In 1827 William Pitt Faithfull received a land grant on the Goulburn Plains. A decade later he acquired sheep from Camden Park and established the Springfield Merino Stud before marrying schoolteacher Mary Dean, and together they had nine children.

 

The main house was built in 1857 and was home to generations of the family up until the property was purchased by its current owners. In addition to the “Big House” the property comprises multiple stone stables, workshops, convict cells, a horse-driven flour mill, stone shearing shed, wash house, blacksmith shops, extensive formal gardens, and workers’ cottages. 

 

The Springfield–Faithfull family collection is held by the National Museum of Australia. It is an extraordinary record of the life and times of a family and their merino sheep property at Springfield in New South Wales. See https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/features/springfield