Bundidup Homestead

Statement of Significance

• Bundidup Homestead is the remnants of a brick homestead and a former stone farm building built in the mid 19th century for Thomas Hayward (1832-1915) who established a farming property around this homestead c1858. The house is believed to have been built with the assistance of convict labour. The place has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons;
• the place has value for its association with the early settlement of the Harvey district and its development as a locality for primary production and its later uses for social welfare, education and research;
• Bundidup Homestead is associated with the Hayward family who made valuable contributions to the Harvey and Bunbury communities. Thomas Hayward, the elder, established Bundidup farm in the 1850s and developed the property and a store in Bunbury, bearing his name, into successful enterprises that continued into the 20th century;
• Bundidup Homestead is valued by the community for its association with the early settlement of the district. The attempt to restore the homestead in the 1970s by members of the community demonstrated the interest and commitment felt by the community towards this place;
• Bundidup Homestead has importance for its potential to provide archaeological material which may provide a wider understanding of the practices during the 19th century in and around farms. The remaining built fabric may provide examples of convict construction for further study;
• the place has value for its association with the development of scientific practice in relation to the agricultural industry in the 1950s. The establishment of the Wokalup Research Station at this site was valuable to the development of good practices in the district. The acquisition of the property by the WA College of Agriculture in the 1990s has taken the property into an educative function;
• Bundidup Homestead is associated with the ‘Ugly Men’s Movement’ of the 1920s and 1930s which provided welfare for the community and at this location established a programme of farm schooling for boys as an alternate to incarceration; and
• Bundidup Homestead has aesthetic value as a ruin within a grouping of trees in a rural setting which can be viewed from a widespread locality.

Physical Description

The site of Bundidup Homestead contains the ruins of the house, ruins of the former stone slaughterhouse to the south east of the property, remnant evidence of additional farming and research station structures and the dam on the creek approximately 800m to the east of the homestead. Remnant plantings remain around the site including rosebushes, olive trees and carob trees.
The former homestead is in a ruinous condition. The floor plan is still discernible. Sections of the external elevations have crumbled and the majority of the roofing structure has been lost.

Bundidup Homestead as it presents today [2014] is a shell of a building with most of the external and internal walls extant, window and door placements are evident together with remnant roofing fabric. A number of floor boards remain in place though the majority have been removed/displaced and there is evidence of extant decorative features including skirtings, dado rails and paint colours.

The property was a single storey homestead with three large rooms to the front of the dwelling, a large kitchen to the rear and a large void area adjacent to the kitchen. Smaller rooms abutted the south-east and south-west corners and a large projecting wing was added extending from the south-east corner of the property. The property was predominantly constructed with double leaf red brick walls laid in English bond (alternate rows of header and stretcher bricks with the header bricks tying the two leafs of the wall together) although the kitchen area was of rubble stone construction with red brick quoining to the edges and window openings. The roof was an expansive hipped roof with a ‘broken back’ pitch over the verandah and side rooms. Archival images appear to show the rooms to the north, south and western sides of the property having a low sweeping roof. There was a verandah to the front section and an open void to the rear, adjacent to the kitchen. A number of the rafters can be seen in situ over the kitchen area and the south-west section of the property. The roof was originally shingled but the remnant of the roof as at 2014 show the rafters to be lined with long thin timber boards with corrugated iron sheeting on top. Many of the roof boards have fallen into the property together with the rafters. Little of the corrugated iron sheeting remains on the site.

History

Thomas Hayward (1832 - 1915) was born in Suffolk, England, the son of a gentleman farmer. His cousin, Robert Rose, had migrated to Western Australia and after hearing about the large acreages available there, Thomas joined his aunt, Mrs Elizabeth Rose and her children, Charles and Bessie, on the 'Devonshire' which landed in Fremantle in September 1853.

Thomas Hayward tried several properties in the region in partnership with members of the Rose family until in 1859 he bought Bundidup.

In 1861, Thomas Hayward married Catherine Logue who had been living with her brothers north of the Harvey River since 1852. A simple cottage was built at Bundidup for Thomas and Catharine Hayward and their first child, a daughter, was born in 1862. This simple cottage burnt down in 1862/63. By 1870, Catharine had borne six more children, three girls and three boys.

In 1862, Thomas Hayward bought land in Bunbury to accommodate the sale of imported agricultural implements and farm machinery. Thomas Hayward and Son, as the business was known became the biggest business in Bunbury and expanded from farm machinery to supplying most goods for farm, home and clothing. By the mid sixties Thomas Hayward was fully occupied with business and Catherine supervised the farming operations.

Convicts played a major role in developing Bundidup. The Hayward's used ticket-of-leave men to develop and work the property. It is believed that ticket-of-leave men built some of the homestead rooms.

Thomas the younger, (1865-1920), was given control of Bundidup probably in the late 1880s while his father continued the business in Bunbury.

Always active in local affairs, Thomas Hayward the elder, JP, held at various times every senior position in the local government of the Wellington district, the Wellington Agricultural Society and the Bunbury Hunt Club. He was an original director of the Bunbury Building Society in 1882 and chairman in 1885-1913. Thomas Hayward, the younger was also active in local affairs and served as Chairman of the Harvey Road Board from 1918 until his death in 1920.

Bundidup was farmed by three generations of Haywards, all named Thomas. It was sold out of the family by the third Thomas Hayward in 1926.

The property was leased for several years until it was purchased in 1932 by the Ugly Men's Association as a Boys Farm School. The place was used for training boys in farming techniques until 1938.

In 1939, the property was purchased by the State Government for use by the Mental Health Department. This programme was not pursued and by the end of the 1940s the property was being used for agistment of stock.

In 1950, the farm became an agricultural research station to serve irrigation areas. The 1950s, was a period of economic prosperity in Western Australia particularly in regional areas. The government were able to invest in regional projects and in the early 1950s new houses were built on the property south of Mornington Road to house the Research station workers and their families.

The old homestead is believed to have been occupied until the mid-1960s although this has not been confirmed. Once the property was unoccupied the building began to decline.

In 1999, the Wokalup Research Station was sold to the Education Department and became the Harvey Agricultural College's farm. The former homestead buildings were fenced from further damage from straying cattle.

In addition to the homestead there is believed to be a grave site located near the creek towards Mornington. Following a sequence of events in October 1880, Albert Cunnold, an employee of Hayward’s, shot himself at the house he lived in at Bundidup. Hayward buried Cunnold on his farm apparently at a location under a tree near a creek. The site was not located in this research.

Integrity/Authenticity

Low/ High

Condition

Poor

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.