Hi Tracey and welcome. My name is Ros I am ex Sydney, Gulargambone and now reside in South West Rocks - Mid North Coast of NSW. There is a suburb called "Brush Farm" in Sydney. The original house there was built in 1820 by Gregory Blaxland. Why he called it that I have no ieda. Welcome to the group. Ros ----- Original Message ---- From: Tracey and Peter Reed <reedreed@bigpond.net.au> To: TRIVIA ENGLAND <GEN-TRIVIA-ENG-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, 6 October, 2008 8:46:00 AM Subject: [TRIVVIES] BRUSH FARMS Hi Everyone Thanks George for your welcome. My name is Tracey and I live in Lithgow. N.S.W. Australia. Like many on these lists I am tracing my family lines from many different countries and along the way may little snippets pop up that we wonder about. Soo.... My first question is if any one knows what a BRUSH FARM is. To explain in short. A relative would always ask her father "Do you love me Dad" and he would reply "Well I didn't put you on the bloody Brush Farm did I?" He was of Polish Decent, born in London and lived in the East End. I wondered if maybe they were some sort of work farms for orphans. I am very curious. Many Thanks Look forward to reading other Trivia Regards Tracey "IS THE SUBJECT LINE STILL RELEVANT? If not, PLEASE change it." ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GEN-TRIVIA-ENG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Make the switch to the world's best email. Get Yahoo!7 Mail! http://au.yahoo.com/y7mail
A couple of points I noted from John's interesting link; There was a reference that at one time there was a signal station on the property named One Tree Signal Station. That suggests that it was not heavily wooded. If that was so then perhaps the native vegetation was mainly 'brush', i.e. small shrubs and scrub. Maybe whoever first named it had a sense of humour. The other point of course is that it became a Reformatory. No doubt that was the context in which the father's retort was made. I expect he also said things like "If you don't behave I'll send you to the Brush Farm". Geo. Hi Tracey and welcome. My name is Ros I am ex Sydney, Gulargambone and now reside in South West Rocks - Mid North Coast of NSW. There is a suburb called "Brush Farm" in Sydney. The original house there was built in 1820 by Gregory Blaxland. Why he called it that I have no ieda. Welcome to the group. Ros Hi Everyone Thanks George for your welcome. My name is Tracey and I live in Lithgow. N.S.W. Australia. Like many on these lists I am tracing my family lines from many different countries and along the way may little snippets pop up that we wonder about. Soo.... My first question is if any one knows what a BRUSH FARM is. To explain in short. A relative would always ask her father "Do you love me Dad" and he would reply "Well I didn't put you on the bloody Brush Farm did I?" He was of Polish Decent, born in London and lived in the East End. I wondered if maybe they were some sort of work farms for orphans. I am very curious. Many Thanks Look forward to reading other Trivia Regards Tracey