The first mention I can find of asparagus was in The Australasian of October 31,
1896. There was a report on James
Pincott’s farm about three miles from Bunyip, one of the most interesting and best managed in the settlement. Mr.
Pincott carried out some experiments for six months for the Agricultural
Department on this plot, when the fertility of the soil was being tested, and
the place locally has consequently become known as the “experimental
farm." He grew potatoes, onions, strawberries, and clover, amongst
other crops and found that Asparagus and
celery can be raised to wonderful perfection.
The
next reference was in The Age of May 10,
1912 when it was reported that Thomas
Roxburgh, had planted asparagus at his farm on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp. Mr. Roxburgh who,
although a busy man in Melbourne, pays a good deal of attention to his farm at
Iona, and for a considerable time has experimented in the cultivation of
asparagus. Some three years ago he put in one acre as a test, adopting the
American principle of planting 1 foot in depth and 3 feet between the plants,
with rows 10 feet apart, so as to allow of cultivation between, the soil being
of a peaty nature. Now he has nine acres under asparagus, and intends extending
the area, as the managers of hotels and cafes in Melbourne have advised him
that the asparagus is of the
finest quality.
This article puts Roxburgh’s first planting in 1909; he had imported the seed
from California.
Who was Thomas Roxburgh and where was his farm? His farm, Cheriton Park, was on the corner of
Fallon Road and Simpson Road at Vervale, even though it is also listed in the
papers as being at Iona, Garfield or Catani. The farm was locally known as Roxburgh Park and was 350 acres.
Thomas Roxburgh was born in Jamaica, West Indies to Adam
Roxburgh and Jane Watson. The family arrived in Melbourne on September 28, 1853
when Thomas was two years old. They moved to Ballarat which was where he
married Sarah Anne Holthouse on July 2, 1879. Sarah was the daughter of Ballarat’s well known and most esteemed citizen, Dr Thomas Le Gay Holthouse, as he was described in a newspaper report, and his wife Hanna (nee Pratt).
Thomas and Sarah had seven children - Edith Jenny (1880-1881), Mabel Stella (1881-1970), Leslie Le Gay (1884 -1969, married the delightfully named Miss Widgie Potts of Narrabri, NSW, in 1915. Her real name was the more prosaic Ann), Reginald Owen (1889-1953, 1st A.I.F), Dorothy Alice (1890-1987), Leeuwin Beatrice (1895 - 1981, married Peter Charles Ferguson, of Barcaldine, QLD, in 1924), and Mary Hope Bradgate (1899 - 1978, married Jeffrey Ivey Retallack in 1942). The first two children were born in Ballarat and the rest in Hawthorn. Sarah Anne Roxburgh died on 1942, aged 84. Thomas and Sarah are buried at Brighton Cemetery. Interestingly, their name is spelt as Roxburghe on the head stone.
Thomas and Sarah had seven children - Edith Jenny (1880-1881), Mabel Stella (1881-1970), Leslie Le Gay (1884 -1969, married the delightfully named Miss Widgie Potts of Narrabri, NSW, in 1915. Her real name was the more prosaic Ann), Reginald Owen (1889-1953, 1st A.I.F), Dorothy Alice (1890-1987), Leeuwin Beatrice (1895 - 1981, married Peter Charles Ferguson, of Barcaldine, QLD, in 1924), and Mary Hope Bradgate (1899 - 1978, married Jeffrey Ivey Retallack in 1942). The first two children were born in Ballarat and the rest in Hawthorn. Sarah Anne Roxburgh died on 1942, aged 84. Thomas and Sarah are buried at Brighton Cemetery. Interestingly, their name is spelt as Roxburghe on the head stone.
Thomas Roxburgh (1851 - 1931)
The Argus December 31, 1931 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4432544
According to
his obituary, Thomas became a member of the
firm of James Fry and Co., wheat millers and ship charterers. In 1895 Mr.
Roxburgh commenced business on his own account as a grain and shipping broker
in Collins-street, and this business he personally conducted practically up to
the time of his death. He did a large business, with the East, and was agent
for steamers trading with Japan. (The
Age, December 30, 1931)
Thomas died on December 29, 1931 and his pall bearers were - Sir James Elder, trade advisor to the Commonwealth Governement and Director of Goldsbrough Mort pastoral company. Read his entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, here; Japanese Merchant, Mr T. Hirai - I have no more information about him at the moment, but maybe connected to the Japan-Australia line of which Roxburgh was an agent; Walter Herbert Sollas, shipping agent, died 1933 aged 78; William Howell Swanton, Director of William Crosby & Co. - Ships Agents, Charterers and merchants, died 1951 aged 88; John Fordyce, General Manager Union Bank, Collins Street, died 1942, aged 78; Norman Seale, chairman of the Victorian Stevedoring Co.; Aubrey Clifton Matthews, who later became a Director of the Roxburgh Company; W. Parbury - presumably connected to the firm of Parbury, Henty & Co, merchants and importers and exporters.
Back to Thomas and his asparagus - Roxburgh
did not personally work on the farm, he employed a farm manager and by 1927 it
was reported he had planted 100 acres of asparagus, and his farm was one of the most lucrative farms on the Kooweerup
Swamp area, as a ready sale is found for the product at £1 per box. The rich,
peaty soil is particularly adapted for the production of the plant, which grows
to perfection. (The Age,
September 28, 1927). By 1932, the farm had 120 acres under asparagus and in the cutting season 20 to 25 men are employed
every day, and from 10cwt. to 15cwt. of asparagus a day are despatched. [cwt - hundred weight
or 112 pounds or 50 kg]. (The Argus,
April 2, 1932)
It seems that most of the asparagus was canned by either
the Gartside cannery at Dingley or the Rosella Preserving Company or A.J.C. (Australasian
Jam Company).
During the Second World War, the Roxburgh farm had the Australian
Women’s Land Army (AWLA) girls working on the property. The AWLA was
established to fill the gap in agricultural workers due to the War. They had
training at Mont Park or the Werribee Research Station and were then allocated
to farms.
Australian Women's Land Army girls - Naida Rose and Jennie Shouewille working on Roxburgh's farm.
The Australasian November 21, 1942.
View this and other photos here http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142417773
The Argus of November 11, 1942
interviewed Mr G. Roxburgh (this was Thomas’ son Leslie Le Gay, who was listed in the Electoral Roll at Vervale, occupation farm manager) - about the Land Army 'girls' and the family farm which was growing asparagus for the use of the Army. Mr Roxburgh was quoted as being “very proud of the girls. He finds them fine workers, though physically
they cannot stand up to the same speed of work as the men. He thinks that 5
girls can do the work of 3 men”. “They
are steady workers," Mr Roxburgh said, "and once I have told them what fields I want done I do not have to
worry again.” The women did the cutting, placing the spears into bundles, the
picking up of the bundles onto the cart and also worked in the packing shed. The
report goes onto describe the living conditions - There are 20 girls, and they live in a camp on the estate, where they
sleep in tents and have a small recreation hut. The camp is run on the lines of
a Girl Guides' camp, as 2 of the girls first there are Guides, and they helped
to establish the camp. The day is a long one. The girls rise at 6.15 and are in
the fields at 7.30. They have one hour for lunch, 12 to 1, when they all go to
the cookhouse for a generous hot meal, and then spend 20 minutes or so in their
tents resting. Work finishes about 5.30, or sometimes earlier if they are able
to get through their day's work quicker. In spite of this long day, the
reporter said that after work the girls
often ride the 6 miles on bicycles to Garfield, to go to the pictures or to a
dance. The day I was there several girls were going to walk 2 or 3 miles to a
dance!
Australian Women's Land Army girl - Norma Elliott working on Roxburgh's farm.
The Australasian November 21, 1942.
View this and other photos here http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142417773
All the asparagus produced was being sent to the canneries
for the American Army, as it had been declared a ‘luxury item’ by the
Commonwealth Government. Mr Gartside was not happy about this and he was
interviewed by the Herald on June 1,
1943 - Canneries which had processed
practically the entire output, were virtually told that tins could not be
provided for asparagus designed for civilian consumption. Instead of canning
asparagus in long spears, canneries had been ordered to cut it into small soup
pieces, which turned good food into pig's food, claimed Mr Gartside. Both
civilians and service personnel were prevented from eating asparagus as it
should be eaten—long spears dipped in melted butter or iced — and troops would
have to eat it in soup or with a fork.
From October 1944 there was a small Italian Prisoner of War Camp at Koo Wee Rup (read more here) and the men were allocated to work on various local farms, including the Roxburgh farm. My Dad, Frank Rouse, who was ten at the time, remembers truckloads of the prisoners driving down the road to the farm in the morning, one guard on each truck. At lunch time a food van with a portable cooker would go the farm to feed them.
Australian Women's Land Army girls - setting out for the field after their midday rest on Roxburgh's farm.
The Australasian November 21, 1942.
View this and other photos here http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142417773
From October 1944 there was a small Italian Prisoner of War Camp at Koo Wee Rup (read more here) and the men were allocated to work on various local farms, including the Roxburgh farm. My Dad, Frank Rouse, who was ten at the time, remembers truckloads of the prisoners driving down the road to the farm in the morning, one guard on each truck. At lunch time a food van with a portable cooker would go the farm to feed them.
Cheriton Park was sold in 1947 to A.J.C and by that time it had 125 acres of asparagus under production. A report in the Weekly Times of November 24, 1939 said that the Koo Wee Rup Swamp had 1,300 acres under asparagus. There were two other early growers that I found reports on. The Weekly Times of March 22, 1941 reported that Mr Alf Ellett had noticed that after the 1937 flood, asparagus that he had planted in his garden grew well, so he started planting the crop on a commercial basis and by 1941 had nineteen acres sown with seedlings in hand to sow another 10 acres. Also, in the Weekly Times, this time on September 14, 1944, there was an obituary for Charles William Wadsley, who died in 1944 at the age of 53. The Obituary described him thus - He was an expert on asparagus growing, and in addition to his own property [Strathellen] supervised an asparagus farm at Geelong.
Finally, there was an interview in the Pakenham Gazette of December 8, 1999 with Bill Roxburgh, the grandson of Thomas. In the interview Bill talks about how his grandfather, who owned Cheriton Park, had planted all different kinds of trees on a five acre section of his land and had built his own park to relax in. Some of the trees are still there.
Finally, there was an interview in the Pakenham Gazette of December 8, 1999 with Bill Roxburgh, the grandson of Thomas. In the interview Bill talks about how his grandfather, who owned Cheriton Park, had planted all different kinds of trees on a five acre section of his land and had built his own park to relax in. Some of the trees are still there.
Some of the trees planted by Thomas Roxburgh at Cheriton Park.
(photo taken about 2010)
I have created a list of newspaper articles on Trove on asparagus growing on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp in the early days and Thomas Roxburgh, you can access it, here.
