Glencoe House Site

Statement of Significance

The building is important for its connection with the first European settlement of the area and for its association with pioneering families. The building is a fine example of the style, construction methods and use of building materials in this period.

Physical Description

Remnants marking the site include an ancient Mulberry tree and large pepper tree. The structure became unstable and unsafe in the early 1980's and was demolished by the current owner. The well which supplied the house was just to the east. This had a large (6m square) opening and was lined with sheoak (4" diameter). Over the years it had gradually caved in and a dam was constructed on the site (also incorporates part of the house site).

However no seepage was evident in the dam - perhaps being sealed over by clay. Further east are chimney remnants of an old cottage. The homestead had a thatched straw roof with sheoak and pug walls.

History

This selection was made by Michael Cronin and was an outpost of European civilisation for many years. Michael Cronin, then 13, was one of five children who had emigrated from County Cork, Ireland with their parents in 1855. Tragedy struck within a month of their arrival when their mother Margaret Cronin died. The father, Patrick, found employment as a bricklayer and the eldest son, John (aged 14), learnt this trade which he was to practice successfully in the years to follow. Michael attended Bishop's School, Perth and upon leaving was engaged in the bakery trade until the family moved to Pinjarra. In the early 1860's the two brothers came south with John building in the Arthur River and Kojonup areas while Michael worked on a farm for two years before he took up Solomon Drolf s lease at Mallitup. It was not long before the brothers were to find wives to share their lonely lives. In 1866 Michael married Eleanor Noonan and the following year John married Eliza McKenna, daughter of the first policeman at Eticup Station. Michael Cronin in August 1874 decided to move from Mallitup to east of Round Pool and applied for a special occupation lease (this was later to be Location 219) and moved all his interests to his new home at Glencoe and brother John left to start a new life for his family at Bunkin, north of the Dumbleyung Lake. In November 1884 Michael's wife Eleanor died in childbirth and the five black party frocks which she had so carefully sewn for her five daughters during her confinement were worn for the first time at her funeral at Kojonup. It fell on the three oldest Cronin girls Agnes, Eleanor and Mary, to take charge of the Cronin household. As they were the oldest of the 10 children they had become accustomed to helping with the household as each two years in the past there had been an addition to the family. So in the same way as their brothers became almost legendary horsemen in later years, the girls were renowned for their cooking ability and hospitality. This family tradition was carried forward and it was said by the old timers that the Cronins had fed half the district at one time or another..

The death of Michael Cronin at Glencoe in 1931 came as a sad loss to the district. His presence had been a bridge between the old pioneering days of the Colony and the new century. As a Justice of the Peace he had sat on the bench at the Katanning Court on many occasions. His son, Frank, lived in the old cottage at Glencoe, which served as a school in the old days for the Cronin children, which had been built at the same time as the main Glencoe Homestead. The property passed to Lindsay Cronin after the death of his bachelor uncles, Don and Frank. Lindsay's father, Eddy farmed at Paringa which was a few miles to the Southwest, opposite Bill Cronin's Yelyelling farm. Eddy's other brother, Harry, farmed at Nyabing for many years.

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