Richmond ’ s Bowman Cottage
One of the oldest surviving residences in the Hawkesbury is Bowman Cottage at 368-370 Windsor Street , Richmond . This unique style of cottage was once commonplace in the district but now is much harder to find . James Blackman , a constable , started building the house before 1818 but it was completed by John Bowman ’ s son George in the 1820s .
Originally from East Lothian , John Bowman was apprenticed as a carpenter . He had moved to London and migrated as one of the earliest free settlers to the colony . With his wife Honor and their family , they arrived on the Barwell in 1798 . On arrival he was granted 100 acres in Richmond which he named Archerfield .
Their son George was born in London in 1795 and was only a small child when they arrived . John also encouraged his brother William to migrate . William arrived on the Nile in 1801 with his son , also named William , and settled in the Hawkesbury . William Senior only enjoyed life in the colony for a short while , as he died in 1811 .
By 1815 George was operating a store in Sydney and in 1816 deposited funds with the new Bank of NSW .
In 1818 he acquired property in Windsor Street , Richmond which included a partially constructed residence by James Blackman . Although land had been granted in the district in the late 1790s , Richmond was officially established in 1810 when Governor Macquarie named the township along with Windsor and several other localities .
James Blackman was a constable and had been living in the colony since arriving with his wife and family in 1801 but was experiencing financial difficulties . A contemporary report from James states :
Town map of Richmond . Courtesy NSW Land Registry Services .
“ I had built a frame of a house upon it when I was confined for Debt , and soon after I was released Mr Cox took half of it away saying he must divide the squares and I then sold the frame of the house and improvements to George Bowman .”
George completed the cottage by 1820 . The cottage consists of twelve rooms with attic rooms , stone-flagged verandah , a cellar , with plaster and lathe ceilings . Originally there was a river stone cobbled courtyard , brick stables and a two-storey barn .
In Parramatta in 1820 , George married Eliza Sophia Pearce , and the couple had nine sons and two daughters . George took a keen interest in providing education for his family , and his children were well educated , with some attending university .
George also built , mostly at his own cost , a church , on land he owned in West Market Street . It opened in 1845 as a Free Presbyterian Church and was later gifted to the Presbyterian Church . It became known as St Andrew ’ s and in 1877 he funded the construction of a tower and spire for the building and ordered a clock from London . George died before the clock arrived , which was installed in 1878 .
George Bowman also donated funds when the School of Arts in Richmond began . With a strong interest in local affairs , he was elected as the first mayor of Richmond when Local Government was established in 1872 . He was also a magistrate for many years and served as a Member of the Legislative Council .
Although George owned extensive rural properties , and was a prosperous fellow , he and his wife Sophia , lived in the cottage in Richmond ’ s main street , the whole of their married lives .
George Bowman died in Richmond on 26 August 1878 . His obituary confirmed his generosity and summed up his life and involvement in the Hawkesbury . George
“ had in many ways contributed liberally to promote the good of the town , the district , and the colony . And his memory will long be cherished .”
Sophia Bowman inherited the Windsor Street cottage from her husband and she lived there until her death in 1884 . Both are buried in a vault in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Richmond .
Bowman Cottage Richmond , 1932 . Photographed by Alexander Petrie 1905-1988 . Courtesy State Library of Victoria .
Bowman Cottage , Richmond 2017 . Photo : Jonathan Auld .
George and Sophia ’ s youngest children , twins Andrew and Edward , inherited the cottage following their mother ’ s death in 1884 ; they did not live there but rented it out . In the 1900s , William and Nora Stewart were tenants of the cottage and in 1904 the name of the cottage was called Bleak House , possibly after the novel by Charles Dickens .
During the 1920s the twins started to subdivide the holdings . The subdivision was continued by their heirs , Andrew Stuart Bowman , Andrew Laing Bowman and Edward Hunter Bowman . The cottage and land were all sold by 1930 and then
exchanged hands several times until it was acquired by the State Planning Authority in 1974 .
Archaeological investigations followed and historical research conducted with several reports produced . More recently known as Bowman Cottage , it was restored in the 1980s and currently houses the offices of the National Park and Wildlife Service .
The Bowman family and their descendants were instrumental in the development of Richmond and were generous supporters and donors to the community .
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10 ISSUE 145 // JUNE 2022 theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT