Pioneering families

"The Armytages of Como : pastoral pioneers" by Anita Selzer Patriarch George Armytage was born at Ticknall, Derbyshire in 1795, and died of gangrene on 12th July 1862. He and his wife Elizabeth had 11 children. He had owned a number of pastoral holdings which included: Mt Cotterell, Geelong, Ingleby on the Barwon River, Murrandara (Mundarra) near Edenhope, Ganoo Ganoo near Chetwynd, Fulham at Kanagulk on the Glenelg River near Balmoral, and Buntingdale (Portland Bay district) (a total of more than 225,000 acres!). George was a pioneer in the pastoral industry and a leader in promoting wool as a major export.

Como watercolour by Penleigh Boyd (1910)

In 1857 George gave his son Charles Henry (1824-1876) Mostyn and Fulham stations. George also acquired Mt Sturgeon in 1863. Fulham became the home for Charles and his wife Caroline in 1857. Eight of their ten children were born at Fulham (50 miles from the nearest doctor). Fulham's remoteness encouraged them to purchase Como as a town house.   Como House in South Yarra was purchased by Charles and Caroline in 1864, and they raised the children here. The home remained in Armytage family hands until 1959 when the last surviving children - Constance & Leila - handed it over to the National Trust. The house is still stocked with the Armytage family furniture, and provides a glimpse into the lives and times of a dynasty.

The Fulham homestead

In the late 1880s Charles' son George Herbert (1861-1925) lived at Fulham as the manager. In 1885 Harold Augustus (Charles' 3rd son) took over management of Mt Sturgeon. His brother Ernest Adolphus lived at Clunie Station near Harrow till he died in 1898. The Armytages finally sold the Fulham and Mt Sturgeon in 1948 to the Soldier Settlement Commission.

Fulham's formal gardens from the verandah

The Armytages were one of the colonial squattocracy families, made rich on the wool from the sheeps' back, their genteel lifestyles relied on tough management, skilful raising of livestock, and an army of farm workers and servants (Mt Sturgeon at one time employed 130 men).
This book showcases their history, and the legacy Como provides, preserving their elegant way of life.

Looking towards the homestead from the Fulham railway bridge