Not the House That Frank Built

First Settler Lawless House in Lade Vale Still to be Found

New Questions to be Answered

The Story So Far

In an earlier story on Frank and Catherine Lawless, the first settlers in Lade Vale, I speculated that the remains of a substantial granite block house in the district may have been the work of builder/bricklayer Frank on his circa 1826 land grant.  You can find this article at https://gunninghistory.blogspot.com/2018/07/first-settlers-in-lade-vale-frank-and.html.

I now know this suggestion was ill founded.  The ruins are not of Frank’s making nor of his time – but they are still of historic interest and raise further questions.

Archaeologist At Work

Some weeks ago retired professional archaeologist and Lade Vale/Jerrawa local Jon Winston – Gregson, land owner Brendan O’Reilly and I had a close look at the site.  Brendan and I were amazed at the well based observations Jon was able to make during his informal site assessment.  For me, it was akin to watching Sherlock Holmes at work.

• In the space of some two hours Jon was able to determine, among other things, that:

• The house is the work of stonemasons and plasterers, rather than a bricklayer such as Frank;

• There were two stonemasons on the site, one a skilled right handed tradesman and the other less so – possibly an apprentice ("You astound me Holmes!);

• The well built and good quality home comprises a rectangular, single storey structure made up of seven principal spaces and a central hallway.   A tail of at least three spaces eg stable and cart sheds, with a possible workshop projects as an open fronted skillion from the southeast corner of the house.  A bakehouse abuts its west wall.

•  Fencing, potsherds, iron sheets and the like found at the site suggest a mid to late Victorian era of occupation;

• Stone scatters, isolated fence posts, a concentration of potsherds and earthworks indicate at least three other structures within 100 metres of the residence; and.

• Based on our knowledge of land dealings and his informal site assessment Jon suggests a preliminary model to be disproven that the stone house was built after 1874.

Enter the Pattersons

Copies of early land maps and titles in Brendan’s possession suggest that a Henry Patison or Patterson, who once held title to the land on which the house stands, may be the man who had the house built.  This can only be speculative for now.

In 1889 Henry Patterson snr, Henry Patterson jnr, William Patterson and Thomas Patterson – all farmers of Gunning – were appointed as trustees for the Presbyterian Church Cemetery at Gunning.  That is all I know of the Messrs Patterson at the time of writing.

What Next?

Who built and owned the house?  Why was a seemingly expensive and substantial residence abandoned?  What did the homestead and its ancillary works look like in their heyday?
These, and other questions, remain to be answered.  Further work could well prove fruitful but, alas, life gets in the way at times.  However, it is important to correct the record so far as Frank Lawless is concerned and this has now been done.

Do You Know More?  Are You a Henry Patterson Descendant?

If you know more about the Pattersons of Lade Vale GDHS would love to hear from you.  Any information you have, however small, could help us find more about this family and their time in Lade Vale.  You can contact us at gunninghistory@gmail.com.

Thank You

GDHS thanks archaeologist Jon Winston-Gregson for undertaking a preliminary site assessment for us and land owner Brendan O’Reilly for his time and patience while we traipsed about the site and trawled through records in his library.