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Stamford Park

In 1868 James Quirk sold his 424 acre property bounded by Stud Road, Wellington Road and Dandenong Creek to Frederick Row for one pound and ten shillings an acre.

Frederick Row was a wealthy wool broker who was moving up in colonial society. He bought the property with the intention of turning it into a country estate. He named it Stamford Park after an estate of the same name owned by the Row Family in Linconshire, England. The present grand homestead on the property was built in 1882 by his son, Edward Row.

The home became the focus for Melbourne's wealthy and well-connected people during Christmas and the spring racing season. The famous actress, Nellie Stewart, was a frequent guest and later married Frederick Row's youngest son, Richard. Leading members of Melbourne society including the Governor, Lord Hopetoun, were also guests at Stamford Park.


  • A Walk Around Stamford Park

    Michael Stevens lived at Stamford Park with his uncle, Alfred ("Bro") Stevens, in 1955 and 1956 and was a frequent visitor up until his uncle's death in 1987. In this article he takes us on a guided tour of the property as it was in those days.

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  • GILL Nellie Gill Remembers

    Nellie Gill is the grand daughter of George and Mary Ann Gill who settled in Rowville on a 155 acre property south of Wellington Road in 1857. George called the property "Somerset Farm" after the county of his birth in England. The property was to remain in the hands of the family for well over 100 years and it was not until the 1980s that the last of the Gills moved away from Rowville. Gill Court off Dandelion Drive is named in honour of this Rowville pioneering family.

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  • ROW The Row Family of Stamford Park

    This short history of the Row family was prepared by Debra Truin, an HSC student at Scoresby High School in 1981. Her article is based primarily on information provided by Ms Bev Foster, great grand-daughter of Edward Row, and from her extensive research of documents held by the La Trobe library. Reference is also made to Helen Coulson's account of the history of Rowville in "Story of the Dandenongs". This article is reprinted in an abridged form from the Knox Historian with the permission of the Knox Historical Society.

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  • STURROCK (nee BICKERTON) Mary Sturrock Remembers

    Mary recalled that her strongest first impression of Rowville was the smell of percolated coffee brewing on the wood stove of the farm in Wellington Road that her father had bought from Bill Phillips in 1936. She had left Geelong with her father early one morning in his 1928 Chevrolet National to drive to Rowville and of all the impressions made on her nine-year old mind that exciting day, the smell of Mrs Phillip's coffee has always been the most vivid in her memory.

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  • Stamford Park Dairy

    In 1936 Aloysius Drummond built a model dairy beside Stud Road to the north of where the Green House Nursery is now sited.
    The dairy was of the latest design as described in the following article in the journal published by the Gippsland and Northern Company.

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  • VANCAM Lois and Ray Vancam Remember

    Lois and Ray Vancam are the longest living residents on the Stamford Estate having moved into their home in Hillview Avenue in 1959. In this interview they recount stories of the primitive conditions on the estate in the early years. Lois, of course, is very well known for her many years of dedicated service in manning the school crossing in Stud Road.

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