Select from
the Map Links or the Settler Index to the left to read about some of the settlers and land
owners in 1837
There are now current Wikimapia maps on each page. Use the
controls in the top left hand corner of the map to zoom in and out and to move
the map left to right etc. Or click and drag the map.
*1837 Map
of the Hunter Valley. Click to enlarge.
After
Commissioner Bigge recommended closure of Newcastle penal
settlement and relinquishment of the land of the Hunter
Valley for free settlement settlers began pouring into the
area. The river banks of the lower Hunter and their
surrounds had been denuded of timber in the preceding years
and the land was now seen as a resource for wealth and
revenue via agriculture. Some of the timber getters
who had been found reliable had already been permitted to
farm the land under Governor Macquarie's directive. Now new
settlers began arriving in the soon to be surveyed township
of Newcastle. They included merchants and military men,
agriculturalists, doctors and sea captains. They came with
wealth and privilege and under the new laws in NSW had great
potential to extend this wealth. They were granted land
according to their resources and allocated a convict for
every 100 acres able to be effectively developed. Some were also allocated
allotments in the township of Newcastle. Many of these early settlers were still
on their land in 1837, some had sold out or passed away, their land being taken up by family members or others.
*Have you found the information and Maps
on the Early Settler pages useful? Please acknowledge the Free Settler or Felon site if you
wish to reproduce anything from these pages
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