Peter Green is a third generation descendant of Canberra’s early pioneers at Tidbinbilla and his dear old great grandmother, Mary Ann Green, who came out from England with a chest of her finest lace, never unpacked her finery.
She was probably in shock after being led to believe her husband, George, had a house with all the “mod cons” (not a mud slab house with a dirt floor and canvas on the windows), according to Peter.
Peter is a member of the Tidbinbilla Pioneers Association, made up of descendants of early European families from the mid-1800s and celebrating its 40th anniversary at the end of this month.
“Great Grandmother Green came to Australia with this chest of fine lace and linen and to the day she died it was never unpacked,” Peter says.
“My great grandfather George Green couldn’t read or write so he had a friend writing to Mary Ann. George was telling him what to write but he was writing different things. He had her believe that he had a really nice house and it had all the normal mod cons like running water, and, of course, it was a slab hut up in the bush. He made up all these stories because he wanted someone to do the housekeeping and to cook.”
So next time you visit Rock Valley Homestead, which stayed in the Green family from 1895 to 1962 when it was acquired by ACT Parks to be part of the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, spare a thought for Mary Ann, who didn’t like the cold (she suffered from arthritis).
Miraculously, the homestead survived the 2003 wildfires and there is still evidence of their self-sufficiency in the house garden, larger produce garden, orchard and surrounding paddocks.
The Greens and other pioneering families survived through off-farm work with large landholders, becoming the physical and social hub of the Tidbinbilla and Gibraltar Valley communities. It was the place to be for woolshed dances, gymkhanas and carnivals, and also a place for Canberrans to have picnics, go camping and pick blackberries.
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