Belvidere

Statement of Significance

• The site has historic and social value for its association with the Prinsep family and managers, Thomas Little and William Mitchell who developed the property. • The site has social value for its association with the alternative lifestyle movement of the 1970s.

Physical Description

The site is located on the Leschenault Peninsula with access to the beaches. Access to the site is by way of a meandering gravel and bitumen road along the western side of the Leschenault Inlet. Belvidere was a house that was open to many who wanted to stay for all sorts of reasons but were all joined in their quest to live an alternative way. The house has long been demolished with the farming land returning back to its natural habitat and is now known as the Leschenault Peninsula Conservation Park. The site now incorporates campsites amongst the tuart forests and offers a range of passive recreational opportunities.

History

Charles Robert Prinsep, barrister and standing counsel to the East India Company of historic Belvidere, Calcutta, India, purchased land in Western Australia, originally Hudson’s grant on the Leschenault Peninsula, Location 7. On his behalf, Thomas Little arrived in 1838, built a homestead called Belvidere and began a horse breeding venture, aimed at providing remounts for the British Indian Army. The Prinsep Estate sent out Indian workers from their estate in Calcutta. Two herds of cattle were introduced; English and Bengali water-buffalo used for heavy work. These animals were herded on the northern end of the peninsula by Thomas Jackson who later sheltered Fenian escapee, John Boyle O’Reilly. Thomas Little left Belvidere in 1852. Another manager, William Bedford Mitchell, took over and exported horses and jarrah sleepers to India. From 1869 to 1878 Belvidere was managed by Charles Prinsep’s son, Henry Charles, artist and public servant, who married Charlotte Josephine Bussell in 1868. Financial problems caused the sale of the property to William Henry Venn of Dardanup. Belvidere homestead, used as a summer retreat, burnt down before 1900. In about 1936 the replacement and a jetty built by his son, Frank Evans Venn, also burnt down. Ownership changes over time included Lewis McDaniel, D.N. McDaniel and Albert Bastow. By the 1970s, Belvidere became a small alternative lifestyle commune of fourteen homes in the possession of Wally Greenham and Shirley Rodda. Belvidere, one of the district’s early estates, is now the Leschenault Peninsula Conservation Park, managed by the Department of Environment and Conservation.

Integrity/Authenticity

None/ None

Condition

N/A

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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