Gunning & District Historical Society

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...

The Rosy Hyacinth Orchid  (Dipodium roseum), long lost to view, will be flowering in Lade Vale and other places around the district over the next few weeks. If You Go Down in the Woods Today   Provided you are in the right place, you could be in for a big surprise during the next few months. You may be lucky enough to see a noteworthy and unusual native orchid flaunting its very showy  flowers. Most orchid species we see locally tend to be short, modest and unobtrusive with their full beauty not being apparent unless they are very closely examined through a magnifying glass. Not so the Hyacinth Orchid, the largest terrestrial orchid in our district, which displays its bright pink petals to the world on long purple stems up to 3/4 of a metre high. This stunning wonder has emerged on two Lade Vale properties for the last three years in a row.   Neither of the current property owners had seen it over the preceding twenty years or so. One of the pro...

Is this the house that Frank built? Remains of a substantial granite block house on land once owned by the first settlers in Lade Vale, Frank and Catherine Lawless.  It may well have been built by Frank when the family took up their circa 1826 land grant. While we cannot be absolutely certain this is his work, there can be no doubt it is just the sort of house a skilled builder/bricklayer such as Frank would have constructed to settle his family in. Frank and Catherine Lawless  – The Lade Vale Years The Story So Far This is the second chapter in our look at early colonial settlers Frank and Catherine Lawless written by their 3rd great granddaughter, Carmel Peek, in association with GDHS. At the end of our last episode: Bricklayer Frank [as he was commonly called rather than by his formal given name Francis] had been transported to Sydney from Ireland in 1809 following his conviction for highway robbery; He compounded his failings and misfortunes in late 1810 whe...