On the outskirts of Wilberforce sits an old weatherboard farmhouse on a property that has been owned by members of the Argent family since the late 1890s.
The original owner, Edward Argent, came from Cambridgeshire in England when he was 53. He arrived in Australia in 1886 with children, Arthur, Emily and Albert, after the death of his wife, Sarah.
In 1898 Edward was granted 40 acres of land under the Homestead Selection Scheme and with the help of his son Albert, erected a slab hut on the site and started to clear the land for farming. Their water supply was carted from Tin Gully Creek, near the home.
Albert Argent was a keen member of the Wilberforce Cricket Team and also a member of the A Windsor Company, 3rd Infantry Regiment.
He married Gertrude Williams in 1910 and they moved into the slab hut with Edward, as two bedrooms had been added around that time. A formal lounge room was added later.
Many social evenings were held in the lounge room as family and friends gathered to sing and play musical instruments. Albert and Gertie Argent had three children: Charles who married Ada Salt in 1947, Mavis who married Clarence Arthur Farlow in 1938 and Raynor who married Mary (Trixie) Lillian Smith in 1944.
The name of the house, Charmaray, was made up from the names of the three children. In about 1918, the slab hut was demolished and a new kitchen and back verandah were built.
By 1932, the back verandah was closed in ready for the celebration of Charles’ 21st birthday. There was a sandy tennis court on Charmaray with wire netting around the perimeter on the eastern side of Tin Gully Creek. It was used every Saturday from about 1926 to the mid-1930s, with many players walking from Wilberforce.
Apple, plum, persimmon and citrus trees were planted, but at the beginning of the Great Depression the family changed to mixed farming and poultry after hundreds of cases of fruit and citrus trees were ruined during the drought and severe frosts in the winter of 1930.
In 1940, poultry sheds were built to the south of the farmhouse and a windmill, dated 1939, was installed to supply water for the poultry.
Edward Argent died in 1939 ‘in his 103rd year’ and was buried in an unmarked grave in St John’s Anglican Cemetery in Wilberforce. Albert, who died in 1951 and Gertie Argent, who died in 1955, were also buried in St John’s Cemetery.
In the 1960s, a coolroom was installed in the formal front room of the house, which was used as an egg-packing shed. Gertie’s ornate sideboard, silver tea service, whatnot displaying special ornaments, treadle sewing machine, ice-chest, large kitchen table and kerosene fridge were all still in the house.
Outside the kitchen window beside the tank stand, there is a small, shallow well-like area which was used for keeping items cool.
Charmaray still stands as a tribute to the hard work and tenacity of Edward Argent and his family.
