Parish: Calderwood
County: Camden
Marshall Mount is in the south west of the Wollongong Local Government Area, near Dapto.
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Local communities of Aboriginal people were the original inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of Illawarra Land. Their dialect is a variant of the Dharawal language.
Before European settlement, the Aboriginal people of the region lived in small family groups with complicated social structures and close associations with specific areas.
Suburb boundaries do not reflect the cultural boundaries of the local Aboriginal community.
Traditional Custodians today are descendants of the original inhabitants and have ongoing spiritual and cultural ties to the Land and waterways where their ancestors lived.
In 1829 Henry Osborne received 2560 acres in the Dapto district. He named his property Marshall Mount from his wife's maiden name. His wife, Sarah, was the daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Marshall.
The Osbornes erected a stone dwelling on their property which was called Marshall Mount House.
Land grants
The following grants included land in Marshall Mount:
- Henry Osborne (Marshall Mount, 2,560 acres)
- Charles Throsby Smith (Calderwood, 1,280 acres)
- George Johnston (Johnston's Meadows, 1,300 acres).
Henry and Sarah Osborne
Henry Osborne was a wealthy Irish immigrant to whom the government granted 2,560 acres in the Dapto district in 1829. He named the property 'Marshall Mount' after his wife Sarah’s maiden name.
By the 1840s he had added to his estate by securing Charles Throsby Smith’s 'Calderwood', Elyard’s 'Avondale', William Browne’s 'Athanlin', Brooks' 'Exmouth' and numerous smaller grants.
The Osbornes had become one of the most powerful families in the region. Henry and Sarah initially settled at Marshall Mount in Pumpkin Cottage under fairly primitive conditions. Later Osborne recruited skilled labour to build Marshall Mount House.
In 1851 Henry Osborne entered politics. He was elected to the Legislative Council as member for East Camden, and represented his constituency in the first Legislative Assembly (McDonald, 1976; Dowd, B.T. , 1960; Hagan, 1997).
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1829 | 2,560 acres granted to Henry Osborne (The Garden of New South Wales, LR994.46 COU) |
| 1832 | 'Pumpkin Cottage' built (Illawarra Region Historic Buildings and Sites, Volume II, LRF994.46 ALI) |
| 1839 | 'Pumpkin Cottage' enlarged and renamed 'Marshall Mount House' after Henry Osborne's wife (Illawarra Region Historic Buildings and Sites, Volume II, LRF994.46 ALI) |
| 1843 | Produce and stock from the Osborne estates exhibited in Market Street, Wollongong; this became the first Agricultural Show in the Illawarra (The Garden of New South Wales, LR994.46 COU) |
| 1844 | Henry Osborne became a founding member of the Agricultural Society (The Garden of New South Wales, LR994.46 COU) |
| 1844 | Henry Osborne became the member for Marshall Mount in the newly established Illawarra District Council (The Garden of New South Wales, LR994.46 COU) |
| 1856 | First Wesleyan Methodist Church built (Illawarra Mercury, 8/12/1856) |
| 1859 | First school built on site donated by Henry Osborne (The Garden of New South Wales, LR994.46 COU; Illawarra Region Historic Buildings and Sites, Volume II, LRF994.46 ALI) |
| 1859 | Henry Osborne died (Illawarra Index) |
| 1861 | Penny Bank established at Marshall Mount School (The Garden of New South Wales, LR994.46 COU) |
| 1866 | Marshall Mount National School became a Public School (The Garden of New South Wales, LR994.46 COU) |
| 1879 | Wesleyan Methodist Church burnt down (Illawarra Mercury, 8/7/1879) |
| 1879 | Wesleyan Methodist Church rebuilt (Illawarra Mercury, 30/12/1879) |
| 1890 | Marshall Estate subdivided into 22 farm lots and sold; it was the largest sale by public auction since first settlement of the area and the first large estate to be sold (Illawarra Index) |
| 1890 | Robert Menzies Dymock purchased farm lot that included Marshall Mount House (Illawarra Index) |
| 1896 | George and Elizabeth McDonald purchased a farm lot (Illawarra Branches, #50, March 1997) |
| 1897 | Second school building constructed (Local cuttings file) |
| 1928 | Electricity supply instituted (The Garden of New South Wales, LR994.46 COU) |
| 1953 | Marshall Mount Hall officially opened by Mr Hughie Stevenson, President of the Progress Association (Illawarra Index) |
| 1962 | Milk production ceased at North Marshall Mount (Illawarra Index) |
| 1962 | Dedication of the 'Marshall Mount Cemetery Memorial' (Illawarra Index) |
| 1972 | Marshall Mount School closed (Local cuttings file) |
| 1973 | The 'Marshall Mount Merry Makers' celebrate 20 years of playing (Illawarra Index) |
| 2003 | 50 year anniversary of Marshall Mount Old Time Dance (Local cuttings file) |
Top image: Denniss Family, Marshall Mount, 1880. See image details on our catalogue