manufacturers and
Carpet Warehousemen". The business incorporated both a furniture warehouse
on the corner of William Street and Hyde Park and a large modern factory in
Newtown where, according to Men of Mark published in 1888, "a large
percentage of the goods are manufactured" using "all the modern
appliances of the trade".
Lawson's sons, when they reached
maturity, were 'conscripted' and given training to fit them for specialised
positions within the business. James Robert became a cabinet-maker; William
drew designs; Alfred french polished; and Ernest kept the books. The eldest,
James Robert, eventually decided that cabinet-making was not the career he
wished to pursue and, with his father's blessing and assistance, set up in the
auctioneering business in the mid-1880s. The firm he established eventually
evolved into the highly respected company of James R. Lawson Pty., Ltd.,
Valuers, Fine Art, General and Industrial Auctioneers, probably the best known
business of its type in Sydney.
 |
| James Hunter Lawson in 1922 |
SPRINGWOOD
With his increasing prosperity James
Hunter Lawson, like many successful Sydney businessmen during the last half of
the nineteenth century, cast his eyes westward to the Blue Mountains and
thought seriously of investing in Mountain real estate and building a Mountain
retreat. Sydney summers were hot and humid and the air often heavy with potent
smells, thought to be disease carrying and unhygienic. The Mountains, on the
other hand, stated The Railway Guide of New South Wales in 1886, were "the
breezy highlands" where Sydney's citizens could seek "the
re-invigoration of mountain air and the refined pleasure afforded by the
contemplation of beautiful scenery." For James Hunter Lawson, Springwood
in the lower Blue Mountains became the object of his interest.
 |
| Coo-ee March in Macquarie Rd springwood, 1915 |
In
1845, after the military had departed, Thomas Boland built the Springwood Inn
and continued Springwood's role as a traveller's oasis. During the gold rush
period thousands passed through Springwood on their way to the Turon fields and
at night Boland's Inn would become the centre of a large and animated
encampment.
 |
| Emma Lawson in 1922 |
When the railway was opened to the Weatherboard (Wentworth Falls) in 1867 the stimulus was provided for residential settlement. In the following decades the speed, comfort and reliability provided by trains encouraged many of the affluent members of Sydney's ruling class to purchase land and build country retreats in the Blue Mountains. The Springwood area, in particular, became a popular choice: Sir Henry Parkes established "Stonehurst" as his country home in 1877 and several years later built “Faulconbridge House”; the Hon. Charles Moore MLC MLA erected "Moorecourt", later used by the Springwood Ladies College, in 1876; the Hon. John Frazer MLA engaged Varney Parkes to design his residence "Silva Plana" in 1881; and the Hon. James Norton MLC built "Euchora" in 1884.
Not
all new residents were wealthy, however. In the 1870s a large number of railway
workers responsible for maintaining the western line boosted the area's total
population and helped provide the stimulus toward the early introduction of
postal, education, police and various business enterprises. Centered at
Springwood, these made the town a focal point of the district.
The
1880s saw Springwood, with a population somewhere in the vicinity of two to
three hundred, renowned for its rural charm and equable climate. Its scenic
attractions - Sassafras or Flying Fox Gully, Madeline Glen, Fairy Dell -
obtained regular promotion in the popular railway tourist guides of the day. A
writer in The Illustrated Sydney News, 3 October 1889, contrasted
"the illimitable grandeur of Katoomba" with "the smiling
serenity of Springwood" and described the town in the following terms:
"One's
first impressions of Springwood are exceedingly pleasant, and we can honestly
state that subsequent explorations only serve to confirm them. Pausing at the
station, which, by the way, is one of the prettiest upon the line, and quite in
harmony with its surroundings, one's eye rests upon a road of a warm red colour
and sidewalks shaded with the dense blue-grey foliage of turpentine trees, the
scene flanked at each side with cosy buildings of wood and stone. Even the police
station exhibits a display of taste, and everything seems in harmony. Up the
road, on the left, is a substantial schoolhouse, from the windows of which
issue the sweet sounds of many voices, fresh young tones, that speak of happy
homes and healthy climate, a fact still better attested by the blooming cheeks
of the youngsters who are romping in the playground.
To
the right from the station runs a road faced by a few cottages; in the middle
distance the pretty villa belonging to Mrs Hoare, set in the midst of garden
and greensward, and, further still, a background of forest trees, between which
one obtains glimpses of blue mountains."
 |
| Oriental Hotel |
This,
then, was Springwood at the
time James Hunter Lawson purchased sixty acres of land there at the end of the
1880s. His property extended from Raymond Road to the vicinity of the present
De Chair Avenue and included the Springwood Hotel built in 1877 by Frank
Raymond.
Lawson
was back in the hotel business and soon began major rebuilding and renovation
work which saw the old hotel undergo a complete face-lift. In the Nepean
Times, 22 March, 1890, we read that: "The Springwood Hotel
improvements are getting pushed along -the enterprising owner is determined to
have plenty of cellar room -twenty feet by twenty and about eight feet
high."
Then,
three weeks later: "The Springwood Hotel is progressing fast towards
completion, and will be a feature in our village, and an attraction for the
tourist or searcher for health. Mr Lawson, the proprietor, being in the trade,
is going to show us how an hotel ought to be furnished for comfort and
ease." The hotel was reopened at the end of January 1891 as the Oriental
Hotel - "the most complete in the district."
BUILDING BEGINS
No
sooner had Lawson transformed the Springwood Hotel into the Oriental than he
continued to stamp his presence upon the township of Springwood by turning his
attention to another project. "He is now carting bricks to the orchard
adjoining the hotel", reported the Nepean Times, "where he
intends erecting a fine cottage forthwith." This cottage was to be
"Braemar" and was completed later that same year.
 |
| "Braemar" soon after construction. The Lawson family group includes: J.H. Lawson near fence; Alfred Lawson holding horse; Emma Lawson, her daughter Flora and grandchildren Ethel, Emma and Ernest in the buggy (Photograph courtesy of Blue Mountains City Library) |
It
is not certain how long James and Emma Lawson occupied "Braemar “but it
does not appear to have been for more than a few years. Their grandson, W. G.
Lawson, in a letter to the Blue Mountains City Library's Chief Librarian in
1975, remembered that it was "only for a very short period." The
couple eventually built "Glen Lawson", next door to
"Braemar", which became their home until their deaths in 1926. Just
when "Glen Lawson" was erected is also uncertain, though by 1895 when
a Presbyterian service attended by some seventy people was held on the verandah
of "Braemar" the tenant of "Braemar" was reported to be
"Mrs. Urquhart", James and Emma's daughter.
 |
| Glen Lawson, Braemar, the Oriental Hotel |
EXPANSION
If
"Glen Lawson" wasn't already in existence by this time the Lawsons
may have lived for a time elsewhere in Springwood for, during the 1890s, the
family was purchasing and building extensively in the town. In October, 1893,
for example, James Hunter Lawson was reported as purchasing "the cottage
near Brady's gatehouse, recently erected and occupied by Mr. Joseph
Chapman". That same month his son, William, was living in a cottage at
Faulconbridge and "has commenced the erection of a neat little cottage
next to the railway crossing gate near "Chatsworth". William built
again later in the decade: the arrival of building material at Springwood
Railway Station and then the completion of a cottage was noted in the press.
This was probably "The Knoll", several properties down the Bathurst
Road from "Braemar", where William and his wife Isobel lived until
they moved into "Glen Lawson" after his parent's death. On the eve of
his departure for Europe in May 1900, James Hunter Lawson was praised for
having contributed to the progress of Springwood "by erecting substantial
buildings that would be a credit to any district".
 |
| James Hunter Lawson with Ernest and Ethel Urquhart at the entrance to "Braemar" (Photograph courtesy of Miss S. E. Lawson) |
CONVALESCENT HOSPITAL
By
1897 "Braemar" was being occupied by Nurse Lonie Treble, a friend of
the Lawson family, who conducted a convalescent hospital on the premises. This
venture was short-lived, however, and when Nurse Treble's sister, who had come
up to Springwood in late March 1897 suffering from consumption, died of the disease. Nurse
Treble returned to Sydney to live. In May 1897 James' and Emma's son William
and his wife occupied "Braemar" while on their honeymoon.
 |
| Nurse Louie Treble |
THE GARRETTS
With
the departure of Nurse Treble, the next tenants of "Braemar" appear
to have been Thomas William Garrett and his family. Garrett was a solicitor who
became Registrar of Probates in 1890 and Public Trustee in 1914. He was best
known, however, as a cricketer who played with distinction for Australia and
New South Wales.
 |
| Tom Garrett in 1936 Photo courtesy Wikimedia |
T.W. Garrett was born on 26 July, 1858, in Wollongong, the son of politician and
newspaper proprietor Thomas Garrett and his first wife Mary Creagan. At the age
of eighteen years Garrett was chosen to play for Australia in Melbourne in 1877
against James Lillywhite's team of professionals, a match that has come to be
considered the first Test against England. He toured England three times - in 1878,
1882 and 1886 - and represented Australia in seven Test series at home. On the
1882 tour he played in the famous match at The Oval when Australia defeated
England for the first time on English soil, provoking The Sporting Times
to report in its next issue the death of English cricket. "The body",
it declared, "will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."
Overall,
Garrett appeared in nineteen Test matches, scoring 339 runs (highest score 51)
and taking 36 wickets. Bearded, tall and lean, Garrett was primarily recognised
as a right-arm, slightly more than medium pace bowler with an ability to swing
the ball either way. Playing for New South Wales he proved a shrewd and
successful captain who also achieved with the bat. In 1897, aged thirty-eight,
he knocked up 131 runs against a South Australian team that included the
champion fast bowler Ernest Jones.
T.W.
Garrett, his wife Helen (they were married on 25 March, 1879) and their family
of three girls and four boys probably arrived in Springwood in the first half
of 1898. In August of that year the Nepean Times records that he was
elected a Vice-President(he later served as President) of the Springwood
Cricket Club, the first mention of the Garrett name in the local press.
With
the exception of about twelve months, between May 1902 and April 1903, the
family resided in Springwood for over ten years. It is, however, uncertain how
much of this time was spent as tenants of "Braemar", though by 1908
they had clearly moved to the western end of the town. An advertisement in the Nepean
Times concerning the new subdivision of Springwood Heights Estate notes
that this land is located "between the residence of J.F. Hoare, Esq., and
Thos. Garrett, Esq., and situate opposite Moore Court and the Church of England".
During
their time in Springwood the Garrett's involved themselves in the community,
the Garrett name appearing regularly in the Springwood news columns of the Nepean
Times. Father and sons were active participants in the local cricket,
football and golf clubs. In 1909-10 when Springwood Cricket Club won the Nepean
District premiership three of the Garrett brothers were in the team, one of
them holding the captaincy.
Mother
and daughters, too, were reported in various capacities at fetes organised by
such bodies as Christ Church of England and Springwood Ladies College. T. W.
Garrett also acted as honorary auditor for a number of local organisations
including the Church of England, the Progress Association and the School of
Arts.
While
it is unclear exactly when the family left Springwood it was possibly some time
in 1912, for the Garrett name does not appear in the local electorate on the
1913 Commonwealth Electoral Roll. Thomas William Garrett died at Warrawee in
Sydney, aged eighty-five, on 6 August, 1943. Tom Garrett's great-grandson is the Midnight Oil lead singer, former Australian federal politician and government minister, Peter Garrett.
Who
followed the Garrett's as tenants of "Braemar" is something of a
mystery. In a letter to the Blue Mountains City Library's Chief Librarian in
1975 James Hunter Lawson's grandson, William, says it was "a Jewish family
by name of Cohen" who "were there quite a time." Despite this, no reference to the Cohens can be
found in either the local newspapers or the electoral rolls available for the
first decade of the twentieth century.
In
1908, however, the NSW Government Tourist Bureau's Hotel and Boarding House
Directory listed Braemar as a boarding house under the proprietorship of
Mrs. Mulvey. Braemar, the directory recorded, could accommodate twelve guests
at a charge per person of seven shillings a day or two guineas a week. Who Mrs.
Mulvey was and how long she remained in Springwood is not known.
 |
| A canary in the front door panel |
The
next resident of whom we can be certain was Dr Andrew Joseph O'Flanagan who
occupied "Braemar" between 1918 and 1923. This was during the period
of the great influenza pandemic. As well as using the house as a residence for
himself, his wife and two daughters it also became his surgery and dispensary. And,
he employed a housekeeper, Mrs. Ruby Miller, who lived in with her own daughter
and did all the cooking and housework. Mrs. Miller, now in her nineties,
recalls Dr. O'Flanagan doing his rounds in a horse and sulky equipped with a
hurricane lamp.
The
doctor, apparently, was also wary of dogs. Alfred Sully of Faulconbridge, a
schoolboy at the time, remembers a house call to his family. On arrival the
doctor stood at the back fence and enquired: "Have you got any dogs?"
When young Alfred replied from the doorway, "No, no dogs doctor", he
entered with the comment, "Sensible boy, sensible boy". Mr. Sully
also recalls him carrying a small pistol in his bag which, he thinks, was used
to scare off any canine advances.
GUEST HOUSE
Following
Dr. O'Flanagan's death, on 3 January, 1923, "Braemar" was converted
once again to the role it had been introduced to by Mrs. Mulvey prior to World War
1. For the next four decades, with the possible exception of some brief
periods, it functioned primarily as a boarding or guesthouse under a number of
proprietors. The three we are aware of were:
1924
- 1926 Marjory and Bert Gillman.
1931
- 1938 Nancy and David Ireland.
1941
- c 1968 Alma and Lionel Platt.
 |
"Braemar" c. 1924. Mrs Gillman is the lady in
white standing at the extreme left.
|
Bert
Gillman was a builder who operated in the early 1920s from Valley Heights and
then removed to Robertson, near Moss Vale, for a short period. It wasn't long,
however, before he and his family returned to Springwood where they took over
"Braemar" after Dr O'Flanagan's death and began running it as a
guesthouse. It is interesting that Mrs. Gillman had known Dr O'Flanagan and,
because of her experience as a bush nurse, had accompanied him at times on his
rounds to assist with deliveries.
Mrs.
Gillman's two daughters, Marjory and Bessie, now in their late seventies,
remember the house being full of antique furniture, with velvet curtains in the
hall and lounge room. A pedestal light in the hallway, known as the 'Pink
Lady', and a beautiful painted ceiling in one of the rooms - pools of water
with lilies, storks and ducks - particularly took their fancy. They were
disappointed when they came back in later years and found the painted ceiling
gone.
Staff
consisted of Mrs Smith, the housekeeper, two girls, Ruby and Violet, who
cleaned the rooms and waited on tables, and a yardman who cared for the animals
and the grounds. Mr and Mrs Gillman did most of the cooking, Mr Gillman being a
particularly dab hand at certain dishes. Some guests were known to return
because of his cooking. Bessie, the eldest daughter, would also wait on tables
if one of the regular girls was sick.
The
guests were entertained with musical evenings and euchre parties and there was
even a miniature golf course of nine holes, erected one year with the help of
some of the guests on the paddock between the house and the Oriental Hotel. Bushwalking
into Sassafras Gully was also a regular activity.
One
guest, an elderly lady whose name was Miss Lewis, was a permanent resident the
whole time the Gillmans were at "Braemar". When they moved on to
Manly in 1926 she went with them. Miss Lewis was very superstitious and Marjory
Gillman, the younger daughter, recalls how she was sometimes required to make
up the numbers at dinner time if the official guests seated at the dining table
ever totaled thirteen.
It
was while the Gillmans were in residence that James Hunter Lawson and his wife
Emma both died, within twenty-four hours of each other, in "Glen
Lawson" next door. After a period of gradually declining health James
Hunter passed away on Friday 23 April, 1926. It was his ninetieth year. "Mrs
Lawson", reported the Daily Guardian, in Sydney, "seemed at
first to bear the shock very well in the circumstances, and appeared to be in
fair health when two of her sons left Springwood by the 7a.m. train on
Saturday. Her other son intended leaving an hour later; but in the interim his
mother died suddenly." The couple were buried together at Rookwood
Cemetery.
THE
IRELANDS
During
the years of the Great Depression "Braemar" was operated as a
guesthouse by Nancy and David Ireland. Mrs Ireland was born Nancy Gardener in
Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1901. In Springwood she was involved for many
years with the Presbyterian Ladies Guild. Her husband David died in 1980 and
his ashes are in the Columbarium at Springwood Cemetery. His father Charles,
who died in 1931, is buried also in Springwood Cemetery.
 |
| Enjoying the sun on the verandah of "Braemar" 1930s (Photograph courtesy of Mrs Nancy Ireland) |
THE PLATTS
By
the time Lionel and Alma Platt and their two year old daughter Pam arrived from
the Sydney suburb of Kirribilli in the early 1940s, a guesthouse tradition was
well established at "Braemar". However, Mr Platt, who suffered from
asthma, and his wife originally had no intention of carrying on this tradition.
They wanted simply to lease the house as a private residence, at least until
the war was over.
On
their arrival though they were faced with an unforeseen circumstance that
changed everything. The two men who had previously been proprietors of
"Braemar" and had left at short notice had not left the house empty. The
Platts, to their surprise, found about eight guests waiting for them on the
verandah. After some intense negotiation and the intervention of the local
policeman the abandoned boarders were allowed to stay, at least temporarily.
Mrs
Platt takes up the story: "There two lovely old ladies. They came from the
back parts, the Pilliga scrub. In those days there were only two trains ...
anyway they couldn't get a train till the following Monday ... they asked could
they stay and I said yes. ‘Look', said one of them, 'this place is a little
gold mine. Why don't you open it up as a guesthouse?".
Despite
Mrs Platt's protests that she had no experience, the lady continued: "All
you do is get a housemaid, a waitress and a cook ... your husband can stay at
home and help you ... you'll make a fortune if you do. I'll show you how."
After a month helping the Platts organise themselves and find staff the two
ladies returned to the Pilliga scrub, leaving Mr & Mrs Platt as proprietors
of "Braemar Guesthouse" for almost the next thirty years. In the late
1940's they even purchased the property from William Lawson who had inherited it
on his father's death in 1926.
The
Platts found, like the Gillmans before them, they were never short of guests. "Running
a guesthouse", recalls Mrs Platt, "was a seven day a week job!" Heavy
advertising was unnecessary and during the school holidays "Braemar"
was always booked out. "They were just like family, just like friends
coming back for holidays."
Bushwalks
into Sassafras Gully for afternoon tea, dances on the well-kept verandah, and
children's concerts where the adults were charged two shillings and the money
used to buy lollies for the children in the Salvation Army Home over the
railway line, were among the popular activities that kept the guests
entertained.
The
Platts, too, attracted their own permanent, slightly eccentric, guest. Captain
Howell, an old sea captain, resided at "Braemar" for some seven or
eight years before his death. To the consternation of some, his favourite
pastime was to 'liven up' any other elderly residents.
Children
were specially catered for under the Platts. During the school holidays
preference was always given to guests with children. It was not unusual for Mrs
Platt to ask a regular guest to postpone their visit until school went back. When
guests went bushwalking children under five, who were not permitted to go, were
always given a special party instead. But not all the children who came to
"Braemar" were well behaved. Mrs Platt relates a story about a lovely
inlaid table she kept in the guest's lounge room: "One child, a doctor's
daughter, oh she was a big child for her age and they used to call her 'Mony'
for 'Monster'. A lady came out to me and she was almost in tears and she said, 'Mrs
Platt, I can't stand it any longer.' I asked her, 'What is wrong, what has made
you so upset?' She replied, 'That little girl in there, her mother and father
are sitting there and they are reading the paper and this little hussy has got
a pin, a bobby pin and she's picking all your inlay out of that table.' When I
went in all the inlay was out of it and I couldn't find even the bits to stick
it back. Oh, they were very upset. They wanted to take it down to Sydney and
get it fixed up, but I thought no, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,
I'd better keep it. So I kept it and there it is still."
Towards
the end of their time at "Braemar" the Platts closed the guesthouse
down for a couple of years, using it as a private residence. They then sold it (c.1971)
to local real estate agent Charles H. Degotardi. For a time Mr Degotardi,
operating as Tropic Gardens Pty. Ltd., considered some major guesthouse
additions to "Braemar" but these plans were later shelved.
BLUE MOUNTAINS CITY LIBRARY
It
was at this point that the history of "Braemar" changed dramatically.
In 1974 the house was acquired by the Blue Mountains City Council with Federal
Government funds provided through the Australian Assistance Program, an
initiative of the Whitlam Government, designed to encourage and assist the
preservation of the nation's heritage.
Almost
immediately "Braemar" was used to house the newly established Blue
Mountains City Library, the idea being that it would fulfill this role
temporarily until the planned Library Headquarters building was constructed in
the grounds behind it. The construction of the new library during the next two
years necessitated the demolition of the detached weatherboard and iron section
at the rear of the house that had housed the kitchen, scullery and servants’
quarters; and the original water well on the eastern side was covered over.
The
new library building was completed in 1976 and, after the City Librarian had
moved the growing collection of books into its new premises, the Council's
Electricity Department took up residence in Braemar until 1980. In this year
the supply of electricity to the Blue Mountains was taken over by Prospect
County Council and this body continued to operate from Braemar, leasing the
building from the City Council. In 1984 new premises in Springwood Avenue
became available and Prospect County Council vacated "Braemar", leaving
the way open for a reconsideration of the role the building might play in the
community life of Springwood.
Ever
since the Blue Mountains City Council acquired the property there had been
strong argument in favour of "Braemar" being used for community
rather than commercial purposes. Its initial use as the library headquarters
reflected this opinion and it was again brought to the fore when the library
re-occupied the building in 1984.
Throughout
the 1970's, too, there was considerable interest shown in "Braemar"
by the Springwood Historical Society who felt that a role as a local history
centre would be appropriate. In 1975 Springwood Historical Society wrote to the
first City Librarian requesting "that favourable consideration be given to
providing space in 'Braemar for use by the Society for storing its collection
of books, historic documents etc."
Though
nothing came of this immediately, the idea that "Braemar" should
house a local history collection was again raised in 1981, this time by the
next City Librarian himself, when the employment of a specialist librarian was
being considered. A Local Studies Librarian was appointed early in 1982 and,
when the library moved into "Braemar" in 1984, two rooms were
occupied by the new Local Studies Collection.
At
the same time, a great deal of interest was being shown by local artists in the
idea of establishing an art gallery as part of the new function of
"Braemar" and much discussion ensued. Dual use of the old building by
both the historical and artistic communities began to be seen as a feasible
proposition.
 |
| Official Opening 1988: Library Manager - Drusilla Wendolowski, Mayor Jim Angel, Member for Blue Mountains Bob Debus; Lindsay Paish - Braemar Management Committee |
Eventually
community use of the building received official blessing when, after some
debate at its meeting on 13 November, 1984, the Blue Mountains City Council
adopted recommendations that Braemar be converted into an art gallery and local
history resource centre. A successful application was made by the Council for a
grant from the NSW Bicentennial Authority to assist with restoration of the
building and conversion to its new function, this grant being supported later
by another from the NSW Heritage Council.
A
number of public meetings were subsequently held in response to the initiative
of Council and a community based committee - The Friends of Braemar - was
formed early in 1985, followed later in the year by a 530A Management Committee
to supervise progress towards the fulfillment of the community's vision for
"Braemar". Membership of both the "Friends" and the
Management Committee reflected the interest of local artists, the historical
society and the library and a good number of the office-bearers of those early
committees shouldered the responsibility for the general functioning of
"Braemar".
In
1985, also, the National Trust of Australia classified "Braemar" and
included it in the Trust's Register as a place having "aesthetic,
historic, scientific or social significance or other special value for future
generations, as well as for the present community."
In
1988 a successful application was made by Blue Mountains City Council for a
grant from the NSW Bicentennial Authority to assist with restoration of the
building and conversion to its new function, this grant being supported later
by another from the NSW Heritage Council.
The restoration work was carried out by Blaxland
builders John M. Coyle & Co. under the supervision of Buckwell &
Partners Architects, of Mount Victoria.
The
official opening of the Braemar Gallery and Local History Centre took place on
Saturday 12 March, 1988, with the State Member for the Blue Mountains, Mr. Bob
Debus, officiating. The following week the Blue Mountains Gazette,
reporting on the occasion, commented that "Braemar now stands to serve the
people of this city as a permanent source of cultural endeavour and a receptacle
of heritage resources. This achievement is the result of a lot of hard work and
dedication by many people...."
Four
years later, on the occasion of the building's hundredth anniversary, the
successful development of its dual roles was viewed as being well established. The
Council's original decision to implement a cultural role for "Braemar"
had been validated.
In 2015 the Braemar Management
Committee was disbanded and Braemar Gallery came under the control of the City
Art Gallery at Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, while a team of volunteers
continues to assist with daily operations.
Local Studies Librarian
Blue Mountains City Library
1992, revised 2016
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books, Pamphlets etc.
·
Australian Men of Mark, Volume 2, Series
1, C.F. Maxwell, Sydney, [1888]
·
Macquarie, Lachlan. Journals of His Tours
in New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land 1810-1822, Public Library of NSW,
Sydney, 1956.
·
Nairn, B. & Serle, G. ed. Australian
Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8, 1891-1939, Melbourne University Press,
Melbourne, 1981. [Entry on T.W. Garrett by K.J. Cable.]
·
NSW Government Tourist Bureau. Hotel and
Boarding-House Directory, NSW Government, Sydney, 1908.
·
Pollard, Jack. Australian Cricket: The
Game and the Players, Hodder & Stoughton, 1982.
·
The Railway Guide of New South Wales, NSW
Government, Sydney, 1886.
·
Ruhan, Carl. The Auctioneers: Lawson's -
the First 100 Years, Ayers & James, Sydney, 1984.
·
Sand's Sydney and Post Office Directory,
Sydney, various years.
·
Searle, A. & Morony, R. Springwood
Notebook 1788 - 1989, Springwood Historical Society, Springwood, 1990.
·
Wise's New South Wales Post Office
Directory, Sydney, various years.
2 Newspapers
·
Blue Mountains Gazette
·
Daily Guardian [Sydney]
·
Illustrated Sydney News
·
Nepean Times
3 Oral History Interviews
·
Alma Platt interviewed by Beryl Myers, 10
December 1985 for Blue Mountains City Library
·
Alfred Sully interviewed by Enid Schafer,
4 September 1989 for the Blue Mountains City Library
·
Marjory Stephens (nee Gillman) and Bessie
Gillman interviewed by John Low and Helen Halliwell, 19 February 1992 for the
Blue Mountains City Library
4 Miscellaneous
·
Blue Mountains City Council Records
Department, Files on Braemar", Commonwealth Electoral Rolls.
·
"Friends of Braemar" and
Management Committee Records, Local Studies Collection, Blue Mountains City
Library.
It
is clear that there are some gaps in our knowledge of the "Braemar"
story. The authors would therefore be very grateful for any corrections and
additional information, photographs etc. If you can help please contact:
Local
Studies Librarian,
Blue
Mountains City Library,
104
Macquarie Road, Springwood. N.S.W. 2777
Telephone
47235044
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The
authors express their sincere thanks to the following people: Gwen
Alexander, Neil Billington, Stephen Gibbs, Bessie Gillman, Pat Hinchliffe, Nancy Ireland, Sheila Lawson, Alma Platt, Gwen Silvey, Colin Slade, Jim Smith,
Marjory Stephens (nee Gillman), Mr & Mrs Graham Stephens.
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