Lane Cove Historical Society Announces their 2022 History Prize Winner – It’s a Cracker of a Story

On Thursday, 25 October 2022, the Lane Cove Historical Society (LCHS) announced its 2022 History Prize Winner.

The LCHS did not award a prize in 2021 due to Covid.

The Prize was presented by the Mayor, Councillor Andrew Zbik, who is the LCHS Patron.

The Winner – Ruth Benfield

The prize was awarded to Ruth Benfield, for an affectionate and sensitive account of Ruth’s family connections with Carisbrook Historic House in the 1950s and 1960s.

Her entry involves a recorded interview with her mother, Leah, about Ruth’s two uncles, Wes Benfield and Jim McDougall, and an associated written account.

The Last Private Owners of Carisbrook Historic House

Wes and Jim lived together as life partners at Carisbrook and lovingly managed and maintained the house.  Jim and his twin brother were the last private owners of Carisbrook Historic House.

Wes ran a bootmaker’s business in Crows Nest, while Jim was a renowned milliner in the city of Sydney as a skilled and creative man. They were artistic, hospitable and generous with their home. The McDougall Brothers hat blocks and hats form part of a display at the Powerhouse museum.

Uncle Wes organised the wedding of Ruth’s parents in 1959, and this included preparing a wonderful celebratory dinner, for Wes was a skilled cook. Wes and Jim had a large number of artistic friends and they introduced Ruth’s mother, Leah, to a world of theatre and ballet.

Leah still has vivid memories of the times she spent with Wes and Jim and she can also recall the many beautiful objects they made, such as the lovely vase displayed here.

The interview between Ruth and Leah makes clear the great affection they felt for the two men. Ruth wanted to pay tribute to two generous men who once lived in, and loved, Carisbrook Historic House.

Ruth gave a presentation at the Award night when she received her Prize certificate and a cheque for $1000.

Ruth’s mother mentioned that her uncles had a medium come over to the house as they were sure there was a ghostly presence in the house. The medium said it was a poltergeist – a young girl had drowned in the well in front of the house.  The LCHS has been unable to verify this story, although a young girl did drown near Cunnigham’s Reach, which is not far from the house.

The presentation even had a surprise ending which left the crowd amazed.  If a budding TV or Movie producer is out there, they should snap up the rights to the story.

View the presentation below.

Carisbrook Historic House

Purchased as a house museum, Carisbrook remains an important reminder of Lane Cove’s past history.  Carisbrook is a survivor of a time when the land around the Lane Cove River was a world away from Sydney Town. Built in the 1880s from locally quarried sandstone, the house sits handsomely overlooking Burns Bay on the east and the Lane Cove River to the west.

Carisbrook was purchased by the Lane Cove Council as a gift to the Lane Cove community. The Heritage Council of NSW placed a permanent conservation order on the house in 1981. It is now maintained by Lane Cove Council and curated by the Lane Cove Historical Society.

Find out more about Carisbrook House here.

Members of the public can tour Carisbrook House on the Monthly Open Weekend.  The next weekend opening is 18/19 November 2022.  Tour the house and have Devonshire tea.