Discover Historic Burnima Estate's Amazing History

Historic Burnima Estate was originally a large parcel of land known as 'Burnima Station'.

The land was originally taken up by Ben Boyd and after a sequence of lessees was inherited by Mr Henry Tollemache Edwards whose widowed mother had married Captain Ronald Campbell.

Burnima Homestead was built in 1896 for him by Frederick Young of Queanbeyan (builder of “Yarralumla”, residence of the Governor General) and was intended to be an impressive residence.

 The Bega gazette reported on 15 March 1899 that ‘Mr. H. T. Edwards' new mansion at Burnima has been a record in one branch of the New South Wales day labour market.

Mr. W. A. Surplice, of Bega, has just completed three years' work in painting and decorating Burnima.

We understand that the building outlay, so far has been over £10,000.’

After WWII The Rural Reconstruction Commission resumed eight blocks of approximately 1500 acres each from Burnima which had become a deceased estate, HT Edwards having died in 1915.

Burnima Homestead is a two-storey late Victorian brick dwelling of generous proportions. 

The architect of the home was Frederick Young, the builder and architect of the Governor-General’s residence at Yarralumla.

Originally standing on 7,000 acres this magnificent squatting homestead of late victorian influence comprises of ten bedrooms, sitting room, formal dining room, study, reception, billard room and servants quarters.

The gardens were set out with trees from every part of the world: pines, conifers, spruces, cedars, maples and torolosas.

Originally lit by acetylene gas, the old gas making machine remains still intact

the decorative fretwork and imposing brickwork is befitting the style and grandeur of the grand victoria building.

Miss Alice Edith Edwards was just two years old when her mother Anna (née Wren) passed away heartbreakingly, leaving her and her newborn baby brother to grow up never knowing their mother.

In time, Mr Edwards found love again, marrying Helen (née Yates) in Sydney, fourteen years after Anna’s passing. Around 1896, the family — Henry, Helen, and Alice — moved into their newly built homestead, a grand and gracious residence that stood as a symbol of prosperity and permanence.

 Joining them was Leslie Tollemache, Henry’s young son from his second marriage, then about thirteen years of age.

By this time, Alice was in her early thirties and the only surviving daughter, having lost her half-sister, Gwendoline Helen, six years earlier at the tender age of four.

Mrs Helen Edwards enjoyed eleven years in her beautiful new home before passing away at the age of sixty. Mr Edwards himself lived to the age of eighty-one, passing away peacefully at the homestead in 1915.

Following the loss of her parents, Miss Alice Edith Edwards remained at the estate, tending to it with steadfast devotion and preserving its dignified Victorian traditions. She lived quietly yet purposefully, surrounded by the memories of generations who had gone before her.

Though she never married nor had children of her own, Miss Edwards dedicated her life to the service of others — devout in her faith, loyal to her community, and deeply respected by all who knew her.

Her passing in 1952, at the remarkable age of eighty-nine, marked the close of a long and graceful chapter in the Edwards family history.