Stories from Meroogal

A young woman of the Victorian era, Tot Thorburn had suitors and male friends but chose not to marry. She enjoyed a long and happy life with her sisters at Meroogal.

In the hallway at Meroogal is a grandfather clock with the most wonderful and eventful history. It first arrived from Scotland with the McKenzie family and was with them when they moved to a small village called Terara, on the banks of the Shoalhaven River. There the McKenzie family and their clock might have stayed if not for a catastrophe that struck in 1860.

Tot Thorburn’s passion for golf is remembered in the collection at Meroogal, and has inspired a new competition at the Nowra Gold Club.

Wedged between the pages of an old family cookbook is a manuscript recipe for Meroogal Sponge. In the early 1900s the tea table at Meroogal was never thought to be complete without the family's 'signature' sponge cake, baked in a loaf tin and served perfectly plain.