Judy I have forwarded your message to Jacqui Goddard, head of conservation at the National Trust ... they may be able to make a bit of a noise about this demolition proposal ...I have also sent a request to Miriam Stacey the grants officer at the NSW Heritage Office to look into the proposal ..because if the owner received funding from the Heritage Office then they may need to be consulted or give permission for demolition on another note I was wondering if you had any more information on Ann Duff and Samuel Clift ... they are the parents of the person who built the house I own in Inverell ... Ann (nee Clift) Borthwick/Pilcher/Murray..they also had an Inn in Banks Street .. Kindest Regards Camilla McRae ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phil & Judy Healey" <phoenix@coscom.net> To: <AUS-NSW-HUNTER-VALLEY@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 4:43 PM Subject: [HV] Eckford home to be demolished >I have just found out that an application to demolish the former home of >one of Maitland's earliest settlers has been put forward to Maitland City >Council. The home is located at 36 Banks Street East Maitland. > > According to information from the National Trust Property Guide (2004) the > first purchaser of this lot was Henry Rae, a saddler, in 1833. He erected > a small house and shed. Rae become insolvent in 1844 and the property > passed into other hands. In December 1853 the property was purchased by > John Eckford for 1,120 pounds which strongly indicates that the two storey > residence as it now exists was erected by then. John Eckford was the > eldest son of William Eckford, the pilot of Newcastle Harbour. He was > born at Parramatta in 1801 and began farming in the Maitland area in 1818 > being one of the first eleven people allowed to settle in the area. "Brush > Farm" at Pitnacree (between Maitland and Morpeth) was the name of John's > property. Other members of the Eckford family followed John to the > Maitland area. In 1828 John married Eliza Duff, sister of Ann Duff who > married Samuel Clift, and they had nine children. John died in 1884 and > is buried in the Eckford vault in Glebe cemet! > ery. > > The Banks Street property remained in the Eckford family until 1958 when > it was sold to the St Vincent de Paul Society for 3000 pounds. The > building operated as the Matthew Talbot Hostel for destitute men for 40 > years. The SVdeP Society sold the building in 1997 and the then owners > sold it in about 2004. > > Little restoration work on the building is noticeable but I have been told > that the current owner did receive grants for some heritage work. The > building dates from pre 1853 and is an important link to Maitland's early > history and as such should be preserved. > > Objections to the application close on Tuesday January 8th. I have > contacted some Eckford descendants that I know and asked them if they > could write an objection to the council. > > Other Eckford descendants may also like to write to Maitland City Council > to object to the demolishing of the Banks Street residence. > > Regards > Judy > > -- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > AUS-NSW-HUNTER-VALLEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >