The Edgarley property is located along Delacombe Way approximately seven kilometres east of Willaura. It was founded by Thomas Millear in 1877.
Thomas arrived in the Colony of Victoria in 1858 and initially managed Greenvale near Wickliffe, a property he co-owned with Josiah Austin and Thomas Maidment. On the dissolution of this partnership in 1877 he bought 18,390 acres of Greenvale’s northern section and named it Edgarley, after his boyhood home in Somerset, England.
In sthe same year a firm of Melbourne architects, Arthur Ebden Johnson and Alfred Louis Smith designed the house, shearing shed and quarters, stables and manager’s cottage. All were built from bluestone quarried on the property and stone masons walked from Melbourne to complete the job. The country was naturally treeless and 600 acres of trees, mostly blue gums, were planted for shelter.
Thomas and his brother-in-law Albert Austin also acquired several stations in NSW including the famous Wanganella property at Deniliquin, which they bought in 1878 from the Peppin Brothers. They followed the breeding methods developed by the Peppins so successfully that the names Austin and Millear became synonymous with merino breeding.
In 1890, a further 4,111 acre portion of Greenvale was purchased making the entire Edgarley estate 22,411 acres. Thomas senior died in 1895 and the estate passed to his sone, Thomas, who was born at Greenvale in 1866.
From 1877 until almost the turn of the century the only pursuit was grazing and as many as 22,000 sheep were shorn in one year. In 1899 share farming was established on Edgarley and by 1910 twenty-three tenant farmers occupied 6,000 acres. Pastures were improved and the demand for land suitable for growing wheat was satisfied.
In the 1930s parts of Edgarley were divided into Eastleigh and Yooranalee to accommodate Thomas Millear’s youngest sons; James, Spencer and Wilfred. Members of the Millear family continue to farm these properties today, with sheep and cropping remaining the two main enterprises.
After the Second World War, 5001 acres of Edgarley was taken up for soldier settlement and eight returned servicemen were allocated farms.
Land was donated by the Millear family for the establishment of the Willaura Recreation Reserve, the Hospital, the Anglican Church, and the Vicarage Swamp walking track is also on Millear property.
In 1978 the Millear family celebrated their centenary of merino breeding with the sealing of a time capsule at Buttabone Stud Park (BSP), a property they owned at Warren in NSW. After the sale of BSP this time capsule was relocated to Edgarley where it will be opened in 2028.
In the year 2000 Pat Millear established Stud Park South (SPS) Merino Stud based at Edgarley with the foundation ewes and rams purchased from the BSP dispersal. Whilst SPS may be a relatively new stud, the Peppin genetics it carries are part of the Merino folklore dating back to 1878. Pat is proud to continue his family’s long tradition of breeding merino sheep.
Ref – The History of Willaura and District 1835-1985