Springfield
WHAT
Early Victorian
WHERE
Goulburn Plains
WHEN
1857
In 1827 William Pitt Faithfull received a land grant on the Goulburn Plains. A decade later he acquired sheep from Camden Park and established the Springfield Merino Stud before marrying schoolteacher Mary Dean and having nine children together.
The main house was built in 1857 and was home to generations of the family up until the property was purchased by its current owners. In addition to the “Big House” the property comprises multiple stone stables, workshops, convict cells, a horse-driven flour mill, stone shearing shed, wash house, blacksmith shops, extensive formal gardens, and workers’ cottages.
The Springfield–Faithfull family collection is held by the National Museum of Australia. It is an extraordinary record of the life and times of a family and their merino sheep property at Springfield in New South Wales.
Visit the Springfield-Faithfull collection online at National Museum of Australia.