Penola Cultural Association, Naracoorte Community News
A stately bronze bust of John Riddoch – sculpted by the famous South Australian artist John Dowie AM, has been gifted to the Penola Cultural Association by Peter Rymill – great-grandson of Riddoch (1827-1901).
Peter originally commissioned the sculpture of his great grandfather in the 1990s, where it took pride of place at the Rymill Coonawarra cellar door complex for many years.
“Although the family sold the winery several years ago, I’ve been the custodian in the interim while I thought about how to best display the artwork again”, said Mr Rymill.
“The Penola Cultural Association committee approached me a few months ago about another project, and it occurred to me that they could assist with rehousing the sculpture.”
The bust has recently been relocated to the Penola Visitor Information Centre, where it can be viewed and enjoyed.
Speaking on behalf of the Penola Cultural Association, Rick Paltridge (Chairperson) said the committee was delighted to receive the artwork as Riddoch had great significance to the region.
“John Riddoch has played such a pivotal role in the formative years of Penola, Coonawarra and the greater Limestone Coast. We are honoured to be the new custodians of the bust, and we thank Peter very sincerely for bequeathing it to the community’, said Mr Paltridge.
Though John Riddoch was born in Scotland in 1827, he and his family immigrated to Australia in 1852. After being swept up in the Victorian gold rush, where he and his brother George sold provisions to gold miners, John relocated to Penola.
The Riddoch brothers purchased the 2,000-acre Yallum Park property from the Wells brothers in 1861; linking the family forever to the region. By 1880, the property grew to 35,000 acres and ran 50,000 sheep. It would soon triple in size to encompass the Glencoe estate from the Leake brothers.
According to the Penola Historical Collections (1981), ‘It was said at this time that their northern paddock was at Coonawarra while the southern paddock was at the present Mt. Gambier airport, with Glencoe the western boundary.’
Riddoch’s legacy lives on in the many buildings he commissioned across the region, but possibly his most outstanding achievement has been the original Coonawarra Fruit Colony where he released 1,000 acres of the ‘Katnook’ portion of Yallum Estate and had them surveyed into 10-acre blocks to be taken up by local settlers. That endeavour would eventually become the renowned Coonawarra wine region.
“He was not only a pastoralist and philanthropist but took a great interest in state and local politics. He was the first Chairperson of the Penola District Council (c.1869), who held their first meetings in what is now the Penola Vic.
This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.
