George and Matilda Webb and their baby left London on June 4, 1852 on the Kent, and arrived in Melbourne on September 23 (1). George was to have a very successful career in Melbourne, becoming a Supreme Court Judge. He would come to own a large mansion in Caulfield, Croton Hurst (2), but this success was tempered by a sad private life, as in the first eight years of his time in Victoria he faced the death of two of his children and his wife and years later another daughter died at the age of nineteen.
George Henry Frederick Webb was born on July 12, 1828 to Samuel Webb, a Naval officer and his wife Isabella Sweet. In 1850 he married Matilda Sarah Fields and their first child George Edward was born in 1852 (3). Little George passed away at the age of eighteeen months on October 18, 1853. George placed personal notices in the newspapers commemorating family milestones and they are interesting because they tell us where the family was living at the time, his occupation and what I feel is unusual for the time, made reference to his deceased children. Little George's death notice says he was the only child of Mr. George H. F. Webb, of Little Collins-street, Melbourne and Richmond (4). A daughter, Matilda, was born on April 14, 1855 when the family were living in Prahran. She died at the age of three months on July 12 and the notice says she was the infant daughter and only remaining child of Mr. George H. F. Webb, Government shorthand writer, Melbourne (5). Their third child, Isabella Elizabeth was born on October 24, 1856 and their address was St Kilda (6). Their pain was not yet over as Matilda died of consumption at the age of 29, on October 22, 1860, at Burwood, near Sydney, the beloved wife of Mr. George H. F. Webb, Government shorthand writer, Victoria (7).
George remarried on April 18, 1862 to Sophia Sarah Agg and his occupation in the marriage notice was barrister-at-law (8). When their daughter Sophie was born on May 27, 1863, the notice said she was born at Croton-Hurst, Caulfield, [to] the wife of George H. F. Webb, barrister-at-law (9). Isabella passed away on March 13, 1876 and her death notice told us that she died at Bombay, of small-pox, taken in India whilst en route from Melbourne to England, Isabella Elizabeth, eldest surviving daughter of George H. F. Webb, of this city, barrister-at-law, aged 19 years (10). The notice of the marriage of his daughter Sophie on October 4, 1883 has these details - at Croton-Hurst, Caulfield, by the Rev. J. Reid, William Farrar, only son of the late Henry Langdon, of Melbourne, merchant, to Sophie Sarah Annie, only surviving daughter of George H. F. Webb, Q.C. (11).
Mr Justice Webb in 1886, the year he became a Judge of the Supreme Court
Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Pencil, June 1 1886 State Library of Victoria Image A/S01/06/86/88
These public notices firstly show that he was a devoted family man. After Isabella died in 1876, George commissioned a marble scuplture in her memory, the work being undertaken by Charles Summers (1825 - 1878), known for his Bourke & Wills statue. It is now at the Caulfield (Glen Eira) Town Hall (12). This was not the first time the Webb family had commissioned a work from Charles Summers. He had previously created a bust of James Hemming Webb (13), George's brother. The bust was presented to the National Gallery in 1887 and it was apparently regarded as one of his most successful works (14).
Secondly, they indicate that he was professionally ambitious. When George arrived in Melbourne he worked as a reporter on The Argus for a short time until he joined the Public Service as a stenographer; he had practiced this profession in London (15). In October 1854 he was promoted to the Government shorthand writer, where he supervised the pool of shorthand writers who serviced both the Government and the Supreme Court (16).
Soon after his arrival in Melbourne, George promoted his short-hand writing skills and experience with this public notice.
The Argus, October 6, 1852 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4787506
In 1858 George attended the course for articled clerks at Melbourne University and was admitted to the Bar on 6 December 1860 (17) and as his 1862 marriage notice says, he became a barrister-at-law. Webb was appointed as a Queens Counsel in January 1879 (18) and had a very lucrative practice. So lucrative, in fact, that when he was offered the role of a judge on the Supreme Court in 1874 that he refused the appointment. It was offered to him again in May 1886 and this time he accepted the honour (19).
George's well paid profession allowed him to build a large house, Croton Hurst on Hawthorn Road, near the corner of Glen Eira Road in Caulfield. An article in The Herald in 1937 and the impending demoliton on Croton Hurst said that it Claimed to be the first house built in the Caulfield district, and erected in 1859, "Crotonhurst" gained its name from the dense growth of bush croton that covered Caulfield in the early, days, and made it difficult for Mr Justice Webb to find the 17-acre estate after he had purchased it at an early city land sale. Originally a four-room and kitchen building, the house had a dining wing added in 1868, more additions were made in 1880, and it was completed in 1889, when the distinctive tower also was erected (20).
Croton Hurst, c. 1919, showing the distinctive tower, which was completed in 1889.
Photographer: Rose Stereograoh Company. Image enhanced by Paul Caine. See footnote 21 for the original image.
Croton Hurst was advertised for lease in May 1860 as the family were away for a few months, presumably in New South Wales, where Matilda died in the October. The house was described as containing a dining, drawing, three bed rooms, and dressing room, kitchen and servants' room, large garden and paddock, stable, coachhouse, &c. Also, good Library, legal and general (22). The 1872 Shire of Caulfield Rate books list the building as brick, 16 rooms and stables on 19 acres, so either the dates listed in the 1937 article are incorrect or more than a dining wing was added in 1868. The 1882 Rate books describe it as 20 rooms and the 1891 Rate books as 30 rooms (23).
George Webb's advertisement for the short-term lease of Croton Hurst in 1860.
The Argus, May 19, 1860 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5682713
In March 1914 Croton Hurst was partly destroyed by a fire. The fire was reported on in The Age and we will reproduce it here to show how opulent the house was -
A destructive fire broke out yesterday morning at Crotonhurst, a mansion of 30 rooms, owned by Mr. W. F. Langdon, and situated at the corner of Glen Eira and Hawthorn roads, Caulfield. The outbreak was first noticed in the billiard room, which, with its contents, was destroyed. The picture gallery and ballroom were also considerably damaged, but the efforts of the brigade prevented the fire from spreading over the whole building. Some valuable pictures were destroyed or damaged. Expensive statuary, which was in the damaged section of the mansion, was saved. The mansion is being repaired and painted at the present time, and it is thought that the outbreak was caused through some wood work becoming ignited during the operation of burning off old paint. The building and contents are insured in the Insurance Office of Australia for £6500. "Crotonhurst" was built some 30 years ago for the late Mr. Justice Webb, whose daughter is Mrs. Langdon. Part of the contents of the billiard room was a valuable pipe organ, which was totally destroyed (The Age March 12, 1914) (30)
Crotonhurst Avenue and Langdon Road, two reminders of Croton Hurst, were established as part of the Crotonhurst subdivision in 1915, when 31 superior villa sites were put up for sale (31). There was another subdivions sale in 1919 with a further 23 allotments (32).
In 1923 there was an interesting application to convert the Croton Hurst stables into flats. This was rejected by the Caulfield Council on the same basis that a similar application by the owners of Labassa had been refused.
Application to convert Croton Hurst stables into flats.
The Argus, September 20, 1923 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1992927#
The end for Croton Hurst came in December 1937 - The demolition sale tomorrow of Crotonhurst in Walworth avenue, near the town hall, Caulfield will remove an old district landmark.....Most of the original 17 acres was sub-divided some years ago, and the land is now built on. The remaining land has now been subdivided into nine allotments, and will be developed by the new owners (33).
Advertisement for the demolition sale of Croton Hurst
The Argus, December 4, 1937 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11129666
The Glen Eira Historical Society (GEHS) says that some of the decorative features of Croton Hurst were used in the new home of Sophie (or Dottie as she was known) Langdon. Her house was Choto Croton at 411 Beach Road, Beaumaris. This house has also been demolished, another victim of developers and the slack heritage protection on the part of local Councils, however as at June 2020 the gates from Croton Hurst still remain on the property. You can read about it in the GEHS June 2020 newsletter, here. It would be interesting to know how many of the superior villas built after the 1915 sub-division sale still exist in Crotonhurst Avenue and Langdon Road. I will have a look one day when I am in the area.
I have created a list of articles connected to George Webb, his family, his career and Croton Hurst, on Trove. Access the list, here.
Footnotes
(1) Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839-1923 available on Ancestry, originals at Public Records Office of Victoria.
(2) Croton Hurst is now also written as Crotonhusrt, but it was originally two words, and unless I am quoting from a newspaper article that is how I am spelling it. The 1860 advertisement when it was advertised for lease lists it as two words, his personal notices regarding births etc of his family has as two and his Will and Probate papers have it as two words, amongst other documents.
George Webb's Will, showing Croton Hurst as two words
Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 7591/ P2, unit 187, item 47/329
(3) England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975; England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973; England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 and birth date of his son comes from his death notice (see footnote 4)
(4) The Argus, October 19, 1853, see here.
(5) Matilda's birth notice The Argus, April 16, 1855, see here; death notice The Argus, July 12, 1855, see here.
(6) The Argus, October 25, 1856, see here.
(7) The Age, October 23, 1860, see here.
(8) The Argus, April 17, 1862, see here.
(9) The Argus, May 28, 1863, see here.
(10) The Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Pencil, June 10, 1876, see here.
(11) The Australasian, October 20, 1883, see here.
(12) Glen Eira Historical Society newsletter, No. 11, November 2016, p. 5, see here.
(13) James Hemming Webb, died August 21, 1881 - his short obituary reads We have to record the death of Mr. James Hemming Webb, Government shorthand writer, which took place at the residence of his son-in-law, Mr. B. C. Harriman, on August 27. This event was not unexpected, as the deceased had been ailing from dropsy for a long time, and had been absent from his official duties on sick leave for about five months. Mr. Webb, who arrived in the colony in 1857, succeeded his brother, Mr G. H. F. Webb, Q.C., as Government shorthand writer, about 14 years ago, and this position he has held ever since. He leaves a widow and nine children, and his death will also be regretted by a very large number of colonists, as he was very widely known and much esteemed. The Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Pencil, September 10, 1881, see here.
(14) The Argus, January 29, 1887, see here. The bust was presented to the National Gallery by his daughter, Elizabeth Clara Agg, the wife of William Henry Agg
(15) The Argus, October 6, 1852, see here. There is an overview of his career in The Australasian of May 8, 1886, see here.
(16) Australian Dictionary of Biography entry by Robert Miller, see here.
(17) Australian Dictionary of Biography entry by Robert Miller, see here.
(18) The Argus, January 18, 1879, see here.
(19) Australian Dictionary of Biography entry by Robert Miller, see here and The Australasian, May 8, 1886, see here.
(20) The Herald, December 1, 1937, see here.
(21) My fellow historian, Isaac Hermann, purchased his own copy of this postcard, below, and we wondered what the building was in the background and with some research on my part discovered it was Croton Hurst. I found the information and an image in From sand, swamp and heath: a history of Caulfield by Peter R. Murray and John C. Wells (City of Caulfield, 1980). Paul Caine kindly enhanced the image and and as there appears to be very few images of Croton Hurst, this is gold. An original of this postcard is also at the State Library of Victoria and it is reproduced below. Croton Hurst is at top right.
View of the Wards, Caulfield Military Hospital, c. 1919. Photographer: Rose Stereograph Co.
State Library of Victoria Image H42809/3 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/381662
(22) The Argus, May 19, 1860, see here.
(23) The Shire and City of Caulfield Rate books are on Ancestry, 1857 to 1953.
(24) Death notice in The Argus, September 28, 1891, see here.
(25) Reverend John Reid, Minister of the Congreational Church and founder of the Melbourne Shakespeare Society. He died in January 1911, read his obituary in The Argus of Janaury 21, 1911, here.
(26) Reverend Hussey Burgh Macartney (1799 - 1884), Church of England Minister. Read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry by A. De Q. Robin, here.
(27) Description of the funeral is in the The Herald, September 29, 1891, see here.
(28) A comprehensive report of the contents of his will was in The Age, November 18, 1891, see here. His daughter Sophie, also known as Dottie, married William Farrer Langdon (1860 - 1943) in 1883. He was the son of Henry Langdon and Mary Grace Farrer. Sophie and William had eight children - Frank Henry Webb (1884 - 1912), George Rupert Webb (1885-1889), Isabel Webb (1887), Mary Grace (1889), Sophie Violet Webb (1891), William Webb (1893), Georgie Helen (1894) and Marcus Webb (1897). She died June 21, 1948, death notice is here.
(29) Death notice of wife, Sophia, is in The Australasian, October 26, 1895, see here.
(30) The Age, March 12, 1914, see here.
(31) Advertisement for the sale in The Argus, October 30, 1914, see here. An advertorial was in The Herald, December 9, 1915, see here.
(32) Prahran Telegraph, April 5, 1919, see here.
(33) The Argus, December 6, 1937, see here.
