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The
Australian Agricultural Company was incorporated in
1824. With a capital of one million pounds, an agreement with
the British Government was undertaken that a million acres of land in
NSW would be alienated to the Company under certain conditions. A Court
of Directors (eg
Hart Davis)
was appointed and a colonial committee to advise. This committee had
control of expenditure and the appointed agent was to answer to them.
They were to select the most advantageous site for the million-acre
Grant. The
Company’s
main purpose was the production of fine wool with the addition of crops
not readily available in England. They would provide workers for the
Colony at no cost to the Government and also employ a large number of
convicts. The Directors of the Company in England requested that
James McArthur,
H.H. McArthur and
James Bowman
assist the new agent
Robert Dawson
with advice and information on his arrival in NSW as to the most
suitable land for the Company’s purposes.
John
Oxley, the Surveyor-general was consulted and suggested the
Liverpool Plains, the district he had first
sighted in
1818.
The Committee rejected this and Port Stephens was suggested.
Port Stephens was mostly uninhabited by
Europeans at this time. The area was noted in James Cook's log in
1770 and named in honour of Phillip Stephens, the Secretary to
the Admiralty. The area was surveyed
in
1795
by Charles
Grimes
the Surveyor General,
who gave an unfavourable report to the Secretary of State. In 1795 four
runaways from Parramatta,
John Tarwood,
John Watson, George Lee, and George Connoway were
found in the area by Captain Broughton captain of the ship
Providence. Broughton had anchored in the port to escape bad
weather.
After the penal colony was established at Coal
River in
1804, other
runaways frequently followed the coastline to Port Stephens where they were
prevented from going any further unless they managed to procure a canoe from
the natives. At this time escapes became so frequent that authorities decided
to station a party of soldiers under a corporal at the point where the
absconders were first likely to be found. This area became known as Soldiers
point. After the station was abandoned, settlers mostly ignored the area.
Timber getters such as Daniel Farrell and Patrick Farrell employed by Sydney
Trader Simeon Lord were to be found but otherwise there were few European
inhabitants until the area came to the attention of the Australian
Agricultural Company.
When newly appointed Commissioner of the Company, Robert Dawson arrived
in
1825 with
79 settlers
on the
York
and the
Brothers,
he set out to examine Port Stephens and the country around Maitland,
Luskintyre and
Newcastle. In
1826 he travelled northward to Port Stephens, crossing the inlet
where he met an advance party with horses and equipment and they then
followed the Karuah River. Dawson then determined the site for the
future settlement.
Read about his travels
here
Dawson left the party at Port Stephens to continue setting up the main camp
while he returned to Sydney by schooner to gather the remainder of the
settlers and stock awaiting him at Retreat Farm. While Dawson was in Sydney,
Mr. Harrington, (secretary of the Company),
Henry Dangar, (Govt.
Surveyor) and
John Armstrong ,
(Company surveyor), explored the country beyond the harbour bringing back a
very favourable report.
Five months later a substantial settlement had been formed and by
October 1000 head of cattle, and 2000 sheep were grazing.
Under Dawson’ s
management the undertaking did not flourish to the Company’s requirements and
he was dismissed and replaced by
James E. Ebsworth. The number of sheep on the estate by 1828 was 17,459, a huge increase in just
three years; the population reached almost 600 and farms and gardens had been
established to provide food. There was a lumber camp at Booral, a wharf and
other buildings as well. Twenty-three stations had been established and were
connected by roads by the time Dawson left.
The Company was given a grant of 2000 acres of land at
Newcastle in the late 1820’s and intended to develop the
Coal mines
in a more efficient manner. The Government handed over possession of the
Newcastle Coal works in 1830 and by 1831 the Company had repaired machinery
and commenced operations.
Read
about the first mine here
The official opening was held on the 10th December 1831 and the new
Commissioner,
Sir Edward Parry
was accompanied to the Company's wharf in Watt Street by Sir Thomas Brooks,
Rev. Threlkeld
and other dignitaries. A large crowd cheered as two loaded coal wagons
descended on an incline plane at the same time the empty ones were drawn up.
The full wagons then travelled along the railroad to the wharf where the
bottom of the wagon was dislodged by a single blow. The steamer
Sophie Jane
was loaded and as she pushed off the assembled miners gave three cheers. Many
convicts were employed in the
mines.
Francis McNamara (Frank
the Poet) was one of the
few who could put voice to his protest.
Sir Edward Parry
was appointed Commissioner in
1830. Parry,
previously a Captain in the Royal Navy and an Artic explorer, placed the
settlement at Port Stephens under a strict regime and began building,
clearing and road making. In 1831, after a chance meeting with
Hamilton C. Sempill in Sydney when he was informed by Sempill of
excellent land at the Liverpool Plains which would be suited to sheep
breeding, he decided to send
Henry Dangar to seek more
suitable land as replacement for their present grant.
In March 1832 Parry travelled from Port Stephens via the Hunter Valley with
Henry Dangar, Charles Hall and
William
Telfer
to examine the land that Dangar had found at the
Peel Valley and Liverpool
Plains. The party proceeded to the Peel Valley through Maitland, Glendon,
Ravensworth, Segenhoe, crossed the Liverpool Range to Warrah, Goonoo Goonoo,
Quirindi and Currabubula. They met Joseph Brown and his overseer Mr. Cann and
explored up the Namoi River past present day Manilla. Sir Edward noted the
coloured limestone near Attunga and returned to Port Stephens via Crawney.
In
August of 1833 after negotiation, Parry arranged to exchange land at Port
Stephens for the land in the Liverpool Ranges and Peel Valley
Six thousand sheep were then moved to the Peel grant. The company erected its
first buildings (houses and stores for its employees and 200 convicts) along a
track that became Ebsworth Street. The house for the Peel Superintendent,
Charles Hall was known as Calala.
Officers of the Company at Port Stephens in 1832 were:
Commissioner,
Sir Edward Parry,
Assistant,
James E. Ebsworth;
Clerks, Messrs.
William Croasdill,
James White, and J.
Burnet; sheep superintendent,
Charles Hall; assistant sheep superintendent
John Swayne;
surgeon
Dr. John Edward Stacy;
surveyors, Messrs.
John
Armstrong
and
Henry Dangar ;
store superintendent,
William Wetherman;
commander of the cutter Lambton
James Corlette;
stud superintendent Henry Hall; mining superintendent, John Henderson;
postmaster, A.S. Menson,
Captain
R.G. Moffatt
of the 17th Regt of foot was in charge of the military
establishment which comprised a sergeant, and 13 rank and file.
While Dawson’s tenure was made difficult by his relationship with the Company
Directors, Parry also had a multitude of problems during his time at Port
Stephens. Recalcitrant convicts, idle indentured servants, bushrangers and
floods all added to his difficulties. A major thorn in his side throughout his
tenure was William Barton, (father of Australia’s first Prime Minister Edmund
Barton) the Company accountant, who was later to return to England and publish
The Affairs of the Australian Agricultural Company in 1833. This was an
attempt to vindicate his actions while employed by the Company and defame
Parry. He later sued Sir Edward for a breach of covenant. (See
Barton v. Parry in the Asiatic Journal) Sir Edward Parry returned
to England in 1834, handing command of the Company to
Henry Dumaresq
who moved into Tahlee House with his wife and children.
A report written by Sir
Edward Parry concerning the Company's state of affairs was delivered by Mr.
Ebsworth at the annual meeting in June 1835. The shareholders heard that lands
selected in lieu of those given up by the Company were now in the possession
of the Company's agent and some of the flocks were placed on them. The new
location at Liverpool Plains consisted of 250,000 acres, and at
Peel's River
of 310,000 acres, which together with land at Port Stephens made a total of
640,000 acres. Lieutenant Colonel Henry Dumaresq, the company's new
commissioner, spoke in the highest terms of these lands; but as the location
at Peel's River was preferable for sheep, the flocks had been removed there
and the Liverpool Plains were occupied by the company's cattle. The stock of
sheep belonging to the company as follows:
F rench
Merinos 4,940
Saxon Merinos 2,866
Anglo Merinos 1,55
Improved colonial 27,257
The stock of horses,
including thorough-bred colonial and others was 384; and the company preserved
2,803 head of cattle consisting of Durham improved, colonial and others.
Arrangements had been made
by Colonel Dumaresq for the sale of surplus stock and sheep and horses and
other cattle had been sold which had produced £2,700. Part of the horse stock
had been sold to furnish supplies for the Madras army; an officer residing in
the colony expressly to make purchases (Captain Collins). Wheat sowing up to
June had continued favourably and the quantity of land under cultivation was
as follows: 8 acres of tobacco, 278 acres of wheat, 29 acres of barley, 128
acres of maize and 94 acres of grass, turnips, etc. A powerful mill had been
built at Stroud and the saltpans which had arrived were nearly completed at an
expense of about £400. The wool from the company's flocks had realised
£7,017/13/6d and hides £208/2/3d. The sale of coal from the mines had
increased considerably and was expected to exceed 8000 tons. A depot had been
formed at Sydney for shipping coals as ballast and the project for making salt
from sea water would be beneficial as the curing of colonial beef was thought
to be rapidly increasing.
At the finish of
the meeting a vote of thanks was given to Sir
Edward Parry for his work while commissioner
and he was presented with a piece of plate to
the value of two hundred guineas.
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Phillip Parker King R.N.,
was appointed Commissioner in 1839, succeeding James Ebsworth who had
taken over temporarily on the death of
Henry Dumaresq
in 1838. King continued the improvement of the company’s stock, including
horses. The Company began to make available for sale to local
pastoralists some of its bloodstock, although this was later found to be
unprofitable.
Wool was transported by bullock drays to Port Stephens for shipment to
England. The drays also transported supplies to the New England region.
Transporting wool and goods by
Bullock dray was a difficult means of transport so Capt. King decided to
introduce a number of mules from South America, as they were able to carry
heavy burdens along the mountain roads. They were used for a number of years
however were not successful. A number of them were supplied to explorer Ludwig
Leichhardt on his expedition in 1847 (leaving from Stroud) from which he never
returned.
Captain King also experienced
many set backs, as his predecessors had. His tenure co-incided with the
depression of the 1840’s. Serious problems occurred when stock depreciated in
value and became difficult to sell. The drought caused 80 acres of wheat to be
lost at Stroud and Booral. King was also troubled with supplies of labour in
the pastoral, Agricultural and mining activities of the company. One hundred
Irishmen were sent out by the Company, however they proved unfit for the
duties they had undertaken, absconded or refused to ratify the agreements they
had taken with the Company.
Welsh miners introduced to
work the mines in Newcastle were of little use to the Company, although
Scottish shepherds did prove useful
and English miners
such as
Ralph Thornton
who arrived on the Emerald Isle in 1841, settled in to their work
without causing the Agent Mr. Croasdill any further worries.
Captain
King's Report in 1841
In May
1844 the
inhabitants of the Stroud district were kept in a 'state
of excitement' for some time, fearing a visit from six
convicts who had made their escape from Newcastle in the 'Brothers'
vessel.
They had landed
near Seal Rocks between Port Stephens and the Manning River. Upon Captain King
hearing of the escape he immediately dispatched guards to out-stations and a
party to proceed up the Myall River to attempt to capture the escapees.
Nothing was seen of the prisoners however and the Mounted Police under
Lieutenant Gall were then sent to the district. Although pursuit
parties were sent in two different directions, they also
failed to catch up with the bushrangers. The six men had
made their way to 'Bunderbot', a cattle station of the
Company's and bailed up all the inmates for several hours
before decamping with firearms, provisions, clothing and
horses.
Back in Carrington,
upon hearing of this, Captain King immediately set out
with two troopers of the Maitland Police and several other
well mounted citizens. They came upon the bushrangers the
following day at noon twenty miles from 'Bunderbot'. The
six men were secured immediately and returned to the
Stroud lockup where they were examined before Captain P.P.
King R.N., and P.G. King, Esq., J.P., and fully committed
for robbery and being illegally at large with firearms.
Captain King generously rewarded the party who made the
capture with a gift of £30,
independent of the reward to be recovered under the
government regulations. From the fatigue the bushrangers
experienced since abandoning the vessel, one of them
became so ill that Capt. King kindly provided two horses
and a cart to take the whole of them to Raymond Terrace,
where they would go on board the
steamer for Newcastle
under an escort of the mounted police. (Select
here to find out more about the six bushrangers -
James Edwards per Royal Admiral; Henry Elgan per
Waterloo; Henry Hughes per Exmouth; Robert
Whitehead per Lord Lyndoch; Samuel Ringwood per
Moffatt and Buchanan Wilson per Marquis of Huntley,
who were later sentenced to transportation for life to a penal
settlement).
The Maitland
Mercury recorded the following information in 1846:
'We have been
favoured by a correspondent with some particulars of the
census recently taken of the persons in the service of the
Australian Agricultural company at Port Stephens. It
appears that between the period of the census in 1841 and
that just taken the number of persons in the employment of
the Company had decreased from 633 to 532. The decrease is
confined to the government men. In 1841 there were 262
persons in private assignment, while in March last there
were only 9. The free population has increased from 308 to
443. The following is an abstract of the returns with
which we have been furnished:
Married Males 83
Married Females 68
Single Males 276
Single Females 103
Total 532
Arrived free or
born in the colony 1841, 293; 1846, 382
Other free persons
1841, 25; 1846, 61
Holding tickets of
leave 1841, 53; 1846, 80
In private
assignment1841, 262; 1846, 9
Total 1841, 633;
1846, 532
Education
Cannot read
Males 109; Females
57
Read only
Males 58; Females
33
Read and write
Males 192; Females
83
There are 167
houses. Of these 33 are built of brick, 134 of wood; 101
are shingled, 1 slated, roofing of the remainder not
described; 166 are finished, 1 unfinished; 154 are
inhabited, 13 uninhabited.'(1)
In
1847 the Company had a stock of 125,815 sheep. However
after a particularly calamitous year with casualties from
age, disease, accident, 4207 sheep being slaughtered, 5143
boiled down for tallow and others sold they were left with
a stock of 94,962. The Company had also disposed of a
large number of cattle , horses, ponies, asses and mules
during the year. They sold 38,122 tons of coal an increase
of over 4,000 tons from the previous year.
By
the end of 1847 the total number of people employed
(excluding females and children) by the Company was 472:
Agricultural establishment - 282 free men, 85 ticket of
leave holders
Colliery - 52 free men, 36 ticket of leave holders, 14
convicts.
Early in 1849 the
Maitland Mercury reported that Phillip Parker King ' that
old respected colonist' was to travel to England on
Company business with the intention of returning to
Australia in 1850. James Edward Ebsworth took over as
Commissioner for the Company in King's absence. He
advertised the Company's rams for sale in September.
Buyers could purchase a First Class Company ram for 50/-,
Second class for 40/- and a Third class for 30/- by
applying to Charles Hall who was Superintendent of
the Flocks at Tellighery.
In
May 1849 in England potential immigrants read of the
Company's intention to throw open their grant of a million
acres for the settlement of a 'respectable class of
colonist who possessed some capital'. They were told of
the 'finest land in the colony' owned by the Company at
Port Stephens where corn, cotton, tobacco, olives and
oranges could be grown in abundance. Splendid pasturage
for sheep cattle and horses was available. The land would
not be sold at public auction but would be sold at a
uniform price of one pound sterling per acre. Buyers could
pay immediately or pay interest at the rate of 5 per cent
per annum. As soon as a sufficient number of purchases
were made the Company intended to charter a ship direct
for Port Stephens with free passage to purchasers of
allotments over 200 acres. The Company would provide
provisions for the new arrivals and buildings would be
prepared to receive them until they could provide food and
shelter for themselves and family.
They
were told the estate was within 100 miles sea voyage of
Sydney with the river Karuah running through it. There
were said to be several villages, churches and schools
upon the property and a large population chiefly in the
employ of the Company. The cattle on the estate
included pure short horns, Devons, Herefords and
Highlanders; the sheep thorough bred Saxony and Spanish
merinos. There were salt and fresh waters abounding with
fish and timbers, lime and building stone were said to be
plentiful. Imported goods, implements and clothing could
be purchased at the Company's stores almost as cheap as
England where settler would also be able to sell their own
produce.
By
August the 'handsome cottages' at Carrington, formerly
occupied by the officers of the Australian Agricultural
Company were being put in proper repair, preparatory to
the arrival at Port Stephens, of the first ship with
emigrants (with their servants) direct from England.
By
October the cottages were ready and the 'Tahlee Gardens'
were fresh and gay. The vines at Carrington were looking
better than they had for several years it was reported
that the first ship with immigrants were expected daily.
Captain Corlette had received instructions to be on the
look out for the appearance of the ship at the Heads so
that he could pilot her in safely to anchorage in the
'commodious and beautiful harbour of Port Stephens'.
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