A TPS NOTE: An Item in the local Blackwood Rag has the title “Hurd’s Hill: designed to make a colonist’s wife feel ‘at home’ in her nee home”
The historic estate of Hurd’s Hill in Coromandel Valley, South Australia, was built by colonist Thomas Matthews to recreate his wife Harriet’s childhood home in Pitney, Somerset, so she would feel welcomed. [1]
Historical Background
- The Colonist: Thomas Matthews arrived in South Australia from England in 1839. [1]
- The Wife: His wife, Harriet (née Hurd), followed in 1841 with their five children on the ship Siam. [1, 2, 3]
- The House: Matthews had the initial home built in 1848 using local stonemason John Weymouth, modeling it after Harriet’s family estate back in Somerset, UK. [1]
