Molloys' House

Statement of Significance

Molloy’s House (site and plaque) is of significance: • For its historical associations with the Molloy family, who were among the first pioneers of Augusta and were instrumental in the original settlement’s development. • As one of the first house sites in the town and region. • For its specific historical association with John Molloy, who was the first Government Resident and Resident magistrate in the region. • For its specific historical association with Georgiana Molloy, who made an important contribution to the early collection and understanding of the native flora. • As a community memorial recognising an important site in the history of Augusta.

Physical Description

The cairn in Georgiana Park has a three-tiered, random stone, stepped base. This supports a simple brick pier with a tapered concrete cap. On the side facing the adjacent waterfront, there are are three plaques: • On this site stood the house of Captain John Molloy who as an officer of the Rifle Brigade served throughout the “Peninsular” and “Waterloo” campaigns. He was on of a ban of settlers at Augusta in 1830 and was appointed first Government Resident at the Settlement on the 1st July 1830.This column was placed here by the Royal Australian Historical Society 1930. • Homesite of Georgiana Molloy. 1830-1839. Pioneer botanist. Augusta & the Vasse. • The base of this memorial was built by the Augusta Branch of the Royal W.A. Historical Society. November 1968. The memorial is set in a small rectangular park sloping down towards Albany Terrace and the waterfront. The site also includes signage, designating this as part of the Augusta-Busselton Heritage Trail

History

The first home of John and Georgiana Molloy and their family was built in 1830, following the establishment of the new settlement of Augusta.John and Georgiana were very important first settlers to the Augusta district. John Molloy was the first magistrate - appointed by Stirling in 1830 - and Georgiana later collected enormous amounts of botanical specimens and sent them to England. Her extensive collection was very important in the early understanding of the native flora.The house was a two-storey building with a verandah, about 100 metres from the water’s edge. To preclude the spread of fire, John Molloy copied the common colonial practice of setting the kitchen a little apart from the main building. Another exterior room housed the Molloy’s principal servants, the Dawsons. This was also the site of the first garden planted by Georgiana in this new and foreign country.Hardship and isolation in the new settlement ended with many of the original settlers at Augusta giving up, and moving north to the Vasse area in the mid-late 1830s. Captain Molloy and his wife Georgiana had left Augusta by 1839. The last of the early settlers left Augusta in 1849 and the area then languished until a new wave of settlers arrived in the 1860s.Descendants of the Molloys donated the site of the first family home to the people of Augusta and the Molloys were later commemorated by the erection of a plaque on a cairn in what was developed as Georgiana Park.The first plaque was installed in 1930, commemorating 100 years since the colonial settlement of Augusta. This acknowledges John Molloy and his association with this site. Later plaques commemorate Georgiana Molloy and the role of the Augusta Branch of the Royal Australian Historical Society in constructing a new based for the memorial in 1968.

Integrity/Authenticity

Historic site – N/A Memorial - High: The original use has been maintained. Historic site – N/A Memorial - High: The original/significant fabric is largely intact.

Condition

Historic site only.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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