Georgie's Hut, Buloke Shire

Georgie's Hut, Buloke Shire

Image Courtesy of: Victorian Heritage Database

Georgie's Hut is a simple three-roomed, timber-framed, weatherboard clad hut with corrugated iron roofing and was built c.1927-28. The western room's hessian-lined ceiling has deteriorated to expose the timber trusses, which can also be seen in the central and eastern rooms. The walls of the western room are lined in sections with torn Chinese and Victorian newspapers. The floors of the central and western rooms are covered by deteriorated floorboards and the kitchen, to the east, has a packed earth floor. A fireplace with brick foundations and a chimney constructed of used kerosene cans which abutted the kitchen at the eastern end of the house was removed following Georgie's death.

Out-buildings include crudely constructed timber framed, corrugated iron and timber clad open-fronted packing and storage sheds. Bamboo lines the exterior of the sheds at the rear and was used in the garden to provide stakes for vegetables. A rubbish dump with remains of a cart, corrugated iron sheeting, kerosene cans, Chinese ceramics and other items is located at the rear of the hut and other artefacts are scattered throughout the site.
Victorian Heritage Database

Georgie Ah Ling

Image Courtesy of: Victorian Heritage Database

Georgie Ah Ling grew vegetables including leafy greens, pumpkins, brown onions and tomatoes, and bought fruit from the markets in Melbourne and Ballarat to resell locally. Georgie watered the gardens with two large watering cans suspended from a yoke around his shoulders. The cans were filled from an irrigation or holding channel. Water was pumped from a dam, constructed during the late 1920s, to the holding channel located in front of the house site.

Produce from the gardens was delivered in crates transported by a horse-drawn wagon. Many packing crates remain on site, along with other items including furniture, domestic and garden tools, and clothing. Several items were removed after Georgie's death and are now located at the Donald and District Archives, Donald Agricultural Museum and the Police Court Museum in Donald, under the care of the History and Natural History Group of the Donald Music Literature and Art Society Inc.
Victorian Heritage Database

Georgie's Hut interior

Image Courtesy of: Victorian Heritage Database