About this venue
The Quamby run has played an important role in the development of the Western District of Victoria. It was first taken up by Messers Mussle, Brown and Wickham and was very rough terrain, heavily timbered and swampy.
The property passed to George Youl in 1884. Quamby was gazetted on February 1849 and covered 25,000 acres. In 1853 it was sold to Paul De Castella, a Swiss vigneron who then went on to make his name in the Yarra Valley. It is believed the first house was built in the 1850s, and located on the Croquet lawn. William Lindsay purchased the property as a squatting lease in 1854, and the present homestead was commenced in 1888 taking two years for the foundations to be laid, and a further three years for the Homestead to be constructed.
William was born to an Edinburgh merchant family in 1813, and arrived in Port Phillip in 1841 on the 'John Cooper'. The families aboard had large supplies of provisions, including a draught mare and milking cows. The voyage had taken 9 months. After a period of cattle dealing in Melbourne and Castlemaine, William Lindsay took up the Quamby lease and it became a freehold property in 1862. A further 2,000 acres were purchased and in 1864, William bought Union Station from his brother in law for one pound an acre, which added a further 25,600 acres to his holdings. (Union Station now 5000 acres was sold for $9 million).
Union had been taken up by the Carmichaels, the first settlers in the district in 1840, and William Lindsay married Grace Carmichael, and had two sons and three daughters. After William's death in 1889, one son - James, ran Quamby and the other son, William junior, managed Union.
Why planners choose this venue
- ✓ Built 1888
- ✓ Three-acre gardens
- ✓ 20 min north of Warrnambool
- ✓ rustic
- ✓ garden
- ✓ heritage
What we host
Weddings
Quamby Homestead, its historic botanical gardens and 70 acre rural property provide the perfect setting for your country wedding. The Homestead, surrounded by a 3 acre historic botanical garden designed by William Guilfoyle, former Director of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, is a living example of the splendour and grandeur of the Victorian era. Hold your ceremony and/or reception here, and even stay overnight before or after your wedding - whatever the choice you can be assured you will find the perfect location for your ceremony.
Learn more on Quamby Homestead's site →
