The Archer family
Thomas Archer founded Woolmers in 1817. His family lived here for six generations, from Thomas Archer I to Thomas Archer VI, who died in 1994.
The assignment system
Under the assignment system, convicts were sent to work for free settlers. More than 700 were assigned to the Archers over 35 years, and many chose to stay once they were free to leave.
What remains
Eighteen original convict-built buildings survive at Woolmers, and the estate keeps its rural setting. With Brickendon, it is one of the few Australian Convict Sites still surrounded by farmland.


