D’ASCENZO “Benhar” Wanganderry, New South Wales | 1882

Their still standing, slab hut home was built in 1890. Fanny Malcolm did much of the farm work in the early years, also keeping chooks, pigs, milk cows, and growing fruits and vegetables, prodigiously baking and turning out butter jam soap and candles. Twice a week she would make the 20 mile round-trip across country to sell her produce to the miners at Joadja Creek where her husband was employed. Additionally, the Benhar farmstead became a stopping point for provisions by settlers living down the escarpment along the Wollondilly River. At one time there was even a general store and space made for a rural school.

Other land acquisitions were made by the Malcolms and even after William’s death Fanny played an active role in the farm’s development, purchasing still more land.

The couple had a family of five daughters and one son, Thomas, who never married. In 1950 Thomas sold Benhar to his niece Ella Rita Samson and her husband Jim. They both worked hard to pay the loan they had received from uncle Tom as soon as they were able. The Korean War had led to very high wool prices and the mortgage over Benhar was discharged in May 1954.

It could only have been love for both Jim and for the land that persuaded Ella to marry him and to move to the 1890 Benhar slab house which by then has seen better days. The roof was missing, donated to the war effort, and the wind blew through the wooden slabs. There was no electricity, no inside stove, laundry or toilet. Nevertheless, with a ‘can do’ attitude, Jim and Ella went about making it home. Susan, their first born, was later followed by two more daughters Gayle and Robyn.

Jim and Ella acquired other parcels of land to operate as part of J and ER Sampson. The separated properties made the running of Benhar difficult, further complicated by limited funds and machinery. It was a life of dauntingly hard work and personal sacrifice to give their daughters the best start in life.

The three girls followed their parent’s interest in horses and each became proficient riders, successfully competing in gymkhanas and at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney. The daughters and their families were ultimately well provided for.

After her mother‘s death, Robyn, at her father’s request, left her career as a high school teacher to help at Benhar. Driving from her home in Canberra with the family dog Tessa, she devoted Monday to Wednesday to looking after the farm and her father. While not requirement or an expectation of these arrangements Jim gifted to Robyn the original portions of Benhar. He passed away quietly in June 2012, a week before his 90th birthday, having spent almost his entire life working on the land.

Today Robyn, actively manages and directs the farming activities on Benhar. As with previous generations, there continues to be testing times of drought and bushfires, but as she proudly affirmed to Michael when they first met, “I am from the land.”