There is a photo currently in circulation of Uncle Leek’s Teahouse at Mersey Bluff. The teahouse was a popular tourist destination in the early part of the 1900s. To learn more about Uncle Leek, the following is an interesting account written by a tourist in 1908 after a visit to the Mersey Bluff Teahouse:
"While showing us around the garden he explained everything—how long he was building these things etc., and gave us the names of all the plants, some of which he had collected in the bush miles away. A rustic arch which he called Amy Moir’s Gate he built of large beams of wood from a ship of that name wrecked near his gardens. A summer house also was built from portions of the same wreck. Inside were tables and seat made from like materials and around the walls were lamps and other relics. "One portion of the garden the owner calls his English wild garden, set apart for English wild flowers. Another plot is set out with American wild flowers, all blooming. A large room he has fitted up as a museum containing curios collected by himself during his wanderings, with many articles of his own making, including picture and photo frames, tables, chairs, cabinets, models of old English houses, castles and churches; also a polo-cart fit for a king to ride in. These are built from many kinds of Tasmanian wood and all are inlaid. "The cart is the most interesting piece of woodwork I ever saw. I was told that it contains 350 pieces of wood from 60 kinds of Tasmanian trees and shrubs. The inside is decorated with pictures of Tasmanian native animals, flowers and plants. Mr Leek said he spent nine months in building it and had used it about eleven years. When finished, he took it over to Melbourne and received five pounds a week for showing it in an exhibition.
1 Comment
Beth Gregory
3/2/2023 07:07:13
Hello there, any idea what (bow) boat, pictured in foreground, could be? Many thanks for great article!
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