"Riverview" is a well loved property. It has been continuously owned by the one Family since approximately 1912. There have not been many owners of this most beautiful and diverse property since its formation. “Riverview” has been loved by generations of the Clements Family and continues to be loved and farmed by descendants to this very day.
The first European to own the area was an Englishman called Tolmie. His squatter run was huge and extended from almost Mansfield to almost Benalla. This country would have been wild and untamed, rich in natural resources, but harsh and unpredictable. It was an area that resisted the imposition of an English land system that had its basis in the feudal land system of England. Meanwhile great effort was made to superimpose this foreign system on Australia’s soil. It was not without its sadness and regrets.
After the control and autocracy of the squatters was destroyed, large tracts of land were then made available to those who wished to pursue farming pursuits on a much smaller scale. The exact date is not known but a Mr William Cooke was the first farmer to own “Riverview”. The area was uncleared and the native Bush was thick and huge gum trees grew along the rich alluvial soils near the creek. Mr Cooke set about wrestling the land from the Bush, trees were ring barked and clearing the Bush for farm land took place. It is not known what type of farm he had, the exact acreage and the length of time he farmed.
In 1902 the Certificate of Title details Mr William Cox of Benalla, Storekeeper as the owner. It was an accepted oral history that William Cox conducted a butchers shop in premises that had been built on “Riverview”. It was said that this shop was conducted in the room that later became the kitchen. His wife Mrs Sarah Cox of Fern Hills, near Benalla. Widow owned the property in 1903.
In 1912 "Riverview" was bought by Benjamin and Henrietta Clements. It is not known whether they named the property or if the name was in existence already. The Clements Family had originally hailed from Canowindra N.S.W. and after a short period of time, settled at "Riverview", Fern Hills near Tatong. In 1928 with the death of Benjamin the property was sold to a son Patrick Clements. He raised his family on "Riverview", conducted a successful dairy farming business and farmed there till his death in 1969. The property is now owned by the great grand son of Benjamin and Henrietta, Kevin Smith
