Tahlee Historic Site Visit (2022)

Plan of Tahlee House showing various elevations of house, showing improvements completed and planned, 1830 (Courtesy of the Noel Butlin Archives, ANU)
Plan of Tahlee House showing various elevations of house, showing improvements completed and planned, 1830 (Courtesy of the Noel Butlin Archives, ANU)

Tahlee Historic Site Visit

By Robert and Coralie Watson

Entrance to Tahlee 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)
Entrance to Tahlee 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)

 

Plan of Tahlee House, 1827 (Courtesy of the Noel Butlin Archives, ANU)
Plan of Tahlee House, 1827 (Courtesy of the Noel Butlin Archives, ANU)

Visit to Tahlee

Map of the Tahlee Estate at Carrington, Port Stephens, 1853 (Courtesy of the Noel Butlin Archives (ANU)
Map of the Tahlee Estate at Carrington, Port Stephens, 1853 (Courtesy of the Noel Butlin Archives (ANU)

 

Tahlee Estate at Carrington, 1853 (Courtesy of the Noel Butlin Archives, ANU)
Tahlee Estate at Carrington, 1853 (Courtesy of the Noel Butlin Archives, ANU)

Two weeks ago, Coralie and I visited Tahlee, the ‘home’ of the Australian Agricultural Company (a.k.a. A.A.Co) when they were granted 1 million acres to farm sheep.

This visit was organised by Dr Les Kilmartin, to coincide with the 200 year anniversary of the arrival of Capt William Cromarty into Port Stephens.

Chris Peters (President, Tomaree Museum Association) also helped organise the Tahlee visit, and provided an oral history of the Tahlee site.

We also met Jan Winn (author of four history books on the Karuah district) and Pauline Ibbetson (Stroud Historical Society).

Both have also presented at previous showcase of the Hunter Living Histories in February 2022.

Chapel Building, Tahlee, 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)
Chapel Building, Tahlee, 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)

 

Tahlee House, 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)
Tahlee House, 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)

The site manager is Julianne. Very helpful, and a descendant of one of the earliest employees at Tahlee.

The drive is an hour, the site is used for a Bible organisation ‘Youth with a Mission‘ and the onsite manager was quite open to group visits, and they provided tea/coffee and cake. Youth with a Mission has a manager (David) who resides in Newcastle.

Tahlee, internal panorama. 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)
Tahlee, internal panorama. 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)

 

Tahlee, internal room. 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)
Tahlee, internal room. 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)

 

Tahlee, bedroom. 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)
Tahlee, bedroom. 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)

 

Tahlee Chapel Building, internal. 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)
Tahlee Chapel Building, internal. 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)

 

Tahlee, back room. 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)
Tahlee, back room. 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)

 

Tahlee Boat Harbour. 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)
Tahlee Boat Harbour. 11 September 2022 (Photo Credit: Robert Watson)

Digitised Resources on Tahlee

Plan of Tahlee Estate at Carrington, Port Stephens 1853 (Courtesy of the State Library of NSW)
Plan of Tahlee Estate at Carrington, Port Stephens 1853 (Courtesy of the State Library of NSW)

Tahlee and Carrington Digitised Resources at University of Newcastle

There are a number of posts on the Hunter Living Histories site relating to historic Tahlee: https://hunterlivinghistories.com/?s=tahlee

The Living Histories Digital Platform contains digitised material relating to Tahlee and is available at this link

Also try our site search here: https://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/ccservices/search

A Place Called Tahlee [1976]
A Place Called Tahlee [1977]

A place called Tahlee : a short historical narrative covering 150 years of the fascinating history of Tahlee, Port Stephens. [Compiled by Carolyn R. Theobald] [Karuah, N.S.W.] : [C.R. Theobald], [1977]

A link to research done by David Benson about the AA Coy road between Karuah and Tahlee. is here: https://aacoroad.com/

Cromarty 200 – google drive” Family History

Robert and Coralie Watson
September 2022

Compiled by Gionni Di Gravio


3 thoughts on “Tahlee Historic Site Visit (2022)

  1. I had the privelege to be the Voluntary Heritage Tour Coordinator at Tahlee for 12 months in 2011 with my wife Rosa. We worked for Tahlee Ministries and left at the end of 2011

Leave a Reply