Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Border Pioneers
    Border Pioneers
    Border Pioneers
    Ebook114 pages50 minutes

    Border Pioneers

    By Joan Stanfield

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    As an academic, a lover of history, with a strong interest in geography, I have extended my earlier research into the early colony, settlements in the Hunter Valley and resettlement beyond, in my first book ‘A Patchwork Quilt.’ Now, after researching and visiting the river valleys in northern NSW and Queensland, my next book “Border Pioneers’ subtitled ‘the Pastoralists,’ investigates the pioneer pastoral industry, on either side of the Border Ranges. From 1840s, inspired by Alan Cunningham’s 1827 exploration of the Darling Downs and SE Queensland, an interested group of Upper Hunter men moved up the Tablelands and up the NSW coast, in search of farming land. Accounts of vast areas of virgin land, were told by cedar cutters, who had returned by vessel, from the northern rivers. The Clarence River and Richmond River valleys were the first pastoral landholdings. Awesome Mt Lindesay, a sentinel visible from both sides of the McPherson Ranges, remains as remnants of the 24 million year old eruption of the Focal Peak Shield Volcano. The break down of lava and rock has provided rich soils for all the river valleys. To the north of the rugged McPherson Ranges, the Logan, Albert and Condamine river systems were made available after the Moreton Bay Penal Centre closed. Networks of families worked the land, to improve flocks and herds, developing productivity and prosperity for the young country. They left their mark on Australian history.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherReadOnTime BV
    Release dateApr 27, 2015
    ISBN9781742845340
    Border Pioneers

    Related to Border Pioneers

    Related ebooks

    History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      ‘My Forebears Emigrated To New Zealand’

      Jun 29, 2021

      Early European settlers in New Zealand’s Albertland needed to be hardy souls. The long sea journey was arduous in itself, but some ships suffered mutinies or smallpox outbreaks. On arrival at the North Island, the vessels also had to navigate dangero

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Heart Of Queensland

      Apr 12, 2023

      The Heart Of Queensland
      8 min read

    • Article

      Stone Country

      Dec 2, 2020

      Stone Country
      3 min read

    • Article

      lakes And Craters

      Jan 10, 2024

      lakes And Craters
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Longest Trek

      Dec 17, 2019

      This is the story about a family’s incredible journey. It’s also about a moving frontier of love, deception and violence. A hint of its inner boundary is on a map in the Historical Atlas of South Africa by EA Walker, published in 1922. From Hondeklip

      4 min read

    • Article

      Stone Country

      Apr 1, 2020

      Stone Country
      8 min read

    • Article

      A Hidden Escape

      Jul 5, 2023

      A Hidden Escape
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Flinders highway

      Jun 30, 2021

      The Flinders highway
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Cornish Pastiche

      Jul 17, 2019

      A Cornish Pastiche
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Faraway Nearby

      Feb 27, 2020

      The Faraway Nearby
      10 min read

    • Article

      A Diamond In The Rough

      Jun 16, 2021

      A Diamond In The Rough
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Cornish Pastiche

      Oct 12, 2023

      A Cornish Pastiche
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Diamond In The Rough

      Aug 4, 2021

      A Diamond In The Rough
      3 min read

    • Article

      journey To The Past

      Dec 6, 2023

      journey To The Past
      8 min read

    • Article

      Place of Refuge

      Feb 17, 2020

      Place of Refuge
      5 min read

    • Article

      Bring Back The Macca!

      Jul 10, 2023

      Bring Back The Macca!
      3 min read

    • Article

      A POINTY Past

      Aug 15, 2019

      A POINTY Past
      4 min read

    • Article

      Looking Back 200 Years

      Mar 16, 2020

      Looking Back 200 Years
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Squatting Lifestyle

      Nov 23, 2020

      As inland exploration exploded after the western crossing of the Blue Mountains by explorers Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson in 1813 it created an insatiable craze for new grazing land. The 1824 journey by Hume and Hovell from Appin, just south-west o

      1 min read

    • Article

      Putting Australia On The Map

      Jul 9, 2021

      We heard few complaints voiced when, in 1970, Australia issued commemorative stamps to mark two hundred years since the British Royal Navy’s intrepid sea captain, James Cook, landed at Botany Bay. Nowhere on any of the five stamps in the block does t

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Eddystone

      Jun 24, 2022

      The Eddystone
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Border Pioneers

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Border Pioneers - Joan Stanfield

      BORDER PIONEERS.

      The Pastoralists.

      Joan Stanfield

      Border Pioneers

      Copyright © 2015 Joan Stanfield

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

      Smashwords Edition

      The information, views, opinions and visuals expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of the publisher. The publisher disclaims any liabilities or responsibilities whatsoever for any damages, libel or liabilities arising directly or indirectly from the contents of this publication.

      A copy of this publication can be found in the National Library of Australia.

      ISBN:  978-1-742845-34-0 (pbk.)

      Published by Book Pal

      www.bookpal.com.au

      The Author, Joan Stanfield, asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      The coverage of the Pastoralist Pioneers, of the Border formed by the McPherson Ranges, between the northern rivers of New South Wales and South East Queensland, date from 1840.

      Diligent research, including actual travel in the region, was collected for the early history, with the leading characters portrayed and the pastoral stations identified.

      The narrative covers roughly a hundred years of pioneer work and later growth and progress, in the region.

      This book is a historical Australian story.

          "To forget one’s ancestors is to be

      a boat without a source,

      a tree without a root."……

      Chinese proverb.

      Cover: Mt. Lindesay

      viewed from

      S.E Queensland.

      THE OLD PIONEERS.

      "Bearded and booted, they followed the track,

      Came like their Saxon forefathers of old

      Carving a nation from waste and from wold,

      Mighty of purpose and stalwart of limb,

      Clove they a path through the forest so dim,

      Forward, adventuring, knowing no fears –

      Honour and praise to the old pioneers."

      John Sandes.

      Acknowledgement

      Many stories were collated, some from locals.

      Great value came from ‘The Australian Dictionary of Biography’,

      Collins letters by Jane Collins (1860-68),

      From notes about ‘Tamrookum’ church,

      ‘Brisbane Courier’ 1897/ 1898/ 1909/ 1913.

      Various northern newspapers, personal travel and research

      Clarence & Fassifern archives and Council publications.

      Special thanks to Lynn for his assistance

      And for the professional work of

      My publisher Bookpal, Brisbane. Aus.

      ***************

      FOREWORD from Joan STANFIELD:

      The undulating grasslands of the Upper Hunter, dotted with sheep and rural homesteads, used to stretch out over the horizon, beyond Singleton and Jerry’s Plains, as far as Denman on the confluence of the Hunter and Goulburn rivers, north to Muswellbrook, Merriwa-Cassilis and Murrurundi, reaching to the Liverpool Plains.

      Now the Valley is decimated by open-cut coal mining, power stations and gas exploration drill sites. Our natural non-renewable resources have and are being exploited.

      It is a quarry and an environmental sink hole.

      The rich agricultural land of the northern rivers of New South Wales and South East Queensland, await the same avarice and exposure to mining, as the land is capitalised, for profits from Asian and world markets.

      The Pioneer Pastoralists would weep, to know the state of the Nation.

      Lost is the beloved country of my childhood.

      JS.

      Contents

      1. THE UPPER HUNTER

      2. SEARCH FOR THE BIG RIVER

      3. OVER THE BORDER IN QUEENSLAND

      4. LIFE ON THE CLARENCE

      5. THE CHANNEL COUNTRY

      6. NEW HOMESTEAD FOR YULGILBAR

      7. ON THE CONDAMINE

      8. AGAINST THE ODDS

      9. THE LEGACY OF THE PIONEERS

      10. INTO A NEW CENTURY

      11. PIONEER WHO’S WHO

      12. AUTHOR’S NOTE

      Photos

      Mud Map of BORDER PIONEER Locations

      Pioneer Wagon at Rathdowney

      Yulgilbah Homestead Aerial Photo Taken 1950

      Theodosia Ogilvie

      Edward David Ogilvie. (1814-1896). Portrait by Tom Roberts

      Late 20th C. Renovations of ‘Yulgibah’ homestead

      Log On Bullock Wagon beside TRAMWAY. Collins Estate, Christmas Creek.

      All Saints Church Tamrookum

      Mud Map of BORDER PIONEER Locations

      THE UPPER HUNTER.

      They came as free settlers, they battled the vegetation and elements, they worked hard and they opened up the young country.

      Many were ex-navy and ex-army, disciplined men, arriving from England full of hope and ambition, but with no notion of the deprivations, the loneliness, the isolation and difficulties in this harsh alien country.

      They were Australia’s early pastoralists.

      William and Mary Ogilvie with their three sons and a daughter, arrived on the convict ship Grenada in January 1825.

      After settling Mary and the children at Parramatta, William together with a companion, Naval surgeon Peter Cunningham, sailed up to Newcastle and on to Wallis Plains (Maitland). They required horses, but none were available, so with only a blanket for sleeping and a pack-horse to carry tucker and provisions, they walked for 200 miles to the Upper Hunter.

      At the limit of settlement, well past James Singleton’s 600 acres and shanty Inn, they discovered rich open pastures where the Goulburn River flows into the Hunter River, between Baerami and the eventual township of Denman. They measured and pegged out 1200 acres for Cunningham, which he named ‘Dalswinton’, while William claimed a grant of 2,000 acres.

      A cursory survey, of the Hunter Valley, had been made by Henry Dangar in 1824. His official report, had found a fertile river valley, but there existed primitive ‘back-country’ beyond the limit of settlement, which at the time was indicated as the Singleton selection.

      William Ogilvie called his selection ‘Merton’, where after 34 years in the Navy, he had retired to the village of Merton in Surrey, until he ventured to New South Wales.

      Captain Ogilvie, had gone to sea at the age of twelve. After years in the Navy, he was a lieutenant on Nelson’s flagship for the successful Battle of Copenhagen. On retirement William was granted the status of Commander.

      He was considered to be a feudal lord, his convicts were his serfs. None the less William was fair in his dealings, well organised and naval efficient. He had a great capacity for work, developing his land and flocks, eventually setting up a small township at ‘Merton’, with an Inn and a Court House for his role as an honorary magistrate.

      In 1832, William worked with the harbour master at Newcastle, charting the dangerous entrance of the Hunter River, free of charge. He was responsible to make the port safe for shipping, but it was of benefit to the Upper Hunter pastoralists and of course for himself, for the vital port to function safely for shipping their wool and Lower Hunter produce to Port Jackson.

      When

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1