Source Materials for the Early History of the Gold Coast, to 1859
I recently discovered an active disc dating from 2003 which contained the following source details relative to the early history of Queensland's Gold Coast, and which I compiled and used in the preparation of my numerous books and articles upon the history of this region. As I believed this valuable file to be long lost, this unexpected find has spurred me to establish this blog, devoted to the recorded history of this diverse region. I intend this material to be freely used for further study and research at all levels, and would only request due and fair acknowledgement in further published work, given the time and effort which went into its compilation. I intend - health permitting - to progressively add to this chronology, and to explain and illustrate the materials I compiled over the best part of three decades. I certainly welcome comment and suggestions for further additions. I have endeavoured to place the early history of the Gold Coast in relation to other events along the north coast of New South Wales, which of course until December 1859 included all of what we now know as Queensland.
Robert Longhurst. Kingscliff NSW.
- Shark Bay (now Rainbow Bay) and Snapper Rocks, Coolangatta, photographed ca. 1883, much as they would have looked when convicts escaping from Moreton Bay trod these beaches in the 1820s.
1770
The first recorded voyage along these shores was that of His Majesty;s barque Endeavour, captained by James Cook, and on its way home to Britain after extensive research work undertaken in the Pacific, icluding obsserving the transit of Venus from Tahiti. Not only do we have access to his log, but also to the journals of two renown botanists on board, Joseph Banks and Sydney Parkinson. Of most interest was his naming of Cape Byron, Mount Warning and Point Danger, and his reference to offshore reefs and a small island (known today as Cook Island).
15 May Extract from Cook's log :
Extract from Banks' Journal
15. Wind continued fair, a brisk breeze. The land in the Morning was high but before noon it became lower and was in general well wooded. Some people were seen, about 20, each of which carried upon his back a large bundle of something which we conjecturd to be palm leaves for covering their houses; we observd them with glasses for near an hour during which time they walkd upon the beach and then up a path over a gently sloping hill, behind which we lost sight of them. Not one was once observd to stop and look towards the ship; they pursued their way in all appearance intirely unmovd by the neighbourhood of so remarkable an object as a ship must necessarily be to people who have never seen one. The Thermometer was at 60 which rather pinchd us. In the evening two small turtle were seen. At sun set a remarkable peakd hill was in sight 5 or 6 Leagues of in the countrey, which about it was well wooded and lookd beautifull as well as fertile. We were fortunate enough just at this time to descry breakers ahead laying in the very direction in which the ship saild; on this we went upon a wind and after making a sufficient offing brought too, but it blowing rather fresh and a great sea running made the night rather uncomfortable.
Extract from Parkinson's Journal :
On the 15th, we were in the latitude of 28° 40. The breeze continued brisk from the S. W. the land appeared very uneven ; and we saw a remarkable high peak, with three points at the top : behind it were three other hills, with round tops; and the nearest land was well covered with wood. We saw six men, quite naked, walking upon a strait, white, sandy beach ; and, in the evening, having a low point of land a-head, we discovered several breakers, at a considerable distance from the shore. The wind freshening, we stood to the east ; and, soon after dark, brought to, continued founding every half-hour, and found thirty fathoms water.
Extract from Voyages in the South Seas (London, 1773), quoting Cook :
As we advanced to the northward, from Botany Bay, the land gradually increased in height, so that in this latitude it may be called a hilly country. Between this latitude and the Bay, it exhibits a pleasing variety of ridges, hills, vallies, and plains, all clothed with wood, of the same appearance with that which has been particularly described: the land near the shore is in general low and sandy, except the points, which are rocky, and over many of them are high hills, which, at their first rising out of the water, have the appearance of islands. In the afternoon, we had some small rocky islands between us and the land, the southermost of which lies in latitude 30° 10’, and the northermost in 29° 58’, and somewhat more than two leagues from the land: about two miles without the northermost island we had thirty-three fathom water. Having the advantage of a moon, we steered along the shore all night, in the direction of N. and N. by E. keeping at the distance of about three leagues from the land, and having from twenty to twenty-five fathom water. As soon as it was light, having a fresh gale, we made all the sail we could, and at nine o’clock in the morning, being about a league from the shore, we discovered smoke in many places, and having recourse to our glasses, we saw about twenty of the natives, who had each a large bundle upon his back, which we conjectured to be palm leaves for covering their houses: we continued to observe them above an hour, during which they walked upon the beach, and up a path that led over a hill of a gentle ascent, behind which we lost sight of them: not one of them was observed to stop and look towards us, but they trudged along, to all appearance, without the least emotion either of curiosity or surprize, though it is impossible they should not have seen the ship by a casual glance as they walked along the shore; and though she must, with respect to every other object they had yet seen, have been little less stupendous and unaccountable than a floating mountain with all its woods would have been to us. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 28° 39’ S., and longitude 206° 27’ W. A high point of land, which I named CAPE BYRON, bore N.W. by W. at the distance of three miles. It lies in latitude 28° 37’ 30" S., longitude 206° 30’ W. and may be known by a remarkable sharp peaked mountain, which lies inland, and bears from it N.W. by W. From this point, the land trends N. 13 W.: inland it is high and hilly, but low near the shore; to the southward of the point it is also low and level. We continued to steer along the shore with a fresh gale, till sun-set, when we suddenly discovered breakers a-head, directly in the ship’s course, and also on our larboard bow. At this time we were about five miles from the land, and had twenty fathom water: we hauled up east till eight, when we had run eight miles, and increased our depth of water to forty-four fathom: we then brought to, with the ship’s head to the eastward, and lay upon this tack till ten, when, having increased our sounding to seventy-eight fathom, we wore, and lay with the ship’s head to the land till five in the morning, when we made sail, and at daylight, were greatly surprized to find ourselves farther to the southward, than we had been the evening before, though the wind had been southerly, and blown fresh all night: we now saw the breakers again within us, and passed them at the distance of one league. They lie in latitude 28° 8’ S. stretching off east two leagues from a point of land, under which is a small island. Their situation may always be known by the peaked mountain which has been just mentioned, and which bears from them S.W. by W. for this reason I have named it MOUNT WARNING. It lies seven or eight leagues inland, in latitude 28° 22’ S. The land about it is high and hilly, but it is of itself sufficiently conspicuous to be at once distinguished from every other object. The Point off which these shoals lie, I have named POINT DANGER. To the northward of this Point the land is low, and trends N.W. by N.; but it soon turns again more to the northward.
1770.
16 May. Extract from Cook's Log.
Wednesday 16th Winds southerly a fresh gale with which we steerd North along shore untill sun-set at which time we discoverd breakers ahead and on our larboard bow, being at this time in 20 fathom water and about 5 Miles from the land, hauld off east untill 8 oClock at which time we had run 8 Miles and had increased our depth of water to 44 fathoms we than brought too with her head to the Eastward and lay on this tack untill 10 o'Clock when having increased our soundings to 78 fathoms we wore and lay with her head in shore untill 5 oClock AM when we made sail, At day light we were surprised by finding ourselves farther to the southward than we were in the evening ^and yetas it had blowen strong Southerly all night. We ^now saw the breakers again within us which we past at the distance of 1 League, they ^lay in the Latde of 38°..8' & lay ^stretch off ^East two Leagues from a point under which is a small low Island, there situation may always be found by the peaked mountain before mentioned which bears SWBWfrom them this mountain or hill ^and on this account I have named Mount Warning it lies 7 or 8 Leagues inland in the latitude of 28°..22' So the land is high and hilly about it but it is conspicuous enough to be distinguished from everything else. The point off which these shoals lay I have named Point Danger to the northward of it the land which is low trends NWBN but we soon found that it did not keep that direction long before it turnd again to the northward. At Noon we were about 2 Leagues from the land and by observation in the Latitude of 27° 46' So ^which was 17 Miles to the Southward of the Log Longitude 206°..26' Wt Mount Warning bore So 20° West distant 14 Leagues, the northermost land in sight bore North - our Course and distance made good sence yester N. 1°..45' West 53 Miles —
Extract from Banks' Journal
16. In the morn we were abreast of the hill and saw the breakers which we last night escapd between us and the land. It still blew fresh; at noon we were abreast of some very low land which lookd like an extensive plain in which we supposd there to be a Lagoon, in the neighbourhood of which were many fires
Extract from Parkinson's Journal
On the 16th, we were in latitude 27° 40, and saw a vast tract of low land, with, here and there, a rising hill.
1816
The first recorded voyage along these shores was that of His Majesty;s barque Endeavour, captained by James Cook, and on its way home to Britain after extensive research work undertaken in the Pacific, icluding obsserving the transit of Venus from Tahiti. Not only do we have access to his log, but also to the journals of two renown botanists on board, Joseph Banks and Sydney Parkinson. Of most interest was his naming of Cape Byron, Mount Warning and Point Danger, and his reference to offshore reefs and a small island (known today as Cook Island).
15 May Extract from Cook's log :
Tuesday 15th Fresh gales at SW, WSW and SSW in the PM had some heavy squals attended with Rain and hail which oblig'd us to close reef our Topsails. Between 2 and 4 we had some small rocky Islands between us and the land the southermost lies in the Latitude of 30°.. 210' and the northermost in 29°..58' and about 2 Leagues or more from the land
we sounded and had 33 fathom water about 2 Miles without this last Island. At 8 oClock we brought too untill 10 at which time we made sail under our topsails having the advantage of the Moon we steerd along shore North and. NBE keeping at the distance of about 3 Leagues from the land having from 30 to 25 fathom water, as soon as it was day light we made all the sail we could having the advantage of a fresh gale and fine weather. At 9 oClock being about a League from the land we saw upon it People and smook in several places. At Noon we were by observation in the Latitude of 28°..39' So and Longitude 206°..27'. Course and distance saild sence yesterday at noon North 6°..45' East 104 Miles - A tolerable high point of land boreNWBW distant 3 Miles - this point I named Cape Byron / Latitude 28°..37'..30" So Longitude 206°..30' West / it may be known by a remar[k]able sharp peaked Mountain Iying inland NWBW from it. from this point the land trends N. 13° Wt inland it is pretty high and hilly but near the shore it is low - to the southward of the point the land is low and tolerable level —
Extract from Banks' Journal
15. Wind continued fair, a brisk breeze. The land in the Morning was high but before noon it became lower and was in general well wooded. Some people were seen, about 20, each of which carried upon his back a large bundle of something which we conjecturd to be palm leaves for covering their houses; we observd them with glasses for near an hour during which time they walkd upon the beach and then up a path over a gently sloping hill, behind which we lost sight of them. Not one was once observd to stop and look towards the ship; they pursued their way in all appearance intirely unmovd by the neighbourhood of so remarkable an object as a ship must necessarily be to people who have never seen one. The Thermometer was at 60 which rather pinchd us. In the evening two small turtle were seen. At sun set a remarkable peakd hill was in sight 5 or 6 Leagues of in the countrey, which about it was well wooded and lookd beautifull as well as fertile. We were fortunate enough just at this time to descry breakers ahead laying in the very direction in which the ship saild; on this we went upon a wind and after making a sufficient offing brought too, but it blowing rather fresh and a great sea running made the night rather uncomfortable.
Extract from Parkinson's Journal :
On the 15th, we were in the latitude of 28° 40. The breeze continued brisk from the S. W. the land appeared very uneven ; and we saw a remarkable high peak, with three points at the top : behind it were three other hills, with round tops; and the nearest land was well covered with wood. We saw six men, quite naked, walking upon a strait, white, sandy beach ; and, in the evening, having a low point of land a-head, we discovered several breakers, at a considerable distance from the shore. The wind freshening, we stood to the east ; and, soon after dark, brought to, continued founding every half-hour, and found thirty fathoms water.
Extract from Voyages in the South Seas (London, 1773), quoting Cook :
As we advanced to the northward, from Botany Bay, the land gradually increased in height, so that in this latitude it may be called a hilly country. Between this latitude and the Bay, it exhibits a pleasing variety of ridges, hills, vallies, and plains, all clothed with wood, of the same appearance with that which has been particularly described: the land near the shore is in general low and sandy, except the points, which are rocky, and over many of them are high hills, which, at their first rising out of the water, have the appearance of islands. In the afternoon, we had some small rocky islands between us and the land, the southermost of which lies in latitude 30° 10’, and the northermost in 29° 58’, and somewhat more than two leagues from the land: about two miles without the northermost island we had thirty-three fathom water. Having the advantage of a moon, we steered along the shore all night, in the direction of N. and N. by E. keeping at the distance of about three leagues from the land, and having from twenty to twenty-five fathom water. As soon as it was light, having a fresh gale, we made all the sail we could, and at nine o’clock in the morning, being about a league from the shore, we discovered smoke in many places, and having recourse to our glasses, we saw about twenty of the natives, who had each a large bundle upon his back, which we conjectured to be palm leaves for covering their houses: we continued to observe them above an hour, during which they walked upon the beach, and up a path that led over a hill of a gentle ascent, behind which we lost sight of them: not one of them was observed to stop and look towards us, but they trudged along, to all appearance, without the least emotion either of curiosity or surprize, though it is impossible they should not have seen the ship by a casual glance as they walked along the shore; and though she must, with respect to every other object they had yet seen, have been little less stupendous and unaccountable than a floating mountain with all its woods would have been to us. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 28° 39’ S., and longitude 206° 27’ W. A high point of land, which I named CAPE BYRON, bore N.W. by W. at the distance of three miles. It lies in latitude 28° 37’ 30" S., longitude 206° 30’ W. and may be known by a remarkable sharp peaked mountain, which lies inland, and bears from it N.W. by W. From this point, the land trends N. 13 W.: inland it is high and hilly, but low near the shore; to the southward of the point it is also low and level. We continued to steer along the shore with a fresh gale, till sun-set, when we suddenly discovered breakers a-head, directly in the ship’s course, and also on our larboard bow. At this time we were about five miles from the land, and had twenty fathom water: we hauled up east till eight, when we had run eight miles, and increased our depth of water to forty-four fathom: we then brought to, with the ship’s head to the eastward, and lay upon this tack till ten, when, having increased our sounding to seventy-eight fathom, we wore, and lay with the ship’s head to the land till five in the morning, when we made sail, and at daylight, were greatly surprized to find ourselves farther to the southward, than we had been the evening before, though the wind had been southerly, and blown fresh all night: we now saw the breakers again within us, and passed them at the distance of one league. They lie in latitude 28° 8’ S. stretching off east two leagues from a point of land, under which is a small island. Their situation may always be known by the peaked mountain which has been just mentioned, and which bears from them S.W. by W. for this reason I have named it MOUNT WARNING. It lies seven or eight leagues inland, in latitude 28° 22’ S. The land about it is high and hilly, but it is of itself sufficiently conspicuous to be at once distinguished from every other object. The Point off which these shoals lie, I have named POINT DANGER. To the northward of this Point the land is low, and trends N.W. by N.; but it soon turns again more to the northward.
1770.
16 May. Extract from Cook's Log.
Wednesday 16th Winds southerly a fresh gale with which we steerd North along shore untill sun-set at which time we discoverd breakers ahead and on our larboard bow, being at this time in 20 fathom water and about 5 Miles from the land, hauld off east untill 8 oClock at which time we had run 8 Miles and had increased our depth of water to 44 fathoms we than brought too with her head to the Eastward and lay on this tack untill 10 o'Clock when having increased our soundings to 78 fathoms we wore and lay with her head in shore untill 5 oClock AM when we made sail, At day light we were surprised by finding ourselves farther to the southward than we were in the evening ^and yet
Extract from Banks' Journal
16. In the morn we were abreast of the hill and saw the breakers which we last night escapd between us and the land. It still blew fresh; at noon we were abreast of some very low land which lookd like an extensive plain in which we supposd there to be a Lagoon, in the neighbourhood of which were many fires
Extract from Parkinson's Journal
On the 16th, we were in latitude 27° 40, and saw a vast tract of low land, with, here and there, a rising hill.
1816
Trial was a brig owned by the merchant Simeon Lord. While waiting near the Sow and Pigs Reef in Port Jackson for good winds to take her to Port Dalrymple in Van Diemen's Land, she was seized by a group of thirteen convicts on 12 September 1816. The ship was sailed northwards but was wrecked some 97 kilometres (60 mi) north of Port Stephens, in what is now called Trial Bay. The survivors of the wreck constructed a new boat out of the ship's remains but, according to the local aborigines, the ship capsized and all thirteen convicts were drowned. The convicts abandoned at Trial Bay the ship's master, William Bennett, his crew, and some passengers, numbering eight or ten in total (including a woman and child). These survivors attempted to walk back to`Sydney but disappeared without trace.
1817
On 12 January 1817, Lady Nelson was dispatched from `Newcastle, under the command of Thomas Whyte, to search for Trial. Whyte was successful; on 14 January he found the Trial's remains, which consisted of a canvas tent and smashed timbers.
Stories of a white woman living in a wretched state among the aborigines persisted; she was believed perhaps to have been a stowaway on Trial. In 1831, a reward was offered for restoration of such a survivor of Trial. As a result, a woman was found who was said to be the captain's wife, Emily Bardon, but 14 years of living wild had left her demented, and she died soon after being reunited with her relations
1818
11 October Port Macquarie and Hastings River named by John Oxley
1821
Port Macquarie established as penal settlement under Captain Francis Allman. 21st March. Three ships, "Lady Nelson", The Mermaid" & "The Prince Regent" set sail from Sydney under the command of Captain Francis Allman. On board were the expedition leaders, 2 officers' wives & 4 children, 38 soldiers & the first group of about 60 selected convicts. 17th April. After a rough sea voyage, they landed at Port Macquarie. Settlement here was considered suitable for: the isolation of prisoners (sent mainly from England); as a source of timber supply; for cultivation of tropical fruits & plants; & to provide a road/sea link from the New England area. Temporary bark huts surrounded by a sturdy stockade were the first buildings
1823
First sugar cane grown in Australia planted at Port Macquarie.
1824
Foundation stone of St. Thomas’ Church, Port Macquarie laid 8 December
1828
Dedication service held in St. Thomas’ Church, Port Macquarie 24 February (erected 1824-8, “said to have been designed by Francis Greenway”) First clergyman was Reverend John Cross who sailed from Sydney with his family on 12 February 1828. For some years St. Thomas' would be the most northerly church building in New Soiuth Wales.
1830
Richard Craig (arrived as convict at Moreton Bay 24 January 1829) makes successful escape on 17 December 1830.
1831
Richard Craig arrives at Port Macquarie. “Detention and assignment” at Port Macquarie permitted as of December 1831.
1836
Richard Craig, then working at Thomas Small’s timber-yard at Kissing Point, describes cedar stands on the “Big River” (Clarence).
1837
Family of Alexander Duncan (35) sawyer, from Urquhart, Morayshire and wife Ellen (from Banffshire) arrive In Sydney aboard John Barry. All six children are recorded as being born in Dundee. One child, William, was then five.
Port Macquarie Pastoral District established. March 1837 Commissioner Henry Oakes travels on his first itinerary to Macleay River.
1838
May 1838 Schooner Susan (52 tons) (built at Small’s yard for Henry Gillett) sails for Clarence with John Small (Thomas’ brother) and twelve sawyers on board. Thomas Small establishes first camp on Small’s or Woodford Island. First load of timber left in June 1838. Followed shortly afterwards by Francis Girard and another group of sawyers aboard the Taree; set up camp at Tynedale, nearly opposite Small’s camp.
James Hicky Grose establishes Copmanhurst station on the Clarence.
December 1838 Captain Butcher prepares first map of Clarence River entrance. Aboard the schooner Eliza.. His map showed huts of Kellick, Sorrell and Girard in existence at Red Rock and Cheafy’s cedar stack further down.
Archibald Boyd takes up Boyd’s Plains (Stonehenge), Glen Innes district
1839
Archibald and Charles Windeyer establish Deepwater Station (Manager, William Collins) in early 1839
May 1839 Establishment of New England Pastoral District (George James Macdonald, CCL); by September 1839 had established his headquarters at Armidale.
Also establishment of Port Macquarie Pastoral District, “extending along coast to an indefinite boundary in the north”. (Major Henry Oakes CCL, headquarters on the Macleay River).
May 1839 Deputy Surveyor-General S.A. Perry aboard S.S. King William (launched on Williams River in 1831) enters Clarence River and explores upstream. Accompanied by owner of steamer, James Hicky Grose and party of interested gentlemen.
14 November 1839 Governor Gipps names the Big River the Clarence
Ward Stephens believed to have applied for a license of Runnymede run on the Richmond
Dixon. Tuesday 10 December “Started from Amity Point for the South Passage. Encamped about 12 miles from the Mouth. Came on a heavy thunder storm, just time to get the tents pitched - about six oclock.
Wednesday 11 December South Passage Point
Thursday 12 December South Passage Point
1840
Robert Ramsey Mackenzie takes up Tenterfield Station (probably as manager, or partner of S.A. Donaldson)
Henry Clay and George Roberts Stapleton take up Cassino Run.
Ogilvie Brothers secure land at Yulgilbar on Clarence; return to Hunter to obtain stock. In August Oakes found a Superintendent in charge at Yulgilbar and “slab huts erected”.
16 June 1840 Dr. John Dobie’s party and stock arrive at Ramornie on the Clarence, led by Richard Craig.
Dixon Wednesday 15 January “Went to the highest hill on Stradbroke Island which I found thickly timbered and very scrubby could not find time to have it cleared.
Dixon
Wednesday 20 May
“The men proceeded and encamped at Brown’s Plains.”
Thursday 21 May
I left Brisbane Town about 9 o’clock accompanied with Brown the Constable riding Mr. Warner’s …..and leading …… passed through an indifferent country till we crossed Blakes Rocks ?? and the country improving got tp Brown’s Plains about 2 halted and took of the……looked at the Five Waterholes overtook the party encamped at …… but the country is generally very good for cattle after you leave Brown’s Plains.
Thursday 4 June
“Left the Teviot in Warner’s Boat about half past 4 and arrived at South Passage Point about 9 oclock same day had to pull all the way but the tide in favour for .....
Tuesday 9 June Sketch of “Angles from the extreme pt. of Point Danger [looking south to Fingal and Cook Island]
Wednesday 10 June Sketches of “Angles taken from a hill near Warner Station No. 37 and near Pt. Danger....” [probably Kirra Hill]
Thursday 11 June “The Boat arrived about 4 oclock left South Passage about 12 and the Pack Horses arrived about half past 2.”
Friday 12 June “Removed the Camp over the River Tweed Swam the horses at low tide about 2 oclock got all over safe.
Tuesday 16 June “Angles from Norries Point with Lagoon Point....”
Wednesday 17 June “Arrived at the Brunswick”
Thursday 18 June “Angles from N Hd. of Brunswick River with Cape Byron”
“Returned part of the way back to Point Danger”
Friday 19 June “Arrived at Point Danger and found all safe the boat had been put in charge of three men & the Blacks had stolen three oars out of the boat during our absence.”
Saturday 20 June “Went up the River Tweed to go to Mount Warning and on Sunday morning the two natives we had taken to show the path stole 2 pr. Blankets and an axe and ran away and for fear they would return during our absence and rob the Boat we returned to the Camp at Pt. Danger”
Sunday 21 June “Bearings from the Head of Boat Navigation on the Tweed”
Monday 22 June Point Danger
Friday 26 June Angles from One Tree Hill Cape Byron
Wednesday 1 July Arrived at the Camp on the Brunswick in the evening
Thursday 2 July Crossed the Horses and encamped pon the North Side of the Brunswick saw a schooner come to anchor under Cape Byron Mr Warner and two men went to see what they are The Letitia looking for cedar.
Friday 3 July Mr Warner and four men H Bebe Benson Belton Miskin...started with the boat about an hour after high water about one oclock a good deal of surf breaking on the bar but no danger apprehended but unfortunately when near out the steer oar broke and Mr Warner fell over board the boat then came broadside for the next sea and filled her she was drifting fast to a big rock above water all the men jumped out and swam for the shore The boat struck against the rock and capsized carried away both her masts and righted again and ...ashore Mr. Warner was the first to reach shore I gave him my Mackintosh life preserver to put on. Hill who could not swim caught hold of two oars and drifted in shore Bebe got hold of my bed which brought him ashore and the rest of the men that could swim all got safe ashore but much exhausted - and much of the things drifted on the beach in the space of a mile The Boat had started ...which was split before damaged in her bottom . Brown started on the two horses to see if the Ship had called at Point Danger [These men included G. Belton & C. Benson]
Saturday 4 July Commenced the first thing to repair the boat...caulked her and nailed two strips of Blanket well greased with tallow over the two planks the most injured and then nailed a strip of copper over both by which I hoped to get her to Moreton Bay. Brown and one of the sailors arrived with some Flour Tea Sugar..and a bottle of Rum.
Sunday 5 July Sent two men with a note to Mr. Warner to send some Tar & Pitch and nails to repair the boat. On Monday night the men returned with a few nails. No pitch or tar on board.
8 July I left the boat in charge of Mr. Warner’s men and brought away what articles on the three Pack Horses I could holter this night at Norries Hd.
9 July Arrived at the Tweed and got the horses over and the articles in the Ships Boat. Went on board the Letitia and saw the owner Mr Scott who promised to do what they could to recover the boat and articles as soon as they had a fair wind. [ Transcript of letters included : “Sir, I have the honor to request you will proceed in the Letitia schooner to try to recover the Boat &c now in charge of your men. I have wrote to Mr Scott on the subject who will land you at Amity Point.” To Scott “Sir, I have the honor most respectfully to beg you will be so kind as render
your assistance with the Letitia schooner to recover the Boat Gear and sundry articles of equipment belonging to the Surveyor Generals Department now laying on the beach at the mouth of the River Brunswick 25 miles to the south of Point Danger in Lat. 28.31.28 and now in charge of Mr. Warners men and should you succeed in recovering them let them be landed at Amity Point Moreton Bay You will be so kind as to furnish the men with what rations they may require. I have instructed Mr Warner Assist Surveyor to to accompany you The Boat & bring them in his Charge Should you not be able to recover the Boat you will then land the men at Amity Point The Surveyor Generals Department will pay what charges you will make.”]
10 July Travelled to South Passage where we found the articles had all safe, in the morning sent Benson and Belton back to the boat after some Tea & Sugar the Capt had no meat to spare
11 July Started Brown Brooks & Coote with the three horses for Brisbane Town with one weeks ration each
Sunday 12 July At South Passage Point
Monday 13 July South Passage Point
Note : Field Books include a list of place names scribbled in pencil : Albert; Cambridge; Sussex River at Burley Hd.; Melbourne; Adelaide Point below Norris Point; Grimston Creek at Adelaide Point; Howard; Hay; Stanhope; Sutherland Point at Lagoon Point; Charlemont; Pitt; Anson Creek south of River Perry (Sussex Creek crossed out); Clive; Copley creek at Point Danger; Norroy Creek north of Point Danger; Downshire Plain; Napier; Rouss; Hulton; Hastings Lagoon Point.
1841
April/ Ogilvie brothers arrive at Yulgilbar with stock from Upper Hunter. First entry in Yulgilbar stock book 1 May. On 3 April Henry Oakes visited “Swanlea” (Yulgilbar) and found Fred Ogilvie in charge, “slab house and woolshed erected”.
At Tabulam Oakes found “C. Haley in charge for Pagan and Evans. Weatherboard houses, huts, woolshed and fenced paddocks.”
Murder of Peter C. Pagan by aborigines at Tabulam.
1842
Edward David Stanley Ogilvie and H.G. Hamilton take up Wiangarie.
Rev. John McConnell, B.A., appointed Anglican priest at Grafton (resigned owing to ill-health in 1848 and d. at sea 9of consumption ?) 26.7.48) [He had been employed in the West Indies as a catechist or missionary. In London he had offered at the S.P.G. to become a missionary in Nova Scotia, however his health had been against this and he opted to come to New South Wales]. He was ordained 18 December 1842.
Rev. John Gregor, M.A., appointed minister at Moreton Bay; made deacon on 18 September; ordained on 18 December, and arriving at Brisbane in January 1843.
NSWGG 4 March 1842 pp.361-2 Notice that the Port Macquarie Crown Lands District (established in 1839 “on the north the boundary to be indefinite”) was to be divided with the establishment of the McLeay River District and the Clarence River District. The proclamation was dated 1 March 1842.
McLEAY RIVER DISTRICT : “bounded on the west by a line north by compass from the top of the Werrekembee Mountain, at the head of the Hastings River; on the south by the range extending from Werrekembee to the Crescent Head, a point on the sea coast; on the east by the sea coast; and on the north by the ranges which form the basin of the Clarence on the south side of that river.”
CLARENCE RIVER DISTRICT: “bounded on the south by the ranges which form the basin of the Clarence on the south side of that river ; on the west by the New England District , the boundary being a line north by compass from Werrekembee Mountain, which is at the head of the Hastings River; on the north by the ranges forming the basin of the Brisbane and the Logan, on the south side of those rivers; and on the east by the sea coast.”
Sydney Gazette 8 March 1842, p.2
NEW RIVER : “We have received an account of a river, said to be newly discovered, called the Richmond, about forty miles to the north of the Clarence. About one hundred miles from the mouth, a Mr. Stapleton has a station, at which the water is quite fresh, and eleven feet deep. The land on the banks is described as being very fine, and abounds with cedar and pine. We have to believe that this river has not been entered from the sea. If it be a new discovery, it is a very important one, as it will be another link to connect Sydney with Moreton Bay. - Herald”
19 March 1842 Governor Gipps and party leave Sydney for Moreton Bay aboard Shamrock, returning 1 April . The steamer arrived in Moreton Bay by the South Entrance on Wed. 20, anchoring “off Peel Island where she reamined for thenight; on Thursday morning she weighed anchor and when off Cleveland Point, a distance of sixteen miles from “the Heads”,again anchored. His Excellency landed, and after selcting a proper situation for a Township, reembarked. Although Cleveland is never likely to become an important town, it will be highly useful as a place where vessels can obtain supplies and water, being situated close to the channel, that vessels coming in by the south entrance must follow. His Excellency arrived at Brisbane Town at twelve o’clock at noon, and at two o’clock left on horseback, attended by Mr. Parker, his Private Secretary and Mr. Mereweather, for Lime Stone, by way of Red Bank.... (Parker had an accident at Redbank). The following places have been selected as townships:- Brisbane, Cleveland, Red Bank and Limestone.....Cleveland we have already spoken of as a watering-place for vessels, and is situated nearly midway between Amity Point at the Heads, and Brisbane; the land in the neighbourhood does not appear to be of the best quality.” (Sydney Gazette 14 April 1842, p. 2)
5 May 1842
Moreton Bay Crown Lands District proclaimed “bounded on the south by the ranges which separate the sources of the Rivers Brisbane and Logan from those of the Richmond and Clarence....” NSWGG 10 May 1842, p. 689
2 July 1842 Stephen Simpson to Colonial Secretary 20/43 (in A Series mf.)
“Sir, The Agent of Mr. Thomas Steele who has a Party of Cedar Getters on the Logan having apllied to me to be allowed to rent the Government Buildings at Dunwich on the Bay, I have the honour to submit the proposal for his Excellency’s consideration. I think that it would be advisable as affording a better means of protecting the buildings.”
23 July 1842 Depasturing License taken out for “Broomelton on the River Logan” by Hugh Henry Robertson Aikman (for 1.7.42 to 30.6.43) No.165
Sydney Gazette 24 Sept. 1842, p. 2 (report from Moreton Bay corresp.)
“....The weather down here has been first-rate, fine penetrating rains which have filled the creeks and waterholes, much to the gratification of the flock-masters. A party arrived safe here on the 17th, having made the overland journey from Sydney in twelve weeks, bringing with them 1,600 head of cattle in first rate condition ; they describe the journey throughout as having been very fortunate, meetingwith little or no interruption either from the blacks or other casualties, the stock is said to belong to Messrs. Sutter, Mocatt and Lee......
23 November 1842 Depasturing License taken out by John Cameron for “Fassfern & Bannock Burn”
(for 1.7.42 to 30.6.43) No. 642
19 December 1842 Depasturing License taken out by William Humphreys for “Mundoolun, Albert River (for 1/7/42 to 30.6.43) No. 661
19 December 1842 Depasturing License taken out by Clement and Paul Lawless for “Nindomba, Albert River” (for 1.7.42 to 30.6.43) No.662
19 December 1842 Depasturing license taken out by William Henry Suttor for “Beau Desert on the Logan River” (for 1.7.42 to 30.6.43) No. 664
[Anecdote states that Edward Hawkins served as Suttor’s manager]
December 1842
First cedar cutters arrive at mouth of Richmond River
1843
JOL OM78-60 Baring Bros. “List of Parties holding squatting Licences in the Districts of Moreton Bay & Darling Downs in 1843”
No.S17 Jno. Cameron & McDonald Fassifern/Dugandan 60 Miles from Brisbane
No. S18 Coulson Moogerah 65 Miles from Brisbane
No. S19 Triffe & Hunter Coochin 60 do.
No. S20 Wilson Mount Flinders 50 do. (William Wilson)
No.S21 Edward Hawkins (Beau Desert ?) 50 do.
No. S22 Whithing & Co. Tambourine 55 do.
No. S23 W. Barker Tamrookum 50 do.
No.S24 Humphreys Mundoolun 70 do.
No.S25 Aikman Bromelton 50 do.
No.S26 Lawless Nindooinbah 70 do.
No.S27 Manning Kerry 60 do.
Wellington Cochrane Bundock (born Paignton, near Torquay, 24 November 1812; married Ellen Ogilvie, Hunter River; 3 December 1841), takes up Wiangarie from Edward David Stanley Ogilvie (his brother-in-law) and H.G. Hamilton. Mrs. W.C. Bundock arrived at the Clarence aboard the “William IV” in 1842, and they temporarily made their home at Myrtle Creek, between the Clarence and Richmond, until their move to Wiangarie.
Until 1847 Bundock was in partnership with his brother Frederick.
William Yabsley and family move to Richmond River from the Clarence, setting up as a cedar getter, dealer, and boat builder at The Junction.
Clark Irving takes over lease of Cassino (Tomki) from Clay & Stapleton
George Wyndham takes up lease of Keelgyrah Run (becomes part of Wiangarie in 1861)
Rev. James Glennie takes up lease of Unumgar Run
Augustus Adolphus Leycester and Robert Shaw take up lease of Tunstall Run
12 January 1843
Depasturing License taken out for “Burton Vale on the Albert River” by Robert Dixon of Sydney
(For period 1.7.42 to 30.6.43) No. 672
NSWGG 28 Feb. 1843; Proclamation of boundaries of County of Stanley as of 27 February 1843
“STANLEY:- To comprehend the portion of the Colony of New South Wales, lying between the parallels of 27 and 28 degrees of south latitude, and bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean; and on the west by the mountain ridge which separates the waters which fall into the Pacific Ocean from those which run to the Darling River; and ultimately by the River Murray to the Southern Ocean”
SMH 23 February 1843
“The cedar-cutters on the “Arrowsmith” under the superintendence of Mr. Caffrey, have cut & squared a cargo ready for shipment to Sydney per Wanderer; now daily expected, & are still busy falling & preparing another cargo.”
2 March 1843. Surveyor Burnett to Sir T. Mitchell. (AONSW 2/1515)
Camp at Elliot’s station
South of Wilsons Peak
Sir, Referring to your letter of the 12th January last No. 43/19 directing me to proceed overland to the Clarence and to survey the principal tributaries to the Richmond River, I have the honor to report my arrival at this station in pursuance of these instructions.
As I found (by information obtained from Mr. Warner and others acquainted with the country)
that if not absolutely impossible it would be extremely difficult to proceed with a dray near to the coast, also that the Richmond had its principal sources as far West as Mount Lindsay and knowing that cattle had been driven over to the Richmond from this quarter, I considered it most expedient to adopt this route, which I trust you will approve of.
SMH 11 March 1843, p. 2 “Wanderer” loads with cedar in the river Logan for Sydney; the sawyers employed there by Mr. Caffrey ,on account of Mr. S. Steel, having squared up to 100,000 feet - ready for shipment. I am sorry to say that valuable wood is not so plentiful about here as was anticipated, the trees standing far apart, and difficult of access and conveyance to the water....”
18 March 1843
First marriage recorded on the Clarence; Henry Wall m. Bridget Connell
4 May 1843 Burnett to Mitchell (AONSW 2/1515)
Camp on the Richmond
“......I have been delayed by a continuance of wet weather fro an unusually long period which not only impeded the progress of the survey but occasioned delay in travelling afterwards....
I have found and marked as far as the level country in the Moreton Bay district a road practicable for drays passing immediately to the westward of Mount Lindsay and thence down the Valley of the Logan which appears to me to be the best line of communication which has yet been discovered between the two districts.
I shall probably be under the necessity of proceeding to the Clarence for supplies at the end of next month, by which time , should the weather prove favorable I hope to have reached the coast.”
13 May 1843 Archbishop Polding and Father Snell arrive at Brisbane. They left Sydney 8 May aboard the Sovereign. Polding celebrated Mass in Brisbane on Sunday 14 May. After 21 May he visited Stradbroke Island, staying with Pilot Hexton (who was living with an aboriginal woman, and had had children by her) at Amity for “upwards of a week”. He visited the abandoned settlement at Dunwich on 24 May. Here he determined to establish a mission to the aborigines. On Tuesday 30 May, Father Gregory and three Italian Passionist priests, Fathers Vaccari, Lencioni and Pesciarolli, left Sydney for Brisbane aboard the Sovereign, arriving 4 June. On 5 June Polding took them to Dunwich
After 18 June 1843 Polding set off for a tour of the interior, accompanied by Father Gregory. They left Brisbane for Sydney aboard the Sovereign on 21 July.
24 June 1843 Burnett to Mitchell (AONSW 2/1515)
Clarence River.
“I have the honor to report my arrival at this place. I surveyed the Richmond to about the head of the boat navigation and as by proceeding further the distance to be travelled would have increases and there was no opportunity of procuring supplies on that River I found it necessary to proceed hither at once. The plans of my work shall be forwarded as soon as possible.....”
5 August 1843. Burnett to Mitchell
Clarence River
“I have the honor to forward herewith the first sheet of my work including the Heads of Coreela and Pinnicle Creeks and of the Richmond River which I trust will be satisfactory.”
31 August 1843. Burnett to Mitchell
Clarence River
Sir, Herewith, I do myself the honor to forward the second and third sheets of my work on the Richmond.
So soon as the country shall be passable which it is not at present in consequence of the recent flood, I shall proceed to complete the survey.”
30 September 1843. Burnett to Mitchell
Camp on the Richmond
Sir, I have the honor to enclose herewith my Progress Journal for the present month. The survey of this river will I now find occupy a considerably longer time than I had at first been led to anticiapte the open swampy country which I had expected to find along its banks in this part of its course being frequently (Imay say generally) separated from it by a dense brush of considerable depth. It is not therefore possinle to lay down the river without tracing through the brush, a sort of work in which very little progress can be made and which being necessarily not very accurate requires to be checked by work in the more open ground - the course of this river being very tortuous is also of much greater length than I had calculated upon.
I mention these circumstances because you might have been led to expect from my former letters that the work was nearer completion than I now find it to be. [Note: Burnett was in Sydney by 19 Dec. 1843]
8 November 1843 - (Border Police Duties, District of Moreton Bay : Stephen Simpson) A Series mf.
“Janyes and Toby on duty with me on the Logan from the 8th to the 25th of November”
[Steermin Janyes and Toby Toby]
1843 Lismore station covering an area of 23,000 acres taken up by Captain Dumaresq. The run was originally stocked with sheep herded down from New England by Scott of Glendon. Ward Stephens took up the run on their behalf in 1843, however the sub-tropical climate was totally unsuited to sheep grazing and consequently stock losses due to fluke, footrot, cattarh and other diseases led to the abandonment of the run.
1844
Charles Hugh Fawcett with partner Henry Mayne takes over lease of Fairy Mount (Kyogle) from Sir John Jamieson
John Eaton takes up Roseberry Station
7 January 1844 (From Itinerary of Oliver Fry, CCCL Clarence River 1.1.44-30.6.44; NSWAO X813; Mf. 2748)
7 January 1844; From Police Station to Mylne Eatonswill( Messrs. Milne) (3 miles)
to T. Ryan’s Waterview (E.Ryan) 5 miles
February 1844
William and Jane Wilson (who had arrived in NSW from Scotland in 1833) travel from Sydney to Ballina
SMH 14 February 1844, p.2
“The new schooner Coolangatta has been chartered by the Hunter River Company, to convey coals from Newcastle to Launceston, for the supply of the steamer Shamrock, between which places she will be a regular trader, touching at Sydney on the passage back.”
AUSTRALIAN 15 February 1844, p.2
“The new schooner Coolangatta has been chartered by the Hunter River Company, to supply the steamer Shamrock with coals, to proceed to Newcastle, and from thence to Launceston, between which places she is expected to continue a regular trader, calling at Sydney coming from Launceston.”
AUSTRALIAN 20 February 1844, p.2
SAILED : The schooner COOLANGATTA, .Jacks, master, for Launceston, via Newcastle, in ballast.
2 March 1844 Burnett to Mitchell (AONSW 2/1515)
Brisbane.
“...I have the honor to report my arrival at this place yesterday evening.
I was unfortunately detained at the Clarence for nine days by a very high flood, and have been obliged to swim several of the Creeks on my way here.”
SHIPPING GAZETTE 30 March 1844, p.10
ARRIVALS : March 30 - From Launceston,the 24th instant, the schooner Coolangatta, 89 tons, Captain Jacks, with grain, &c. Passengers - Mr. J. Fortune, and Mr. Kind.”
April 1844 Rev. John McConnell (Grafton) “visited the settlers on the Richmond River, taking two months on the journey, and in the same year his work took him to Gordon Brook and Tabulam.” (Elkin, p. 102)
SG 20 April 1844, p. 34
“DEPARTURES : April 15 - Coolangatta, schooner, Jacks, master, for Launceston via Newcastle.”
26 April 1844 Oliver Fry CCCL Clarence District Itinerary NSWAO
to Cassino C. Irving (Licensee)
Superintendent : H. Barnes
3 Huts; 20 acres maize; 1200 cattle; 4 horses.
27 April Then 8 miles to Williams’ (D. Williams: Licensee) (Superintendent : J. Kenworthy) 2 Huts
(This could have been “The Brook” which adjoined Lismore Run).
28 April Four miles to J. McGarvie’s (Superintendent J. McDonald) 1 Hut (This was “York” run south of Cassino).
SG 25 May 1844, p.3
“FROM LAUNCESTON : Coolangatta, schooner, 89 tons, Jacks.”
June 1844
John and Anne Collins (nee Martin) leave Sydney for Mundoolun; with baby Robert Martin Collins (born Sydney 17 December 1843). The Collins had arrived in NSW from Ireland in 1839. John Collins was taking up a share in Mundoolun “a new run taken up by a friend” (ADB Vol. 3) [He more likely went as manager for Humphreys)
SG 15 June 1844, p. 90
ARRIVALS : June 15 - Coolangatta, schooner, 89 tons, Captain Jacks, from Launceston the 5th inst., with wheat, &c. Passengers - Mrs. Pearson and daughter, and Mr.and Mrs. Crawford”
SG 22 June 1844, p.
“Coolangatta, schooner, 89 tons, Jacks, at Barker’s Wharf. Campbell, agent. Discharging”
SG 29 June 1844, p.
“Coolangatta, schooner, 89 tons, Jacks, in Berry’s Bay. Campbell, agent. Ballasting”
SG 10 August 1844, p.
SHIPS IN HARBOUR : Coolangatta, schooner, 89 tons, Napper, at Dalgarno’s Wharf. Giblett, agent. Loading for Auckland and the Bay of Islands.
SG 24 August 1844, p.158
DEPARTURES : August 21 - Coolangatta, schooner, Captain Napper, for Auckland and the bay of Islands, with sundries. Paseengers - Miss Matilda Wyame and Master John Hay.
24 September 1844 Depasturing license taken out by Messrs. Whitting & Co. for Tambourine (for 1.7.44 to 30.6.45) No. 375 (Name appears in 1843 Baring list)
24 September 1844 Depasturing License taken out by William Wilson for “Mount Flinders Yarril Creek”
(for 1.7.44 to 30.6.45) No. 372 (Name appears in 1843 Baring list)
24 September 1844 Depasturing License taken out for “Nimdoombah” by Humphreys & Lawless (from 1.7.44 to 30.6.45) No. 369 (Note: Clement and Paul Lawless had first taken out a license in 1842)
24 September 1844 Depasturing License taken out for “Tamrookum” by William Barker (for 1.7.44 to 30.6.45) No. 367 (Barker’s name appears in 1843 Baring list)
SG 19 October 1844, p. 198
ARRIVALS : October 14 - Coolangatta, schooner, 88 tons, Captain napper, from Auckland, the 18th and Maorangi the 28th September, with manganese, &c. Passengers - Mr. Haswell, Mr. Burton, and Mr. Patrick Kirby.
November. W. H. Suttor transfers license of Beau Desert to Joseph Phelps Robinson
[Robinson, was born at Moate, Co. Offally, in 1813, the son of George and Hannah Phelps Robinson. He became a prominent London merchant, and as an associate of Benjamin Boyd invested in the Royal Bank of Australia (est. 1840) and other Australian enterprises. He arrived at Sydney aboard the Cornubia (chartered by Boyd) in June 1842; from 1844 he served as a Member for the Port Phillip area in the NSWLC. He d. in Sydney 13 August 1848.
It is stated (White, p. 13) that J.P. Robinson’s father George (b.1776) was a brother of W.D. White’s mother Sarah Robinson - hence J.P. Robinson; his brother George, and W.D. White were all first cousins.]
[The unsigned A.D.B. entry for J.P. Robinson relates nothing of his birth or background, describing himas a “banker and landowner, was a Quaker, who arrived in Sydney in the steamship Cornubia in June 1842 as a partner of Benjamin Boyd and resident manager of the Royal Bank of Australia. With Boyd he set up an office at Church Hill and soon acquired land at Eden and many large runs in the Monaro. In 1843 banking business took Robinson to Port Phillip, where he became a keen supporter of the separation movement and was elected to represent Melbourne in the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1844-1848.Opponents called him the ‘member for Boyd’ but conceded his unusual ability. In 1844 he was appointed Treasurer of the Pastoral Association of New South Wales (Chairman; Benjamin Boyd; W.H. Suttor was another member of the 26-man committee)
In Sydney Robinson joined the Australian Club, and in the Legislative Council he advocated that each session should be opened with prayer. His concern for savings banks and mechanics’ institutes. his service on the selct committee on education and later as treasurer of the National School Society, and his placing of the Cornubia at the disposal of the Sydney Bethel Union, all helped to win him the title of ‘Humanity Robinson’. He was also zealous in presnting claims for roads, bridges, and other improvements in Melbourne, and as treasurer of the Pastoralists’ Association he gave evidence to the selct committee on land grievances. On his own account Robinson imported and exported goods and in 1844 acquired depasturing licences for Yarrowick in the New England district and Clifton on the Darling Downs, thereby avoiding bankruptcy when Boyd and the Royal Bank crashed. In 1846 he gave sheep to H.M.S. Bramble during her visit to Brisbane and bullocks to Leichhardt’s ill-fated expedition. Aged 33 [wrong, 35], he died of scarlet fever on 13 August 1848 at his cottage, Clee Villa, on the north shore of Sydney Harbour.”
December 1844 Catholic Mission at Dunwich visited by Bishop Pompallier and Father Gregory (Left Sydney aboard the Sovereign on 27 November and returned 8 December)
SG 9 November 1844, p.
DEPARTURES: November 4 - Coolangatta, schooner, Capt. Napper, for Auckland. Passengers - Mr. Wright, Mr. R. Guff, Mr. Haswell, Mr. John Mills, and Mr. Beattie
SG 4 January 1845, p.
DEPARTURES : December 30 - Coolangatta, schooner, 88 tons, Captain Napper, from Auckland, 29th November, Kawao the 8th, and Bay of Islands the 12th instant. Passengers - Mr. Bicknell, Mr. Busby, and Mr. Angus.
IMPORTS : Coolangatta,....51½ tons old copper, 3 casks fish, Beattie and Taylor; 46 tons manganese, 146 boards, 2 bags seeds, J. Giblett ; 3 cases 1 bale, Rev. W. H. Walsh; 1 package snuff, W.C. Botts; 2 cases farinaceous food, J. Walker
1845
Dr. John Dobie secures Gordon Brook Station from Samuel Avery
January 1845
Lismore Station taken over by William and Jane Wilson who named it Lismore after a small island in Loch Linnhe. They construct a home at the far northern corner of the run to the east of the junction of Leycester and Wilson Creeks
13 January 1845 Burnett to Mitchell (AONSW 2/1515)
“...I propose proceeding to the Richmond in the course of the next month for the purpose of completing the survey of that river.
As it will probably be more expeditious, I shall endeavour to proceed by water, but in the event of my being unable to do so, I beg that I may be allowed to take with me the Government Team now in my charge....”
SMH 23 January 1845
ARRIVALS: 22 Jan. Golden Fleece, Captain Johnson, from Tweed with 70,000 feet cedar.
SG 25 January 1845, p.
DEPARTURES : January 22.- Coolangatta, schooner, Captain Meggett, for Auckland. Passengers - Mrs. Heydon, Mr. Dale, Mr. Ward, Mr. Lees, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Loweston, Mr. John Tilter, Mrs. Tilter and three children, Mr. John Tilter, junior, Mr. W. Harding, Mr. W. Kean, Mr.F. Arthur, Mr. W. Harding and Mr. J. Price.
[Subsequent voyages listed in SG are
Auckland to Sydney 1 March - 27 March (Meggett)
Sydney to Auckland 14 April - (Walker)
Auckland to Sydney 19 May to 12 June (Walker)
Sydney to Auckland 24 June (Walker)
Auckland to Sydney 25 August to 8 September (Walker)
Sydney to Auckland 18 September (Walker)
Auckland to Sydney 15 October to 5 November (Walker)
Sydney to Auckland 23 November (Walker)
February 1845 CCL Stephen Simpson reports on Beau Desert :
“The Person holding the license was J.P. Robinson, W.D. White was superintending. There were 7 residents
living in a slab and bark hut. Wheat and maize was being grown.” (There were1,516 cattle and 4 horses)
(Ref.CCL Log Book of Itinerary 1844-5)
(William Duckett White [born Moate, Co. Westmeath , 5 October 1807 , the son of William Duckett White 1777- and Sarah (nee Robinson)1772-1831] and Jane (nee Simpson) [born Cork 11 April 1812; the daughter of Wlliam and Mary Simpson], had married at Cork on 16 April 1835. They arrived in Sydney aboard the Royal Consort on 9 November 1840, with their two children, Ernest (b. 1837) and Emily (b. 1838 - d. 11.1.41)
(They are listed as assisted immigrants, brought out by a “Mr. Marshall”). In Jan. 1841, White and family were living at Kent Street South,and he was described as “Office Clerk” In December 1840, their dauighter Helena was born.
In 1842 they were in the Mangrove district near Gosford, serving 1842-1844 as School Master of the Church of England School there Another daughter, named Emily was born here , on 24 November 1843.
16 April 1845. Burnett to Mitchell (AONSW 2/1515)
Camp on the Richmond
“Sir, I have the honor to report my arrival at this place after a tedious passage by water of four weeks from Brisbane, having been delayed by strong south-easterly winds which continued to an unusually late period of the season and rendered the Bar at the south passage of Moreton Bay and that at the mouth of this river quite impassable for some time.”
11 May 1845 Border Police Duties. District of Moreton Bay: Stephen Simpson (A Series mf.)
“Morrisson & Watson sent in pursuit of illicit GrogSellers on the Logan & Albert - ret. 19th. with two prisoners.”
[Arthur Morrison]
9 June 1845. Burnett to Mitchell (NSWAO 2/1515)
Brisbane.
“I have the honor to report my return from the Richmond having completed the survey of the River and of the Coast thence to the Clarence as directed by instructions of 12 January 1843 No. 43/19 and subsequent letter dated 30th October 1844 No. 44/302
[Microfilm includes Map, which he transmitted 3 July 1845]
NSWAO 4/3103, in-letter 4289 of 1845, JOL mf. reel A2.15, frames 104-7)
Joseph Phelps Robinson (Sydney) to Colonial Secretary 10 June 1845
“Sir, I beg to call your attention to the following extracts from a letter from Mr. Wm. White the Superintendent of my Station on the River Logan in the District of Moreton Bay.
“I am sorry to say that the Blacks are becoming very troublesome, they made an attmept to murder Mrs. White and the Hut-Keeper’s Wife and have driven all the cattle off the Camps and off the plains into the Mountains and have speared several of them. I expect a great deal of time will elapse before we can again collect them. Our Run is joining Mr. Tertius Campbell’s and last week they speared several cattle on his Run and are now between both Runs. They nearly killed one of Mr. Campbell’s watchmen and said when beating him they had killed Bullocks and would kill white fellow also. I may here remark that the Blacks with us and about us have always been treated with the greatest kindness and have been a great tax on me for Rations and at the (very ?) time they attempted to tomahawk Mrs. White she was engaged in an act of common humanity towards one of them who was ill.”
Under the circumstances detailed by Mr. White, I trust I need not urge upon the Government the necessity of prompt and vigorous measures to repress such outrages not on account of the cattle merely, but what is of more importance - the safety of human life, and I shall therefore feel obliged by the Government permitting two of the Border Police to be placed at the Station in question during the next two months. I am authorized by Mr. Campbell my neighbour to state that he & I will supply them with forage and Rations free of expense and such a precaution will I have no doubt prevent any further loss of property or of life on either side the display of a protective force being calculated of itself to stop such aggressions. I am the more anxious that the Executive should should adopt the course I suggest as I cannot consent to entrust arms to my own Stockmen upon whose discretion I could not depend in guarding against unnecessary loss of life.”
NSW AO 4/3103, in-letter 5530 of 1845, J.O.L. mf. A2.15, frames 101-103
Stephen Simpson, CCL Moreton District to Colonial Secretary, 15 July 1845
Sir, I have the honour toacknowledge the receipt of your Letter of the 11th June, enclosing a Letter from Mr. J.P. Robinson respecting the aggressions of the Aborigines at his and Mr. Campbells Stations on the Logan. After due enquiry I have no hesitation in stating that the occurrence whic took place at Mr. Robinson’s Station, must be attributed to Mr. White having gone to Brisbane, without having taken sufficient precautions for the protection of Mrs. White during his absence - The Aborigines consequently took advantage of it, & breaking into the Store in the night, carried off some flour & Tobacco. Mrs. White sleeping at the time in the adjoining room but too far from the men’s huts to give the alarm - On Mr. White’s return, being inform of the circumstance he ordered the Aborigines off the station - they disappeared for the moment, but Mr. White again absenting himself, they returned & one of them threatened Mrs. White with a Waddy, but committed no actual violence, & Mr. Hawkins riding up at the time
they immediately dispersed - I feel satisfied, therefrom, had there been one man within call nothing of the kind would have occurred - the Aborigines, it is well known, always manifest the greatest contempt for women, who should not therefore, ever be left unprotected where they are allowed to show themselves.
With respect to the Assault & Robbery committed at Mr. Campbell’s station by the Aborigines, it was one of those occurrences which no Police Force could prevent, having take place at an out-station; but which in the present instance is strongly suspected, even by Mr. Kinchela himself, to have been instigated by the Whites - Mr. Kinchela, in fact, having very recently taken charge of Mr. Campbell’s Station as Superintendent, thought it necessary to dismiss most of the men on the Station & warn off the Black - the consequence was great dissatisfaction & an attempt to frighten him from his purpose by menacing him with a series of aggression from the Aborigines.
With regard to the spearing & rushing of of the cattle mentioned in the letter, there must be much exaggeration, as Mr. Kinchela in his written report of the Assault & Robbery makes no mention of the matter, & from Mr. White I have received no written statement whatever on the subject.
Finally I have the satisfaction to state that I saw Mr. Kinchela yesterday, who informs me that the Aborigines on the Logan have returned to their usual state of quietude, & that he considers the presence of a Police Force quite unnecessary - it so happens, however, that during the last two months one & sometimes two of the Police have been constantly patroling on the Logan in search of illicit grog sellers & bushrangers, but have everywhere found the Aborigines peaceably disposed - indeed with the exception of the above two cases I have heard of no other instances of aggressions of the Aborigines during the present Winter in that District, & therefore feel satisfied there is no general disposition on the part of the Blacks to molest the squatters.”
17 July 1845 Border Police Duties. Stephen Simpson (A Series mf.)
“Horrigan & Hodgson after Bushrangers on the Logan - ret. 26th.”
24 July 1845
“Morrisson serving summonses at Mr. Lawless’ & Mr. Campbell’ s - retd 29th
28 August 1845
“Morrisson serving Assessment Notices on the Logan - ret. 6th.”
16 September 1845
Depasturing License for “Telamon” taken out by R. Campbell, tert (For 1.7.45 to 30.6.46) No. 266
SHIPPING GAZETTE 1 November 1845, p.275
“Moreton Bay, October 24th:....The schooner Jane has got safely into the Tweed; a large quantity of fine cedar ahs been cut on the banks of that river, and is now waiting the arrival of vessels to convey it to the Sydney markets. The cutter Lark got a load and started for Sydney, clearly showing that there is no impediment to a vessel crossing the bar at the entrance of the river in moderate weather, and getting a cargo in the course of a few days.”
20 November 1845 Border Police Duties : Stephen Simpson (A Series mf.)
“Hodgson & Huddlestone patroling the southern Stations - ret. 30th.”
SG 29 November 1845, p.298
(Report from Moreton Bay, dated 21 November) “...the Waterwitch goes on to the Tweed, to load with cedar;; the schooner Jane was signalled by the William, of the latter river, bound into there for a cargo of cedar.”
20 December 1845 Stephen Simpson to Colonial Secretary. “I have to acknoledge receipt of your letter of the 9th December last enclosing a Sydney Morning Herald of the 1st instant. There can be no doubt the Station advertised, though in very exaggerated terms is that of Henry Manning (Kerry), situated on the Albert River about 50 Miles from Brisbane by the road - Last Return of Stock 4000 Sheep. extent of Run 36 Sq Miles. In July last Mr. Manning returned his run as containing only 12 1/2 Sq. JMiles, which I objected to - he also returned only 400 Sheep, which I was certain was an error or a wilful false Return. I assessed him therefore for 4000, nearly 1000 more than he had - which he paid without appealing. The Station itself was first licensed by Messrs E & W Finch in 1842 immediately after my appointment as Commissioner - in March 1842;...”
1846
SMH 14 January 1846, p. 3 (Report from Moreton Bay correspondent, dated 7 January)
“The brig Skerne which came up the river on the 5th from the Tweed, where she had been trying to obtain a cargo of cedar, without success, is now loading at South Brisbane with wool.”
2 March 1846 Census records 960 inhabitants of Brisbane ( 614 N.B.); (346 S.B.)
SMH 21 March 1846, p. 2 (Report from Moreton Bay correspondent, dated 17 March)
“The steam-ship ‘Thistle’ arrived here on the 13th. instant, and sails today with a full cargo of wool. She reports having seen the schooner Petrel off the River Tweed on the 14th., as also a large sqaure-sterned long boat or cutter ashore, bottom up, near Point Danger. The pilot, at Amity Point, will most probably have learnt what she is by my next communication”
SMH 7 April 1846, p. 3 (Report from Moreton Bay correspondent, dated 28 March)
“The boat I mentioned in my last, as having been seen bottom upwards on the beach between Point Danger and Moreton Bay, proves to have been a large boat belonging to a cedar party working on the Tweed, and which were capsized in running for the south passage, inside Stradbroke Island, fortunately, the party, consisting of five men, got ashore, after being several hours in the water, although in a very exhausted state; the boat, a very fine one, received considerable damage.”
Atlas 11 April 1846
10 April; Coolangatta, schooner, Cooney, from Auckland, the 20th ultimo. Passengers - Captain Brown, Mrs. Brown, and Mr. Mackie
SMH 11 April 1846, p. 2
The cargo by the Coolangatta consists of 25 tons copper ore, 15 cwt. onions, 1 ton bale lashing
and 1 bale wool..
SMH 4 May 1846 p. 2
SHIPS IN HARBOUR :
Coolangatta, schooner, 89 tons, ------, at Berry’s Wharf. Berry, owner, refitting.
SMH 27 May 1846 (Report from Moreton Bay)
The schooner William left the Bay on the 18th instant bound to Sydney. The schooner Petrel is loaded at the Tweed with cedar for Sydney, she was rather unfortunate in going over the bar to enter the river, ahving been taken all aback when just over the bar, which caused her to lose her steerage way and fall broadside on the spot. Fortunately there was not much sea on, and by running an anchor out she was hove into smooth water inside. The damage sustained was, I am happy to say, but trifling.
SMH 28 May 1846, p. 2
The Coolangatta has been chartered by the Hunter River Company to convey a cargo of coals from Newcastle to Moreton Bay.”
June 1846 Fathers Snell, Pesciaroli and Lencioni left Dunwich. They sailed from Brisbane to Sydney aboard the William on 25 June. Only Fr. Vaccari remained.
CPS1/AT1 (QSA) Court of Petty Sessions, Brisbane 16 June 1846
George Craig, Bengal Merchant, 1836, Life.
Constable Meadows, being duly sworn states that on Sunday last Mr. Hexton the Pilot, came to me and stated that he had received information from the Second Mate of the Tamar that he had been robbed of a Blue Drill Jacket and silk Handkerchief and that he charged the Pilots Crew with having taken them. I confined four of the Pilots Crew. I then went on Board to the Mate, and he stated to me that no one else but them had been below in the course of the afternoon. - The jacket and Handkerchief was givenup to me by Mr. Henry Savory.
(Signed) J.P. Meadows
Mr. Henry Savory, Baker at Brisbane, being duly sworn states that on Sunday afternoon between twelve and one o’clock the Prisoner now before the Court came to my House, and asked leave to leave two hats there, as he could not find the persons he had sold them to - I consented to his leaving them there : about half an hour afterwards I heard that the Pilots Crew were locked up. I then said I hoped there was nothing wrong about the hats left by the Prisoner. The Carpenter of the Tamar was dining with me, on Sunday. After dinner, he went on Board, and heard that the Mate had been robbed ; he came back and examined the Jacket and other articles left by the Prisoner and said he thought it was the one that had been stolen from the Mate. I then went to Constable Meadows and gave the Jacket and other articles left me by the Pilot’s man up to him. The man now before the Court is the man, that gave the Jacket and the other articles to my Mistress. The Jacket and handkerchief were shoved into one of the hats, so that no one could perceive them at first. The carpenter of the steamer was in my house at the time the articles were left by the Prisoner, and saw the Jacket in one of the Hats. The articles now produced are the same left at my house by the Prisoner.
(Signed) H. Savory.
Corporal Lesly 99th Regiment duly sworn states that on Sunday last between 12 and 1 o’clock, I was at Mr. Savory’s house, when the Prisoner now before the Court, came up and asked Mrs. Savory to allow him to leave a Bundle tied up in a blue Handkerchief, she allowed him to do so, he stated that it was 2 Cabbage tree hats in the bundle. The Bundle now produced appears to me to be the same.
(Signed) Wm Lesley
The Prisoner states I went on board the steamer to see my Master Mr. Hexton to inform him that the little steamer was aground in the River. A man came up to me, and wanted to purchase a Dilly, and a few shells I had, he told me he had no money, but that he would give me a Jacket and handkerchief he had for them.
(Signed) George X Craig
Remanded until the evidence of the Mate of the Steamer can be obtained.
Police Office, Brisbane
30th June 1846
Charles Dixon being duly sworn states I am second Mate of the “Tamar” steamer. Whilst the vessel was lying on the south side, the last Trip, I lost a Blue Jacket and handkerchief from off the table of the Steerage Cabin. The prisoner now before the Court, with others of the Pilots Crew went below - directly they came up I went below and missed the Jacket and handkerchief. The Jacket and handkerchief now produced are my property and the same I lost - I never spoke to any of the Pilots Crew whilst they were on Board.
(Signed) Chas X Dixon
Finding and Sentence : George Craig is hereby found guilty of Larceny, below the value of Five pounds, and sentenced to be worked in Irons for 12 Months.
J.C. Wickham J.P. W.H. Seymour J.P.
MBC 20 June 1846, p. 2 [First issue of Moreton Bay Courier]
The Coolangatta is expected to unload at the Steam Company’s Wharf on Monday morning . She has been detained at the river bar since her arrival in the Bay, in consequence of her having grounded.”
ARRIVALS : June 16. Coolangatta, schooner, Steele, from Sydney via Newcastle. Passengers - Mr. H. Dollery, Mrs. Abbott, Mr. and Mrs. Orr and three children, Mr. Orr, junior, and Mr. and Mrs. Cootes.
“CHARGE OF THEFT : At the Police-office on Friday, a prisoner of the crown, named George Craig, was placed at the bar charged with stealing some articles of wearing apparel, the property of the mate of the steamer Tamar. The prisoner, who is one of the pilot’s boat crew, was remanded until the arrival of the prosecutor.”
CPS1/AT1 (QSA) Court of Petty Sessions Brisbane 23 June 1846
John Campbell of Kangaroo Point, in the County of Stanley, Manufacturer of Tallow, on oath saith that William Geary Lewis of Kangaroo Point, being engaged as a servant of the said John campbell, for the Boiling down season of the present year, at the rate of one pound sterling per week, and to be paid at the rate aforesaid on any Sunday it was necessary to work ; did on Sunday morning last, whilst in the service of the said John Campbell, misconduct himself in his said employment by refysing and neglecting to obey the said John campbell’s order on direction and using abusive and threatening language.
(Signed) John Campbell
Sworn before me 23d June 1846 (Signed) J.C. Wickham J.P.
MBC 27 June 1846, p. 2
BREACH OF HIRED SERVANTS’ ACT - “At the Police-office yestwerday, a man named William George Lewis, in the employ of Mr. John Campbell, at Kangaroo Point, appeared to answer a complaint preferred against him by that gentleman for disobedience of orders, and making use of abusive and slanderous language. Mr. Adams, who appeared on the part of the complainant, reminded the magistrates that this was the first charge that had been brought before them under the new Masters and Servants Act, and he hoped, as it was a very gross case, that they would inflict such punishment as would deter others in Mr. Campbell’s employ from following the bad example set them by the defendant. Evidence having been adduced, the charge was fully proved, and the defendant was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment.”
“The Coolangatta hauled alongside the Steam Company’s wharf yesterday, and commenced unloading her cargo of coals for the use of the steamer.”
MBC 11 July 1846, p. 2
REMOVAL OF PRISONERS: “On Monday last, George Craig, a prisoner of the crown, who had been sentenced to an iron-gang for twelve months for stealing some articles of wearing apparel, the property of the mate of the Tamar; and William George Lewis, who was also under commitment for a breach of the Hired Serrvants’ Act, were forwarded to Sydney by the Coolangatta.”
DEPARTURE : July 6. Coolangatta, schooner, Steele, for the Bay, to load cedar. Passengers - one prisoner of the Crown, and a prisoner.
MBC 11 July 1846, p.3
MURDERS BY THE BLACKS : “Intelligence reached the settlement yesterday that Hugh Pheeny and a man named Collins, who were employed by Mr. John Burgess in sawing timber on the Tweed, had been treacherously murdered by the natives, about a month ago, for the sake of their rations. It appears that they were attacked while at work in the creek which connects the north and south arms of the river. The bodies were discovered by Thomas Gorsill, who immediately gave information to Mr. Dollman, Mr. Burgess’ superintendent. Mr. Dollman and some of the sawyers subsequently went to the spot, and buried them. This dreadful transcation had created much confusion on the river. The blacks in this locality have been long known as the most ferocious wretches in the district, and it is deeply to be regretted that there is no means of bringing them to justice. The unfortunate men who have become their victims were well known to many in Brisbane, as hard-working peaceable individuals.”
SMH 23 July 1846, p.2
(Report from Thistle arrived from Brisbane.)The schooner, Coolangatta , from Sydney, was lying at anchor under Amity Point, having been at sea nine days, but was compelled to bear up again for Moreton Bay, owing to strong southerly gales. The barque Golden Fleece and the cutter Catherine, with cargoes on board, for Sydney, were at anchor in the Tweed, bar bound. The schooner Jane, hence for the Tweed, was also at anchor under Amity Poinyt, having been compelled to bear up for that place owing to the small depth of water on the bar at the former place. Captain Steele stated that he had sounded all over it, but in no place could find more than five feet six inches of water.”
SMH 23 July 1846, p. 3. (Report from Moreton Bay correspondent, dated 14 July)
“..A number of vessels are reported by her (the Tamar) as being wind bound along the coast from the south-east weather. The Golden Fleece has been lying loaded in the Tweed with cedar unable to get over the bar at that river. The cutter Catherine is also in the smae predicament. The schooner Jane was lying under Point Danger, where no doubt she raft off her load of cedar. The schooner Coolangatta is also going there, her cedar being ready to raft off on her arrival off the Point. Two poor fellows, named Hugh Pheeny and John Collins, I am sorry to say have been cruelly murdered by the blacks at the Tweed ; they were in the employment of a Mr. Burgess, getting cedar at that river, and were surprised by the savages when in the scrub a short way from their station. They are giving much annoyance in the Logan district, killing cattle and shep in the open day ; the stockholders in that quarter have great trouble to keep the cattle on their runs, the blacks rush and worry them so frequently ; in fact these poor fellows have found out it is more easy to procure a good steak and mutton chop, than run down an old man kangaroo ; go amongst what tribe you may the fellows are as fat as overfed aldermen, and twice as independent. ....... (reference to turtle catching) “”The season for turtle catching is now at its height....the Bay is actually teeming with these luxurious animals, and the catching of them is very easy with a crew of aboriginals ; the black fellows accustomed to coast fishing dive and turn them over with the speed of thought, fellows weighing from four to six cwt. are laid hold of by the flipper and slewed on their backs as easy as a pancake. The islands with which this magnificent bay is studded are admirably adapted for the purpose of boiling down and preparing the soup ; plenty of wood and water, the turtle swarming all round their shores, and as to mullet and other choice fish, the darkies can net in an hour as many as would last half a dozen tribes a week, whilst us poor Brisbanites, for the lack of means to get at them, keep to the same wholesome fare of beef and mutton, varied to mutton and beef.”
[The Mr. Burgess mentioned may have been John Burgess, proprietor of the Sawyers Arms Hotel, North Brisbane]
30 July 1846. Burnett to Mitchell (AONSW 2/1515)
Reference to “Description of the County of Stanley” accompanying this letter, and noted “Cancelled by a final description of 30th Oct 1847”
SMH 6 August 1846, p. 2
“The Tamar has experienced strong south-west winds from the time of her leaving Moreton Bay, which compelled her to put into Newcastle.......The barque Golden Fleece and the cutter Catherine still remained bar-bound at the Tweed; the crew of the latter had been overland to Brisbane to obtain supplies. ...”
SMH 19 August 1846, p. 2
“The Golden Fleece, Catherine, and a schooner unknown were lying inside the Tweed on Sunday last when the Tamar passed, and the schooner Coolangatta was lying outside.”
Monday 17 August (Thomas Dowse Diary OM84-31)
“Fine Showers. Wind Easterly”
Tuesday 18 August
“Attended the Funeral of Mr. Dix’s Child - Showery Wind Easterly
Wednesday 19 August
“Heavy Showers. Wind S. E.
Tuesday 25 August
“Coolangatta” Schooner reported to be ashore at Point Danger”
MBC 21 August 1846, p.2
“The continual rain prevented goods from being shipped on board the Tamar, yesterday, for Moreton Bay, and her departure has therefore been deferred until ten o’clock this evening.”
SMH 31 August 1846, p. 2
LOSS OF THE “COOLANGATTA” - The Tamar, steamer, which arrived yesterday from Moreton Bay, brought intelligence of the loss of the schooner Coolangatta, which vessel was driven ashore from her anchors in a gale of wind a short distance to the northward of the River Tweed. The captain and some of the crew were ashore for a supply of water, when a gale from the S.E. suddenly sprung up, and in attempting to pull off, the boat was stove, which precluded them from having any access to the vessel. Captain Steele, and the crew, after the vessel had stranded and bilged stripped her, and leaving the rigging, &c, in charge of the second mate, repaired overland to Amity Point, a distance of seventy miles, where they fell in with the steamer Tamar, on board of which they were kindly taken by Captain Allen. It is considered that the schooner might be got off and repaired, but it would be attended with considerable expense.
The Tamar called off the Tweed, on her passage from Moreton Bay, in order to afford assistance to the vessels which were bar-bound there. A heavy sea was on at the time, which prevented any communication ; but Captain Steele, of the Coolangatta, reported that the barque Golden Fleece, the Petrel, Jane, Louisa, and Hyndes, were inside with cargoes on board, ready to come on to Sydney upon the first opportunity, and the cutter Rose was lying off the bar.”
The Australian Journal 1 September 1846, p. 2148
“The Tamar has made an excellent run to and from Moreton Bay, having been absent from Sydney only eight days. On her passage down she called off the Tweed, for the pupose of rendering assistance to the Golen Fleece and other vessels which were bar-bound, but a heavy sea running at the time rendered all communication impracticable. ....
LOSS OF THE SCHOONER “COOLANGATTA”
“By the steamer Tamar, which arrived from Moreton Bay on Sunday last, we have received intelligence of the loss of the schooner Coolangatta, a few miles to the northward of the Tweed River. It appears Captain Steele and some of the crew had gone ashore for a supply of water when a gale from the south-east sprung up, and drove the vessel ashore from her anchors. The party on shore endeavoured to pull off to the vessel, but in doing which, the boat was stove, and they were prevented from rendering any assistance to those on board. After she had stranded and bilged, Captain Steele and the crew stripped her, and leaving the rigging &c., in charge of the second mate proceeded overland to Amity Point a distance of about seventy miles, where, fortunately, they fell in with the steamer Tamar, on board of which they were kindly taken by Captain Allen, and brought on to Sydney.”
MBC 5 September 1846, p.2
SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE: Departures. Sept 4
Skerne, brig, Captain Love, for Sydney via the Logan River
Mary Ann, brig, Captain Mann, for Sydney, via the Logan River
SMH 10 September 1846, p.2 “The schooner Petrel arrived yesterday from the Tweed, having left there on the 3rd. instant, with only part of a cargo. About half a dozen of our coasters have been blocked up in the Tweed for some months past; but at the head of the last spring tides they all embraced the opportunity of coming out, there having been eight feet of water on the bar. The schooner Louisa left for Sydney on the 2nd. instant, with a full cargo of cedar; and the cutter Hyndes left in company with the Petrel, with a full cargo. The cutter Rose had come over the bar full, but had gone to some part of the Bay to obtain a supply of water. The Golden Fleece and Jane having discharged part of their cargoes to lighten them, were reloading outside the bar. The hull of the Coolangatta remained in the smae state, not having sustained further damage. ...The crews of the different vessels at the Tweed had undergone great privations, the whole of their provisions having been consumed for some time past.”
MBC 12 September 1846, p. 2
“The Gipsey has been chartered to load cedar in the Tweed, by Mr. G.S. Le Breton. The Rose, chartered by the same gentleman, has arrived in Sydney with a full cargo of cedar.
The Tamar encountered very heavy gales during the passage to this port. One of the rivets of the boilers having been so much injured as to render it useless, she was compelled to put into Port Stephens to get it repaired....”
MBC 3 October 1846, p. 2
SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE:
Arrivals : Oct. 2 Rose, cutter, from Sydney, 24th ultimo. Nineteen passengers, and a full cargo of sundries for Brisbane and the River Tweed.
Coastwise : Oct 1 Mary Ann, cutter, Mann, from the Logan River, with salt beef, tallow, hides, &c.
The Rose remained during one day off the Tweed, but not being able to effect a landing, she brought on her passengers and cargo for that river to Brisbane.
SMH 14 October 1846, Supp. P. 3
The cutter Rose arived from Sydney on the 2nd instant, discharged, and immediately went to the river Tweed on the 5th., to load with cedar.
MBC 31 October 1846, p.2
The Louisa bound for the Tweed, left Amity Point on Thursday week last. She had anchored there during the late gales from the southward.”
MBC 31 October 1846, p. 2
“DIED At Beaudesert, Logan River, on Monday, the 19th instant, Emily Robinson, daughter of W.D. White, Esq.”
SMH 26 November 1846, p. 2 “The Fanny Morris arrived yesterday morning from the Tweed, after a fine run of sixty hours. The Louisa, Hyndes, Sarah Wilson, and Jane Williams, were lying there bar-bound, owing to the north channel beingblocked up. Another channel, however, formed to the southward, through which the Fanny Morris came out. At noon on Sunday last, saw the steamer Tamar, off Cook’s Island, hence for Moreton Bay. Captain Whyte [Coasters Inwards: November 25 - Fanny Moris, 40, Whyte, fromm the Tweed with 20,000 feet cedar), states that the hull of the Coolangatta had been lifted out of the sand and placed on rollers, and had every prospect of being launched in a short time. The cargo had been discharged, and the damages were repaired, which she had received on the larboard bilge, which were considerable”
MBC 12 December 1846, p.2
“Captain Freeman, of the Williams, reports that the hull of the Coolangatta had been lifted out of the sand by means of rollers, but just as the workmen ahd completed their arragements for the launch, a gale of wind came on, and placed her in a worse position than she was before. The cargo had been discharged, and the damages which she had sustained on the larboard side had been repaired.”
1847
First registered birth on Tweed; Thomas Benson, son of John and Margaret Benson
First Court established in Tenterfield.
SMH 9 January 1847, p.2
“The cutter Rose was ashore on the bar at the enrance of the River Tweed, and it was feared that she would become a total wreck” [News brought by Sovereign which left Brisbane 5 Jan.]
The Rose built at Brisbane Water in 1841; a cutter of 21 tons, owned by Kenneth Mackenzie, Sydney.
MBC 13 March 1847, p.2
“Captain Allen of the Tamar reports having seen the steamer Phoenix inside the bar in the Richmond River. A boat was observed coming from the steamer, but on reaching the bar, a person, supposed to be Cpatain Wiseman, stood up, waved his handkerchief, and returned, it having been found impossible to cross it on account of the ehavy sea on at the time. Captain Allen not being able to render any assistance proceeded on his voyage. It i supposed that the people on board the steamer are badly off for want of provisions”
MM 20 March 1847, p. 2 (Report from Richmond River correspondent, 20 February 1847)
“ Within a month from December 19 1846, when a change from wet to dry seemed to have st in - ere yet the earth was dry from former rains - frailty, thy name is weather - the watery treasures of the air poured out their volumes for two days incessantly, so that the river by the 19th January had risen twenty feet above its usual level. It continued raining more or less every day. ...Here, on the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th January, heaven’s artillery discharged its electric batteries for four days and nights without intermission, either overhead or pealing in the distance, accompanied with such torrents of water that it seemed the atmosphere was resolving all its atoms into oxygen and hydrogen to drown the earth. The river rose six feet additional.
We have had therefore a thundering rainy time of it, and no joke, unless riding girth-deep over flats covered with water, or tearing through kangaroo grass four feet high on the mountains, can be so considered.
All communications with Woolport, on the Clarence, where the principal supplies are received from Sydney, has consequently been stopped....About the 15th a change for the better was discernable, and as the waters drain off much faster here...the Richmond is again fordable, and communication is opened with the Clarence, now many weeks interrupted. It iis surprising how the sheep have endured the pelting of the rude rains, and the cattle are nearly all fat ; wheat, however, is much injured.”
Australian 6 April 1847, p.2
“The schooner Fanny Morris arrived yesterday morning from the Tweed River, with a full cargo of cedar, having left there on the 28th Ultimo. The schooner Mary Ann and cutters Hyndes and Comet left the Tweed for Sydney in company with the Fanny Morris, and the Petrel would also sail the same day.”
13 April 1847 Albert William Duckett White born at Beaudesert; christened at St. John’s Brisbane 23 September.
MBC 22 May 1847, p. 2
“We observe from a letter which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald from a correspondent on the Richmond, that the steam boiling establishment on the station of Mr. Clark Irving was in full operation. Some cattle belonging to that gentleman had been boiled down, and produced on an average about 300 lbs. of tallow each. There was plenty of feed, and the cattle are described as being in excellent condition. It was rumoured that Mr. Ward Stephens
was about to commence the salting of beef for exportation. During the late rains the Richmond rose from 30 to 35 feet above its usual level, which caused a vast accumulation of mud and sand at its mouth.”
SMH 28 May 1847, p. 2
Law Intelligence. Supreme Court - Wednesday [27 May]
NISI PRIUS. Before His Honor Mr. Justice Dickinson and a special jury of twelve.
BERRY v. SALTING
This was an action of assumpsit to recover £1000, being the amount of the insurance upon a schooner called the Coolangatta, and lost at the Tweed. The declaration stated that the plaintiff, being the owner of the Coolangatta, trading between Sydney, Newcastle, and Moreton Bay, insured her for £1000 in the General Assurance Office, for three calendar months, to commence on the 28th of May, and to end on the 28th of August, both days inclusive, and that it should be lawful for the said vessel, during the said term of insurance, without prejudice to the said policy, to touch and stay at all ports whatsoever between Sydney and Moreton bay; and that whilst the said vessel was so trading, pursuant to the said policy, on the 19th day of August, 1846, was by the perils of the sea stranded and lost, to the damage of the plaintiff of £2000. The defndant pleaded - first, That the said vessel was not whilst so sailing between Sydney and Moreton Bay stranded and lost; upon this issue was joined. Secondly, That the said vessel was not so trading between Sydney and Moreton Bay at the time she was stranded; upon this issue was also joined ; thirdly - that without sufficient cause to justify the same during &c., the said vessel deviated, departed and abandoned the course of trading, and therefore the policy of insurance was void. The reception to this plea traversed the deviation, &c, upon which issue was joined.
Messrs. Windeyer and Darvall appeared for the plaintiff; and Messrs. Foster and Broadhurst, for the defendant.
Mr. WINDEYER stated the case to the Jury. The plaintiff is the owner of the vessel, Coolangatta, which had, about the time mentioned in the pleadings, been chartered by a Mr. Sutton for three months, to trade between Sydney, Newcastle and Moreton Bay; and to cover all risks, that the vessel might run during the three months; the vessel was insured in the Australian General Assurance Company; of which Company the defendant was Chairman, and still is a member, and in the latter capacity is now made defendant. After the insurance was approved, the vessel called at Newcastle, took in there a cargo of coals for Moreton Bay, and upon arriving there, landed the coals, and the Captain (Steele) being anxious to arrive in Sydney to ship a cargo a cargo there for Moreton Bay, which was ready for her, took in only a small amount of ballast. The vessel was cleared at Moreton Bay for Sydney, via the Tweed; as the Captain, if the wind would permit him, was desirous of leaving a letter at the Tweed, for Mr. Sutton. After several attempts to leave the Bay on her way to Sydney, the final departure took place on the 2nd of July 1846. The winds soon became contrary, and when to the south-east of Richmond River, and a long way from the land, the Captain was compelled to bear up and make the coast for shelter, and to get more ballast. The wind allowed the vessel making Point Danger, being the northern head of the River Tweed; here the vessel came to anchor, and took in the requisite ballast, viz, 30,000 feet of cedar, which belonged to Sutton, the charterer. The vessel lay here, outside the bar, for many days, the weather being still very boisterous. The water on board now became scarce, and the Captain went on shore in the only boat that belonged to the vessel, found the water, and sent the boat back to the vessel for water casks; the boat during her pasage to the vessel was stoved in by the sea. During this time, the wind blew a strong gale from the southward and eastward. The vessel for two or three days rode out the gale; but on the thirs - the 19th of August, 1846 - she dragged her anchors, and the vessel became stranded. Finding that there were no hopes of immediately getting off the vessel, the captain with a portion of the crew walked on to Moreton Bay. Whilst the vessel was at anchor at Point Danger, being some ten days before the policy would run out - the Moreton Bay steamer passed, and reported in Sydney that the Coolangatta, as well as many other vessels, were at the Tweed; and this report appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald of the 22nd day of August, and in the Shipping Gazette of about the same period.
The plaintiff being anxious to effect another policy on the same vessel in the same office, had the usual slip prepared, and the policy was all but effected, and would have been completed, had not the plaintiff’s absence from town delayed the payment of the premium for the policy. At this time, the news of the wreck of the vessel arrived from in Sydney, which took place whilst the original policy was in existence. The Company were fully aware, when the second policy was about to be effected, that the vessel was at anchor at Point Danger, and made no objection on this score. The Company now refuse to pay the amount for which the vessel was insured, and hence the plaintiff is compelled to come into Court to cover the amount for which the vessel was insured.
The Captain’s evidence, which had been taken de bene esse was put in and read, which fully bore out the facts stated in the opening; but, stated in addition that all the papers on board were lost, except the register of the vessel.
That the vessel was quite seaworthy and well manned; that he wrote out his own clearance at Moreton Bay, but was compelled to write another, when he intimated he purposed calling off the Tweed, and the vessel was eventually cleared for Sydney via the Tweed.
The following documents and letters were then received in evidence and read, viz: The Policy of Assurance : a letter dated the 25th May, 1846, being an application to the Company, announcing the loss of the vessel; a letter dared the 1st Sptember, 1846, from the plaintiff to the Company, being a notice from the plaintiff of the abandonment of the vessel; a letter from the plaintiff’s attorney; and lastly, the Herald announcing the arrival of the Coolangatta at the Tweed, and the charter party.
James Munn, a ship builder, proved that he knew the vessel ; that she was worth £1000 at the time she was wrecked.
John Brincksell proved that he built the vessel ; that she was strongly built ; that he was employed by the plaintiff to try and get her off ; he went down, accordingly to Point Danger ; found her sunk seven feet in the sand ; succeeded, however, in getting her afloat, but a gale of wind came on, and the vessel was again stranded, and eventually had her back apparently broken. Upon being cross-examined by Mr. FOSTER, he said the vessel would have been got off and reapaired had it not been for the gale of wind; that Point Danger was indeed a dangerous place, and while there never saw but two fine days.
This was the plaintiff’s case.
Mr. FOSTER, in his address to the Jury, informed them that the Company as unwilling to defend this section on any technical ground; but the position they took up was this, that the plaintiff, or those by whose acts the plaintiff was bound, had vitiated the policy by deviating from the course of trading described in the policy of insurance, according to a preconcerted plan. It already appeared that the Coolangatta put into the Tweed, and took on board some cedar as cargo, and it would be proved that when the vessel left Moreton Bay it was fully understood there that, that she left the Bay to load at the Tweed, and that, moreover, when the vessel left Sydney, it was agreed between the charterer of the vessel and a person of the name of Cathray [Caffrey, ed.] , of whom, the charterer had bought a large quantity of cedar, viz. 70,000 feet, then at the Tweed, that the Coolangatta should call on her way back from Moreton Bay, and load with the cedar; and that, in pursuance of this agreement, the vessel arrived off the Tweed, and took in a portion of the cedar, and boisterous weather coming on, the vessel became stranded. This was the deviation the Compnay relied upon; and had it been contemplated that this vessel was to trade there, they, the Company, would not have insured against the risks attending the anchoring off the Tweed. It was admitted even under the language of this policy, and according to the law upon such documents, that the vessel might have gone into the Tweed if driven there by stress of weather, and might even have taken in ballast there, but must not have delayed there longer than the stress of weather compelled her, or beyond the time necessary to take in the requisite ballast. But the vessel did here delay longer than was necessary for either of the reasons mentioned. The Company refused to accept the vessel as abandoned a s a complete wreck by the plaintiff; he, the plaintiff, according to his own evidence, might, had he sent down earlier after the stranding, got her launched, but fifty days were allowed to elapse before any attempts were made; and they were even then successful in launching her, but all attempts to save her from becoming a wreck became abortive, on account of a gale of wind. There was not, therefore, a total loss of the vessel, and the Jury, if so inclined, could not give their verdict as for a total loss.
The Court here adjourned until ten on Thursday morning.
THURSDAY
The case was resumed this morning at ten o’clock.
The evidence of Alexander Collins, captain of the Heroine, which had been taken de bene esse on behalf of the defendant, was then read, which stated that he was commander of the Heroine in July last; that he remembered the Coolangatta being in Moreton Bay, and afterwards going on shore at the Tweed; at the time she came to the Tweed the wind was fair for Sydney; she might have been got off the sand if attempts to do so had been prompt.
Andrew Steele, commander of the Jane, remembered the Coolangatta leaving Moreton Bay on the same dayhe did in the Jane; he was bound for the Tweed, the wind was then fair for Sydney. The Coolangatta came to an anchor one or two days after the Jane off Point Danger outside the bar; the wind blew hard from the west, and the Coolangatta attempted to change her position, and did so, but could not get into proper safety; she was still exposed to the gale from the westward. He believed that the anchorage at Cape Byron was safer than off Point Danger; he had been at the former place, but had never let go his anchor there.
Mr. Duncan, sub-collector of Customs at Moreton Bay, proved that he made out the clearance of the Coolangatta for Sydney via the Tweed. The captain first presented a clearnace in his own handwriting, - clearing the vessel for Sydney direct; but being in ballast suspicions were created ; upon inquiry the captain said he was going to take in a cargo of timber at the Tweed, and accordingly she was cleared out via the Tweed.
The cedlarartion signed by the captain, and left with the sub-collector, was here produced and read. (This, as well as other documents, &c., proceeding from the captain, as well as all conversations had with the captain, were received in evidence, as evidencing the captain’s intentions, subject to an objection made by Mr. WINDEYER).
Mr. George Watson, Custom-house agent at Moreton Bay, proved that in a conversation with the captain of the vessel he said he was going into the Tweed for a cargo of timber.
Michael Cathray [Caffrey, ed.] proved that he sold 70,000 feet of timber, then at the Tweed, to Sutton, the charterer of the vessel, to be delivered by a certain time; there was an agreement in writing between them, which was proved and read. This agreement mentioned that the brig Skerne was to call at the Tweed for it; but fearing that the Skerne would no tbe there at the appointed time, he saw Sutton the subject, who referred him to Steele, who had been the captain of the Skerne, and afterwards commanded the Coolangatta. Steele thought he would call at the Tweed for the timber in the Coolangattta, at any rate he would like to have the option of calling for it, in any case he could not get a cargo at Moreton Bay for Sydney. This witness was not willing that any other vessel should call for the timber than the one named in the agreement, unless an agreement was made to that effect. A letterafterwards passed between this witness and Steele, which asked permission for the Coolangatta to call for the timber instead of the Skerne. This was proved and read in evidence. This was answered in writing, but the note was not forthcoming.
Another letter was produced by the defendant, and read as part of the defendant’s case, dated the 2nd September 1846, and addressed to the plaintiff by the Company, announcing that the Company would not accept the abandonment; as the vessel was wrecked in consequence of a deviation; and further that the Company would not have insured the vessel to load at the Tweed.
This was the case of the defendant.
Mr. WINDEYER replied at great length upon the whole case, admitting that if the vessel did go into the Tweed for a cargo, this was not a deviation from the course of the trading described in the policy. And if the taking in the cargo at the Tweed was a deviation, yet according to the law of the defendant, and according to the evidence adduced by the plaintiff, the vessel went into the Tweed on account of stress of weather, and was stranded whilst she was getting more water, which ran short in consequence of the delay caused by the stress of weather.
His Honor Mr. Justice DICKINSON briefly summed up, telling the jury that there were two kinds of policies - the one for the voyage, and the other to cover any given time. The policy they had to deal with
now was for a period of time, and after an attentive perusal of the numerous cases at all bearing upon this kind of policy, although he had met with no case exactly in point, he was of opinion that the Coolangatta might have called at any port between the termini mentioned, and there take in cargo, and it was immaterial how long she remained there afterwards. This would not be a deviation, because the time mentioned in the policy would not be extended. The jury might, however, arrive at a different view of the law; and if they did so, by finding that there was a deviation from the voyages contemplated, then they were to find whether the deviation took place designedly and willfully, or through stress of weather.
The jury retired for a few minutes, and found a verdict for the plaintiff. Damages, £1000.
The Australian Journal 29 May 1847, p. 2613
Law Intelligence. Supreme Court. Sittings in Banco.
Thursday, May 27 - Before his Honor Mr. Justice Dickinson, and a Special Jury of twelve.
Berry v. Salting (sued as a member of the Australian General Assurance Company).
This case, which commenced on Wednesday, was not concluded until this day.
The action was brought to recover the sum of £1000, upon a policy of Insurance on a vessel called the Coolangatta, which was wrecked at the mouth of the Tweed on the 19th of August last.
The decalaration alleged that the plaintiff, Mr. Alexander Berry, insured the vessel for £1000, in the Australian General Assurance Company, for three months, from the 28th May to August 27, 1846, for a voyage from Sydney to Newcastle and Moreton Bay, and to return from thence to Sydney, with liberty to touch at any intervening ports within that distance - that on her return from Moreton Bay, the vessel was obliged to put in at Point Danger (the mouth of the Tweed), from distress of weather, where she was wrecked on the 19th of August last.
The defendant pleaded that the vessel was not lost while trading between Moreton Bay and Sydney, by reason of the perils of the sea, and that without sufficient cause from distress of weather, she deviated from her course, and therefore the responsibility of the Insurance Company became void.
Counsel for the plaintiff, Messrs. Windeyer and Darvall; for the defendant, Messrs. Foster and Broadhurst.
Mr. Darvall opened the proceedings, and Mr. Windeyer addressed the Jury, stating the nature of the action, and that in consequence of distress of weather, the vessel was obliged to put in at Point Danger, when the Captain found it necessary to take in timber for the purpose of ballast, the vessel not having sufficient ballast at the time to compete with the adverse and tempestuous weather which it had then to encounter, and that after taking in the timber she was driven on the beach, from whence she was not able to be got off, by which she became a complete wreck, and that she did not deviate from the course for the purpose of trading at the Tweed, but for the purpose of the safety of the vessel.
Several witnesses were called to prove the facts as stated by the learned counsel, and that the vessel exceeded inm value £1000.
Mr. Foster, on the part of the defendant, contended that the vessel was not driven into Point Danger on account of adverse and tempestuous weather, but for the purpose of trading; and that supposing the vessel might have been obliged to put in, yet, according to the Policy of Insurance, it was prevented from taking in any cargo, as the vessel had liberty only to touch at the ports, but not to trade, and therefore, by taking in the timber, she had deviated from the course, and forfeited the conditions of the policy; and also that he should have evidence to prove that it was the intention of the master of the vessel to call at the Tweed, and take in a cargo, and that at the time the vessel ran into the Tweed, there was a favourable wind to have carried her on to Sydney, or at all events she might have gone much farther, and have put in at Cape Byron, where there was a safer anchorage.
Several witnesses were called, and documents put in, to prove that the vessel was chartered by the plaintiff to Mr. Sutton, for six months ; that Mr. Sutton had agreed to take cedar from the Tweed, and that the clearance of the vessel from Moreton Bay was made out for the Tweed and Sydney, and that there was a favourable wind at the time the vessel put in at Point Danger.
Mr. Windeyer replied.
His Honor summed up, stating to the jury, that the only point they had to consider was, whether the deviation of this vessel from its course was premeditated or compulsory, and if premeditated, whether it was in violation of the condition of the Policy.
He himself was of opinion, that as long as the vessel did not extend her voyage beyond the prescribed limit, she was not deviating from her course by touching and trading at any of the ports, as this was not a voyage policy, but a time policy, and that the jury, should they be of opinion that the plaintiff had a right to put in at any port to trade, then they were to consider what damages the plaintiff would be entitled to; for if he had sustained a loss less than stated in the policy, he (the Plaintiff) would not be entitled to recover the full amount insured.
The jury, after a few minutes consultation, returned a verdict for the plaintiff, £1000.
NSWGG 1847, p. 573 “List of Persons Who Have obtained Licenses to Depasture Stock for year ending 30 June 1847”
includes: Aikman and Prior Broomelton; William Barker Tamrookum; John Cameron Fesofern; Robert Campbell, Tert. Yelcom and Melcombe; Robert Coulson Moogerah; Thomas Dowse Gimboomba; Dugald Graham Tabragalba; Arthur Hodgson Tambourine; William Humphreys Mundoolun; P.& C. Lawless Nindoomba; J.P. Robinson Beau Desert ; William Wilson Mount Flinders; Charles and Achibald Windeyer Kerry.
SMH 24 May 1847, p.3 (Report from Moreton Bay correspondent)
“....The weather the last month has been delightful : the days warm and pleasant, the evenings beautifully calm and serene; those parties who are travelling overland with stock er route for the northern districts have had a most favourable saeason for their migration, the herbage being most luxuriant, enables the sheep, &c. to travek without losing strength on theitr long journey. Very large drafts of sheep and cattle have been removed from the Logan dustrict on to the Boyne Waters, in fact, most of our enterprising young men who have the go-ahead principles implanted in their craniums have been the first to dah into the wilderness and secure a small location for grazing purposes, and which will speedily be occupied by the staple wealth of the colony; good sound sheep.”
25 June 1847 Diocese of Newcastle established, (“erected and constituted by the Queen”) with Bishop William Tyrrell, Rector of Beaulieu, Hampshire, consecrated Bishop in Westminster Abbey on 29 June .
SMH 29 June 1847, p.2
“The schooner Secret sailed the same day (13 June) from [or for ?]the Tweed River [from Moreton Bay], to load with cedar for Sydney, and was seen by the Tamar lying-to under Point Lookout on Thursday last.”
July 1847. Father Vaccari (known in Brisbane as “Vicarrie”), abandons the Dunwich mission, and sailed in an open boat to the Tweed, meeting the schooner Elizabeth Jane, loading cedar. He sailed in her to Sydney, arriving 26 July 1847, arriving 20 July. If true, this would be the record of the first clergyman on the Gold Coast and Tweed.
SMH 10 August 1847, p. 2
“She (the William) reports the Effort, Fanny Morris, Matilda, and Hyndes as all lying in the Tweed River when she passed on Tuesday evening last.”
SMH 30 September 1847, p. 2
“The schooner Ann Mary left Moreton Bay for the Tweed River the same day as the Secret, to load with cedar for Sydney”
SMH 11 October 1847, p. 2
“The Tamar passed the cutter George, from Port Curtis, bound for the Tweed to load for Sydney, off Point Lookout, on Wednesday last” (6 Oct.)
7 October 1847 Governor Fitz Roy proclaims Order in Council “for regulating the occupation of the Waste
of the Crown in the Colony of New South Wales” (NSWGG 7 Oct. 1847) The lands were divided into three classes; settled, intermediate and unsettled.
Settled included “The counties or reputed counties of Macquarie and Stanley”; The land “which may lie within the distance of ten miles from any point of the outward limits...the town of Ipswich;.... the town which has been established at the head of the navigation of the River Clarence... “; “The lands which may lie within the distance of three miles from any part of the sea, throughout the extent of the Colony, measured in a straight line”; “The lands which may lie within the distance of two miles from either of the two opposite banks of the following rivvers; the Glenelg; the Clarence (at a distance not less than fifty miles from the sea); the river now known as the Richmond (at a distance not less than twenty miles from the sea).”
[No districts in northern NSW were included in the Intermediate districts until December 1848, when Ward and Rous were gazetted as such.]
SMH 23 October 1847, p. 2
“The Tamar passed he Richmond River on Wednesday last (20 Oct.), and reports having seen a good-sized schooner lying high and dry on the south beach, supposed to be The Petrel, belonging to Mr. Richard Grahame of this city. The beach was strewed with cedar, and which a number of men were employed in getting out of the vessel when the Tamar passed. Capatin Allen stood close in for the purpose of seeing if he could render any assistance, but no notice being taken of him he came on.”
SMH 3 November 1847, p.3 (From Richmond River correspondent)
“Murders, robberies, and river piracy, as usual (in this district), are rife. One man has been killed by an overseer, on a station here, and the blacks have murdered two more white men. A lawless band of sawyers rob each other with impunity, and the most murderous assaults are passed over without any notice, by the authorities. We have constables, but no Court has been held at Casino. I would say, likewise, that from the River Clarence to Moreton Bay, a distance of several hundred miles, runaway servants traverse unmolested, so that one law at least (the Masters’ and Servants’ Act) is a dead letter.”
MM 3 November 1847, p. 2 (Report from Richmond River correspondent, 20 October 1847)
“Our winter may be characterised as mild and dry.. Spring seemed backward in coming forward, but a friendly night’s rain on the 15th of September revived vegetation as if by enchantment, and occasional thunder-showers since made nature put on her loveliest mantle of green. Notwithstanding the tropical influences to which this district is partially subjected. the equinoxial storms passed over very easily, when compared to last year.
The Richmond never witnessed so fine a fall of lambs, and notwithstanding the wet character of last year’s spring, and also of summer, which told fatally on many of the young as well as old stock, the flocks are in fair condition, and a good clip is confidently expected. Fogs, which on the first settlement of this district were rather frequent, are now rare visitors, the ground becoming much drier, and consequently firmer, whereby evaporation from the surface of the soil goes on with less rapidity, and the water runs off with greater celerity. Rumour with his hundred tongues, among many other tidings, reports that Mr. Clarke Irving intends to add a salting establishment to his melting down premises at Casino, and also means to introduce the patent mode of preserving meat, instead of throwing it into the river for food to fishes....The bar at the river’s mouth was never better, having fifteen feet water, which will rmeain unaltered until next flood.....it is to be feared that the detention of the Phoenix and the wrecks of two other vessels, will not obtain a good character for the Richmond waters..... (Reference to arrival of a chief constable and mounted policeman in 1847).”
SMH 25 November 1847, p. 2
Coasters Inward : Effort, 47, Thompson, from the Tweed River, with 19,000 feet cedar.”
MM 1 December 1847, p. 2 (Report from Richmond River correspondent, 20 November 1847)
(Report of murder of shepherd “travelling from the head of the Clarence to the Richmond” by blacks, and reference to the fact that a constable had been stationed on the Richmond....)
“Never was there a finer season ; abundance of grass by moderate rains and getle heat ; the fall of lambs was very satisfactory; and the clip of this season much heavier than usual, as the wool, from necessity was shorn in the grease, for want of hands to wash it. The few shearers on the river was demanding 6s. and even 7 s. a day for washing - a rate out of all reason, which left the flockmasters no alternative. ...Last year we were nearly all drowned dead here....”
SMH 8 December 1847, p. 2
Coasters Inward : Frederick Griffiths, 53, Brown, from the Tweed River with 35,000 feet cedar.”
SMH 13 December 1847, p. 2
“The schooner Effort, hence for the Tweed, being unable to get into that river, had also been compelled to run for the above roads [Cowan Cowan Roads], as shelter from the gales.”
20 December 1847 Transfer of Thomas Dowse’s license for “Gimboomba” to Robert Rowland. (Ref. Stephen Simpson CCL Letter Book QSA A/20882)
MM 5 February 1848, p. 2 (Report from Richmond River correspondent, 20 December 1847)
“....The weather, until the middle of December, must be pronounced as delightful, with light drifting clouds and occasional showers. Men might foresee that either heat or heavy rains would be felt about the solstice. On the 15h clear skies and a burning sun indicated too surely that the rain was over and gone ; however
as there is plenty of grass, the district can endure it for some time. The high mountains of the Richmond attract the floating thunder-clouds, which come generally from western points ( a general course or high road for those travellers) and retain their full share of the refreshing showers which distil from the sweet heavens. Sheep were in never better condition ; as for the cattle, they will very soon be all fat.”
1848
Police transferred from Casino to Tabulam (until 1853)
22 January 1848 Rev. John Gregor drowned at Nundah
MM 8 March 1848, p. 2 (Report from Richmond River correspondent, January 1848)
“On the 1st and 2nd January the thermometer had attained the height of 102o in the shade, so that our dwellings became quite hot enough to hold us. The blacks, however, who are very good judges of the weather, predicted a speedy change. “Plenty durran durran tumble down!” There was no mistake in this prognostication; about the 4th and 5th a fine drizzling rain descended from the E.N.E., which proved heavier towards the northward; as all the branches of the Richmond towards that quarter were aprtially flooded. By the 12th and 13th it fell much heavier and on the 16th to 19th it rained a deluge. The river was about ten feet higher than last year’s flood, and both happened the corresponding weeks of each period. The extreme height is reckoned 36 feet. Some of those venerable persons, the older settlers, say that the district is usually visited with periodic rains about the end of December or month of January, and seem connected with the shifting monsoons.”
“The Upper Richmond reminds a traveller of the land of mountains and flood, with its well rugged mountain scenery, its brawling burnies, and narrow glens. The river always runs over a fine sandstone bed, and is so pure and clear that its waters would delight the heart of any homoepathite; but when mixed with a little aqua mirabilis of which we have intermitting springs, it is then transcendent. Numerous lagoons are scattered everywhere over the district, beside the various creeks, so that no part of the country is better watered, which is of itself a high recommendation.”
26 March 1848 Murder of Robert Cox, a Tweed River sawyer, at the Bush Inn, Kangaroo Point (see MBC 1.4.48 p.2)
He travelled with Richard Smith, who “stated that he deceased and witness had come up from the river Tweed together....That Cox had 16,000 or 17,000 gfeet of cedar, which he sold before leaving the Tweed, and witness thought it likely he was paid for it.”
MM 15 April 1848, p. 2 (report from Richmond River correspondent)
“...February exhibited all the indications of tropical climes during the shifting monsoons : hurricanes, tornadoes, in constant succession. Sheep, however, suffered less than last year, and the loss far short of accounts brought by overland travellers of the comparative destruction amongst the woolgrowers on New England and Liverpool Plains
districts. This circumstance may be accounteed for in this awy :- Feed proved abundant here ; the flocks were in good condition ; their wool consequently well grown, and rather more plentiful, thereby enabling the animals to resist the injurious effects of heavy rain, without selling the bill of mortality to any serious extent. Neither the Clarence nor the Richmond are favorable to this kind of stock, and many gentlemen are planning removal either to the interior or Wide Bay way ; others are filling up with cattle, and relinquishing the sheep, a measure at one economical and prudent, for nowhere can be obtained a better supply of grass for beeves than on the Richmond - vegetation gets too luxuriant however, a state of affairs rather unfavourable to sheep, who delight in a short sweet bite, and tolerable elevation of run......Mr. Irving’s melting down establishment is now in full activity, and upon an extended scale.....Since the cessation of heavy rains this district is visited with the curse of caterpillars, but the grass being so abundant, it is not anticipated that the damage will be extensive.... (Description of storm on 11 March...
“It had thundered the whole night, with partial intermissions ; about sunrise clouds and darkness came from
the westward - a darkness which might be felt - with such thunder and rain as made many faithless persons think of another deluge : and the thunder - your Hunter River thunder is lonly like the Irishman’s description of theatrical detonation, rolling a round stone in an empty bowl - compared to our electric explosions and echoes. The storm soon passed over,.....”
MBC 22 April 1848, p. 3
“On the afternoon of Sunday last, a boy named James Binstead, between six and seven years of age, son of John Binstead, sawyer, residing in North Brisbane, was accidentally drowned by falling into the town reservoir......”
MBC 29 April 1848, p.2
“Depredations by the Blacks :- The blacks on the Albert River have for some months past been exceedingly troublesome, and have on various occasions driven away sheep from the station at Kerry, belonging to Mr. Francis Clarke. In some instances they carry on their depredations in a way peculiar to themselves by watching until the flock approach the summit of a steep ridge, or the brink of a deep gully, when, rushing in with their dogs, they cut off twenty or thirty from the flock, whom they hurry off down the broken ground of the ravine, and with such rapidity is the manoevure executed that they are beyond the reach of pursuit almost before the shephers are aware of their movements. On other occasions, however, they proceed more openly to work. On Saturday, the 15th instant, a flock of ewes, on the above station, was attacked, and several driven off, the blacks at the same time threatening the shepherd, who was unarmed, and was under the necessity of offering them flour and tobacco, in order to induce them to spare the remainder of the flock. Again, on the Tuesday following, the same flock of sheep was surrounded by a numerous tribe, who were evidently bent upon driving off the whole, and set their women and dogs to collect them. The shepherd, who carried fire-arms, called upon them to desist, upon which fourteen orfifiteen blackfellows made a rush towards him, brandishing their tomahawks, evidently with the intention of murdering him, upj which he discharged his piece at them, when they made off, but not before the rest of the tribe had driven off sixty-two ewes. Mr. Clarke has already lost upwards of two hundred sheep by these and similar depredations of the blacks, and unless some active steps are taken to suppress them, it will become unsafe to remain in the district from the formidable numbers that muster, and the ferocity exhibited by the savages, when determined to carry their threats into execution. Similar losses have been experienced by other gentlemen in the same district, and from a similar cause.”
NSWGG 11 May 1848, p.614
Robinson, Joseph Phelps
Name of Run: Beaudesert
Estimated Area : 50,000 acres
Estimated grazing capacity : 1,500 Cattle
“Bounded on the north by a Scrub and Creek dividing it from Mr. Robert Rowland’s Run, about two and a half miles east; on the east by the top of the Jimbroken Range dividing it from Messrs. Jones and Compigne’s Run, about twenty miles; on the south by a line east from the junction of Christmas Creek and Logan River, to the top of Jimbroken Range dividing it from Mr. Robert Campbell’s Run [Telemon], about two and a half miles; on the west by the Logan River dividing it from Messrs. Aikman and Prior’s Run [Bromelton], about twenty-two miles.”
Compigne, Alfred William
Name of Run : Nindooinbah
Estimated Area : 16 miles by 1 mile average
Estimated grazing capacity : 4,000 sheep
“Bounded on the east by the Albert River, west by Jambroken and Birnam Ranges ; north by Flagstone Creek and Mr. Collins’ Run; south by scrub and unavailable country”
10 August 1848 Transfer of “Broomelton” by Messrs. Aikman and Prior to Thomas Lodge Murray Prior. (CCL Letterbook QSA)
20 September 1848 Transfer of “Telamon” and “Melcombe” by Robert Campbell Tert. to Thomas Collins. (do.)
MM 17 May 1848 p.2 (Report from Tabulam, Clarence River, 1 May)
“The blacks in this neighbourhood are beginning to be very troublesome, spearing cattle and driving off sheep, and ogfgfering resistance if disturbed in these favourite amusements. Mr. McLean, of Bonalbo, having lost several of his cattle, and particularly calves, and having remarked that a number of them were suffering from recent spear wounds, about ten days since went to an encampment of the blacks, some short distance from his house, accompanied by the chief constable and three other persons. The blacks refused to allow them to approach and commenced throwing spears and hunting sticks at the party, who, in self-defence, fired on the blacks, but without doing them much bodily harm. However, they succeeded in driving off the blacks, to the number of about 200, it is said, and on examining the camp, the skins of the slaughtered calves were found, together with several articles which could not have honestly come into possession of the blacks, including a copper boiler, and axes of all sorts.”
SMH 1.6.1848, p.2
“The schooner Comet arrived from the Tweed River yesterday (elsewhere described as ‘Comet,34,Matthews,from the Tweed River, with 19,000 feet cedar.’) with a cargo of 20,000 feet of cedar, having left on the 21st. May. She reports the schooner Fanny Morris, for Sydney, having endeavoured to get out of the river at the same time, but in doing so had driven ashore on the north spit close to the rocks, where it is thought she will become a total wreck. The schooner Jane was in the river, and loaded, for Sydney, when the Comet came out.”
[Elsewhere the Fanny Morris is described as being wrecked on 21 May 1848. A two-mast schooner, built in 1844 at Hunter River by John Cameron, 40 tons. Owned by William Jones.]
SMH 12.6.1848, p.4 Advertisement.
“Monday, 12th. June. For Account of Whom It May Concern
THE WRECK OF THE SCHOONER COOLANGATTA as she now lies on the beach, near Moreton Bay.
- SAMUEL LYONS will sell by auction, at his Mart this day, 12th June, at 11 o’clock precisely, The Wreck of the schooner Coolangatta, as she now lies on the beach, near the mouth of the Tweed River, near Moreton Bay. The above vessel was built in 1843, and of 38 (?) tons burthen.
SMH 13 June 1848, p. 2
“Captain Allen (of the Tamar) reports the schooner Fanny Morris having become a total wreck at the Tweed River.”
MBC 6.7.1848, p. 1
Advert. “BUTTER, CHEESE BACON &c., &c.,
The undersigned has just received a large supply of Cheese and Butter from Mr. White’s Dairy on the Logan, which he will sell at the following Prices, viz.
Best Logan Butter 1s. 3d. per lb.
Best Logan Cheese 6d. per lb. James Sutherland, North Brisbane
SMH 22 July 1848, p.2 WRECK OF THE SCHOONER “JANE”
“This craft, so long in the trade between this place and Sydney, is on shore on the north side of the entrance of the Tweed River, and is likely to become a total wreck. She was seen by the Tamar on her passage from Sydney to Brisbane before last, and also during her last passage, when Capt. Allen, seeing the crew on the beach, sent a boat on shore, with the intention of bringing them to Brisbane, if they wished it, but they preferred remaining where they were. The Jane is on shore among a mass of rocks, and in such a position as must render utterly hopeless all idea of getting her off. This vessel, as well as the Wanderer, an account of which is given below, belonged to the same owners.” (Mr. Cook) [Elsewhere the date of the wreck is 1 July 1848, and the vessel iis described as 42 tons, built Manning River 1836, owner James Cook]
Death of J.P. Robinson of scarlet fever in Sydney, 13 August 1848. Estate subsequently administered by his brother George Robinson. J.P. Robinson was also the lessee of Laidley Plains, (150,000 acres, as well as other properties in NSW. George Robinson (b. Newtown, Co. Offally 27 March 1819, accompanied Benjamin Boyd on board the Wanderer which sailed from Plymouth on 23 December 1841. On arrival in NSW, he managed several runs for Boyd. In 1847 he was at Mafra, Manaroo, and on his brother’s death he was at Bibbenluke, Maneroo).
William Sprott Boyd (br. of B.B.) wrote to George Robinson on 29 December 1848
“I think you will do much better in joining W. White in buying Beaudesert. I think I can find the chief part of the need for this purpose after your & his funds are exhausted.”
[The NSWGG 2.8.48 p. 945 gives Robinson as lessee of Canal Creek (70,000 acres : Darling Downs); 14.8.48 p. 1001 lists Yarrowich (100 sq. miles) and Shannon Vale (90 sq. miles)
Obit. published in the Sydney Daily Advertiser 14 August 1848, repubd. in the Maitland Mercury 16 August, p.2
“It is with feelings of deep and sincere regret that we announce the death of Mr. Joseph Phelps Robinson, of the firm of Boyd and Co., late representative for Melbourne in the Legislative Council; who breathed his last at three o’clock yesterday afternoon, at his residence on the North Shore, after an illness of only five days, and at the early age of theirty-three years. A constitution not naturally robust, ahd been undermined by too close an attention to business, and at the close of the last session the duties and anxieties of the Legislative Council, superadded to those of his extensive mercantile concerns, appear to have materially affected his health. The complaint, scarlet fever, assumed alarming symptoms from the first.......He had many political opponents, but, we believe, no private enemies; his charities were ample, but unostentatious, and bestowed with a ready hand, but a discerning eye, where deserved. The deceased was a member of the Society of Friends, and deeply imbued with the Christian spirit of that body ; he was a zealous advocate of the cause of education, and a supporter of all benevolent institutions. As a politician, Mr. Robinson was sound rather than showy - not claiming to be considered an orator, he expressed himself forcibly and clearly, and in the fewest words that his subject allowed : his facts were generally indisputable, and his reasoning logical and conclusive. In statistics, both political and mercantile, Mr. Robinson was probably without a rival, and in this branch he was a formidable opponent in debate. His death we consider a public loss : his intimate friends, to whom his amiable qualities and kind heart had endeared him, will find it irreparable.”
SUR 1/G1 District Surveyor, Moreton Bay,Letterbook 1844-1851, pp.80-1
James Warner to Surveyor-General 14 December 1848
1849
John and Edward Boyd set up cedar camp on Brunswick River
1 January 1849 Richmond River Post Office estbd. at Casino (renamed Casino 1853)
SMH 21 April 1849 Midas departs from Sydney “for the Brunswick River loaded with sundries”
MBC 28 April 1849, p.2 Arrivals : April 25 Swift , schooner, 45 tons, Terrell, from Sydney 17th instant. Passengers - Three in the steerage.
MBC 5 May 1849, p.2 Departures : April 30 Swift, schooner, 45 tons, Terrell, for Sydney. Passengers - Four in the steerage.
MBC 19 May 1849, p.2
“We regret to learn that the rains on the Logan river have caused considerable destruction to the property of some of the settlers at that place. During one night it poured in a complete torrent, and the river rose all next day. One gentleman has lost over 200 sheep by the flood. In such small rivers as the Logan, wwwwhere the tributaries are mostly, deep, narrow, gullies, running down from precipitous ranges, the waters rise very suddenly, and the subsidence is equally sudden. We fully expect to hear of a flood on the Richmond, and of a great rising in the Clarence river. The great breadth of the last named stream, however, usually exempts its banks from the overflow of water that so often occurs on the low shores of the Richmond in consequence of the (comparatively) narrow water channel. The Brisbane has not perceptibly risen, but there has been an evident admixtion of muddy fresh water from the creeks, with the usually clear salt stream at Brisbane.”
MBC 26 May 1849, p.2
SHIPWRECKS AND MELANCHOLY LOSS OF LIFE.
We have a painful duty to perform in this day’s issue, in recording a series of causualties on the coast during the late gales, by which it is estimated that about twenty-two of our fellow-creatures have perished. For the details of these distressing calamities we are chiefly indebted to Mr. Henry Tebbutt, one of the owners of the Helen, schpooner, and to Captain Ellis, late of the Louisa, which vessel, the property of Messrs. Inder and Tebbutt, was lately cast ashore near the mouth of the Brunswick river, as reported in this journal at the time. The Helen, on her last trip to Sydney, encountered strong south-westerly gales, which, assisted by a strong south-easterly current, drove her out to sea, and about a hundred miles to the southward of Port Jackson. It was with the greatest difficulty that she was enabled to run from Jervis’s Bay to Port Stephens for refuge. On her last departure from Sydney, it was the chief object of the owners to ascertain the condition of the Louisa, and affor assistance to the master and crew of that vessel. For this purpose theHelen was hove to off the Brunswick river. The fatal accident that followed will be best described by the following extract from the journal of Mr. Tebbutt :-
“The Helen’s boat, with Captain Wilson, William Bassage and William Leverington, caprenters, and Peter McGregor, Peter Coleman, Samuel Kennedy, Charles Vale, and William McMain, seamen, left the vessel, and proceeded to the Brunswick River, for the purpose of examining the Louisa, and reporting upon her. Captain Wilson, believing that there was not any sea on the bar, steered into the channel, and, when about midway, a heavy roller broke on board of the boat, capsizing her, and precipitating the whole of the crew into the sea. Leverington immediately sank. Bassage held on to the boat for some time, until, being exhausted, he was washed off and drowned. Peter Coleman caught hold of the oar that Captain Wilson was swimming with, and in the struggle for life the Captain with difficulty extricated himself, leaving the oar with Coleman, who shortly afterwards sank and was drowned. Captain Ellis, of the Louisa, was, happily, near the mouth of the river, watching the boat as she crossed the bar, and on observing the accident, he launched his own boat, and pulled for the spot, where he succeeded in picking up Charles Vale, who, but for this timely assistance, must have been drowned. Captain Wilson, by dint of severe exertion, managed to reach the shore. Peter McGregor had clung to the boat until she got among the breakers, when he contrived to swim ashore. Of Samuel Kennedy nothing was seen after the boat was upset. - The accident appears to have been caused by Bassage and Leverington rising up in haste, just as the boat entered the bar channel, and upsetting Captain Wilson, sho was steering.”
WRECK OF THE “TWEED”
“This was an entirely new schooner, built at the River Tweed for Mr. Thompson, and on her first voyage to Sydney, with a full cargo of cedar. Captain Ellis found her hull lying bottom upwards on the beach, near the Tweed, and there cannot be the least doubt but that all hands on board have perished. No doubt this is the wreck that was seen by Captain Brown ,of the Ann Mary, as reported in our Extra of the 14th. instant.”
WRECK of the “SWIFT”
“This vessel left Brisbane on the 30th April for Sydney, with four steerage passengers (names at present unknown), and the following cargo, viz.: 11 bdles skins, 3 casks tallow, W. Gray and Co.; 6 bdles skins, CC; 4 casks tallow, 15 hides, Watson; 13 casks tallow, Robinson & White; 26 casks tallow FP; 104 hides, FU; 16 casks tallow, P; 8 do do, 36 hides, WG; 16 do do, J with F under; 8 do do, 19 bdles sheep-skins, M & Y. No mail was sent by this vessel, most fortunately. On Saturday, May 5th, the Swift encountered a severe gale of wind from the eastward, and hove to, off Cape Byron, under a close-reefed mainsail and topsail. At daylight next morning it was found that the vessel was drifting bodily on to the cape, and the fore-trysail was set with the hope of working her off from the shore. The schooner shortly sfterwards careened and turned bottom upwards. Two days after this catasrophe, namely, on the afternoon of Tuesday, the 8th inst., Captain Ellis, who was walking on the shore about three miles northwards of the Brunswick river, observed a vessel lying, bottom upwards, on the beach, and, on examination, found it to be the Swift. A sawyer, named Boyd, who was with Captain Ellis at the time, happened to make some observation aloud, when he heard some persons “cooeying” inside the hulk, and he immediately ran back to the river for axes, with which, on his return an opening was made in the afterpart of the vessel , and Mr. Gee, the owner, and one of the passengers were extricated from this frightful prison, which they had tenanted since the morning of the preceding Sunday ! Another opening was made forward, but no further signs of life were discovered. The survivors stated that the schooner upset at about six o’clock in the morning. The steward was just getting some coffee for Mr. Gee, and was leaving the cabin when the vessel heeled and the water rushed in by the companion. Mr. Gee and the other passenger, whose name we have not been able to ascertain, endeavoured to escape by the companion, but before they could stem the rush of water sufficiently to effect that purpose, the vessel had turned completely over. Mr. Gee and his companion then took refuge between the cabin deck and the vessel’s inverted bottom. The space in which they contrived to squeeze themselves is described as being about eighteen inches in depth ! They did not believe that the hulk was more than five or six hours at sea after the accident. At the end of that it was thrown up on the beach. At high water, the miserable captives had to crawl into the hole between the deck and the bottom; when the tide ebbed they came out, and could sit in the cabin, which was only about half full of water at those times. Two passengers were supposed to have been in the forecastle, but were not found. In all probability, they rushed uipon deck and were drowned at once, together with the crew. When recued, Mr. Gee was nearly dead from exhaustion, and was, besides, badly wounded by the cabin furniture, &c., striking him while the inverted hulk was rolling at the mercy of the waves. We have not been able to learn any further particulars of the manner in which these two fearful days were passed by the survivors, but the narrative of their sensations and sufferings must surpass the most frightful conceptions that have evr been committed to paper. The passenger went to Sydney from the Brunswick, in the Midas. Mr. Tebbutt, on heraing of the unhappy condition of Mr. Gee, determined to get him on board, if possible, in order that such comforts as the vessel afforded might be administered. With this view the Helen was run down to the mouth of the Brunswick; but it was found that the sea was breaking terrifically on the bar and along the coast, making any landing impossible ; and having only one oar on board (all the others having been lost when the boat was swamped), and a heavy swell getting up, with no prospect of abatement, they were reluctantly compelled to bear up for this port, bringing Captain Ellis with them. There is no chance of getting the wreck of the Swift afloat again. It may be gratifying to the friends of Mr. Gee to know that he is sure to receive kind treatment at the cedar stations on the Brunswick.”
WRECK OF THE “JANE SCOTT”
“This ill-fated schooner was a cedar vessel, trading to the Tweed, and, it is believed, must have struck upon one of the reefs off Cook’s Island, during the late gales. One half of the vessel went ashore to the southward, and the other half to the northward of the Tweed river. The crew could not have had the shadow of a chance of escaping.
We have not been able to learn accurately the number of hands employed in the wrecked vessels; but from an approximate estimate, and only including as passengers the three human beings who have certainly been lost in the Swift, we suppose that not less than twenty-two souls have been ushered into eternity by these dreadful events.
The loss of the Matilda Ann, at the Richmond river, is fully confirmed by the late arrivals. The vessel lies, a total wreck, on the north head of the river. All hands saved.
We regret to learn that the wreck of the Louisa is almost entirely broken up.” [near mouth of the Brunswick]
SMH 21 May 1849, p.2
LOSS OF THE SCHOONER SWIFT :- “By the schooner Midas, Captain Beneaud, which arrived in harbour on Saturday evening from the Brunswick River, intelligence has been received of the total wreck of the schooner Swift, 45 tons, Captain Tirrell, with the loss of all hands, except two passengers (Messrs. Robert Gee and James Brown). She sailed from Moreton Bay for Sydney on the 4th instant with a cargo of tallow, wool, and pine wood, and, so far as we can learn, was capsized in a squall on the 6th, about twelve miles north of Cape Byron, and drifted in a few hours on the beach a little northward of the Brunswick River. The circumstances which led to the discovery of this unfortunate occurrence by Captain Beneaud, which was not until the 8th instant, was th picking up of a gilt truck and a cask of tallow, from which he traced the wreck, and fortunately arrived in time to be the means of saving the lives of Gee and Brown, who it appears were in the cabin at the time the vessel had capsized. The latter having had sufficient strength left to make himself heard to Beneaud : an axe was procured as quickly as possible and a hole cut in the vessel’s bottom to enable them to get out. Mr. Gee (who is part owner of the vessel with Mr. Clark, of the Union Wharf) was taken out of the cabin quite insensible and very much bruised, but when the Midas sailed for this port was quite recovering. Mr. Brown has arrived in Sydney by the Midas. One passenger, whose name we have been unable to ascertain; James Tirrell, master; James Wilson, mate; William Lime, George Hutley, and James Trainor, seamen, are those who have met with a watery grave. The Swift was a new vessel, and is uninsured in Sydney.”
SMH 22 May 1849, p. 2
THE WRECK OF THE SWIFT :- “ In our yesterday’s number we gave a report of the wreck of the schooner Swift, from Moreton Bay to Sydney, the melancholy loss of seven lives, and the miraculous preservation of Messrs. Brown and Gee, two passengers. Since then we have learned a few additional particulars from Mr. Brown. He says that on Sunday morning, the 6th. instant, the wind was blowing very heavily from the south-east, and the sea was dreadfully high; about six o’clock, just before daybreak he went on deck and saw that the only sail set was the trysail, and the mainsail close reefed; the sea washed on the deck so much that he rem,ained but a few minutes, and then went down below, and was followed by the cook who wanted something from the cabin; he had not been long below when something struck the vessel, he supposes a heavy sea and she began to cant over; he made a rush for the stairs, but the cook was before him, and blocked up the staircase, and the heavy pressure of water against the companion doors prevented them from pushing the doors open; but one door was partially opened, and the cook was jammed and suffocated where he stood. The vessel then turned bottom upwards, when the cabin door and fitiings all gave way, and fell down on to the under (or what was then the upper) side of the deck, and Mr. Brown found himself afloat in the hold of the vessel, with his head against the keel; he then heard Mr. Gee’s voice, and called to him to come to him, which he did; and they then found that they were by holding on to the keel able to keep their heads above water. Mr. Brown thinks that when the schooner upset the captain must have been trying to wear her head round, as she was in his opinion not above three miles from the shore. After the vessel upset it was quite light in the hold, sufficiently so to read. The vessel soon drifted ashore, and as soon as she touched the sand it became suddenly dark, and remained so. As she laid on the beach, the tide flowed in and out her and at high [this section is illegible as print from banner of paper is too heavy on reverse of page]
.........these unfortunates were able to breathe, and the water would occasionally , when a heavy sea rolled on to the beach, was entirely over their faces, and almost suffocate them. In this perilous condition they ramined from the Sunday until the Tuesday afternoon, when the wreck of the vessel was discovered by a sawyer named John Boyd, and Mr. Ellis, of the barge Louisa, and Captain Benaud. Boyd walked to the wreck, and after examining her for some time, said, “God help the poor fellows taht belonged to her, they are all gone.” These words were heard by Brown (Gee hadbecome quite insensible), who cooed, and at length made himself heard; upon which Boyd ran six miles for an axe, to cut a hole in the bottom of the vessel, from which they were then rescued.
Brown believes that the cargo consisted of 95 barrels tallow, a large portion of which belonged to the Messrs. Smith, of Moreton Bay. In addition to the persons named yesterday, as having been drowned, was an old man, who had been shepherding in the employ of Mr. Richardson. We understand another wreck had been seen on the coast, near the Clarence River. From leaving Moreton Bay until they were rescued, a period of five days, Brown had nothing to eat but two potatoes.”
SMH 2 June 1849, p.2
“By the arrival of the Opa in harbour yesterday afternoon, from the Tweed River, we have received a confirmation of the report of the loss of the cutter Jane Scott, and the new schooner built at the Tweed River by Mr. Thompson, but no additional particulars can be given further than that the unfortunate occurrences took place during the gale of the 6th ultimo. The name of the master of the schooner was Charles Schrowder, and one of the shipwrights on board, Joseph Pashley.”
29 June 1849 License granted to Patrick Henderson for George Inn at Tenterfield
29 July 1849 Birth of Mary Ann Benson on Tweed; daughter of John and Margaret Benson
NSWGG 7 August 1849, p.1164
Transfer of License of Beau Desert from J.P. Robinson to William Sprout Boyd (CCL Letterbook QSA gives the date as 20 September)
[I have note “From QSA files and rel. corresp. Beaudesert run passed from
J.P. Robinson (deceased) to W.S. Boyd March 1849 (letter signed by George Robinson)
from William S. Boyd to Thomas Sutcliffe Mort August 1849 (CCL QSA 20 September 1849)
from T.S. Mort to Robert Campbell, Tert. & Michael Egan Murnin September 1849] (CCL QSA
5 November 1849). ( Michael White (p.52) asserts that these may all have been financiers of White and Robinson’s purchase of the lease as early as May 1848).
27 September 1849 First Auction of Crown Land Leases “within the settled areas” , for land “which have been applied for under the 28th section of the Regulations of the 29th March 1848” The upset price for each lot is 5s. per section of 640 acres, for the half year commencing 1st July last.” This auction included blocks north of the Logan River. Four more Logan blocks were auctioned on 11 October 1849.
On 5 September, a further Notice under these Regulations stated that “Parties obtaining these leases will havethe power to renew them, provided the payment for the ensuing year be made to the Colonial Treasurer, in Sydney, or yhe Government Resident or Commissioner of the District, within the time prescribed..., namely the 30th of September in each year.”
26 October 1849 George Robinson leaves for California with Benjamin Boyd aboard the Wanderer. Robinson returned to Ireland, where he managed a dockyard owned by his brother Anthony George Robinson, trading under the name of George Robinson & Co. He married Lydia Jane Abbott at Cork on 16 February 1854. They would sail for Australia on 19 November 1873.
October 1849 Rev. Coles Child , B.A. (St. John’s College, Cambridge) ordained deacon and placed in charge of the Northern Rivers district at Grafton (examined for priest’s orders 18 Sept. 1850)
Maitland Mercury 5 December 1849 (Report from Tabulam, dated 21 November)
“The shearing ahs commenced here, but I fear it will be a sorry business with several on the Clarence this season, owing to the great scarcity of men. The first load of wool from this district passed through Tabulam on Tuesday last, from Mr. Bloxsome’s station, on its way to Grafton, for shipment to Sydney in the Phoenix.
The past winter has been the mildest and most favorable for sheep ever known on the river. The floods came in May, when they could do no possible injury to the flocks, although the river rose higher than the oldest inhabitant could remember it having done before; it rose thirty-six feet in height, and placed the inhabitants of the court-house and lock-up, which were insulated, in jeopardy; the persons inside were compelled to break a hole in the roof of the latter place, and roost like turkeys on the ridge-pole for one night. The court-house now has a slight list to starboard, the door and window being out of the perpendicular, and refusing to shut without force being applied. Another such flood would carry it away. Indeed the loss to the district would not be severe, for there has been but one case for adjudication within the last ten months. Our gardens have recently received some very rough treatment; in the midst of a very hot day (Thursday, the 15th) a tremendous shower of hail came on, the stones being larger than gooseberries, and beating to the ground melons, pumpkins, potatoes, and all tender plants, and making the stronger ones look rough and ragged, the leaves pierced in a thousand places.....”
1850
Thomas (24) and Mary (17) Boyd arrive on Tweed from Sydney, and built a home at Chinderah, known as “Boyd’s Accommodation House”
17 January 1850 Boundaries of Police District of Brisbane proclaimed
“... on the east by the sea to Point Danger, including all the islands between that point and the point where the Glass House Mountains meet the sea; thence on the south by the range divinding the waters of the Logan and other rivers from those of the Clarence, Richmond and Twed Rivers; on the west by the range dividing the waters of the Logan River from those of the Teviot Creek.....”
James Warner to Surveyor-General (Sir Thomas Mitchell) SUR 1/G1/ District Surbveyor, Moreton Bay Letter Book 1844-51 (QSA) No. 11 of 1850
Camp, Cleveland Point, 23 February 1850
Sir, Pursuant to your instructions of the 18th August 1849 the carrying oiut of which was more particularly
urged in your letter No. 59 of (?) I am proceeding with the Survey of the Town Reserve at Cleveland Point but such is the state of the weather that I am almost entirely confined to the camp, indeed unless urged to this duty I should not have attempted it until the periodical rains were well over, inasmuch as the time now being entirely lost would have been advantageously employed in the office; I shall nevertheless continue my operations unless you are pleased to recall me ....now to request your authority to hire, for as short a time as may be necessary, a whale boat with four hands in order that I may take the required soundings.” (pp.132-3)
MBC 23 Feb. 1850 p.3
Advert. “Fine Logan Cheese on Sale by the Undersigned, wholesale and retail. A. Eldridge, North Brisbane”
MBC 9 March 1850, p.1
Advert. “RAMS. 200 SAXON MERINO RAMS FOR SALE A.W. COMPIGNE. Nindooinbagh (sic), Albert River”
16 April 1850 Wreck of 50 ton schooner “Clara” at mouth of Brunswick River (on charter to Boyds and King cedar camp)
8 May 1850 James Warner transmits plans of Cleveland township to S.G. (p.143)
22 May 1850 Warner transmits “plans of the route by which I returned from Cleveland Point to the South Eastern corner of the Boundary of the Town of Brisbane”
19 July 1850 First issue of Moreton Bay Free Press
September 1850 Reference in Maitland Mercury of 1 December 1851, to “that storm, which in September 1850, capsized three vessels a few miles south of the Richmond Heads.”
1851
MM 1 January 1851, p.2 (Report from Richmond River correspondent, 14 December 1850)
“..This river has not had so much [rain] so much as the Clarence, but quite enough to give abundance of grass. All the stations on the lower portion of the river as Hamilton’s, Irving’s, Ward Stephen’s, and others, are looking beautiful, but as you get up towards the Downs, above Eaton’s, the grass is not near so plentiful, far less rain has fallen, and the river has ceased to run, though it is running a good stream below the station.
The stations on this river, with two or three exceptions, being cattle stations, there is only the usual routine of mustering and branding, mustering and boiling, and then in the winter watching against the strong desire of the blacks for “bullock” and their rather two frequent “bullen bullens”.
But on the lower part of the river, towards the coast, a very good trade is being carried on in cedar, probably eighty sawyers being at work in the dense brushes which line the banks of the river.
....It is very clear that even now the sawyers spread out a long distance to cut it; and many, instead of fixing their wives and children at the spot, have to leave them at the head of the creeks whence the cedar is floated down, and go out to their work three or four miles, or perhaps farther. They are also continually forming new “camps” where they find a fresh lot of cedar trees. Still, even with this number of sawyers, cedar is so plentiful of getting it away. Still, even with this number of sawyers, cedar is so plentiful that it will last many years, and will only cease with the impossibility of getting it away. It must be a fine trade for those who are in it, for the sawyer generally spends a third of his time over the “keg”, and there is not the slightest difficulty of getting it. The stores import and sell spirits without making any secret of it, and the police constables being stationed at Tabulam, seventy miles off, the magistrates are completely powerless.....The bench business is now conducted at Tabulam, where the clerk of the bench and courthouse are, one magistrate also resides there.....It is not that Tabulam ever was a place of consequence, for it is only the site of a future township at the ford of the river, and on the river from Gradfton to Tenterfield - the population consisting of the owner of the station and his family, the clerk of the bench and family, two or three servants, and the aforesaid constables enjoying themselves in their huts....”
MBC 4 January 1851, p. 1
Advert. “NATURAL HISTORY OF MORETON BAY. The undersigned will be happy to make up Collections, the product of Moreton Bay, in every branch of that Science, which he will endeavour to execute in the most perfect manner with the utmost possible despatch, and on the most reasonable terms.
- STRANGE, Naturalist.
Parties buying specimens to the amount of £10 (ten pounds), such Collections will be forwarded to London free of every expense.
Breakfast Creek, December 10”
MBC 25 January 1851, p. 1
Advert. “SALE BY AUCTION. SHEEP STATION, IN THE DISTRICT OF MORETON BAY, SITUATE ON THE LOGAN RIVER.
MORT & BROWN have instructions to sell by Public Auction, at their Rooms, George-street on FRIDAY, 7th FEBRUARY, at Eleven O’Clock,
The Statio of “GINBOOBA” situate on the Logan River, about thirty miles from Brisbane, together with from 4,000 to 5,000 Sheep.
The Sheep are excellent - sound, and never diseased; and the Station is a very good one, with allimprovements, &c., complete for active working. The proprietor is turning his attention to other puirsuits, which is the only reason for the sale.
Full particulars may be laernt upon the Station or from the Auctioneers.”
MBC 10 February 1851 , p. 3
Advert. “ADVANTAGEOUS OPPORTUNITY OF EMBARKING IN SHEEP-FARMING : THE FINE STATION OF “JIMBUMBA”, NEAR BRISBANE, AND FOUR THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED SHEEP
MORT AND BROWN Will Sell by Public Auction at their Rooms, George-street, on FRIDAY, 28th FEBRUARY, AT 11 )’CLOCK, 4411 FINE-WOOLLED SHEEP and the EXTENSIVE STATION OF “JIMBUMBA”.
THE SHEEP, per return just received, consist of the following advantageous muster -
(They were shorn the first week of September and will consequently have Six Months’ Wool on at date of sale) -
313 two years old
207 three
572 four } Breeding Ewes
428 aged
680 Maiden Ewes
1285 Lambs, of sexes, to be weaned during January
986 Wethers, eighteen months to four years
60 Well-bred Rams
_______
4411
They are warranted sound, and the Wool has always commanded the highest prices ruling in the market. The young stock are admitted to be the strongest and healthiest of any droped in the district.
The STATION is beautifully situated on the River Logan, only thirty miles from Brisbane, the metropolis of the Northern Districts. It is capable of depasturing 9,000 to 10,000 Sheep, and has abundance of Food and Water in all seasons.
The Improvements, which are extensive, embrace the following -
Substantial Cottage at head station, floored and shingled
Detached Kitchen, Store
Capacious Wool Shed
Well-stocked Garden, securely fenced
Stockyards, capable of drafting 500 head of cattle
Milking Yard
Cultivation Paddock, of 14 Acres, pig-proof fence
Horse Paddock
Men’s Huts, Yards, Hurdles
Cooking Utensils
Wool Box, Weighing Machine
Barrows, Tools, &c.
AND There is upon the Station, to be taken at a valuation by the buyer - Twelve Months’ supply of Stores; Household Furniture, Two Horses;
Dray, extra Hurdles, &c.
Indeed, the Property is in every respect complete, and affords one of those rare opportunities of obtaining a First-rate Pastoral Estate in the best grazing district in the Colony, in full working order; and from its proximity to Brisbane, freed from the seclusion often objected to by persons otherwise desirous of engaging in Sheep Farming.
Terms - Liberal. Say, One-third Cash : residue by Approved Bill at nine months, by the maturity of which the next clip will be available.
5 March 1851 Transfer of Beau Desert by Campbell and Murnin (?) to William Duckett White & George Robinson
19 March 1851 Birth of Patrick Smith, son of Patrick (Paddy) Smith and Bridget (nee Burk) [married Brisbane 10 June 1850] at “The Junction”, Tweed River
10 May 1851 (SUR 1/G1 QSA p. 209 J.C. Burnett, Brisbane to Surveyor-General
“Referring to your letter No. 51/109 of 1st March last received on the 19th directing the Survey of the River Logan - I have the honor to state that the wet weather during the greater part of last month with an accompanying attack of rheumatism from which I suffered prevented me from proceeding with that work which I shall now attend to forthwith...”
May William Duckett White applies for other runs. His tenders were for :
- Molgul (no. 61 of May 1851) “situated between the 27o and 28o Parallels of S. Latitude in the Reputed County of Stanley on Settled District”
- Islingaba (?) (No. 62 of May 1851)
- Cumbooba (No. 63 of May 1851)
- Tubber (No. 64 of May 1851)
All these applications appear to have been rejected in September 1851, as having been within the confines of “the reputed County of Stanley”. (Ref. CCL Letterbook 1842-52 QSA A/20882)
Also in May, A.W. Compigne’s tender was placed for Murry Jerry (No.60 of May 1851). This was accepted for the following reasons:
- The Tender does not include any land under Lease or Licence
2.The description given sufficiently indicates the land
- The publick Interests do not require that any portion of the land tendered for should be reserved.
- Size and shape are conformable to the Regulations.
- Land is in the Intermediate District being in the County of Ward.
On 6 November 1851 Simpson advised Sydney that Compigne’s similar application for Dungogie (No. 28, June 1851) and C.J. Clarke’s tender for Sarabah (No. 16 of September 1851) also conformed to the regulations as above.
Descriptions of Dungogie and Murry Jerry runs appeared in the NSWGG of 11 August 1852, p.1228
(under “Crown Lands beyond the sttled districts. Runs obtained by Tender”)
Compigne, Alfred William Name of Run : Dungogie
Area : 21 Square Miles
Estimated Grazing Capability : 500 Head of Cattle
“Bounded on the north by a line running parallel with the River Perry, and two miles south of that river, nine miles long; on the west by steep ridges, joining the McPherson’s Range, two miles long; on the south by McPherson’s Range ten miles; and on the east by a line joining the northern boundary three miles from the coast.”
Compigne, Alfred William Name of Run : Murry Jerry
Area : 20 to 25 Square Miles
Estimated Grazing Capability: 600 Head of Cattle
“Bounded on the north by a line running parallel with the River Barrow, and two miles south of that river; on the west by a chain of steep ridges and dense scrub four miles in length; on the south by a line parallel with the River Perry six miles long and two miles north of said river ; and on the east by a line running north to meet the northern boundary.”
[Compigné was born on 7 February 1818 at Gosford, Hampshire; son of an attorney, Alfred Compigné. (“A French emigre family”, according to E.M. Irvine]. He had a legal education, and arrived in Sydney in 1839, coming north to Moreton Bay in 1846. He took up the license of Nindooinbah in ? , and married Jessie Lambert Collins on 1 June 1852, by who he had two sons and one daughter, E. Marie . As E. Marie Irvine, she wrote Certain Worthy Women (Sydney, New Century Press, 1939), in which she gives details of the life of her mother’s mother, Sophia Pamela (nee Danvers) who had married Thomas Collins. This union produced two daughters; Emma Pamela Collins who married Andrew Ingles Henderson of Jimboomba, and Jessie Lambert Collins. In 184? Thomas Collins acquired Telemon Station on the Upper Albert River. Another daughter born there, Sophia Elizabeth Earle Collins (d. 1929) later married William Nott of Unimgar.]
20 October 1851 Transfer of lease of Kerry from John Black to Alfred William Compigne.
24 October 1851 Severe Storm on the Richmond
Maitland Mercury 17 December 1851 (Report of Richmond River correspondent, dated 17 December 1851), reprinted in MBC 3 January 1852, p. 4
“The Months of October and Novemnber are generally accompanied by severe storms of wind and hail in this district. The 24th of October will be marked for some years to come as being a serious visitation on part of this district. A perfect huirricane, accompanied by large hailstones, passed from the west side of the range dividing this river from the Clarence, through the district; the width of it was nearly three miles, and in a direction nearly east. The whole of the track from Tabulam to this, on the top of the mountain range, is so blocked up with timber that unless a person is accurately acquainted with his course, it would be impossible to find it among the fallen timber. Mr. Bundock’s sheep run there is completely destroyed for present use. But the greateset destruction is on Mr. Hamilton’s run, and at the head station. There the ground is literally covered with fallen timber ; a plain which was nicely shaded with gum and apple trees, is now merely shaded by the gaunt shadows of their bare poles. It is wonderful how the house and huts escaped being blown away ; as it was, immense havoc was made among the fences, some being blown away and others broken by trees falling over them. It is really astonishing to see the effects of this storm ; large ironbarks are either blown up by the roots or broken off short a few feet from the ground; and in the thickest of the storm all the trees are completely denuded of their small branches and leaves, and the marks of the hailstones are still visible in the bark of the gum trees. From Hamilton’s to the Falls the ground is covered with timber; the storm passed thgrough the northern boundary of the Cassino run, and there appears to have widened and diminished in violence, until it spent itself among the bushy mountains between this river and the Tweed./ It will require the fires of several years to clear away the ruins of this storm. It seems to have been as great in intensity as that storm which, in September 1850, capsized three vessels a few miles south of Richmond Heads....”.
1852
SUR/1/G2 (QSA) District Surveyor Moreton Bay Letter Book
Folio 11 J.C. Burnett to Surveyor-General ; Survey Office, Brisbane, 29th January 1852
“Sir, Referring to your letter of 7th August last, No. 51/462 and to the notice in the Governent Gazette dated 25th Novemebr last, respecting the lands selected to Lease, under the pre-emptive right by Mr. Wm Wilson of Mount Flinders.
I do myself the honor to point out that there are large numbers of licensed occupants of Crown Lands in this District who have been brought within the Settled Districts in the same manner as Mr. Wilson, but with respect to whose occupancy no steps have, as yet, been taken. As these occupants will pay no assessment for the portion of their stock depastured within the settled district during the present year, and as they have not as yet received any official npotification that they are not, as they suppose themselves to be, within the intermediate district, I would suggest that some notice of the sort should at once be given them, otherwise Mr. Wilson’s case will appear an invidious exception. With this view I beg to enclose a list of the stations in question.
I have further the honor to observe that it is almost impossible for persons in this district to comply with that part of the regulations which requires the rent to be apid within a month from the date of notice. It would be nearly a month before some of them received it.
List of Runs within the reputed County of Stanley :
[includes]
A.W. Compigne Nindooinbah (part of run) Albert River
- Graham Tabragalba ( part of run) do.
- Coutts Tambourine do.
- Collins Mundoolun do.
White & Robinson Beaudesert (part of run) Logan River
A.J. Henderson Jimboomba do.
T.L.M. Prior Bromelton (part of run) do.
1 March 1852 Transfer of lease of Gimboomba from Robert Rowland to Andrew Inglis Henderson
and lease of Taroome from Richard Watson to William Kent Junior.
NSWGG 1853, p. 256
Deeds dated 1 March 1852, William Duckett White, Lots at Cleveland, numbers 35 (1r. 16p.); 36 (2r.); 42 (2r.); 43 (2r.); 44 (2r.); 47 (3r. 13p.); 74 (2r.).
12 March 1852 (CCL Letterbook QSA A/20882)
“The following runs or Portions of Runs are situated to the South of the 28o Parallel and will therefore be entitled to 14 or 8 year leases”
Portions of Bromelton, Nindoomba, Tabaragalba, Beaudesert, Tarome
All of Kerry, Tamrookum, Telamon, Melcombe, Dulhunty Plains, Moogera.
FULL DESCRIPTIONS OF THESE RUNS ARE THEN APPENDED.
Monitor 16 March 1852, p.782
“About a fortnight ago a boat’s backboard, made of rosewood inlaid with ebony, and a batten round which was folded a lady’s shawl (evidently having been used as a signal) was picked up about five miles off the Clarence River Heads.”
Shipping Gazette 20 March 1852, p. 83
“The George from the Clarence River, reports that while bar bound information was received that wrecks had been sen on the coast between the Clarence and Richmond Rivers. F.H. Phillips, Esq., accompanied by Mr. Abbott, the Chief Constable of Grafton, proceeded in search, but returned unsuccessful, they had, however, picked up a handsome stern board, evidently belonging to a very large boat ; it was made of rosewood, beautifully inlaid with ebony, and at some distance from it they found a batten, with a lady’s gauze shawl attached in the form of a flag, and which evidently ahd been used as a signal.”
“The vessels which have arrived from the southward report having experienced very heavy gales from the north-east on their passage up the coast, which accounts for their unusually long passages.”
Moreton Bay Courier 20 March 1852, p.3
“The Weather : Since Tuesday last heavy rain has been falling almost continuously in the neighbourhood of Brisbane filling up the numerous hollows and low flats till the town in some parts resemblesa city of lakes. At South Brisbane particularly the watery element is in the ascendant, and Stanley-street (which might be more appropriately called Stanley Creek) in the most parts impassable. The river began to rise yesterday, and a strong fresh was running down yesterday afternoon, which shows that the river has extended for some distance from Brisbane.....”
Monitor 15 March 1852, p.778
“Captain Benaud (of the Phoenix) reports the appearance of a wreck off the North Solitary ashore on the beach bearing W.N.W. from that place : the sea was running too high or a boat would have been lowered to obtain further particulars.”
[If this was the Gulnare, that vessel was listed as a brig of 186 tons, Captain Nosworthy,which sailed from San Francisco on 13 September 1851, and left Honolulu on 9 October 1851, arriving in Sydney in December (ref. Shipping Gazette 6 Dec. 1851, p.2). The Gulnare left Sydney for San Francisco, again under Captain Nosworthy, on 24 February 1852 with passengers: Mrs. Perrier and three children, Miss Bellingham; Mrs. Nosworthy; Mr. R. Kenny; Mr. and Mrs. Hamlin; Dr. Curtayne; and forty-five in the steerage. The vessel also carried 132 tons of coal for A. Falkenburg and 2 cases of oilcloth for Thornton and Church.]
SUR 1/G2 (QSA) J.C. Burnett to Surveyor-General 1 May 1852
“Sir, It having appeared to be necessary that the positions of the stations on the Albert River should be determined with a view to ascertaining which of them might be situated within the settled district and which beyond and the facilitate the leasing of the former class I made a survey for this purpose of the principal roads (the river having been traced by Mr. Stapylton) a plan of which I do myself the honor to forward herewith.”
6 August 1852
Transfer of Dungogie and Murry Jerry from A.W. Compigne to W.D. White
12 August 1852
Transfer of Melcombe from Thomas Collins to James Cardew Collins
August 1852 [I have copies of two letters simply addressed “Nindooinbah, 1852”, from Alfred William Compigne to the Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands, Sydney] [Source ???]
“I have the honor to request that the Lease of the Stations of “Dungogie” and “Murry Jerry” in the District of Moreton may be issued to William Duckett White Esq, I having set over and assigned my interest therein to that gentleman” [They carry the note from Stephen Simpson CCL approving the transfer, and dated 31 July 1852]
MBC 16 October, 1852, p. 2
“AN ADVENTURE WITH DESERTERS, AND NARROW ESCAPE. It may be remembered that some time ago five seamen belonging to the immigrant ship Meridian, lying in Moreton Bay, deserted from that vessel, taking with them the Cpatian’s gig. The boat wass subsequently returned, and, in consequence of rumours circulated by the blacks and by some of the men engaged in fishing in the Bay, it was, in some quarters, suspected that the men had been assisted in their escape by a person who for many months past ahs been engaged in collecting shells and other curiosities in the bay. This was Mr. A.S. Lyon, formerly connected with the Press in Brisbane, and founder of the two existing local papers. Mr. Lyon having recently been brought up to Brisbane from Peel Island, where he had been left to himself, has furnished us with a full account of his adventuires on the occasion alluded to ; and it may be no more than justice to him, considering the reports that were in circulation, to give his own version of the affair. The particulatrs may be of interest to our readers, and there are some circumstances stated which appear to be worthy of official inquiry.
Mr. Lyon states that on or about the 20th August, the native blacks informed him that a boat with five men had landed near Amity Point, after being nearly upset on a spit near the bar at the south entrance into the bay. The crew shortly afterwards came to his hut and stated that they had escaped from a whaler outside, and were without provisions or water ; their biscuit being damaged by sea water. Mr. Lyon suspected that they were deserters from the Meridian, and directed the blacks to bring the boat round towards his camp, and haul her up, which they did, and he observed that there was no name on the stern. In cousre of conversation with the men, they stated that they had mistaken the Island of Stradbroke, on which they had landed, for the main land. He told them what his suspicions were concerning them, but they persisted in their former story. Having but little provision to spare, he told them the best course would be to proceed to Cleveland Point, where they might get assistance, and be put on the road to Brisbane; at the same time stating that he should detain the boat, and give it up to the Customs authorities. It was subsequently agreed that, as his own boat was leaky, he should proceed with them to Cleveland Point in the Meridian’s boat, and after landing them bring the boat back.
They put off accordingly, and called at Peel Island, where Mr. Lyon expected to be able to communicate with Mr. Bigge, but that gentleman was gone. On arriving and landing at Cleveland Point, one of the labourers there employed came down to the boat, and it was then that the seamen first confessed themselves to be deserters from the Meridian. Upon this the man who had come to them said that Mr. Lyon had landed them in the worst possible place, as it was there that the deserters from the Argyle were captured by the police. He replied that in bringing the men there he had not contemplated aiding their escape or facilitating their capture, but had landed them where they might obtain assistance, which they could not have done if they had landed lower down. The crew shortly afterwards encamped for the night, and next morning at sunrise were about to proceed on the Brisbane road, when a consultation was held between them and the labourers on the wharf. The result was that the boatswain, who appeared the ringleader, informed Mr. Lyon of their change of intention, and their determination to go on to the Tweed river. He remonstrated with them on the danger of the attempt, and the difficulty of leaving the bay by the south passage, pointing out that there were but few places where water could be found by a stranger. Finding all his remonstrances ineefectual, he requested that they would land him at Dunwich, whence he could proceed to his own camp at Amity Point. They having consented to this, the boat was launched, and he took the helm, the wind being westerly. On nearing the spit off the south end of Peel Island, the boatswain took the helm from him, and desired him to point out the entrance to the south passage, stating that it would not do to lose any time, as they had received information at Cleveland Point that a boat would be sent in pursuit of them that morning. He earnestly entreated permission to land, but they maintained an obstinate silence untiltheir arrival at the south end of the bay, when the boatswain again demanded that he should be shown the entrance to the boat passage, and, as a significant hint, one of the men laid a sheathed knife on the starboard seat of the boat. Having attained their object, they were entreated to land him at Canaipa, bu they declined. At sundown the boat arrived at the south passage bar. On the following morning they dragged her over the spit on the south side, and fortunately escaped being upset on the outer roller. A great deal of water was shipped, and five or six planks of the boat were split. They baled her out, and caulked her as well as they could, and then sailed for the Tweed. Having reached Cook’s Island, the sailors landed there, and found six young pelicans and four eggs. Mr. Lyon told them that the mouth of the Tweed was somewhere near. They saw the breakers on the bar near Point Danger, but as these intercepted the view of the river, they would not believe that any stream was there. Having rounded a reef of.[paper folded]...the next point, some native blacks on shore beckoned them to land, but the seamen were afraid to trust them, although entreated by Mr. Lyon to land. They continued a rapid course to the southward, with a heavy sea running until they came to the Brunswick, at the entrance of which the sea was breaking fearfully. Here again the seamen insisted that there was no river, and the boatswain declared his intention of going on to the Clarence. Mr. Lyon states taht he then used every argument he could think of to induce them to turn back, pointing out that they had no water, and that it would not be safe to sail during the night, while a S.E. wind would make it impossible for them to land. At length they listened to his representations, and all refused to go any further except the boatswain, who thereupon turned sulky and refused to have any more to do with them. The sailors then gave Mr. Lyon the helm, and pulled back. After three hours they succeeded in beaching the boat about two hours after sundown, at the spot where they had seen the blacks. The natives came to their asssiatnce, and having hauled the boat up, they cooked the pelicans and eggs for food. On the following morning the sailors started for a sawyer’s hut in the bush, and did not return until the following day, when they uintimated their intention of walking to the Clarence, telling him that he might take the boat back to Brisbane. With the assistance of an old black, two old gins, and a young “kipper” or lad, he then launched the boat, and then proceeded to the mouth of the Tweed river. It was ebb tide, but as the wind was coming on to blow at S.E., they took the bar, and, as the blacks could not pull against the ebb, he steered for the spit. The boat filled in the surf and turned broadside on, but they at length succeeded in getting her into smooth water, and proceeded to the ship building yard of Mr. Ferrier, on the Tweed river.
Here they found a fine schooner on the stocks. She would be a vessel of about 100 tons burden, and was nearly ready for launching.
Mr. Lyon was reveived with much kindness and hospitality, and was next morning furnished with about 30 lbs. of flour, and four natives to accompany him back. Having recrossed the bar in safety, they proceeded about six miles, when the wind became foul, and the blacks refused to proceed. The boat was therefore beached at a small creek, through heavy surf. The natives stated that there was no water at that place, and the whole party then proceeded to a black’s camp about a mile and a half away. Here a large number of natives came round them, and from their eager conversation, and the reluctant man- (ner?) of one of the guides who accompanied him, Mr. Lyon believes that the older blacks were proposing that he should be killed, and that the other objected to it. At all events, by means of their demands and threatening manner they succeeded in extorting from him nearly all his flour and tobacco. Having determined to go back to the Tweed on foot, he went away towards the place where the boat was left. The blacks accompanied him, and one of them agreed to carry him across the creek, as had been done before ; but when the opposite side was nearly reached the black threw him into the creek, telling him to “bogy”. Having contrived toscramble out he reached the boat. The blacks who had accompanied him from Mr. Ferrier’s had now supplied themselves with tomahawks and waddies, which they had not when they started ; and their manners became more and more indicative of mischievous intentions, although the last of the flour and tobacco was given up to appease them. Pretending to be fatigued he stretched himself on the sand, and induced most of the blacks to go on, saying that he would overtake them. One remained, as if to watch, squatting hiomself down about 100 yards away. Watching his opportunity Mr. Lyon fled into a small scrub which he had previously observed, and by devious windings over dry leaves, where he knew that he could notbe tracked, succeeded in secreting himself amongst some underwood, from whence he observed the natives searching for him. At night he made the best of his way back to Mr. Ferrier’s where he arrived at sunrise his feet much cut through travelling as he had done. About two hours afterwards the blacks also arrived there, and Mr. Ferrier and others assured him that there was no cause for fear, adducing the return of the blacks as a proof thereof. Reassured by the confidence thus expressed, he returned to the boat. The black who had formerly appeared to express reluctance to follow the presumed advice of the hostile natives was guaranteed to be worthy of confidence, and they were all promised flour on their safely taking him to the south passage. He reached the boat completely exhausted, having had to be carried the last half mile, and on the following day got into the south passage, when one of the blacks returned, as he had no flour to give him. Proceeding with the other two blacks they fell in with Mr. Robinson’s two boats, and were liberally supplied with refreshments. On the next day they were supplied with some necessaries by two sawyers at a creek near the Logan, and on the day following they reached Peel Island. Here Mr. Lyon found his boat, incharge of some blacks who were going to a fight on the mainland. Eugene Doucette, or Lucette, a native of the Isle of France, who was there with some blacks, informed him that the Meridian had sailed, and he then requested this man, as he was going to Brisbane, to deliver the ship’s boat to the Customs officers there. [It appears, however, that the Meridian had not then sailed, and the boat was delievered to Captain Hernaman.] Mr. Lyon then sent his own boat, with two blacks, named Jackey Jackey and Whunacunya, to Amity Point, to bring away some articles which he had left, and he remained on Peel Island. Mr. Bigge, who ws then cruising in the bay, called at Peel Island, and left some sweet potatoes, proffering also some rice, which was declined, as the boat was expected back. The boat, however, did not return, and Mr. Lyon remained on the island for about three weeks without any other food than the sweety potatoes, and such mussels and oyters ashe could get. About the tenth day he found himself getting very weak, and finally supposes that he became delirious. On recovering his consciousness, he found that he had knocked down the bark hut, and extinguished the fire which he had before kept burning. He succeeded in making a fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together, as the aboriginal natives do, and he contrived to construct a raft with a few old saplings and a cedar plank. On this he started with a light north-easterly wind and ebb tide, for the mainland, having a blanket for a sail ; but, with the wind shifting, he was driven back, and with difficulty succeeded in regaining the island. Here ehe remained un til at last some blacks returned with the boat and brought him up to Brisbane, where he arrived in a state of great exhaustion, and completely destitute. Mr. Grenier, of the Brisbane Hotel, South Brisbane, sent down the blacks to bring him awawy, having heard that he was left on the island, and has behaved very kindly to him. Mr. Lyon also mentions that the blacks reported that a man, who gets his living by fishing in the Bay, told them, if they found him, to tie his hands together and leave him on an island. He had kept large fires burning, in the expectation of attracting attention, but no person appeared to notice them.
Such is the substance of Mr. Lyon’s statement. Whether his horrible suspicions of a conspiracy against his life be well or ill founded, we have no means of ascertaining. If, as is stated, the Pilot was informed of his danger on Peel Island, and had an opportunity of rescuing him without grossly neglecting important duties, the failure to do do requires some explanation.”
Letter from Jane White , Beau Desert, 27 October 1852 to George Robinson, Cork
“(WDW) has this season succeeded in paying everything off in spite of many obstacles ...he has now cleared from debt one of the finest stations in this district. Labour here has risen enormously bullock drivers asking £2.0.0. a week and house servants and labourers in proportion, we paid £3.0.0. a ton for taking the tallow & hides to Brisbane. (Refers to impact of gold rushes in South) “William has not had time to go in fact the price of labour forces the squatters to remain on their stations and do the work themselves so that they have no time to look for gold. Compigne has not left he is like every one else so short of shepherds that he cannot leave...””Ernest has grown a great boy he is at school with a clergyman in Brisbane he is learning Latin & French but we fear much we will have to bring him home to help on the station......
“If you see any of William’s brothers you can tell them that he is trying to procure country on the Tweed he wishes some of them to come out & occupy it he is overworked and wants help he wishes some of his brothers would enter into cattle speculation ....”
1853
Durham Ox Inn established at Casino by John and Maria Meanley.
Police transferred to Casino (“The Falls”) from Tabulam. Under command of Chief Constable Thaddeus Walsh;
new barracks constructed at Casino.
John Grime opens first store in Casino.
February 1853 Rev. Arthur Edward Selwyn, M.A.,(a cousin of the Bishop of New Zealand) arrives in Grafton to replace Rev. Coles Child, who was transferred to Scone.
Letter from W.D. White, Beaudesert, 5 March 1853 to George Robinson, Cork
Complaining that G.R. had not advised him that he was returning to Ireland from California, and not back to Australia.
“Now if I had not been known, Beaudesert would have been again on the market, as I had not funds to meet the second bill & it is only this season I am out of debt, having been under obligations to Compigne, for Bills to carry on.....I have had to work like a galley slave for want of Stockmen. I have now an apology for one, I have been obliged to bring Ernest from school to do the Stockmans work I intend taking him to Sydney this month.....I have taken up four stations, on the coast from the Logan to the Tweed, & have been very busy about them these 12 months, but owing to the scarcity of labour, I have only last week succeeded in getting fences on one of the stations, which I am forming for a Heifer run. Had you been home we mihght have carried out these plans, last year, & then 2,000 head of cattle better off than we are.... I hope you will come out at one & induce my Brothers to come also. I could find homes for them all....
“The greater part of our Runs have been brought into the county of Stanley - one half of Beaudesert is, & we have only a lease from year to year at £1 per square mile. The House is in this County....
Getting these men to work on the Tweed has softened my temper....Don’t forget the Revolvers. I have to travel through a curious country to the Tweed, & I want them for protection.....”
MBC 4 June 1853, p.2
“MARRIED : - At Telemon, on the 1st of June, by the Rev. H.O. Irwin, Alfred William Compigne, Esq.,, of Nindooinbah, to Jessie Lambert, second daughter of Thomas Collins, Esq., of Telemon, Logan River.”
MBC 9 July 1853, p.2
“Without any desire to intrude upon the privacy of gentlemen travelling for their own amusement, we may announce the arrival of Lord Henry Scott and Lord Schomberg Ker, who, with their chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Stobart, took up their quarters, in Brisbane this week. We understand that their lordships intend to make some stay in this district, and trust that their visit may be productive of amusement and instruction to themselves ; advantages which can scarcely fail to attend the observant traveller in any locality.”
Letters and Journal of Rev. Henry Stobart, 1852-1856 (written to his mother, Mrs. Thomas Chilton, of Liverpool) [Mitchell Library]
“During the last week we were down at the Bay as I have said, but I have nothing very particular to relate of our trip. We sailed about 80 miles from Brisbane to a creek called the “Nerang Creek” which falls into the sea close at the southernmost entrance of the Bay. The Passage of the Bay is very intricate, owing to the numberless islands which are strewn about between Stradbroke Island, the largest and outermost, and the mainland. They are chiefly little more than low swamps covered with Mangroves and abounding in Water Fowl. We saw many hundreds of Pelicans - one flock I counted as many as 60 together. You can see them miles away, a long white steak which you take at times for a long streak of white sand. They are enormous birds and their size is magnified by the sand and the refraction. We saw besides the white Ibis, Spoonbill, white Crane, the Native Companion, several species of Curlew and of Ducks, etc. Henry and Mr. Sheridan killed two very singular sharp headed Sharks - perhaps they were a species of Ray.
In the srubs which we visited the Coomera Tree abounds, which bears a fruit which the blacks feed and grow very fat on at a certain time of the year. We also found and brought away with us a large number of a kind of Palm which the natives call Meechia, I think. They are very pretty and make excellent walking sticks. I have sent a good number of them home, as they make inexpensive presents.
The Aborigines in this part rarely see white men, except very bad specimens of them - Sawyers chiefly, engaged in cutting timber - from whom they have learnt little else of our language except oaths, and by whom they are, I fear, in too many cases treated very inhumanely. We walked .....[microfilm scratched]...immediately after landing and passed on our road by some of their tents which we found quite deserted excepted by two men, one a very aged one and the other suffering from disease - all the women and children had fled and were hidden, I have no doubt, somewhere near. They would easily recognise the Government boat and might fancy, perhaps, thjat we were constables in search of some of their tribe who had committed depredations - at any rate they were afraid but on discovering the peaceable object of our visit they regained their confidence, and in returning we found their Camp well inhabited and that night and the following day many of them came to our Tents. They appeared, however, a lower tribe of blacks than our friends at Amity Point and Bribie Island.
Both Schomberg and I discovered a very sinhular fern, which we expect may be hitherto unknown. The Blacks caught us some fish, but it was very poor beside that which we ate on our previous visit to the Bay. We were favoured by the wind in returning to Brisbane, we called at Cleveland again and lunched with Mr. Bigge. The Blacks brought in a Turtle which they had just killed.....”
MBC 3 September 1853, p. 2
SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE : DEPARTURES :
Aug. 31 Zone, brigantine, 100 tons, Elliott, for Sydney.
Passengers - Lord Henry Scott, Lord Schomberg Ker, Rev. M. Stobart, Mr. Hutchinson, and one in the steerage.”
“DEPARTURE : - Lord Henry Scott and Lord Schomberg Ker proceeded to Sydney in the Zone. During their residence in Brisbane their demeanour was quiet and unassuming, and they were chiefly occupied in collecting specimens of the natural history of these parts, of which they take with them a considerable quantity.”
SUR/2 QSA (in “Return of Leases of Crown Lands in the Police District of Brisbane”)
14 September 1853 Lease of 57,600 acres “near Logan & Albert Rivers, County of Ward” to William Duckett White. This was presumably the beginning of Pimpama Run
The description in NSWGG runs “Fifty-seven thousand six hundred acres, County of Ward, in the reputed County of Stanley, commencing on the Logan River, near its confluence with the Albert River and bounded on the west by a line south, passing through Mount Stapleton 8 miles;.....”
[Note that the rent on these 57,600 acres is recorded as being £90 in 1859; £100 in 1861; and £180 in 1861. Ref: CLO/18 QSA]
MBC 17 September 1853, p.2
SALE OF CROWN LAND LEASES “Leases of the following lands, for six months to the end of December next, were sold at the Police Office, Brisbane on Wednesday last. We give the total price of each lot for six months : County of Ward......57,600 acres W.D. White £22 10s.
1854
1854 First Anglican Church built at Grafton; first service 24 December
Appendix to the Report from the Select Committee on Crown Lands (NSW LC V & P 1854, vol. II, p. 22)
MORETON
Graham Dugald Sarabah 20,000 acres 4,000 sheep Rent : £10
White W.D. Dungogie 16,000 acres 640 cattle Rent : £10
White W.D. Murrygerry 16,000 acres 640 cattle Rent : £10
23 January 1854
Charles Moore appointed CPS Casino
1 March 1854
Entry in Henry Gillett’s memo.book (quoted Keats, p. 400), “Launched Boyd & Harper’s new boat”. Gillett had a boat yard at Terranora
9 March 1854
First sale of town allotments in Tenterfield
25 March 1854 (quoted in Moorhead, John; Cathedral on the Clarence, 1983, p. 11)
Rev. A.E. Selwyn writing from Lismore “A wearisome, wearying journey of three weeks amongst people, not one of whom seems to be able to feel, or delight in, the thought of a rest hereafter. Indeed, these journeys do put one’s faith to a hard trial.”
From Tunstal on the Richmond River a few nights later : “In my journeys I scarcely find a soul that I can have confidence in, as really loving God.”
MBC 26 June 1854, p. 1
Advert. “FOR SALE : THE BONELLA STATION, licensed under the name of Saraba, in the Logan District, entitled to an 8 years lease, and capable of depasturing from 4000 to 5000 sheep, well watered by the Coburg River, together with 1500 aheep, more or less, consisting of 1100 good breeding Ewes, none exceeding 6 years old; the remainder of wethers, from 2 to 3 yeras old.
Improvements : A substantial Cedar Cottage of three rooms, Verandah front and back, good yard for sheep, and a garden. Terms most liberal. For further particulars apply to DUGALD GRAHAM, Esq., Logan, or to HENRY BUCKLEY, Esq., South Brisbane. Brisbane, March 6, 1854. N.B. - Uninterrupted possession of the run will be guaranteed.”
MBC 16.9.1854, p.3 POLICE CASES : On Saturday, Robert Coutts and William Duncan were each fined 20s. and costs, for assaulting constable Patrick Fitzgibbon”
11 November 1854. Marriage of William Duncan and Rose Gorin at South Brisbane. Duncan was born at Aberdeen in 1831 or 1832 and Gorin at Armagh, Ireland in 1835 or 1836.
24 December 1854. First service held in Anglican church, Grafton (demolished 1890)
1855
Frederick Peppercorn surveys Lismore
SUR/A33 67/501 QSA Robert Veivers to Martin Lavelle 24 December 1866 re. Worongary/Merrimac swamp
includes para. “But that swamp is about twelve miles long and no other crossing in it only the one at my place, and I helped to make that myself about ten or eleven years ago.” This letter also states that Veivers was a nephew of Walter Hill, Curator of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens. [Robert Veivers was born 1832, son of John Veivers and Grace Veivers (nee Hill) of Canonbie, Dumfriesshire]
W.D. White, Sydney 23 June 1855 to George Robinson, Cork.
“I have not as yet sold the increase which I should have been obliged to do but for the large tract of Country, which I have taken up on the Coast on yearly leases at 10/- per section, of a square mile of this Country. I have only a right from year to year. I have removed about 2,000 head there & will when I get up a yard remove from 1 to 2,000 more.... The Logan River was perfectly dry this year for months, a thing never before known. We have had very wet weather ever since the first of February, too much of it, the fat the cattle might have put up was washed off them, & all driven off the plains to the ridges & mountains.”
[This apparently refers to the large block taken up by White under the 1848 Crown Land Lease Regulations, running some eight miles south of the Logan river - presumably Pimpama Run]
MBC 10.2.1855, p.2 POLICE CASES: “”On the 5th [or 8th ?] William Duncan was fined ten shillings for using indecent language”
MBC 17.3.1855 p.2 “Captain Deering and one seaman, late of the schooner Pyrmont, arrived in Brisbane last Monday from the Tweed River, and reported the toatl loss of the Pyrmont on the 15th February, while going over the bar of the Tweed river, inward bound in ballast. The vessel struck on the bar and damaged the wheel so as to render the rudder unmanageable, and she soon broke up on the rocks. The sails and rigging were saved, and no lives lost. The Capatain and seaman have gone on to Sydney in the Waratah. They report five vessels bar bound in the Tweed, some since Christmas last and that they were out of provisions. All the people on the river were suffering for want of food as there were thirty-five there besides sawyers.”
30 November 1855 Casino proclaimed a town; surveyed by Frederick Septimus Peppercorne
1856
Clark Irving first MLA for Clarence & Darling Downs 1856-7
John Thompson gains mail contract from Casino to Richmond Heads
March 1856 Census gives population of Brisbane at 5844
18 March 1856 Letter from William Duckett White, Beaudesert, to George Robinson, Cork
“I have formed two good stations on the coast, about 30 to 40 miles from here. The breeding station will carry about 6,000 head. I have two thousand breeding cows now on it & all are doing well. I hope to breed 2,000 calves this year. The Heifer station is hardly yet completed. I have about 700 Heifers on it now & when some fencing which I am now putting up is completed, I will put all the Heifers there from 8 mos. old to 3 years. I am running a fence on the Heifer Station about 3 miles & a Horse paddock one mile, I can thenm tail the Heifers, without injuring them by the old plan of yarding every night & hope by this means to be able to boil equal to our increase.”
“Ernest a great big fellow - three inches over my head & the best Horseman in our country, & the only really good hand there after cattle.”
September 1856 Thomas Murray Boyd born on the Tweed River, son of Tom Boyd.
3 September 1856 First sale of town lots at Casino
December 1856 “Journal of a Tour from Moreton Bay to the Richmond and Clarence Rivers with a Petition for Separation at the Thirtieth Parallel” by William Ridley (MBC 24 January 1857, p.2) [Ridley travelled from Brisbane on 8 December (where her arrived on the Boomerang on the 5th December), via Ipswich, “Flinder’s Peak Station”(Mr. Wilson’s),Dugundan “on the Teviot, one of the heads of the Logan”. An aboriginal, “Jemmy Murphy”, was provided to Ridley here to show him the way to Maroon,. From here he travelled by Mount Lindsay, reaching Casino on the15th. Travelling down the Richmond, they reached Yabsley’s (“who may years ago acted as carpenter on board the “Beagle” in her exploring cruise under Captain Wickham”) ship yard at Coraki on 19th, and Deptford (Ballina) on the 21st. Returning to Casino on 25th., they then travelled to Grafton, arriving 27th. [There are excellent descriptions of the stations, the timber industry, and the overall districts}
“It is a great misfortune that there has not been a regular postal communication between Grafton and Brisbane, via Casino. Most of the people here know nothing of those at Moreton Bay. The inhabitants of Brisbane are as alien to the thoughts of the Grafton people, as are the subjects of His Imperial Majesty, Louis Napoleon. ...scarcely a single Moreton Bay newspaper finds its way to the Richmond or Clarence,all the intelligence received here about the Northern Districts comes by the Sydney papers and amid so many other subjects of absorbing interest, make little impression. A strenuous effort ought to be made to get a postal communication opened.” Ridley sailed from the Clarence for Sydney, on 2 Jnuary, arriving on the 3rd. His report includes excellent early descriptions of settlement on the Richmond and Clarence.
1857
February. Reports of highest flood ever known on Clarence
MBC 28 February 1857, p. 2 STRANDING OF THE JANE : The Brigantine Jane , 100 tons burthen, Gould, master, left Sydney for the Richmond River on the 5th instant, for the purpose of taking in a cargo of cedar. On Saturday, the 14th, she reached the mouth of the Richmond, but the Captain found it would be impossible to cross the bar on account of the strong fresh, and he accordingly bore away in a southerly direction. On the 16th, a strong gale of wind set in from the eastward, and Captain Gould after wearing the ship several times with the hope of keeping her off the land, found on Tuesday that all his efforts were ineffectual, and that she was fast drifting on the lee-shore, between Point Danger and the southern part of Stradbroke Island. At 4 p.m. on Tuesday the vessel was close to the breakers, and the Captain thought it advisable, if possible, to beach her. He steered for the boat channel, at the southern end of Stradbroke Island, which he fortunately reached, and though the bar is dry at low tide, and there are only about four feet of water on it at high tide, the violence of the waves carried the vessel over it into comparatively smooth water. The Jane had no cargo on board, and to this circumstance must be attributed the fact of her getting across the bar. She now lies aground, but there is every hope that she will be got into the boat channel and there will then be no difficulty in bringing her up to Brisbane. Fourteen men proceeded to the spot the other day in order to afford assistance in getting the vessel into deep water; and if they succeeded, Mr. R.S. Warry is prepared to load her with a cargo of cedar, now lying in the neighbourhood of the Arrowsmith River.
W.D. White, Ipswich 6 March 1857 to George Robinson, Cork
“ ..in November (1856) the rains set in & I may say have never ceased since. We have had a succession of floods - last month, I had one of my stockmen drowned & Ernest & young McGusty were near meeting a similar fate, McGusty was washed onm to a small island & had to spend the night there - but he got off safe in the morning.....There is a great trade springing up between this district & Melbourne in stock - principally sheep - I intend next spring sending about 1,000 head of cattle to try it. Our cattle are now getting too numerous, I cannot fatten equal to the increase.......Ernest I had not seen for two months, he was away on some of the nmew runs, branding & was shut out with floods.”
MBC 7 March 1857 p.2 THE JANE :
“The task of getting this vessel into deep water has been found more difficult than was expected, in consequence of a heavy gale having set infrom E.S.E. on the evening of the 26th. ult., causing her to settle deeper into the sand; and the attempt to get her off has been abandoned until advices are received from the owners in Sydney. With proper appliances it is still thought that the vessel mightbe raised, but there is great danger, should the wind set in strong from the soouth-east, that she will become a total wreck.”
MBC 7 March 1857, p. 2 WRECK OF THE FLIRT, SCHOONER
“We are informed that this coasting vessel, belonging to Sydney, has during the late heavy weather gone on the bank at the mouth of the river Tweed, and is likely to become a total wreck.”
9 March 1857. Birth at South Brisbane of Sarah, daughter of William Duncan, Sawyer (25 years, Aberdeen, Scotland”) and Rose nee Gorin (“21 Years, Armagh, Ireland”) NSW Birth Certificate (5329) includes Rose Duncan’s mark X Also refers to birth of son Alexander Duncan, then 1 year, 7 months. (Presumably born ca. August 1855)
24 March 1857. Arrival in Sydney aboard the Camperdown of George D. White(b. 1811 - brother of W.D. White), his wife (nee Julianna Boyd Banks, who he married at New Ross on 4.2.1845), and five children.
By April they had travelled north and were at Beaudesert. According to M.W.D. White, W.D.W. assisted George in establishing a small dairy.
MBC 4 April 1857, p. 2 THE JANE :
“This vessel, which was purchased at auction last week by the Messrs. Harris, has by the use of empty water cakls, and by digging away some of the sand in which she was embedded, been floated off the bank on which she was stranded, and it has been found that the damage sustained by her is not of a very serious character. She is now at anchor in the boat channel in about two fathoms of water. The steamer Breadalbane, which was engaged last week to proceed to the spot where the jane was stranded, to render assistance in getting her off, unfortunately went aground herself when about seven miles from the vessel, and had remained fast to this time; but she will be got off without difficulty, we believe, at the first spring-tide, and will then be able to bring the Jane up the river, to undergo the necessary repairs.”
MBC 11 April 1857, p.2 THE BREADALBANE AND THE JANE
“The Breadalbane, which lately got aground in the bay, near the southern end of Stradbroke Island, on her way to the locality where the brigantine Jane was lying stranded, returned to Brisbane last Sunday morning, having been floated off after eight days’ detention, without sustaining any damage. She again proceeded to the Bay on Wednesday morning, for the purpose of towing the Jane from her present anchorage to a spot better adapted for making the repairs which will be necessary to that vessel;. In order to avoid any risk, the Breadalbane has taken with her an additional number of empty casks, which will be ... into deeper water [Paper fold on microfilm]”
MBC 18 April 1857, p. 2 BREAKING-UP OF THE BRIGANTINE JANE
“The Breadalbane, which, as stated last week, went down the Bay on Wednesday, the 8th instant, for the purpose of removing the Jane from her anchorage in the boat channel t6o a more suitable spot for making the repairs which were necessary, returned to Brisbane last Sunday, with the intelligence that that vessel was going to pieces. This was rather unexpected, for the Jane had been got afloat without, apparently, having sustained any serious damage, but it would appear that the number of casks used in supportinh her while at anchor was insufficient, and she consequently settled down too deep in the water, and the strain to which she was therefore exposed proved too much for her already weakened timbers. Considerable expense had been incurred by the purchasers in the operations connected with getting her afloat, and with the price paid for the vessel in the first place, the loss sustained by them must be somewhat heavy.”
3 June 1857 Heaviest flood ever recorded on Clarence
W.D. White, Brisbane, 30th June 1857 to George Robinson, Cork
“We have had the wettest season remembered here for 17 years - the rains began last October & have with little or no intermission continued since it has been nothing but flood after flood & the roads so bad, that we cannot get a dray down. We have been twice all but starved out & on many stations, they have had no flour for months.”
MBC 5 September 1857, p.2 ALLOWING A PRISONER TO ESCAPE : On Saturday an Inquiry was held at the Police Office, before W.A. Duncan and W. Pickering , Esqs., J.P.s, to ascertain the cause of the escape of the blackfellow Nelson. Chief Constable Sneyd stated : “ I gave instructions, on Monday, 24th August, to Constables Treddenicke and Rocks to proceed to the Logan and apprehend a blackfellow named Nelson on a charge of suspicion of murdering a German woman. They left Brisbane on 25th for the Logan and returned on the 27th. They stated they had apprehended Nelson at Mr. White’s station, and brought him as far as Boggo Scrub, three miles from Brisbane, when he escaped from them. They described the black as being handcuffed and a cord round his body, with the end held by Tredennicke. The blackfellow was carrying a bundle on his shoulder which he threw down under the horses’ feet, and rushed from them, breaking the cord, which he had partly burnt some time during the day. He got over Mr. Grimes’ fence, and from that into Boggo Scrub, and he has not since been seen.” Further evudence detailed how the constables had had to swim across the Logan , walk to Mr. Henderson’s station, losing their way and carrying their saddles and swags. They had left their horses hobbled on the north bank of the river. From here Henderson’s they walked to Mr. White’s,
“It was very dark, and we often lost our way, and I had to light matches to find the road again. When we arrived at Mr. White’s we were much fatigued, having travelled through swamps and places nearly up to the knee in water. Tredennicke rapped at Mr. White’s window, and told him what business we were on. We stopped there all night, as Mr. White said it was no use to go down to the gunyah to try to apprehend the black, as there were other blacks there, and they would throw down the bark and escape in the darkness. We waited till morning, and when the blackfellow came up for his saddle we apprehended him ; we laid in the stables all night. We walked back to Mr. Henderson’s on Saturday with the blackfellow in custody, and marched from there with our saddles and swags to this side of the Logan, and went on to Mr. Noris’s where we stayed all night. On Thursday morning we proceeded on our journey. We dismounted this side of Brown’s Plains, and had a pot of tea for refreshment. We then went on to where the blackfellow bolted.” Both Constables were committed for trial for misdemeanour.
W.D. White, Brisbane 22 September 1857 to George Robinson, Cork
“ We have had such incessant rain, that until now, the roads have been impassable....”
1858
NSWGG 22 February 1858 Notice that Crown Land Leases in the Settled Districts are not to be renewed “after the termination of the current year.”
27 May 1858
Rev. A.E. Selwyn (at Lismore) “I am so weary of these Richmond journeys. I seem as if I was altogether wasting the time. I am afraid no real good will ever be done, until there is a resident clergyman of our church.”
W.D. White, Ipswich, 4 July 1858 to George Robinson, Cork
“I have also paid £320 for the ½ section section at Beaudesert where the buildings stand...”
“Ernest has to do a great deal of the work, owing to the inefficiency of the sort of stockman we get nowadays - the old stockmen are now gone, & the new are useless. As for young McGusty I would rather than any sum I would mention I had never seen him. I have him on the Heifer stations, he is worse than useless but as his time expires in less than 12 mos., I put up with it.”
October 1858 J.S. Johnston successfully tendered for Walumban and Upper Walumban runs (to west of present-day Murwillumbah). NSWGG 13.10.1858 p.1674
- Vivers (sic) successfully tendered for “Head of Logan River” run for £16/10/- (same ref.)
SMH 27 November 1858, p.3 NEW ELECTORATE BOUNDARIES PROCLAIMED (Under the Electoral Act of 1858)
East Moreton : Embracing parts of the Counties of Canning, Stanley, and Ward, and part of the Pastoral District of Moreton; and bounded on the north by the Glass House Range, from the Glass House Mountain to the sea; on the east by the sea to Point Danger; including all the islands between that point and the point where the Glass House Range meets the sea; thence on the south by the range dividing the waters of the Logan and other rivers, from those of the Clarence, Richmond, and Tweed Rivers; on the west by the range dividing the waters of the Logan River from those of the Teviot Brook, and the range dividing the waters of that brook and Crow’s Creek, to a point in the latter due south of Kent’s Peak; thence by a line to Kent’s Peak, and by the Mount Flinders Range to Mount Goolman; thence by a line north-easterly to the head of Woogaroo Creek, and by that creek to its confluence with the River Brisbane; thence by a spuir of D’Aguilar’s Range, and by that range to the Glass House Mountain, aforesaid; but excluding therefrom the Electoral District of Brisbane.
1859
Clark Irving MLA for Clarence 1859-1864
15 January 1859 Birth of Mary Jane Duncan to William Duncan, “sawyer”, and Rose (nee Gorin) at Albert Street, North Brisbane. (NSW Birth Certificate 5734/841)
W.D. White (Brisbane) to George Robinson, Cork 1 February 1859.
“...And year by year the expenses are increasing Government have passed a New Assessment Act by which which I have to pay this year £160 additional taxes & nearly all the fences have to be renewed this year & the House nearly rebuilt......Mrs. White & Helena longing to get out of the Bush but there seems no chance of that for some time. I wish I could sell, but money is too scarce here & cattle stations are not in demand. “
April 1859 J.S. Johnston transferred Walumban and Upper Walumban runs to Messrs. Garland and Bingham.
NSWGG 19 April 1859, p.878
June / July 1859 Reports of good rains and floods. (CRE 9.8.59, p.2) Report from Lismore correspondent:
“The late floods have brought out a good deal of fine cedar, from the several creeks. Prime cedar and pine are commanding a fair price.”
Also the same paper reports “By the overland mail we hear that the weather on the coast has been dreadful; nothing similar having been known at Newcastle for the last two years. A vessel laden with timber has been wrecked between that Port and Sydney, and all hands supposed to be lost. Our communication by sea has been suspended, and though distant only some 300 miles from Sydney, our latest intelligence was the 22nd July, till the Grafton steamer arrived yesterday afternoon with news to the 4th August.”
20 June 1859 Clarence & Richmond Examiner established by Clark Irving at Grafton
JULY 1859 Arrival of David (b. 1837)and John Veivers (b. 1839) (sons of John Veivers and Grace Veivers (nee Hill) of Canonbie, Dumfriesshire) in Brisbane aboard Glentanner
North Australian 26 July 1859, p. 2
District of Moreton : THE TALLI STATION comprising the Murry Jerry and Dungogie Runs, together with about 1700 HEAD OF CATTLE
Terms : 25 per cent. Cash Deposit; Residue 12, 18, and 24 Months’ Credit.
H.M. COCKBURN has received instructions to Sell by Private Contract, that splendid pastoral property THE TALLI STATION, situated in the District of Moreton, and only about SEVERNTY MILES FROM IPSWICH; togethjer with about 1700 Head of Cattle, of which about 1400 head are breeding Cows.
The IMPROVEMENTS consist of a good Slab House, with five rooms, and two Store-Rooms., and kitchen detached, and a Garden fenced in.
A Stockyard, divided with gates for drafting, &c.
A Milking-yard, and a good Horse-Paddock, all on the Head Station.
A Stockman’s Hut, about the centre of the run, with a Horse-Paddock and a Stockyard, not divided.
Also, a Stockyard on another part of the run, likewise not divided.
Those two last named yards are used for herding, &c.
This Station is in first-rate working order; is everywhere abundantly awtered, and has constant running water at the back of the house; and can be strongly recommended to any one as a first-rate breeding station. In driving cattle to and from the station it also has the advantage of a continuous line of yards the whole way into Ipswich.
For further particulars apply at the Auction Rooms, Nicholas Street.
30 July 1859 Wreck of the Ebenezer at the Tweed.
Clarence and Richmond Examiner 9 August 1859, p.2 “ The late floods have brought out a good deal of fine cedar from the several creeks. Prime cedar and pine are commanding a fair price. There are several schooners also loading at the Tweed. The Roderick Dhu is there.” (report from Lismore correspondent, dated 1 August)
SMH 6 August 1859, p.4
“LOSS OF THE EBENEZER. The Fortune, which arrived last night from the Tweed River, brings intelligence of the total wreck of the abovenamed schooner. She sailed from this port for the Tweed, and on the 3oth ultimo, on taking the bar, with a heavy sea rolling in, the wind fell light, and she got on the rocks. Every endeavour was made to get her off by running out a kedge, but she broke up suddenly, and we are sorry to add that two ladies, named Mrs. J. and E. Boyd, with their two children, were unfortunately drowned; the rest of the passengers and crew were saved. The vessel is the property of Messrs. Macnamara and Son.”
“The Fortune, from the Tweed, brings up 45,000 feet cedar, and 15 tons of the wreck of the Arrow. The Fortunbe is a beautifully modelled vessel, just launched, and was built by Mr. Scott, who also commands her; she sails remarkably fast, at the same time carryinga large cargo for her tonnage.”
Clarence and Richmond Examiner 9 August 1859, p.2
(Tubra Diggings 1 August 1859)
“Provsions are beginning to be plentiful again - 4 dray loads of goods, such as flour, sugar, &c, &c., arrived last week from Warwick, Moreton Bay, all of which were brought up by the Storekeepers at that place.”
Clarence and Richmond Examiner 16 August 1859, p.2 (Richmond River; dated 8.8.59)
“The falls at Casino are again rendered dangerous and impassable in consequence of the rain and floods, and you are likely not to receive this for a week, if then. At Lismore, the Jane Sommerville is loaded with tallow, hides, and cedar, and will go down the river to-morrow afternoon. The Louisa Maria is expected up here, also; and the Champion has just come in. We understand that the schooner Curakii, ahving loaded, has dropped down the river from the junction at Yabsley’s, to Ballina, ready for sea.
Since last week, the weather has been exceedingly unsettled, with heavy rain, thunderstorms, and violent gales of wind from the S.E. The schooner Josephine, Copland, master, and the schooner Champion have entered the river. The Ripley, schooner, in coming in, touched on the South Spit, and remained there for some time. The sea drove her on the rocks, when she became a total wreck - cargo and passengers saved. We likewise hear the Arrow has gone to pieces at the Tweed; and sad to relate, the schooner Ebenezer, so long trading to that river and the Richmond, was lost there very lately, and two women and two children drowned. As yet we have no further particulars....”
Clarence and Richmond Examiner 30 August 1859, p.3 (Richmond River; dated 20.8.59)
“A great quantity of very fine cedar has been floated out at Lismore since last flood, and is rafted, and is on its way to the heads. Some logs are of great size and of beautiful quality and colour, sound and fitted for the English market, for which a great quantity has lately been shipped, but the quality of the Richmond River cedar will command the highest price in any market. Much of it is substituted for mahogany, which it much resembles in quality, darkness of colour, and durability. The trade in cedar and other exports from the river is equal, if not greater than the Clarence - except the gold - with the tallow and hide trade, the export overland of cattle for the Victoria market, cattle slaughtered and salted on the Clarence, but drawn from the Richmond, and the consumption of the goldfields of Fairfield and Tabulam. We require the land along the navigable portions of the rivers here immediately measured, and sold as dairy and other farms; a good communication by road with Tenterfield and Tooloom goldfields, and steam from Sydney. .....The Cricket Club is now fairly established at Lismore, and practice commenced yesterday. The Land Sales come off on the 24th &c., but a bad return is anticipated, in consequence of the Clarence River Races taking place on the same days.”
MBC 17 August 1859, p.2
“The Fortune, which arrived in Sydney on the 5th. inst., from the Tweed, had on board 45,000 feet cedar, and 15 tons of the wreck of the Arrow. It is reported that the schooner Ebenezer was wrecked on the bar of the Tweed on the 30th ult., and that two females and two children were drowned.”
SUR1/G4 QSA M.E.S. Burrowes, CCL Moreton District; Survey Office, Brisbane, 1 November 1859, to Charles H. Fawcett, Esq., J.P., Ballina, Richmond River
Sir, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th ultimo which I regret I have not been able to answer earlier in consequence of my having been absent from Brisbane.
I was sorry I had not the pleasure of meeting you at Terranora, I however saw John Ford; there was no necessity for his shewing me the run applied for by you, as from the description I could not mistake the country.
I find your tender is objectionable as it takes in the “Dungogie” Run; this run was taken up originally by Mr. Compigne in 1852, and handed over (with consent of Government) to Mr. W.D. White who has paid the rent and assessment up to this date (although I believe he has never stocked it.)
The “Dungogie” Run is bounded on the north by the River Perry, or the Tallabagery Creek 9 miles, on the West by steep ridges joining McPherson’s Range; on the south by McPherson’s Range 10 miles, and on the East by a line running northerly parallel to the sea coast at a distance of three miles from it to the Tallabagery creek.
The remaining portion of the country tendered for by you, viz., that between McPhersons Range and the Tweed River is not in this (Moreton) but in the Clarence District, and will not be I believe in Queensland. I have reported to this effect to the Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands.”
***NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1859 GOLD RUSH TO TOOLOOM DIGGINGS (Upper Clarence River), with diggers arriving at Grafton by ship, and others crossing overland (via Ipswich, Fassifern and Koreelah) from Brisbane. [see contemporary press reports]. The influx of population must have had an impact upon local aborigines. (see MBC 8.12.1859, especially with respect to alcoholism)
Maitland Mercury 10 November 1859, p.3
“The private escort which left Tooloom for Ipswich is stated to have had 700 ozs.”
Clarence and Richmond Examiner 15 November 1859, p. 3
“ Great desire is expressed on the Richmond and Tweed Rivers for the establishment of weekly postal communications. There are a large number of Cedar Dealers &c. residing on the Tweed, and the only means at present for forwarding letters is by Blacks and casual white travellers. The establishment therefore of a Post Office on the Tweed and a mail between there and either Lismore or Ballina would be a great boon to the persons interested, and we trust our worthy member will urge this upon the notice of the Postmaster-General. A mail from Lawrence to Tooloom is also very much desired; the distance is only about 90 miles, and could be easily travelled once a week; there are about 500 persons on that Gold Field, and the nearest Post Office, Tabulam, distant 40 miles.”
