| Thomas
Brown and his wife Mary Maxwell took upapproximately
400 acres in the Lithgow Valley around 1835 (Cremin
etal1987, p25). The property was named Eskbank after
the river Esk in Scotland. Brown was appointed as the
Magistrate at the Courthouse at Hartley.
He was also appointed to represent the district on the
Legislative Assembly in 1872. After the death of Mary
in 1878, Brown remained at Eskbank until 1884 where
he returned to Sydney, dying in 1889.
Eskbank
House
is believed to have been built by Alexander Binning
who was also the builder and owner of the Glasgow Arms. |
After
the death of Brown, Eskbank was purchased by William
Sandford who was involved in the early development of
Lithgow's iron and steel industry.
From that time, the property was progressively taken
over by the various owners of the steel
works including the Hoskin Brothers and later the
Australian Iron and Steel Company. The property was
later renamed, The Grange and is situated opposite Mort's
Estate.
The
City of Greater Lithgow acknowledges and appreciates
the History excerpts taken from the Draft
Economic Development Strategy for Lithgow
which was researched and compiled by Economic and Community
Development Class, University of Sydney October 1996 |
