Ewan Bingley


Ewan Gordon Bingley

Blocks 11A & 11B Woden District - Property Name: 'Flanders'


Ewan Gordon Bingley was born at Amungula, NSW on the Sutton Road north of Queanbeyan, NSW, on the 7th March 1896. The Bingleys were pioneers of the Queanbeyan district, having arrived in the 1840s. Ewan enlisted in August 1916 and was farewelled at the family property Woodfield in October 1916. He served with the 19th Battalion during 1917 at Lagnicourt and Menin Road (near Ypres) before being shot in the foot the day before the Battle of Passchendaele in October 1917. He rejoined his unit in July 1918 and was wounded a second time, with a gun-shot wound to the leg, during the Battle of Mont St. Quentin on the 31st August 1918. He returned to Australia and was discharged in May 1919.

Bingley commenced a twelve year lease on 425 acre (172 hectare) Woden Block 11B on the 3rd April 1920 at an annual rent of £95/12/6. The block was part of the Jerrabomberra-Tuggeranong soldier settlement subdivision and was situated between Canberra Avenue and the Monaro Highway. Jerrabomberra Creek ran through its western side. He named the block Flanders.

It is not clear if Bingley lived on the block although he did receive permission in 1922 to erect a building near Jerrabomberra Creek. He had bought a building with hessian walls from Duntroon for £60, which he proposed to replace at a later date with a weatherboard house. By 1926 he had also acquired the lease to Woden Block 11A located on the northern side of Woden Block 11B. Woden Block 11A was only 282 acres (114 hectares) in size. He allowed a Queanbeyan butcher to agist bullocks in the paddock. He also had approximately 500 ewes on Woden Block 11B ready to lamb.


Plan of Canberra City Blocks 11A & 11B

Plan of Canberra City Blocks 11A & 11B (formerly Woden Blocks 11A & 11B).

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Plan of Woden Block 11B

Plan of Woden Block 11B.

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Early in 1929, Bingley, then living in Queanbeyan, was advised that Woden Block 11B was actually 430 acres (174 hectares) in size and the rent was to be increased to £86 per annum from the 1st February 1929. On the 2nd April 1930, Bingley agreed to transfer both Woden Blocks 11A and 11B to his brother Harold Bingley for the nominal amount of £10.


Google Maps image of area c2013 with Woden Blocks 11A & 11B boundary in red

Google Maps image of area c2013 with Woden Blocks 11A & 11B boundary in red.

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Ewan Bingley married in 1921 but he and his wife divorced twelve years later. He died in Queanbeyan on the 28th July 1947 aged 51.


Sources

  • ArchivesACT: Government Property & Tenancy Registers - Woden Block 11B (PDF Icon PDF 336Kb & PDF 781Kb)
  • ArchivesACT: Rate Book : Territory for the Seat of Government - 1927 (PDF Icon PDF 17.8Mb) - 1928 (PDF Icon PDF 18.7Mb) - 1929 (PDF Icon PDF 8.88Mb)
  • ArchivesACT: TL1018 (Part 1) - Block 11B Woden
  • ArchivesACT: TL1018 (Part 2) - Block 11A Woden - H.D. Bingley
  • ArchivesACT: TL1018 (Part 3) - Block 11A Canberra City and Block 11B Woden (Consolidated Lease) - R.A. Stewart
  • ArchivesACT: TL1018 (Part 4) - Block 11A Canberra City and Block 11B Woden Consolidated Lease - R.A. Stewart
  • NAA: (B2455) First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920: http://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/89469
  • Biographical Register of Canberra and Queanbeyan by Peter Procter, Heraldry and Genealogy Society of Canberra, 2001 (p.14)

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