History of Place and The Gift

Aboriginal Heritage

The Darramuragal or Darug people have been in this area for thousands of years, long before the arrival of European settlers. Living mostly along the foreshores of the harbour, they fished and hunted in the waters and harvested food from the surrounding bushland.

They spent much of their time developing a rich, complex culture that included a distinctive language, customs, spirituality and law – the heart of which was their connection to the land. The Aboriginal lifestyle was based on total kinship with the natural environment. Wisdom and skills obtained over millennia enabled them to use their environment for maximum benefit. Acts such as killing animals for food or building a shelter were steeped in ritual and spirituality, and carried out in balance with their surroundings.

• Information on the Ku-ring-gai local government area from Ku-ring-gai Council.

The Ku-ring-gai local government area is most likely the Darramurragal clan area (various spellings), however, the boundaries are not known and other clan territory may also extend into Council’s modern boundaries.

• Phil Hunt, Senior Archaeologist for the Aboriginal Heritage Office.

History Post 1857

The area of 50 acres was advertised by the Crown as Lot 2 on the 4th February 1857 and was selected by William Gannon. A land grant was issued to him on the 5th September 1877. Following his death, his widow, Helena Gannon sold the land to Minnie Edith Rofe on the 20th July 1904.

Minnie Edith Rofe subsequently declared that she held it in trust for her husband, Thomas Ernest Rofe, financier of Wahroonga, and the two of them joined in a transfer of the land to the Council of the Shire of Ku-ring-gai on the 13th April 1927.

Gift to the Public 1927 - Rofe Park Turramurra

Thomas and Minnie Rofe were living in Wahroonga, Sydney in 1927 when they decided to give the 50 acres of land to the Council of the Shire of Ku-ring-gai. The area was described in the Sydney Morning Herald as lying west of the end of Warragal Road, Turramurra, adjacent to the Upper Lane Cove River.

In a Sydney Morning Herald article on the 6 April 1927, Councillor Thistlethwayte, president of Ku-ring-gai Shire said

“This generous act on Mr. Rofe’s part, is being consummated to-night in the transfer of the property to the council, and the execution of a deed of trust by the council, so that the area will for all time be an open space in which the preservation of the natural fauna and flora will be a dominant feature. The land is well wooded and includes a natural cave unsurpassed in the metropolitan area.”

According to the Deed held by Ku-ring-gai Council:

"Council should hold the said land upon the trusts hereinafter declared" and "upon trust for the public as a Public Park and reserve for the preservation of natural fauna and flora".

Rofe Park opened on 24 May 1927, Mr and Mrs Rofe were present. Thomas said that his decision to dedicate the area as a park was as a result of reading a report of the Society for the Preservation of Wildlife and of the impression he received while travelling through the USA where many parks had been donated to local communities.

Information provided by Lorna Watt Ku-ring-gai Historical Society President

Report - Enquiry No: 118-20 Rofe Park – No 40 Mimosa Road, Turramurra 2020

On 6 April 1927, the following article was published on page 17 of The Sydney Morning Herald:

GIFT TO PUBLIC
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50 Acres of Park Land.
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MR. T. E. ROFE’S GENEROSITY.

The Ku-ring-gai Shire Council was last evening informed that Mr. T. E. Rofe had presented to the public as a recreation reserve an area of 50 acres of land adjacent to the Upper Lane Cove River.

In a minute to the council the president (Councillor Thistlethwayte) stated that in 1925 a committee of representaties of public departments and local- governing bodies interested was formed with the object of securing the foreshores of the Lane Cove River from Figtree, Hunter’s Hill, to the source of the river. Among others, Mr. Rofe had been approached with respect to the gully lands included in a 50-acre area lying west of the end of Warrigal-road, Turramurra. During the past few days Mr. Rofe had informed him (Councillor Thistlethwayte) that he had decided to make a gift of the 50 acres to the public.

“This generous act on Mr.Rofe’s part,” said Councillor Thistlethwayte, “is being consummated to-night in the transfer of the property to the council), and the execution of a deed of trust by the council, so that the area will for all time be an open space in which the preservation of the natural fauna and flora will be a dominant feature. The land is well wooded and includes a natural cave unsurpassed in the metropolitan area.”

Councillor Thistlethwayte recommended that an effort should be made to secure the the approaches to the area presented by Mr. Rofe. He added that the council had secured as additional park area upwards of 150 acres in a little more than two years.

Mr. Rofe (who, with Mrs. Rofe, was present at the meeting) said that he appreciated the necessity for preserving the wild life of the country, and that fact had influenced him in making the gift. It was a pleasure for him to give within his means, and since 1903 he had made gifts totalling £53,000.

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Memorandum of Transfer Rofe Park. Office of the Registrar-General 1927

Deed - LD625516 Rofe Park - Off Warrigal Road Turramurra - Portion 32 - Volume 313 - Folio 155 - Includes Deed with Thomas Ernest Rofe Ku-ring-gai Council 1927