52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Homestead
Glengyle, Coburg, Victoria, Australia
From Amy Johnson Crow: Is there a home you think of when you think of your ancestors? For me, it's my Grandma's tiny post-WWII era house that somehow fit all of the extended family on Christmas. What does "homestead" make you think of?
Duncan MacGregor1
Duncan MacGREGOR married my second cousin three times removed, Margaret MacRAE. Margaret was born around 1849 to Donald MacRAE and Christina GRANT.
Donald MacRAE was the owner of Carpaulin Station near Wilcannia, New South Wales, where Duncan served as farm manager. Duncan married Margaret, the daughter of his employer.
Their children were advantaged because of their father’s connection to Donald MacRAE, and their father’s subsequent marriage to their mother Margaret [Maggie] McRae who was one of Donald’s three daughters.
Duncan MacGregor cir 1890
Margaret MacGregor with son Donald cir 1884
Glengyle, Coburg
In 1873, Duncan MacGREGOR purchased Glengyle, a stately property on Moors Road in Coburg, and held it until 1908. The estate was a notable landmark in the area, often referred to as “a large bluestone mansion of fourteen rooms, with bluestone servant’s quarters, a coach house, and stables.” Situated on forty acres along Merri Creek, between The Avenue and Moore Street, Glengyle stood out as a grand country estate.
Located less than five miles from Melbourne's city center, Glengyle was more than a suburban home—it was a meticulously designed family estate. By 1871, it had been described as a family mansion, reflecting its grandeur and purpose. Accessed via the main Sydney Road and then Moore’s Lane or Moore’s Road, the property featured a winding driveway lined with ornamental trees. Visitors would pass through imposing bluestone gateposts topped with decorative balls to reach the rear of the house, where the servant’s quarters, stables, and coach house were located.
By the time the MacGregor family purchased Glengyle, no expense had been spared in making improvements to the property, by the previous owner. The orchard was described in the spring of 1871 as containing “nearly every description of fruit, along with a well established vegetable garden.
Entrance to Glengyle Homestead c 1880s. The people on the verandah are most probably family members, but I’m not able to name them.
Fire
In 1916, eight years after Duncan MacGREGOR sold the property, Glengyle was attacked by arsonists and destroyed by fire. There was considerable regret in the community, at the lost of the historic property, which was regarded as a local landmark land of historical importance.
Below is the ruins after the fire, of the servants quarters.
Image; Coburg Historical Society
General Reading
Fay Woodhouse, The Enterprising Mr. MacGregor: Stockbreeder & Pioneer Pastoralist (North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Arcadia, Imprint of Australian Scholarly Publishing Pty. Ltd, 2016), 189 pages.
"Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQ7Y-R8L : 2 January 2015), Janet Sinclair in entry for Duncan Mc Gregor, 26 Feb 1835; citing FORTINGALL,PERTH,SCOTLAND, reference , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,040,116, 102,727.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/McGregor-1419