Welby

Fitzroy village and early industry

Welby was earlier known as the Village of Fitzroy. A local heritage trail drawing on the Society’s Mittagong history dates the establishment of Fitzroy to 1862. The former name is valuable when searching maps, newspapers and land records, but it should be distinguished from other places and institutions named Fitzroy.^[14]

Linda Emery’s land-title research traces one part of the village from Crown allotments to later development. It records Crown land offered in 1865 and identifies brickmaker Robert Snowden as the purchaser of eight lots in Section 5, with innkeeper John Watson acquiring the other two. William Brazenall purchased Lots 4 and 7 in 1889, where his blacksmithing and foundry works stood.^[15]

The heritage study traces the consolidation of land around the house later called Welby Park Manor. It records the acquisition of an unmade section of Berrima Street in 1963 and a 1975 subdivision that created Kell Crescent and Welby Park Place. Its annotated diagram outlines the former Hopes property on a later street map, helping readers compare the earlier holding with subsequent development.^[13]

Welby Park and later village life

Welby Park Manor was formerly called Hopes. Council’s 2023 heritage evidence study examines land transfers and rate books and concludes that architect Byera Hadley probably built the house around 1923-1926. Hadley also designed Annesley School in Bowral and advised the Mittagong School of Arts Committee. The study cautions that some later property advertisements embellished the house’s earlier history; its dating is an evidence-based estimate, not a confirmed construction year.^[13]

The same study traces later ownership by Laura and Isabel Cull and records a restaurant and tearooms established in the house in 1979. The Society holds a Welby Park Manor building file. The property is included here as a research subject; check current access arrangements rather than assuming it is open to visitors.^[13]

Welby also appears in the history of everyday local services. The Society’s account of Mittagong Shire Council records footpath construction at Welby in 1960, alongside the opening of Mittagong’s baths and caravan park. Street-name research offers another route into the settlement: Welby is included in the Society’s Streets of Mittagong project. Together with the surviving Welby Park Manor, these sources provide starting points for a more detailed built and community history.^[8][12][13]

Welby is part of the northern Highlands landscape around Mittagong. Its records include the Fitzroy or Welby cemetery: Society family histories refer to burials there, including the Presbyterian cemetery. Burial registers and newspaper notices can help connect families with the locality, while distinguishing residence from the place of burial.^[11]