Manar was named after Manar House, which was built by Hugh Gordon (–1858) after buying the property in 1841, shortly after his marriage to Mary Macarthur, daughter of Hannibal Hawkins Macarthur. Manar House is described in the New South Wales State Heritage Register as "a good example of a Georgian homestead with outbuildings".
The property had been established in the 1820s by Dr Matthew Anderson with the name of Redesdale. Gordon renamed it after his family house in Inverurie, Scotland.[4][5] This was named by Gordon's father (of the same name) after the Gulf of Mannar, which separates India and Sri Lanka and was notable for its pearling industry. It was said that the elder Hugh Gordon had made part of his fortune from the pearl trade.[6]
Manar had a public school from 1883 and 1907; from 1896 it operated as a "half-time" school.[7]
Some silver had been detected on the property in 1866.[8]
^"Garden is feature of 'Manar'". The Canberra Times. Vol. 67, no. 21045. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 25 November 1992. p. 22. Retrieved 6 September 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^"New South Wales". Tasmanian Morning Herald. Vol. XXVII, no. 2942. Tasmania, Australia. 10 February 1866. p. 3. Retrieved 6 September 2024 – via National Library of Australia.