NSWFarming
Warners Bay
An officer’s orange orchard on the lake, and a township that took a century to sell.
1829Jonathan Warner selects his lakeside grant
WHAT STARTED IT
Lieutenant Jonathan Warner, a retired officer who had surveyed a road through the district, selected 1,280 acres at the north of Lake Macquarie in 1829. He built his house Biddaba on the hill above the bay and planted a farm and orange orchard worked by convicts and his sons.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
Warner advertised part of the grant as the township of Lymington in 1840, but the land boom collapsed and the lots stayed unsold until 1885. A small coal tunnel on the waterfront sent coal away by boat, but the place grew slowly until cars and the end of petrol rationing made it a commuter suburb.
TURNING POINTS
1829Jonathan Warner selects 1,280 acres beside the lake, taking possession in 1831.
1840Warner subdivides part of his grant as the township of Lymington, but the lots do not sell.
1885A third attempt finally sells some Lymington lots.
1892A provisional school opens, known as Warner until 1913.
1927A post office opens, and a new subdivision creates James, Mills and Beryl streets.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A lakeside suburb of about 8,200 people, with a foreshore park and shopping strip that expanded rapidly after 1980. A railway was planned but never built, and the park between King and Queen streets was the land set aside for it.