1n 1873 the area was declared a pastoral district and a detailed survey of the Western River and environs was carried out in 1876.
A munificent gift of £30,000 to Melbourne University was followed by a knighthood in 1875 and he moved back to England where he took up the former estate of Lord Beaconsfield and attempted to enter British politics.
The building technique and materials are similar to those at nearby Oondooroo Station, and it is thought that both complexes were constructed by a German stonemason with the assistance of locally available Chinese labour.
Curiously, Wilson appears to have used the property to run only cattle, given that he had previous experience with sheep and that wool prices were high when he had acquired the station.
The station supported a large number of workers, reputedly up to ninety at its peak, and the infrastructure required would have been considerable.
Early photographic and documentary records show large gardens, both productive and decorative, and that social needs for the Elderslie community were considered, with a School of Arts registered at the station in 1896.
By 1912, the Ramsays had stocked the property with sheep, established horse studs and sunk three artesian bores.
Although the period in which the Ramsays occupied Elderslie was a difficult one, coinciding with severe droughts and large resumptions of land, they managed to sell the property debt-free to the Queensland Stock Breeding Company Limited in 1912.
[1] After the First World War, further land resumptions for closer settlement were made and in 1924, Elderslie was transferred to the Australian Estates and Mortgage Company Limited who retained ownership until 1950.
At this time the entire holding was resumed and divided into several grazing leases which were opened for selection.
Only this outcrop and the slight rise on which the homestead is located break the horizontal plane of the surrounding landscape.
An early wing was added to the north west side to form an L-shape and the verandah has been extended to encircle this addition.
The construction techniques used for the addition are cruder, using random rubble stone, rendered and struck to imitate ashlar.
[1] The blacksmiths shop is a long rectangular building constructed of coursed rubble sandstone blocks laid straight on the ground.
[1] The quarters provided accommodation for senior staff and consists of two equally sized rooms separated by a wall with a double fireplace.
The construction is similar to that of the blacksmith's shop with coursed rubble walls and a hipped roof sheeted with corrugated iron.
[1] Other buildings on site include a cowshed to the north of the main group, tankstands possibly dating to the early 1900s and a garage and prefabricated steel shed for machinery and vehicles.
have the potential to contribute to our understanding of how such pastoral stations functioned and to demonstrate their principal characteristics over the hundred and twenty years in which the homestead has been in use.
have the potential to contribute to our understanding of how such pastoral stations functioned and to demonstrate their principal characteristics over the hundred and twenty years in which the homestead has been in use.
Elderslie homestead makes an important aesthetic contribution to the landscape, its low and simple buildings and the use of sandstone from Mt Booka Booka forming a harmonious link between this dominant geographical feature and the flat and barren landscape of the surrounding area.