Labassa, the grand mansion in Caulfield North began life in the 1860s as a house of eight rooms, built for Richard Billing. Mr Billing, who had named the house, Sylliott Hill, extended the house to twenty rooms in 1873. In 1887, the property was purchased by Alexander William Robertson who renamed the house Ontario and remodelled it into the 35 room mansion that exists today. The property was sold to John Boyd Watson in 1904 and he renamed it Labassa (1). It is now owned by the National Trust.
The house, which now fronts onto Manor Grove, was originally on a much larger land holding with its front gates on the corner of Orrong and Balaclava Roads. It is actually these front gates, which are now at Maddingley Park, Bacchus Marsh, which are the subject of this post. The gates were imported from Scotland, at a cost of £800, and are said to be the finest set of gates in Australia (2). It was perhaps Alexander Robertson who imported the gates as a fitting entrance to his mansion, but I cannot confirm this, as yet.
Front gates of Labassa, c.1916
State Library of Victoria Image H98.221/5
The Labassa property was sub-divided in 1913, when 46 allotments were sold at auction on November 29 (3). Some of the allotments facing Balaclava Road were sold for £8 a foot, and others including allotments in Labassa Grove and Ontario Street for between £3 to £5 per foot (4). Labassa Lives, a National Trust newsletter, said that the gates were purchased by Edmund George Ovey (5). Ovey also purchased Lot 6 in the land sale (6). In February 1919, the Labassa mansion was on the market and it was advertised as being on four acres with a frontage of 358 feet to Orrong Road (7).
MMBW plan of Ontario / Labassa, which shows the location of the gates.
Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works detail plan. 1431, Shire of Caulfield, 1901.
The gates remained in situ until 1921 (8) when they were purchased by the Bacchus Marsh branch of the Australian Natives Association (A.N.A.) for Maddingley Park. The Melton Express reported on October 1, 1921 that after negotiations extending over four months the gates had been acquired at a very great bargain - a fraction of their cost. The gates will be removed and re-erected at Bacchus Marsh immediately and the fencing at the Park gone on with at the same time (9).
There was a very detailed description of the gates in the Melton Express in January 1922 - the iron work (manufactured by Messrs. W. Macfarlane & Co., Glasgow, Scotland) weighs eight tons, and the bluestone foundations another eight tons. The width of the work is 52ft., which consists of two traffic gates, each 7ft. in width, which swing round per roller on a steel track; on each side of these there is a hand gate, 4½ feet in width, one of which will be provided with a turnstile and swing lift gate........ Flanking the gates is further ornamental palisading - whole built in the form of a crescent. The gates are 7½ feet high, which are interspersed with massive pillars, 10ft. high, set on bluestone pieces, 3½ft. x 3ft., under which is 12 inches of cement concrete so there should be no danger of them sagging (10). At sixteen tons it would have been a heavy load to transport at the time, presumably with horses and drays, and a slow trip from Caulfield to Bacchus Marsh, a distance of close to 40 miles.
Former Labassa Gates at Maddingley Park, Bacchus Marsh, c. 1975.
Photographer: John T. Collins
State Library of Victoria Image H90.100/570
The gates were officially presented to the Trustees of Maddingley Park at a ceremony on February 26, 1922. The Bacchus Marsh Express of March 4, 1922 reported on this ceremony - Maddingley Park - On Sunday afternoon last a large crowd assembled at the above spot, the occasion being the official handing over of the handsome entrance gates as a gift from the Bacchus Marsh branch A.N.A. to the Park Trustees. The neat brass plate on the front of the gates gives the following information to all who pass that way: - "These gates were presented to Maddingley Park by Bacchus Marsh Branch A.N.A., as a memorial to the fallen soldiers of the district. February, 1922." (11).
Photographer: Robert (Bic) Bicknell
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
The unveiling ceremony was performed by the Chief President of the A.N.A., Mr. Thomas Rust and it was the desire of the A.N.A. that the gates be memorial gates. Mr Rust was reported as saying that Bacchus Marsh had carried out its part in the Great War well, as also had the local branch, who, in making this gift to the Park, were also erecting a very nice memorial to the men who did not come back - the services rendered by these soldiers to the Empire would never be forgotten (12).
When he finished his speech Mr. Rust then touched the cord and the Australian flag "floated" off the memorial plate. The Last Post was sounded by a bandsman, during which the large assemblage stood bareheaded - a touching silent tribute to departed comrades (13).
The same article had these other details about the gates and the process of procurement - The gates now have a most imposing appearance in their new raiment of moss green and gold - work carried out with taste by Mr. Leigh Harris. These gates were imported from Scotland by their original owner at a cost of £800, and it is estimated that they could not be obtained to-day for £1000. The gates had done duty at a suburban mansion, and it was only because the syndicate which purchased the estate for sub-divsion and had no immediate use for them that they were secured for the Park at Bacchus Marsh - thanks to the persistence and foresight of Mr. J. A. Johns, who devoted a large amount of his time negotiating with the owners, and at last secured a bargain (14). Mr Johns was Chairman of the Park Trustees.
The gates are still at the entrance to Maddingley Park in Bacchus Marsh. We should be grateful to Edmund Ovey who was said to have purchased the gates after the Labassa property was sub-divided and then to Mr Johns for his persistence in acquiring the gates for Maddingley Park, Bacchus Marsh, which at the time was a small country town. They are an elegant memorial to the young men who lost their lives in the Great War.
Former Labassa Gates at Maddingley Park, Bacchus Marsh, c. 1975.
Photographer: John T. Collins
State Library of Victoria Image H90.100/569
Trove list
I have created a short list of newspaper articles on Trove on the Labassa gates, access it here.
Footnotes
(2)
Melton Express, October 1, 1921, see
here.
(3)
The Argus, November 5, 1913, see
here.
(4)
The Herald, December 4, 1913. see
here.
(5) Labassa Lives, v. 2, issue 1, 2014.
The article put the sub-division sale when Edmund Ovey purchased the Gates at 'around 1917' but I believe the correct date was November 1913.
(6)
The Herald, December 4, 1913. see
here.
(7)
The Herald, January 30, 1919, see
here.(8) Labassa Lives, v. 3, issue 2, 2015
(9) Melton Express, October 1, 1921, see here. (10) Melton Express, January 28, 1922. see here. (11) Bacchus Marsh Express, March 4, 1922, see here. (12) Bacchus Marsh Express, March 4, 1922, see here. (13) Bacchus Marsh Express, March 4, 1922, see here. (14) Bacchus Marsh Express, March 4, 1922, see here.
