RAWDON - a most historic property

 

Rawdon woolshed

Photo by John Broadley

Rawdon is one of the most historic properties in the district which was owned for almost a hundred years by the Cox family, one of the district’s leading pioneer families. It is situated on the northern bank of the Cudgegong River opposite Dabee.   

The property was established by Edward Cox, the seventh son of William Cox of Clarendon, Windsor. William Cox held a commission in the NSW Corps and acquired numerous land grants in the Hawkesbury Valley at Windsor. He is chiefly remembered for his remarkable feat of overseeing the construction of the first road over the Blue Mountains in 1815. William Cox was one of the earliest sheep breeders and with his sons managed a number of large properties. Young Edward was sent to Rawdon in Yorkshire renowned for its woollen industry. On his return he constructed Fernhill at Mulgoa as his families principal residence with another residence Belbeah at Mount Wilson.

The property has later associations with other Cox family members as well as other well-known families such as the Mortons, Carruthers, Clarkes and Kerrs.

The house is likely to have evolved, like many simple 19th Century Australian homesteads, and consists of three sections, originally detached, constructed around a U-shaped courtyard. There was a small homestead at Rawdon by 1834 but the earliest section of the existing homestead may have replaced this earlier building. The central section of the homestead is built of sandstone unusually cut in small blocks with sandstone quoins. The building is hip roofed with a concave verandah. The two service wings are also hip roofed but constructed in English bond brickwork. The internal finishes are of a high standard with polished joinery and the dining room has an ornate timber panelled ceiling.
 
The woolshed is of particular significance and may predate the existing homestead. It is of sandstone construction and may have been built by the stonemasons from Fernhill during the 1840s. The building is high roofed with its original shingles below the galvanised iron and of particular interest are the Gothic arched windows on the southern elevation. The shed is still in use. 

Ref: Rylstone Shire Community Heritage Study by Christo Aitken, Heritage Adviser

RAWDON1

This was one of the earliest properties in the Rylstone district, originally owned by Edward Cox of Fernhill, Mulgoa. Edward was the seventh son of WilLiam Cox (renowned for his achievement in building the first road from the Nepean to Bathurst) and the first of William’s sons born in Australia. He married Jane Maria Brooks in 1827, third daughter of Richard Brooks of Denham Court, near Liverpool.2 

The eldest son of this marriage was Edward King Cox who, when a young man, went to Rawdon, Yorkshire, to improve his knowledge of the wool industry. Stud sheep were imported from Yorkshire by the Cox family and it is believed that this property was named Rawdon because of the Yorkshire link.

ike his father, Edward King Cox was a member of the Legislative Council. He served this body from 1874 until 1883 - the year of his death. Many acres were added to the original Cox holdings in the Rylstone district during E. K. Cox’s lifetime. 

Rawdon was inherited by Standish Cox, eldest son of E. K. Cox, and he made this property his home. He married Alice, daughter of Sloper Cox of Hobartville, Richmond. Of their famiLy of eight, only two were sons - Edward King Standish and Myles Standish, both of whom were killed in Egypt in December 1914 within four days. $tandish Cox died in 1918 and Rawdon was sold during that year. Since then it has had a series of owners. A large proportion of the original acreage was taken for soldier settlement.
Now owned by Mr. W. Kerr, it has been in his family since 1945. Used primarily for pastoral purposes over the years, Mr. Kerr is proving that the property is capable of producing a variety of crops with which he is successfully experimenting.

The homestead has been built in two different periods - one part with sandstock bricks and the other of stone. To dat,e, the year in which either of these was built has eluded researchers. The woolshed is a fine stone structure which was probably erected in the mid - 19th century. 

1. Dept. of Lands - Survey Branch.
   
2. Pioneer Families of Australia by P. C. Mow1e.

1 Tour of Rylstone - Capertee Valley compiled by F L Scurrah & Freda Palmer