Here’s one you might have forgotten. Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia, back in 1930, had a famous ewe named after her at Geelong.

Not just any ewe, either, it went on to win the grand title Champion Corriedale Ewe of Australia four years running, 1930 through 1933.

Johnson wasn’t the only celebrity to have a ewe named for her at the Coolangatta homestead at Lovely Banks – HQ of Corriedale sheep and thoroughbred horse studs run by Senator Frank Guthrie.

Opera star Nellie Melba had one as well, although it’s not known to have reached the same dizzying heights of ovine magnificence. But hey, talk about flattering.

Coolangatta is a two-storey bluestone heritage treasure that’s lived several lives, even graced the pages of The Australian Home Beautiful, yet is little known these days.

Its first life dates to the 1850s, when it was a select boarding school for boys and known as Belle Vue. This was relatively short-lived, though, it closed 1864 and passed through a variety of hands who used it for farming.

Around 1915, the property was renamed Coolangatta – Aboriginal for ‘big view’ – by owner Robert Noble. That same year, it was badly damaged by fire with 11 of its 22 rooms gutted after an attempt to smoke out a beehive went magnificently sideways.

     

A new owner, one D. Graham, had a crack at rebuilding it as a single-storey structure, using what remained of the bluestone walls and adding an iron roof but despite those efforts when Guthrie arrived from the Riverina, 10 years later, the place was in miserable condition. “Shocking condition”, to use his words.

Guthrie commissioned Geelong architects Laird & Buchan to come up with a second storey, mod cons, electric lighting and a power plant, at a price tag of 10,000 quid. That’s a fair tag, too, given the average wage at the time was around 250 a year.

The restored Georgian Revival home was subsequently featured, along with Newtown’s Kirrewur, in a 1930-edition of the highly regarded The Australian Home Beautiful, although the tone of magazine spiel might not hold up today.

“Coolangatta, the home of Senator Guthrie, stands in rolling, down-like country behind Geelong, with a glimpse through a wide, shallow valley of Corio Bay and the You Yangs,” it gushes.

“The first impression the homestead gives is of an Early Colonial home in the Southern States. One would not be surprised to see a darky servant open the door!”

Hmmm. Well, times have changed for the better.

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Frank Guthrie, born James Francis, is an interesting figure. Born in Donald, educated at Geelong College, keen footballer and tennis player. Honed his sheep industry skills with Dalgety & Co, lost a leg to anthrax as a young bloke shortly after he married, was a founding director of the Federal Woollen Mills and a 21-year-long federal senator from 1919 onwards.

Most of which was before he set up Coolangatta as epicentre for his Guthrie Corriedale Sheep Stud. Its breeding ops and shipments circled the globe – New Zealand, US, South America, South Africa and Great Britain – picking up 130 championships and 1300 first prizes between 1927 and 1952. Including Amy Johnson’s flattering titles.

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Guthrie ran Corriedale ops from neighbouring Elcho Park at Lara as well. Thoroughbred horse studs at both, too. He started up the Corriedale Sheep-Breeders’ Association, was a member of the Royal Agricultural Society Council, Geelong Agricultural Society, Geelong Chamber of Commerce and the Victorian State Wool Committee, chaired the Wool Export Advisory Committee and championed the Australian Wool Board.

Lanolin in his blood, basically.

He snaffled a CBE in 1946 for his efforts, disposed of his Geelong properties and studs in 1951, retiring to Kangaroo Ground, where he wrote A World History of Sheep and Wool. He died in 1958 at age 86.

His Coolangatta survives today in private ownership, its homestead and gardens tipped for a resurrection in the near future – beehives willing.

No sign of any sheep these days, though. Seems Amy’s well and truly flown the coop.

This article appeared in the Geelong Advertiser 11 September 2023