Rosedale, New South Wales

Rosedale is an affluent beachside settlement in New South Wales, Australia. It is on the south coast, about 18 kilometres by road south of Batemans Bay. The area is administered by the Eurobodalla Shire. At the 2011 census, Rosedale (including Guerilla Bay) had a population of 231 people.

There was clearing of bush at South and North Rosedale for grazing. There were very few buildings in Rosedale prior to the second world war. In the 1950s the council approved a subdivision plan by Miller, a builder, in which many blocks were below 600 m². However, notwithstanding this subdivision, Rosedale is one of very few seaside settlements in Australia where the bush is more prominent than the buildings.

The Rosedale valley includes portions 11, 12, 32, 81, 98, 118, 213, 214, 215 and 221 in the Parish of Bateman, County of St Vincent. Land intended for settlement was usually marked in 40-acre (16 ha) lots due to the then official view that this was an area suitable for sustaining a living. Portions 11 and 12 were taken up by Thomas Hollands in 1878, while John Hollands was granted portion 32, also straddling the creek but further west, in the same year. However, there is no evidence that either man settled in the area.

Rosedale Farm was first settled by James Sebbens, while the western end of the valley was settled by Karl Thomsen. Both men cleared the bush to establish their farms.

The father of James, also called James Sebbens was born in Essex in 1814. He was transported as a convict on the ‘John Barry’ in 1838 and was assigned to serve his time at Broulee. He received his certificate of freedom in 1848. In 1851 he married Celia Ann Barlings. Celia had arrived at Broulee from England with her parents in 1832 at the age of four years. The Sebbens family lived in the Tomakin area on a property called Oaks Ranch, southwest of Candlagan Creek. They had 14 children. James Sebbens died in 1876 and is buried at Moruya. His widow married Henry Rose (1820–1906), who is buried at Mogo.

Cecilia’s father, Richard Henry Barling, who was a free overseer, formalised his conditional purchase of portion 5 in 1852. Portion 5 is now the site of the Barlings Beach caravan park.

Joseph Sebbens, the eldest son of James and Cecilia, operated a steam mill at Malua Bay in the latter part of the 1800s with the help of his brother, William. This mill had been originally set up at Tomakin by a Robert Jennings in 1874 but was salvaged and moved by Joseph after Jennings abandoned it in the 1880s.

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