Historical information

One of a series of photographs taken at Magpie Farmhouse by Kath Power when the house was being demolished, March 1993.

Magpie Farmhouse, Plenty Road, South Morang.

This charming old bluestone farmhouse with its moss-covered slate roof was owned for many years by one of the earliest families to settle in South Morang, the Le Pages.

Two brothers, Peter and Charles Le Page, arrived in Australia from the island of Guernsey in the English Channel, in 1852 and 1854 respectively. After spending three years on the Bendigo, Castlemaine and other diggings, Peter settled in South Morang in 1855. Charles spent ten years on the Maryborough, Back Creek and Daylesford diggings before settling at South Morang in 1864.

Both Peter and Charles married and raised large families at South Morang. Although the exact date is unknown, it would appear that Peter Le Page had purchased the property, known in recent times as Magpie Farm, by the 1880s. The date of construction and name of the builder of the farmhouse are also unknown, but the house would appear to have been built at least as early as the 1860s.

By the early 1900s, Peter Le Page owned four farms at South Morang - Rosevilla, Hawkstowe, Riverview, and today's Magpie Farm. His son Arthur carried on dairying on the property for many years before selling out during the 1930s to the Tarry family. Subsequent owners have been the McMurray, McWilliam, Krupi and Heal families. Today the Peters family own the property although the farmhouse is currently tenanted. Dairying ceased during the late 1960s. The house was sold 1986 and demolished 1993.

(Reference: Historic Buildings of the Whittlesea Shire, Robert Wuchatsch and John Waghorn, published 1985 by Whittlesea Historical Society)

Physical description

Photograph print