A handsome country farmhouse stood on the road between St Leonards and Killafaddy, on the left side overlooking the North Esk when the area was known as Paterson's Plains.
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Named Sidbury, it was the residence of Mr Robert Manley who came to the colony from England on the Magnet in 1828.
He married Miss Anne Hodgkinson possibly from Shropshire, in 1836 at St John's Church, Launceston, Van Diemen's Land.
It is a curious thing that in Shropshire, England there is a village named Sidbury. There is also a village named Sidbury near Launceston in Cornwall, England.
Robert and Anne had four children: Anne Maria who died from croup at six months; Robert, Annie and Charles Edward.
Robert Manley senior's fortunes declined, he was declared insolvent in June 1844, and died on January 21, 1845, aged 39.
Anne Manley now had to make a living to care for her young family.
On December 31, 1845, she placed an advertisement in The Launceston Examiner: "Establishment for Young Ladies, Sidbury, Paterson's Plains - Mrs Manley begs to inform her friends that the duties of her establishment will be resumed on Monday the 12th January."
This was an acceptable and proper expression used by many women to announce that an establishment was continuing for another year.
Within the house the largest room measuring 30 feet long by 20 feet wide, the walls 16 inches thick with a small window and a shallow fireplace, offered an ideal space for a classroom where young ladies might learn singing, dancing, elocution, drawing, embroidery and other gracious and homely arts.
Mrs Manley employed a French master, Mr Clement Buesnel, from Jersey.
Mrs Manley became Mrs Buesnel in 1848 and the couple ran the school together successfully for nearly 25 years until he left amid a scandal.
In 1872, Anne and her daughter Annie left Sidbury and conducted schools firstly at Victoria Terrace in Launceston, then Perth, and in 1881 purchased Broadland House at No. 4 Elizabeth Street from Mr Edwin Maxey.
Clement Buesnel sold Sidbury in April 1874 and left the colony. Sidbury passed through the hands of several farmers over the next 34 years.
In 1886 Sidbury was taken over for a short weekend by the Defence Forces for the purposes of an encampment at which the Rifle Regiment thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
In 1908 Hutton's Bacon Factory was established at Sidbury by J. C. Hutton Pty Ltd, with the intention of operating on a grand scale.
It was opened by the then-Minister of Agriculture (Mr Hean) on December 16 that year, operating until 1951 when the land was subdivided.
The house became tired and derelict. In 1961 it was visited by Miss Rooney and Miss Street, headmistress and deputy of Broadland House and two members of the school board.
The old homestead was demolished and replaced by an uninteresting HEC building.
Connect with the past, visit Launceston Historical Society - facebook.com/launcestonhistory
