Brooklyn Villa (section 2143)
G.R.O. Application 27144
- James Nihil (Land Grant) 1842 Farmer
- Simon Boase,1852 Gentleman Farmer
- John Goodall, 1854 Storekeeper
- William Gregory, 3 April 1873 Farmer
- Theodore Gregory to Arthur Henry Bowey,l4th April 1915 Farmer
- Morton Allen Ackland,1922 Farmer
- Arthur Henry Bowey,1923
- Benno Edmund Schmidt,1925
- John Thomas Tilley,1926
- Brian Thomas Ti11ey,1960
Brooklyn Villa Farm is situated on the corner of Grove Way (formerly Yatala Vale Rd) and Golden Grove Road and has been owned by members of the Tilley family for the last 79 years. Most of the farmland belonging to Brooklyn Villa Farm has gone to developers. The house, cottage and out buildings, which sit on approximately 4 acres, are all that remain today.
The house known as Brooklyn Villa dates from early C.1850s.
Sections 213 l, 2103, 2283 including 2143 on which Brooklyn Villa still stands, was purchased by Simon Boase in 1852. He was classed as a “gentleman farmer”. (A gentleman who has the means to employ others to do the actual farm work).
Clearly shown in the Assessment Records for 1853, (some of the earliest for this area) there was a `house and outbuildings, cottage and land fenced and good’ on this section.
Section 2143 on which Brooklyn Villa stood was approximately 80 acres with a further 240 acres adjoining the original farm.
Brooklyn Villa Farm was an important part of the farming community in the Golden Grove area for over 140 years. The farm produced grain crops as well as having dairy cows and sheep.
In 1932, when John Garfield Tilley was seven, he used to walk two miles to Golden Grove School and two miles back home to Brooklyn Villa. Sometimes he was lucky enough to get a lift with the milk truck driver who would drop him off at `Golden Grove House’, not far from the school,
until such time as he got a bike. At this time John’s grandparents lived at Greenwith Farm half way between the school and Brooklyn Villa, so on the long walk home he would call in for some `goodies’ to sustain him, but if he was late home he would get a good talking to from his father!