HOMES Australian Country 133›and escaped convicts. During the two
years the house took to complete, Thomas
ordered furniture from England and much
of it remains in the homestead today. The
property was more like a small village,
with a large woolshed, numerous cottages,
a chapel and an enormous storehouse
among the many outbuildings.
During the 1820s, Thomas was joined on
the Norfolk Plains by his brothers, Joseph,
who took up Panshanger and William,
who established neighbouring Brickendon,
which is still owned and farmed by
Archer descendants. By the time Edward
settled at Northbury and Leverington,
the Archers were in charge of tens of
thousands of acres of rich farming land.
They were progressive farmers, introducing
technology and equipment to speed
progress, clearing native vegetation to
introduce new grasses and importing fi ne
Merino sheep to improve their fl ocks.
Of course, the brothers were greatly
assisted by their assigned labour force of
convicts. Males worked as blacksmiths,
tanners, farmhands, gardeners and
shepherds while females worked
in domestic service. The men were
accommodated in outbuildings while the
women lived in quarters on the fi rst fl oor
of the house. With a combined annual
convict population of more than 100,Woolmers and Brickendon formed an
aggregate of convict labour second only to
the Van Dieman’s Land Company holdings
in Tasmania’s north-west.
Although Thomas resigned from
colonial administration he continued his
commitment to public life by becoming
a member of the Legislative Council of
Van Dieman’s Land from 1829 until 1844.
Somewhat ironically, he also became
a key advocate from the abolition of
convict transportation and the closure of
Tasmania’s penal settlements.
As befi tted a family of such standing
in the colony, young Thomas William
was shipped to England for his education,