George Gordon of Bundoora was born at Carmill, Forfarshire, Scotland, on 2nd December 1830, and arrived at Sydney, N.S.W. 23rd June 1858.
He was at Bathurst for three and a-half years, and went thence to the Lachlan diggings, after which he was for two years on a farm, and afterwards teaming on the roads. Mr. Gordon was the first man who took bricks to Fort Boure, near the junction of the Darling and Bogan Rivers; but through the dry season he lost nine out of his team of eleven horses, and so sold out the rest and the waggons, and came to Victoria, where he was employed splitting wood at Prospect Hill (Bundoora), and then, in 1874, as ploughman for Mr Miller. He next had the management of Craigieburn, one of Mr. Miller’s establishments, for two years, when he was appointed overseer at Mill Park, where he has been ever since in full charge and control of the estate. Mill Park is a fine specimen of a well-conducted first-class Australian homestead, comprising within itself every branch of agricultural and pastoral operations, cultivation -dairy farming, grazing, beef and wool growing, and horse breeding, – everything, in short, from feeding poultry to classing wool. Steam power is employed where available, and the latest appliances to facilitate all kinds of work ae amply provided. The buildings consist of the main residence, dairy, cow houses, stables, shearing sheds (in which as many as sixty-five men are employed in the season), blacksmith’s, carpenter’s, and butcher’s shops, kitchens, tanks, &c. In fact, Mill Park is a little village of itself, of which Mr Gordon is at once president, council, secretary, and everything else necessary.
Source: Victoria and its Metropolis: Past and Present written in 1888 by Alexander Sutherland. Page 426. Includes descriptions of some townships and short biographies of local residents.
Image: A visit to a stud farm: Bundoora Park via State Library Victoria Digital Pool
