Napier's 100 Acres

By Ray Gibb.

Thomas Napier was first to buy land from Brewster, paying 320 pounds for his 100 acres on 30-12-1845. It had a frontage of 105 chains to the future Woodland St and 10 chains to the future Carnarvon Rd. Its northern boundary, running east to the Moonee Moonee Ponds, is precisely indicated by Glenbervie and Upland Rds. Two roads were reserved out of this land, with Brewster and his successors given right of passage over them. I thought the first, running north from a point 35 chains east of the s/w corner of section 15 would be Napier St, but this street is actually 42 ½ chains east, so the road would have run through Napier Park. The second was to run along the north boundary of Napier's purchase from the first road to the creek with Brewster's right of passage to be terminated if a government road(2) was opened along the western extremity of the second road within 6 or 8 chains.

Thomas Napier called his farm Rose Mount in 1847 but the mount or Napier's perception of its height shrank so that the name was adapted to Rosebank. Thomas gave the western end of the farm to his son, Theodore, who named this portion Magdala. At the time of Thomas's death in 1881, Magdala consisted of 20 acres (east only to a point opposite Salmon Ave) and did not include Napier Park, which he donated on 20-8-1920. In 1900, Magdala was still only 20 acres and was being leased by John Scott. In 1920-1, obviously after the donation had been deducted, Magdala consisted of 33 acres extending east to Noble Ave, and was occupied by Theodore. Before the donation, Magdala would have comprised 43 acres.

Thomas Napier's widow remained in the stone and brick house (apparently just west of the later mansion) on 23 acres until the property passed to her daughter Eleanor in about 1891. During the next two years Eleanore's husband, George Page Barber, built the house at the n/w corner of St Vincents. The 1899-1900 rate book of Broadmeadows Shire assessed the nett annual value of the house at 200 pounds, ten or 20 times as much as most houses. Eleanore Barber's "Rosehill", 22 acres surrounding the house, had a N.A.V. of only 50 pounds; it would be far more valuable than the well-kept mansion today.

Barber died on 26-3-1914. His son, Dr Norman Charles Barber subdivided the property as the Rosebank estate (3).

In 1879-80, Thomas Napier was listed as the occupier of 80 acres. Ten acres of this, immediately across the Moonee Ponds Creek from La Rose, seems to have been traditionally leased by the occupants of that 270 acre farm. On 13-10-1873, Thomas Napier agreed to lease this land to William McCulloch from 1-8-1873 for three years at a rent of 10 pounds per annum. The land had been previously occupied by James Robertson, owner of La Rose, who had leased his farm to McCulloch. It is unlikely that McCulloch of riverboat fame saw out the lease as he bought Glenroy Farm from Donald Kennedy's widow in the next year or so.

Because the part of Rosebank between the railway and creek is split among four Melway maps it is difficult to calculate its area. However, using the south and north boundaries of 10 and 29 chains (obtained by deduction from dimensions in memorials), I have reckoned it as 4.5 + 10 + 4.5 acres.

In 1920-1, Mrs A.Walker was leasing 20 acres, on the creek and on the north side of Woodlands St, from Willy, close enough to my calculated 19 acres. Apart from the Rosebank estate, also listed in Woodland St were: Harry Hudson, house and land and Michael J.White 22 acres(4) and a house and 15/2? acres. Magdala was 33 acres, the park 10 acres, Mrs Walker had 20 acres, White had 22 acres and the last confused entry should be 15 acres; these add up exactly to the 100 acres purchased from Brewster 75 years earlier.

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