Black
Sunday, January 2nd 1955 was the day when Marble Hills’ long eventful life came
to a dramatic end. Governor Sir Robert George and Lady Elizabeth George were in
residence. The day started off with a temperature of about 32 degrees
celcius and searing high Northerly winds. Later that morning there was even a
dust storm.
Soon
after 9:30am, Sir Robert George went to see the caretaker (Mr. Penny) in the caretakers’
cottage. He asked him to get the cars ready in front of the house and attach
garden hoses around the house. Sir Robert knew that Marble Hill had been
threatened by bushfires many times before and did not want to take any chances.
When Sir Robert returned to the house he heard on the radio that
bushfires had reached Tea Tree Gully and there was a large fire in the Stirling
area. There were appeals for volunteer fire fighters to help battle the blazes
around Adelaide but unfortunately none came to Marble Hill.
The
day went on as normal; the maids put bread in the oven and served lunch, then
got on with their usual duties. Shortly after lunch Lady Elizabeth George
spotted fire and thick smoke at the bottom of the hill which Marble Hill stands
on. She ran down stairs and told the Governor. He got everyone together and
they all assembled in the Governors Private Study at the front of the
residence. The house began rapidly filling with smoke. The Governor sent a
servant up the tower to see if he could spot anything while he and the rest of
the men stood at the ready on the verandah with garden hoses and buckets of
water. The women ran around the house closing all the curtains and shutters.
The house was still filling with smoke.
By
2pm fire completely surrounded Marble Hill. The servant who had been sent up
the tower noticed thick black smoke billowing out of a roof access door. He
opened it and was confronted with a sheet of flames. The dried seaweed which
was used as insulation had caught fire after a burning pine tree in close
proximity was blown against the wall of the house, sending flames into the
attic so the entire roof space was alight. The servant ran down the stairs and
told everyone they had to evacuate immediately.
Everyone
gathered up blankets and towels, soaked them in water and placed them over
their heads before running out of the burning house. They got to the cars by
the front door and realized that the cars had been smothered in
molten lead which had melted off the tower roof. They were literally stranded.
At that very moment the top of the tower caved in sending glass and debris
flying. The group of people including the Governor and his wife ran to a
retaining wall beside the driveway and huddled together under the wet blankets
and watched the roof and second storey cave in.
The
bushfire passed over their heads and moved on. The house kept burning for hours
more. The groups were saved by another group of people from the nearby towns of
Cherryville and Norton Summit. By miracle, the servants pet cat also escaped
the fire. They drove them back to Government House in the city where they were
treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation by a doctor. The group felt
concern for the kitchen cat Tommy and Torquil Georges pet Joey, Chicco. Mr.
Penny was requested to make a search for the animals. So that night, Mr. Penny
returned to the house, now a smoldering mess, and found Tommy, the Kitchen cat
crouched in a cellar window, his hair badly singed and his paws burnt. But
after a visit to the vet and many baths and good food, Tommy’s health was
restored and he lived for a further 5 years. Mr. Penny also found Chicco who
unfortunately had been locked in the shed that morning, and was unable to
escape the flames.
Firemen
went up to Marble Hill after the fire, and using a salvaged fly wire window
screen, searched through the rubble in the drawing room below Lady Georges
second storey bedroom for her jewellery which had all been left behind when
Marble Hill was abandoned. Sir Robert George and Lady George lost nearly all of
their possessions to the hungry flames. These had been moved to Marble Hill for
the summer while Government house was being renovated.
About
a week after the fire, the Government sent a demolition crew up to Marble Hill
to destroy the now ‘unsafe’ structure. A chain was slung around the billiard
room chimney and wall and attached to 2 huge bulldozers. The bulldozers revved
and revved but the wall would not come down. The men tried removing the
keystone above the main doorway to weaken the tower and thus destroy it. But it
would not budge. The men then knocked down Lady George’s bedroom wall and the
lovely 5 sided bay window.
ABOVE PHOTOS (from left to right)
Marble Hill aerial photo taken after fire - Marble Hill entrance after fire - Marble Hill balcony and verandah after fire - Marble Hill balcony and verandah after fire
