Entally Estate is looking for Garden Volunteers to join our dedicated team

Friends of Entally

The earliest reference to a volunteer support group for Entally was in 1995, and this group was known as the Hadspen Community Committee. Elizabeth Gibson was the group’s President, and other members of this group included Bob Withers, John Temple, Cliff Walters, Madeline Walker and Tony Walker. They were advertising for ‘helpers and interested people to for a support group for Entally’. This committee was also organising a Back to Entally day.

In 1996, approval was given by the National Trust for the formation of a Friends of Entally group. Its first meeting was held at Entally on 15 July 1996, where the future plans for the development and use of Entally were discussed. In 2010 when Gunns Pty Ltd were leasing the property, the Friends of Entally became an Incorporated Group, under the Associations Incorporation Act 1964. The Friends of Entally held their tenth Annual General Meeting in September 2020.

Over the years, the group has raised money for many projects at Entally - pews for the Chapel, curtains for Dining Room, Drawing Room and Morning Room, rugs for the Dining Room and Morning Room, and wallpaper for the Children’s Bedrooms, through their fundraising efforts at Entally’s annual events. The Friends continuously volunteer their time to maintain the gardens, house cleaning, and host house tours all year round.

Two of the longest volunteers serving Entally are Don & Janet Walker. They became volunteers at Entally in around 2000, where Don worked as a historic house guide until 2018, often giving public interviews about Entally. His wife, Janet, continues to work each Wednesday in the Entally Gardens and help out at fundraising events.

Though the Friends of Entally group are all committed to the preservation of the Estate, some volunteers have stronger ties to the Estate than others. One such example is Judy Barrett - a fourth-generation family member working at Entally Estate. She currently volunteers as one of the gardeners, and is the Treasurer of the Friends of Entally.

Judy’s great-grandfather John Dent & his wife, Ellen, came to live at Entally around 1891. John Dent, prior to living at Entally, had owned hotels such as the Bush Inn at Deloraine, and later, the Carpenter’s Arms in Launceston. John Dent managed Entally Estate for Thomas III until his retirement in 1902, when he moved into Hadspen.

John and Ellen’s son, James Keith Norm Dent (known as Norm), was born in Entally House and continued the family tradition of working at Entally. Over the years, many family members were married in the Entally Chapel. Norm’s daughter, Molly Reita Beams (nee Dent), worked as a housemaid for three years until her marriage in 1942.

About nine years ago, Helen Masters and her sister, Margaret Cunningham, decided to volunteer at Entally. It was discovered that Helen and Margaret are the great-nieces of Norm Dent. Every Monday, they worked together, cleaning the house and helping at fundraising events. Sadly, Helen died of cancer in 2014. Margaret continues doing the same jobs that she and her sister did.