Australiana Pioneer Village.

Together with several fellow photographers, I visited The Australiana Pioneer Village on the Australia Day public holiday this year. The village is a heritage-listed open-air museum and picnic ground covering 28 acres at Wilberforce, New South Wales. It includes a church, post office, shearing shed, blacksmith’s shop, railway station, bank, and Rose Cottage—the oldest timber dwelling in Australia. The site also features houses once lived in by pioneers of the Hawkesbury district during the 1800s.

According to Wikipedia, early settlers farmed the land now occupied by the Australiana Pioneer Village. Colonial authorities recognised it as essential to the survival of New South Wales. The land formed part of the District of Mulgrave Place, the colony’s third mainland settlement. Authorities registered the original 30-acre grant to William MacKay on 1 May 1797. By 1809, Joshua Rose owned at least part of the property. John Rose, the last Rose descendant to live on the fertile farmland, died in 1961. His family had occupied the land continuously for more than 150 years.

After John Rose’s death, Dugald Andrew (Bill) McLachlan purchased the property. McLachlan, an industrial chemist and friend of Rose, thrived on challenges. He competed in gruelling Australian car trials and helped pioneer water-skiing in the 1940s. He developed a vision to preserve part of the Hawkesbury’s historical legacy and highlight its pioneering achievements.

By 1967, McLachlan had begun planning a “Pioneer Village” along his 250-metre frontage on the Hawkesbury River. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he saved many local buildings from demolition. He relocated them to the site. The Australiana Pioneer Village officially opened on 29 November 1970.

Here are some of my images from the day.