Day 3: Plagued by tragedy

This impressive Pegasus sculpture marks the Draytons Wines property in Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley. Draytons is the longest surviving winery in the Hunter.
 
Joseph Drayton was born in 1825 at Lincolnshire in England, and at the age of 27 set sail for Sydney with his wife, Anna, and their two small boys. Tragically Joseph lost a son, a newborn daughter, and his wife during the long voyage.
 
A year after his arrival, in 1853, he acquired 80 acres of land in the Hunter Valley. He built his home and planted his first vines in the rich virgin soil of the property.
 
Joseph married Mary Ann Chick and they had eight children. One of their sons, William, took over the property from his father. In 1885, William married Susanne Lambkin and they had ten children. Together they turned a family winery into a thriving business.
 
Sixty years later, in 1947, the company 'W. Drayton & Sons' was formed by William’s four grandsons - Harry, Walter, George and Lennard.
 
Since then the family has been beset by tragedy. In the early 1950s, Harry, Walter and George all died prematurely. Lennard, the remining brother, aided by Walter's window, Catherine, guided Draytons Wines into the modern era of commercial winemaking with the introduction of tractors, electricity and refrigeration.
 
In 1994 winemaker Reg Drayton and his wife Pam lost their lives in a plane crash. Their bodies were never recovered.
 
In 2008, a winery fire and explosion resulted in the death of the then Drayton winemaker, Trevor Drayton.
 
Despite all their tragedies Draytons Wines remains 100% Australian family owned and fully independent.