Shenton & Treendale Homestead Historic Site 1830

Established in the 1830s, Treendale Farm & Homestead was one of Western Australia’s first farms. The Homestead historic site now forms part of Meadow Landing, Roelands.

Within the area stands an old flame tree and an ancient fig tree, which once surrounded the old homestead. An olive tree in Shinnick Close, adjacent to what is now Stanley Park, marks the site of improvements that were earlier than the homestead. This is all that remains of the original settlement.

The Farm was part of Location 2 selected by William Kernot Shenton in 1830. Shenton undertook ‘location duties’ to improve the property with full title granted in August 1840, making it the earliest development in the Harvey Region.

Surveyor Thomas Treen arrived in the settlement in 1840 and purchased the fertile farming land.

It is believed that Gerald De Courcy Lefroy named and perhaps built Treendale Homestead.

In 1960, the Stanley family purchased Treendale Farm. At that time, it was a dilapidated, yet significant, wattle and daub homestead. It had four main rooms, two brick chimneys and evidence of buildings at the rear. Extensive outbuildings included a 20-bail dairy and a large hay barn, both built from wood slabs. Sadly, less than a decade later, the homestead burnt down.

The Stanley family, including father Thomas and son Bernie, owned and operated a dairy at 14 Wellesley Road. Hampered by a damp winter, Bernie persuaded his father to buy the Treendale property.

The block was divided into two sections by Treendale Road, which was later corrected through a land swap, allowing two blocks with frontage onto the southern side of Raymond Road. This was an easier proposition for milking cows.

The Stanley family constructed a milking shed on the other side of Treendale Gully, selling milk until 1976, but continued to run the two properties whilst living at Wellesley Road.

In 1989, the Stanley family subdivided the 176-acre property into one-acre lots, naming their subdivision Meadow Landing.

Previous owners of the property also included the Bevan, McNish, Rodgers and Rose families.

Meet William Kernot Shenton

William Kernot Shenton was one of the first landowners in the Australind and Greater Bunbury area.

A wealthy engineer and architect, he also had considerable holdings in Perth.

Shenton built a horse mill at Fremantle in 1830, in which he ground the colony’s first wheat while hand-writing an early newspaper.

He also established the Old Mill in South Perth in 1835.