Frederick Sargood created Rippon Lea, naming it after his mother, Emma Rippon. He came from England to the colony of Victoria with his parents and five sisters as a sixteen year old in 1850.

Sir Frederick Sargood with his second wife, Julia, their children and grandchildren gathered outside the dining room and conservatory at Rippon Lea in about 1902. From left to right: Harry Morton Sargood (b.1870 d.1951), Constance Edith Elizabeth Sargood (nee Young) (b.1867 d.1947) holding Geoffrey Denis Herbert Sargood (b.1900 d.?), unknown woman, Leslie Jenner (b.1872 d.1956), unknown woman, unknown woman, unknown child, unknown woman and baby, Agnes Marian Sargood (b.1886 d.1959), Nancy Julia Sargood (b.1890 d.1974), Percy Rolfe Sargood (b.1865 d.1945) holding Guilelma Constance Sargood (b.1896 d.1985), Agnes Penrose Sargood (nee Parkes) (b.1860 d.1916), Frederick Edmund Sargood (b.1893 d.1970), Julia Charlotte Sargood (b.1882 d.1969), Lady Julia Sargood (nee Tomlin) (b.1847 d.1941), Sir Frederick Thomas Sargood (b.1834 d.1903). On the veranda: Alfred Herbert Sargood (b.1868 d.1926), Frederick George Sargood (b.1861 d.1932), and William Ernest Sargood (b.1875 d.1956).

"The lake boathouse - childhood's pleasure playground" is the evocative caption on this photograph from the 1903 Rippon Lea album.

In her memoirs, the Sargood's eldest daughter, Clara, tells of the fun she had with her three brothers, Freddie, Norman and Percy, in the first garden at Rippon Lea in the 1870s: "From bare paddock and surroundings under the guiding mind of Father, the garden began to grow, trees were planted, lawns laid down and soon there was a croquet lawn, on which we children fought many a game of croquet; if we could get no companion it was immaterial, one person could play in tum with all the balls, taking sides quite impartially."

The children were educated at home by an Irish governess, Mrs Ferguson, but every free moment was spent on activities in the garden - bird nesting, fishing and endless games. Clara tells us of how in the summer the Sargood children were encouraged to occupy themselves: "We had our rabbits, pigeons and gardens, from the gardens we sold our poor little vegetables to Mother who always gave us praise for our labours."

Julia Sargood sits in the centre of the family outside the thatched tennis pavilion at Rippon Lea in about 1885 with her daughter Charlotte on her knee.

The Sargoods loved outdoor activities, and their lawn tennis court was one of the first built in the colony. There were tennis parties for young people every second Sunday, followed by a light meal and a dance.

The Sargood children played in the orangery outside the nursery at Rippon Lea in 1880, as described by Clara Sargood:

"By and by the orangery became a favourite place for our games. Outside one opening was a grass circle the centre of which was a tree, which served as a 'home' when we played hide and seek, and many a chase we had around those beds."

A view of the extensive circular vegetable garden in 1903, with its orchard and covered areas for protecting produce from birds and other pests.

This part of the service area provided all the household fruit and vegetables throughout the year. The orchard and vegetable garden had a windmill, part of the sophisticated irrigation and drainage system installed by Sargood, who used water recycling technology to make the estate self-sufficient.

Adam Anderson was head gardener between 1882 and 1903. He was Scottish, as were several other of the Sargood servants such as Bella, the beloved children's nurse, and James Rowe who was in charge of the kitchen garden.

In England, Frederick married his second cousin, Julia Tomlin; his tenth child, Charlotte, was born as the family returned to Australia in 1882. As well as this precious cargo, Frederick also brought back a new head gardener for Rippon Lea - a gentle Scotsman, Adam Anderson, with his family. An extensive collection of exotic orchids had also been assembled in London and was shipped to Melbourne. The collection was reported by The Leader newspaper (1883) to be the largest in the colonies.

Reproduced from The Garden Gazette July 1902 by Sarony - 'A Stately Melbourne Home', pp. 5-9.

The lake is one of Rippon Lea's most dramatic features. It was extended in 1882 as part of the changes undertaken for Sargood by William Sangster, Melbourne's foremost landscaper of the time.

This panoramic view assembled from three photographs taken by J.W. Lindt in about 1885 shows the garden taking shape in the picturesque scheme that largely survives to this day.

Archery was one of the most popular outdoor sports at Rippon Lea. The Sargood archery parties rivalled those of the governor's wife, Lady Bowen.

A mixed sport, it was popular amongst women as it did not require a change of dress as with croquet and tennis.

The wedding of Louisa Nathan and Collins Street barrister Timothy Jones in 1921. After the wedding they lived at Rippon Lea with Louisa's parents.

Clara and Winifred, two of the Sargood's five daughters, were also married there in the 1890s. Today this tradition continues with fees from wedding ceremonies in the garden supplementing the cost of maintaining the property.

Benjamin Nathan, his two daughters, Louisa and Lorna, and their families in about 1926 taken on the west veranda steps. Nathan's wife Agnes had died in 1923.

Benjamin Nathan purchased Rippon Lea in 1910. Nathan had made his wealth from the Maples chain of furniture stores. In contrast to Sargood, he was a private man and, although he was generous in the public use of the grounds, his real interest lay in plant collecting. He built over twenty heated glasshouses to contain his extensive orchid and tropical flower collections. Immediately opposite the main entrance of the mansion, Nathan boldly erected the largest conservatory yet constructed in the state of Victoria.

Timothy Jones, lawyer husband of Louisa, with Betty, the Jones' eldest daughter, in a family snap taken in 1924 on the central lawn at Rippon Lea.

On the death of her father in 1935, Louisa inherited the garden estate. Along with her lawyer husband Timothy Jones and their four children, in 1938 they set about modernising the home and adapting the garden to the lifestyle the family desired. The greatest changes were a new ballroom and an in-ground swimming pool - not the first in Melbourne, but certainly the most stylish, influenced by the Hollywood glamour which prevailed over popular taste in Australia.

Ben and Louise Jones, two of the Jones children, cycling down the chase with their dog, Dougal, in the mid-1930s.

The family was passionate about animals and always had several dogs at Rippon Lea. They were also keen on horses, and at one time kept some in the grounds.

The Jones' gave wonderful pool parties, such as this one in the 1940s. The raised terraces, pergolas, pavilions, bath house and statues created the atmosphere of a glamorous film set. Such activities were a natural extension of the Rippon Lea tradition of using the grounds for extravagant outdoor entertainment.

Boating, balls, garden parties and promenading were all part of the garden's history. The introduction of the swimming pool and the provision of a tennis court enhanced the concept of a pleasure garden. They also reflected the change in social attitudes, with swimming and tennis replacing the more formal social sports of archery and croquet. Victorian propriety in dress and etiquette gave way to the casualness expressed by the two-piece swimsuit for women and tennis shorts for men.

Louisa Jones in the garden at Rippon Lea with her poodle, Jane, in the late 1960s when she was in the midst of her battle to preserve her family property from bureaucratic vandalism.

Rippon Lea occupies a special position in Australian conservation history as a property saved specifically for its historic gardens. Single-handedly, Louisa Jones fought the full might of the Commonwealth government, after it had compulsorily purchased 4.1 acres to extend the broadcasting facilities of the ABC in the 1960s. Having lost two court cases, she combined her efforts with the National Trust to successfully save the property for the people of Victoria. She received this news shortly before she died in 1972, aged seventy-eight. As Henry Bolte, Victorian premier of the time remarked, "Few people have worked so hard to give so much away".

The Trust now runs Rippon Lea as a museum, conserving the architecture and the landscape, and presenting the social history of the owners and their servants. Visitors to Rippon Lea enter a mansion preserved as the Jones family lived in it after the 1938 modernisation. In the pleasure garden the Sargood era is evoked by staging a range of performing arts events including opera, theatre, chamber music and outdoor activities.