Cooring Yering - the early years

In the 1880s, the house Cooring Yering was built for Colonel William Forbes Hutton on his property of the same name near Lilydale. William Forbes Hutton had purchased the property in 1871 after serving in the Madras Army in India from 1836. William then purchased additional land nearby, eventually owning more than 1,600 acres. The land was used for grazing cattle and there was also a vineyard, though dairying and sheep were also tried on the property. Small parcels of land were leased to market gardeners. After the death of Eleonora Hutton in 1900 the property was sold, but the house with approximately 100 acres still stands today surrounded by a housing estate.

Early history of the property

In 1849 Rowland Hill took up a selection to the north of what became the township of Lilydale. He commenced clearing land, planted crops, built a single room slab hut with a bark roof and dug a waterhole. 

Thomas Payne purchased the 640 acres comprising Section 23 for £1 per acre at the first land sales in 1852 when Hill could not afford to buy the land. 

John Hill repurchased the property when Payne decided to return to England. In 1857 the land was subdivided with three equal parts sold to their three sons and the rest sold outside the family. The sons farmed the property collectively and called the property Cooring Yering. Initially wheat and other grains were grown in the area but by the mid 1860s such crops were not profitable as the land was overworked and not allowed to lie fallow. A wooden house later replaced Hill’s bark roofed hut.

In Yering grape growing was introduced in the 1850s and expanded in the 1860s.  

In the early 1860s Samuel de Pury bought a section of Hill’s Cooring Yering and planted 10 acres of vines. A letter to the editor in the Argus stated that M de Pury had a vineyard at Cooring Yering. George Hutton states that William Forbes Hutton ‘bought Cooring Yering from a Mr de Pury who had formed the farm and then returned to Switzerland for a holiday, but married and settled down there’. 

Rate books do not conclusively resolve the question of previous ownership of the property but an entry for 1871-72 stated - G De Pury gentleman leasing land owned by Major Hutton freehold part of section 24 £211.

The Huttons and Cooring Yering (part one)

George Hutton in the 1930s

The Huttons settle in Lilydale

George Hutton (son of William Forbes Hutton) had arrived in Victoria from England in August 1869. His father arrived in the colony in May 1871. William decided to purchase land in Lilydale several months after arrival in the colony. Many years later (in the 1930s) George recorded his memories of the family's first years on the property.

Father having bought Cooring Yering, a 400 acre farm at Lilydale – a village 25 miles east of Melbourne on the Olinda Creek, a tributary of the Yarra. It was named after Mrs Paul de Castella who was a daughter of Colonel Anderson, the Commander of the Garrison of Victoria at the time. Mt Juliet was named after another daughter. … Father bought Cooring Yering from a Mr de Pury who had formed the farm and then returned to Switzerland for a holiday, but married and settled down there. Guillaume de Pury, his brother had married a Miss Iffitson who had a good bit of money I believe. At any rate he owned a big property 3,000 acres about eight miles from Lilydale and had a big vineyard, about 100 acres I believe in hearing it made a lot of wine each year.

The de Castellas also had big vineyards - Hubert de Castella’s 300 acres under vines being the biggest vineyard in Victoria at that time. There were other Swiss farmers and all had more or less land under vines. There were only 10 acres at Cooring Yering and we made about 4,000 gallons of wine a year. The trouble was that the country was not suitable for vines, being too rough except at the lower end of the existing vineyard, and if we had continued the vineyard towards the flat the frosts would have cut off the flowers every spring. Another thing was that wine requires several years age besides taking a lot of looking after before it is fit to drink and the price procurable did not pay interest on the cost of buildings, presses, casks etc. so was no game for a man unless he had capital. The de Castellas both went broke although Paul de Castella’s failure was really caused by speculating in cattle stations long before I knew them.

The farmers were all dairymen and mostly struggling for a living. It was too far to send the milk to Melbourne and the best butter only bought 6d a lb wholesale and it cost 2d a lb for carriage. Another thing was that many of the cows were poor milkers, pleuro-pneumonia having decimated the herds a few years previously and a good many of the cows then milking were rotten with tuberculosis. It was not until the railway came to the district that the farmers got on their legs again. A good deal of de Pury’s country was high, dry and well grassed and he had a flock of English sheep (Southdowns I think) and did well out of them, but most of the country was only fit for cattle in its natural state and not too good at that.

The flats were alright in the summer time but were too cold and wet during a great portion of the year especially along the river where most of the flats were flooded during the winter and more or less in the autumn and early spring. The soil on the hills was mostly a poor clay and the grasses growing on them of little value as feed except in the gullies between the hills where the kangaroo grass grew. On the flats the principal feed was white clover in the spring and summer months, at least in the improved country, which on the Olinda Creek been a ti-tree swamp originally cleared and drained at great expense. On Cooring Yering 100 acres had cost £11 an acre to clear and I do not know whether that included the cost of digging drains. The flats were too wet to grow wheat and most of the hill country was too dry. A lot of this poor country paid well later on as an orchard and raspberry gardens but I don’t know if it still does.

Father went in for fattening cattle but the flats were the only suitable country and the summer was too short to get off more than one mob or at the most two in a season, say 80 to 100 head, in fact during the winter the flats had to be shut off as the cattle puddled them too much and as there was no shelter from the wind and rain and was too cold for stock to do well on. Father bought the property in November too late in the season for fattening really poor cattle, so put on 80 heads of bullocks fat but wearied by travelling so practically sold as stones on a big market at Flemington and held them to freshen up. I took one lot into market the following May, but it had been a wet summer and they had not done well, besides hitting a big market, so did not sell as well as they ought to have done. Another thing was that we found our cattle from beyond the Murray required two summers to get acclimatised. In fact dairying, unless on had a big area of cheap country to breed on, was the only payable business. 

A cold wet winter and very little growth in the grass, so Father bought 300 acres of rent (ring) barked country on the opposite side of the valley adjoining Cooring Yering. Lots of grass but of course sour stuff, however it kept the stock going until spring. I did not like the country and could not see how it could be made to pay. Father’s idea was to grow hay on it and feed the cattle during the winter like they did in England, but he did not take into consideration the difference in the price of fat stock and also that cattle from New South Wales and the north and western parts of Victoria where the summer was longer could be put on to the market and sold at a profit for less than he could sell stall fed cattle after about 18 months trial he gave up cattle and went for crossbred sheep.

Going back to England shortly after the purchase of the sheep. He had bought Rowe’s Mount – 480 acres – and what was known as Jamieson’s – 200 (acres) just before he went. Both blocks were poor rough country, totally unfitted for sheep and only fenced for cattle. Of course we put in wires where possible, rolled logs under two rail fences and nailed saplings between the rails on the fence between Rourke’s and our flat paddocks. I may remark that this mob of sheep were the worst sheep I have ever known for getting through fences except a mob of 8,000 crossbred wethers belonging to C B Fisher a few years later in the Riverina. I had a pretty bad time with these sheep when Father was away. What between footrot, fluke and want of feed for I had to keep them off the flat as neither creeks nor fences were any obstacles for their wandering propensities. Father was very angry that I had kept the sheep off the flats and thought that I was pulling his leg when I told him that the saplings that he had nailed between the rails of Rourke’s fence crossing the flat were no good, the ewes got their heads under the saplings and dragged them off till he saw them do it himself. He soon stopped that however as he had imported some wire netting and sent for it at once. As soon as it arrived we put it up along Rourke’s fence and spent two or three hours laughing at the sheep trying to get through.

Shortly after Father returned to Melbourne I had told him that I was not going to stay at Cooring Yering but meant joining an over-landing party to bring cattle from Queensland. I had wanted to do this for some time but it was not easy to find a party going north. …

George worked with his father in Lilydale for several years as the property was established. In 1874 the rest of the family travelled from England to settle in Victoria and some of George's younger brothers were now available to assist their father. George told his father that he planned to head north to Queensland and follow new adventures.

The Huttons and Cooring Yering (part two)

In May 1874 Eleonora Hutton and the rest of the family came out to Australia on the ship, Northumberland, six months after William Forbes Hutton's return from England. William had trouble finding a house big enough for his family. Initially they lived in a large house, Blythswood in Kew. There would have been some structure at Cooring Yering as George and William obviously lived on the property, but it was not suitable accommodation for William’s family.

William would have divided his time between the two properties while the house, Cooring Yering, was built. David Mitchell built the two storey, solid brick house with corrugated iron roof and approximately 30 rooms. The exact date that the house, Cooring Yering, was built is unknown but the rate-book entry for 1884-85 has a separate entry for a residence. Cooring Yering was therefore probably built, if not completed, in 1883. A photograph of the house with virtually no garden was taken in 1885.

 

Cooring Yering was a large house built for a large family. William Forbes Hutton and his wife Eleonora had ten children.

The Yarra Ranges Heritage Database describes the building as  - A two storey 35 roomed Victorian mansion of solid brick - cement rendered. Corrugated iron roof. The statement of significance reads - The largest homestead ever built in the region. One of the grandiose vineyard homesteads of the 1880's. Very interesting architecturally. The present cement render is a modern addition.

David Mitchell built the two storey, solid brick house with corrugated iron roof and approximately 30 rooms. The exact date that the house, Cooring Yering, was built is unknown but the ratebook entry for 1884-85 has a separate entry for a residence . The Sands and McDougall entries indicate that the Huttons sold Blythswood in 1883 keeping the second property, Rockingham, until 1886. In his account George Hutton mentioned that William sold Blythswood to David Syme. Checking Sands and McDougall reveals that David Syme had a residence in Carson Court from 1883. Cooring Yering was therefore probably built, if not completed, in 1883. A photograph of the house with virtually no garden was taken in 1885.

We know from George Hutton’s notes and from the ratebooks that shortly after acquiring the Cooring Yering property, William purchased land at Rowe’s Mount and land known as Jamieson’s. An early map of the area shows that H Jamieson owned land in Section 29 in 1860 – this may have been the land referred to as Jamieson’s. I have not yet been able to identify the location of the land known as Rowe’s Mount, but it was probably close to the other properties. Adding to the confusion is references to Rosemount or Rosemount Estate instead of Rowe’s Mount – Rosemount is thought to be another property altogether. An example of this is the following piece from the local paper – “Graziers wanted for portion of Rosemount Estate known as Colonel Hutton’s paddock. Well watered and securely fenced. One shilling per week. Every care but no responsibility. Apply T Williams Castella Street Lilydale”. Rowe’s Mount was possibly near Bald Hill.

The ratebooks also show that from 1873-74 to 1875-76 William owned another 189 acres leased to James T Cashin, a miller. This land was later absorbed into William’s property. The ratebooks also show that William leased a small parcel of land to Chinese market gardeners – Lee Hoy and Tun Key.

The ratebook entries are confusing as the amounts of land are sometimes listed separately and are sometimes combined. Each entry depends on the information provided at the time and may not always be accurate – such as the entry for 1873-74 when George is listed as the landowner when William was in England. From 1876-77 there are two entries – one for 238 acres and the second for 1,371 acres. From 1879-80 there was only one entry - 1,607 acres. From 1883-84 additional small parcels of land were purchased. In the late 1880s some of the land was sold with entries being 540 acres plus house and 322 acres.

When Eleonora Hutton died in 1900 the entry for 540 acres plus house was crossed out and amended to 387 acres. The name Robert Black was added. Robert Black also purchased the 482 acres at Rowe’s Mount. As the entry for the next year shows, Walter and Maurice Hutton retained 149 acres including the vineyard on Victoria Road.

Hutton Vineyards at Cooring Yering

When William Forbes Hutton died in 1896, one hundred and fifty acres, including the vineyard, was left to Walter and Maurice while the rest of the property was left to Eleonora. Subsequent entries in the Lilydale ratebooks are in the names of Eleonora Hutton and her two sons. Maurice and Walter were described as vine growers and wine sellers.

Maurice and Walter continued to develop the vineyard on the property although the economic depression during the 1890s affected winegrowers when wine became a luxury item resulting in a downturn of the wine industry in the Lilydale region.  John Forbes Hutton, Maurice’s son, provided Peter Hutton with information about the vineyard. Maurice had worked at Chateau Yering and Chateau Tahbilk developing his knowledge of grape growing and wine making. The grapes grown on the property were red Hermitage, white Hermitage, Sauvignon and Chasselas. There was an old cottage on the part of the property near the vineyards and a homestead, Cooring was later built there. A solid brick cellar with walls three foot thick was built. Tenders to build the cellar were called for in November 1889. Casks for storing the wine were made from English oak and each cask held from 500 – 800 gallons. There were twenty casks with fifteen in use. Wine was kept in the casks for one to two years then sold to the winemaker for approximately two shillings and sixpence per gallon. The wine produced was 60% red and 40% white.

The vines were grown as individual stands – no trellises were used. Tenders were invited for splitting and delivering 600 vine stakes 5 ft 6 in long 2 in x 2 in. The vines were planted six feet apart and pruned in May. Cuttings from pruning were burned to create smoke to help ward off frost. Birds, especially starlings were a threat to the crop and men were employed for three to four weeks each year using shotguns to create noise to frighten the birds. Ten to fifteen schoolboys were employed to help with picking the grapes. 

Maurice Hutton operated the vineyard until 1924 and there were good and bad years. There was a good vintage in 1901 but severe frosts in November 1914 resulted in three bad years. In 1918 there was an outbreak of downy mildew.

  

Map of Lilydale Memorial Park 

Section 3 of the cemetery map has reference to the old winery and to the Hutton Function Room. Part of the cemetery is on land where a Hutton family vineyard was located.

Cooring Yering after the Huttons

Cooring Yering was purchased by Robert Black in 1900. The following article appeared in the Lilydale Express 7 December 1900 p2:

We are pleased to note that Mr. R Black of Coldstream has purchased through Messrs E Trenchard and Co., the Cooring Yering estate, together with Bald Hill and Rowe’s Mount owned by the Colonel Hutton and family. The Cooring Yering portion consists of splendid land, proportion being rich flats, divided into 14 paddocks with a large brick house, containing about 30 rooms, outhouses, stable, coach-house. Bald Hill comprises 304 acres of good grazing land and well-watered, and is divided into 10 paddocks. Rowe’s Mount consists of an area of 481 acres divided into 3 paddocks. The whole aggregate to about 1200 acres. This property together with Mr. Black’s Coldstream estate, will make one of the finest and most compact estates outside Melbourne and the purchaser is to congratulated on securing such a splendid property. The price paid was £12,600.

Mr F J Davey is believed to have purchased the property in the 1930s and in 1953 the 375 acre property, Cooring Yering, was purchased by Lindsay Nicholas.

Alterations were made to the house in the 1930s when the original verandah on three sides of the house was replaced and a ‘porte chocere’ was added. The original verandah posts were placed beside a garden path where they can still be seen. An extra window was added on the second storey at the front of the house. A number of the rooms were altered including nursery rooms at the back of the house that were converted into a billiard room and a breakfast room. The brickwork was concrete rendered.

In 2003 the house, surrounded by 114 acres, was still owned by the Nicholas family. The house consisted of 25 rooms including nine bedrooms, a music room, a library, a billiard room, dining and lounge rooms. The entrance to the property at 32 The Gateway was hidden by a new housing estate.

Cooring Yering 2005

Cooring Yering was again sold in 2005. View website contains images of the property at that time - a selection appear below.

Bibliography for the Cooring Yering blog posts

Aveling, Marian. Lilydale: the Billanook country 1837 – 1972. Carlton: Gary Hunt & Associates, 1972

Miller, Russell. The East Indiamen. Time-Life Books, 1980

Moorhouse, Geoffrey. India Britannia. London: Harvell Press, 1983

Tansley, Mark. The conservation of sites and structures of historical significance in the Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong ranges Region. 1978. volume 2 pp 90-91

Yarra Ranges Heritage Study volume 2: Assessed Places. 2000

Patchwork in the garden at Cooring Yering – a pamphlet containing a brief history of Cooring Yering prepared for an exhibition of work by the region’s leading patchworkers and quilters held 24 November 2002

Back to Lilydale – Easter 1931 – souvenir program – collection of reminiscences

Research carried out by Peter Hutton in the 1950s and notes on family history written by George Hutton in the 1930s