Thomas Chirnside was born in 1815 in Berwickshire,Scotland. He was a pastoralist who came to Australia to buy land and run sheep stations. He arrived here in January 1839, in Adelaide to be exact. Then he went on to Sydney a month later. He ended up here in Melbourne after a failed shot at running a sheep station in the drought stricken area of the Murrumbidgee. Meeting up with his brother Andrew Spencer, they acquired a few alotments of land and sheep and station hands. The land at Wyndham(Werribee) was purchased in 1846, just prior to the Gold rushes. There Thomas settled, building a bluestone mansion(pictured above) and gaining a freehold of 80,000 acres in the 1850's. Andrew settled elsewhere. He was soon to return to Wyndham in the 1870's with his family to live with Thomas.Thomas Chirnside sadly committed suicide during 1887. He was found dead in the laundry at Werribee Park with a shotgun lying beside him. Andrew Chirnside died in April 1890. They left behind a gorgeous estate with priceless furnishings within the Mansion that we can see today. You can look at more of their story HERE if and when you have the time.
Here is an image of the lovely gardens at full bloom. It is a lovely place to picnic, or even get married, as we did. Each Good Friday there is an Easter Egg Hunt, in order to raise money for the Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal. The Werribee Mansion gardens is the setting for this great event to take place. We have been a few times, but this year we will be going to the Telstra Dome Event.
This is an aerial View of the Victorian State Rose Garden that is featured within the lawns of the Werribee Mansion. Many couples choose to get hutched there, sadly, the ones who chose to do it on our same wedding day got rained out. We luckily chose the Chapel to have our ceremony.
Here is an image of the massive billiard table. The room is just amazing!!
Here is an image of the parlour. Soft pastel colors throughout. Lovely ornaments and paintings adorn the walls. I felt like a Queen when I walked through here in my wedding dress :)
Here is one of the bedrooms with gorgeous furniture and drapery. Each room has an open fire place and the original paint works on the walls and ceilings. So much to take in!
We got Wedding pictures taken within the mansion including on this lovely staircase pictured here. When I acquire a scanner, I will post some of these images, it is just beautiful.As you walk through the mansion, you can see the style of living the Chirnside's were accustomed too. You can also see images of the families, the station hands and look at the pieces of clothing and everything. It is a well set out museum, complete with biography of the families who lived there. Restorative works are ongoing to parts of the mansion.
The Mansion serves as a magnificent backdrop for the Annual Christmas Carols event, Spring Harvest Picnics and many more events. The grounds also incorporate The National Equestrian Centre which is the nucleus of Victoria's growing Equine Tourism industry. Neighbouring this is the Werribee Open Range Zoo, this is certainly a place to bookmark for any event.
