Rediscovering Ginninderra:
Eastview

'Eastview' on Gundaroo Road, Mulligans Flat was farmed by the Cavanagh family until it was resumed in the 1990s.

'Eastview' was originally the site of a slab and bark hut occupied by the bachelor brothers Matthew and John Walsh, sons of Davey, who settled in the region in the early 1860s.

Thomas Cavanagh and his son, Patrick and Mary (Logue) Cavanagh had acquired acreage on the east side of 'One Tree Hill' in the Parish of Ginninderra, and Patrick and Mary farmed these portions and raised their family there from around 1863 to the late 1890s. The 'One Tree Hill' portions were then sold and became part of Gillespie's 'Horse Park' and Rolfe's 'Gold Creek'.

However, the land selections did not always go smoothly :

Ginninderra To Mr C.H. Hilland
Sir would you be kind enough to let me know if the ₤25 which I paid for one hundred acres that I selected in your office on 7 March 1878 had been selected before by Henry Rolfe. Would you be kind enough to let me know if it is at your office by return of post.
I remain Patrick Cavanagh One Tree Hill

Queanbeyan Aug 21st 1878
Mr Patrick Cavanagh
Sir,
In reply, there has been no notice to me of the cancellation of your 100 acres on account of it being previously selected by Henry Rolfe and until your purchase is cancelled you wont get your money back, you should write down to the Chief Commissioner, Conditional Purchase Branch, Lands Department, and let him know that your CP of 7 March 1878 of 100 ac. was nearly all taken up previously by Henry Rolfe viz 40 acres on 11 Oct 1877 & 40 acres on 18 Oct 1877 and that you want your money back
Yours truly
C H Hilland

There was another drama:

'It is rumoured that an inquiry is to be made into the supposed wilful burning of Mr P Cavanagh's log fences at Tea Garden's Ginninderra' - [Goulburn and Queanbeyan Evening Penny Post 9.3.1878]

The exact timing is unclear, but around the late 1890s, Patrick's son, Michael Cavanagh, acquired 'Eastview' at Mulligan's Flat, and the family moved there.

Portions 185, 183, 157, 91 and 6 were previously owned by David, John, or Mathew Walsh. The 'Eastview' homestead was on portion 91. Michael Cavanagh later paid for the funeral of Mathew Welsh in 1915.

The remainder of 'Eastview' portions were previously owned by GT Palmer / W Davis / E Crace.

Michael, Patrick and Mary with children Jane, Mary and Ernie farmed 'Eastview'. Patrick and Mary died in 1914 and 1921. Another son Clarence Bede Cavanagh acquired the adjacent property 'Strayleaf'.

Michael married Ethel Harris, a schoolteacher at Mulligans Flat School, in 1922.

Patrick's grandson Ernest had moved down from Queensland at a young age and was bought up on 'Eastview' by the Cavanagh family. On Michael's death in 1937, as he had no children Ernest took on the lease of 'Eastview' with his wife Beatrice and farmed there with their son John and his wife Joyce and other family members. They built a new house in the 1940s.

'Eastview' comprised Block 4 and 20 Gungahlin of 909 acres. Michael also leased "Oak Hill' - ACT Blocks 19 and 19A Hall.

Ernest Cavanagh later leased 'The Valley' - Block 8, Gungahlin of 795 acres, transferred from William Moore in 1943.

Jane lived at Eastview until her death in 1946 and Ernie lived in a cottage on 'Strayleaf' and worked on Eastview and Strayleaf until his death in 1969, but did not appear to hold a lease.

All that remains of 'East View' are the old square stone cairns that supported the gate and some cypress pines from the garden, now at the edge of the playground next to the Forde information centre on Francis Forde Boulevard. The stone wall bordering the path at this point includes some of the original garden wall, which was made from stone salvaged from Crinigan's Hut.

Related Photos

Believed to be Patrick Cavanagh (senior) and Mary (nee Logue) with grandchildren ⧉

Patrick Cavanagh ⧉

Michael and Ethel Cavanagh [née Harris] ⧉

Ernest Cavanagh ⧉

Click on the caption (⧉) to view photo details and attribution.

References

• Cooke, H. 2010.'A Short History of Gungahlin'. Booklet prepared for the Canberra Archaeological Society

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