;

A Short History of

Campbell Towna n d t h e

A. Short History of

Campbell Townand the

Midland Pioneers

Compiled by

K. R. VON STIEGLITZ

from

J. K. MOIR' C O L L r r ^ ' O N

All proceeds from the sa le of this little book are for the Sailors', Soldiers' and Airm en's M emorial at C am pbell Town.

“From the lone shelling on the m isty islandM ountains divide us, and the breadth o f seas:

But still the blood is strong, the heart is H ighland,

And we in dreams behold the H ebrides.”

(Author unknown)

* * �

“When thou, O stone, shall moulder down, and lose thee in the m oss of years, then shall the traveller come and w histling

pass aw ay. He knows not, feeb le mlan, that fam e once shone on M oi-lena, that here F ingal resigned his spear a fter the

last o f his battles.

“P ass aw ay, thou em pty shade, in thy voice there is no renown, thou dw ellest by som e peaceful stream , ye t a few

years and thou art gone.

“N o one remembers thee, thou dweller in thick m ist.!’

— “O SSIAN .”

\cknow ledgm ents♦

I w ish to thank a host o f people who have helped me w ith th is history o f Campbell Town, particularly the Rev. L. O. C. W hite, who is the Presbyterian m inister at Evandale. H is delightfu l cover design shows the old town with its background o f the W estern Tiers.

I have alw ays found th at Scotsm en (here, o f course, I mea<n men of Scottish descent), were keenly interested in their own h istory and in the history o f their adopted country. In th is case I found more people who know a great deal of local history than in any other district I have w ritten about.

Mr. Norm an Nicolson len t me his invaluable n otes concerning: alm ost every property in the m uniciaplity, and these constituted a history in them selves.

If, instead o f 50 pages, I had had to fill a book the s ize o f a F am ily Bible w ith the doings o f the Midland pioneers on their various holdings it would have been an easy and joyfu l task fo r m e to do it. B ut unfortunately a great deal o f condensation has been necessary and a lot o f in terestin g m aterial has been le ft out a l­together.

In anticipation I thank Mr. W alter Sutherland, M .A .( who w as Professor o f E nglish a t the Scottish College in the U n iversity o f Calcutta for fifteen years and is now Director o f the Launceston Municipal Library. He has very kindly prom ised to w rite a short introductory preface. I also thank M iss H elen Leake; M iss Dorothy Foster; Mr. W ilfrid Hudspeth; Capt. H arry O’M ay; M iss Nance Carrington-Sm ith; Mrs. K eith Headlam ; Mrs. F . S. F letcher; M iss K. D ougharty; Mr. John Taylor, o f ‘W inton;’ Mr. P. L. Brown (V ictoria); Dr. C. Craig; Mr. G. H. Stancombe; the M itchell Library; the S tate Library and m any others too numerous to m ention. A lso old copies o f the “E xam iner” and “M ercury.”

I also sincerely thank M iss A. L. W ayn, M.B.E., S tate A rchivist.

I can only add th at m any a w in ter’s n ight passed all too quickly while I w as happily w orking on the m aterial I had collected.

K. R. VON STIEGLITZ,‘Andora,’

Evamdale.19th December, 1948.

Introduction♦

I am pleased to have the opportunity of introducing Mr. von Stieglitz’ little book on Campbell Town while realising, with the many other readers of his previous books', that it requires no introduction. Mr. von Stieglitz has opened up one more gallery of the mine of information in which he digs and takes us upon a most interesting and instructive tour of it. To pursue metaphor no further, but state a fact in plain, downright English, like his own, we are here given a lot about Campbell Town that we are glad to know : details of properties, fortunes of families and records and anecdotes o,f past times. In the writing of all this is the evidence of a personality with a lively interest in the past and in the present and capable of evoking each from either. We suspect that Mr. von Steiglitz has great fun going his rounds of conversation and we are sure that his visitations, unlike those of the ordinary statistician or collector, are very welcome to those who receive them. In any case, our author gets hold of many things that are not in books and presents other things that are in books to people who do not normally read history.

Mr. von Stieglitz takes care over his books and would make them as readable as he can. We cannot expect him to impose style upon such pages as are filled full with the names of properties and individuals. These are the staple and sustenance of his story, but not food for the feast of reason and the flow of soul that perhaps every serious writer aspires to. But let him get in among bushrangers, or the number of oddish personalities that took good root in the old colonial soil and you are aware of a zest, a humour and an understanding that give quality to his prose and make it “midnight reading.” There is a poetic vein too; and nobody who reads the epilogues and interludes he pens can be unaware of what his land, dewed, if not soaked with history, means to the writer.

I congratulate Mr. von Stieglitz on the work he has already done, and with all who read him, look forward to many additions to it.

WALTER SUTHERLAND

The Beginning of Campbell Town

It is probable that some o f the first w hite people to come where Campbell Town now stands were the prisoners who had escaped from custody as early as 1803 and others who w ere allowed to go into the 'bush to forage for them selves when the great fam ine started here in 1806. But, i f th ey came, th ey le ft no trace o f it_ for future generations to see and the first recorded v is it to th is district w as th at o f the great Governor Lachlan M acquarie h im self. H e had come from his headquarters in Sydney on a tour o f inspection and w rote on Thursday the 5th December, 1811 : “To-day we entered A rgyle P lains and encamped on the banks o f the Macquarie R iver (so named n ow ).” The fo llow ing day the entry in his journal read : “A t half- p ast three p.m., we pursued our journey from the E lizabeth River [nam ed for his w ife a t th is tim e], which is 40 m iles from the settlem en t a t Port Dalrym ple (L aunceston).”

W herever Macquarie w ent on his journeys, he bestowed nam es on any outstanding features o f the country. Generally one o f his own nam es or those o f his w ife were used, nor were relations and friend s forgotten in the nam ing process and th is, h is first v is it to V an Diem en’s Land, w as no exception.

The track by which the Governor came to Launceston w ith his goodly retinue, which included M eehan, the surveyor, w as as y e t scarcely marked. It passed on the east side o f H yland’s Lagoon at Cleveland and from here “at 3 p.m. we follow ed and pursued our journey for three m iles through H enrietta P lains (M rs. M acquarie’s second nam e w as H enrietta, th e d istrict w as afterw ards to be known a s Snake Banks, now it is called Pow ranna), to the northern term ina­tion in an open wood. W e travelled for tw o-and-a-half m iles through Gordon’s P lains (between Clarendon and Evandale) to H oneysuckle Bank, which term inates a fine beach o f th e South E sk River, on which bank we halted and encamped fo r the n ight . . . distance from M acquarie’s P lains, 20 m iles.”

l't is reasonable to suppose th at w hat M acquarie called “H oney­suckle Bank” w as the spot where Evandale w as laid out som e years afterw ards, for here the river turns to the w est and the banks are very sandy. Even to-day, little honeysuckle trees spring up from seed which has lain dormant in the warm soil over the long years.

During the next ten years, th at is, until M acquarie’s second and farew ell v is it in 1821, som e good work had been done towards form ­in g a road through the island, but as he then wrote : “It is very bad and the journey is lon g and slow .”

M aclaine’s Plains, the area just south o f the E lizabeth River (or R elief Creek as it w as still som etim es called) a-t th at tim e was used as a Government grazin g ground. Travelling w as not only bad, but dangerous and no settlers had ye t claimed land on the E lizabeth or th is part o f the Macquarie.

It m ay be m entioned here th a t th e area north o f the E lizabeth a s far as Hyland’s (Cleveland) Lagoon, w as known as M acquarie

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Plains and will be found marked as such on m aps o f the period. That part o f the country near New Norfolk, which is now known as Mac­quarie Plains, w as then called Macquarie D istrict.

Macquarie had been m arried tw ice, h is first w ife bein g Jane Jarvis, who died in India during her husband’s period o f m ilitary service there. H is intense devotion to her m em ory m ust have been rather a trial to his devoted second w ife, E lizabeth H enrietta Camp­bell, whom he married in England 11 years afterw ards when he w as 48. This was shortly before he came out to N ew South W ales as Governor o f that Colony, which a t th at tim e included Tasm ania. The Lieutenant-Governors o f Van Diem en’s Land were subordinate to him. Colonel George Arthur being the first fu ll Governor o f th is Colony when it was separated from N ew South W ales in 1825.

On the 31st of May, 1821, Macquarie and his lady, w ith th e usual cavalcade, m ilitary and civil, came once more to th e E lizabeth River on their w ay to Hobart and he w rote : “H aving determ ined on establishing a township on the North Bank o f the ' E lizabeth River, I have named it Campbell Town, in honour o f Mrs. M acquarie’s maiden name. T his township is m ost adm irably w ell situated in every respect— surrounded by a fine, rich, country, and well w atered.’’ The place w as marked out as a v illage by his order and a s ign ­post erected, but som e tim e passed before any houses were built or any streets formed.

Three years later, Edward Curr, who in 1825 becam e the first m anager o f the Van D iem en’s Land Company, passed th is w ay and w as rather scornful o f M acquarie’s pla>ce nam es. “W e cannot bring ourselves to be H ighlanders and Shetlanders in a m om ent, notw ith­standing our late Governor-in-Chief would appear to desire it. W e still talk o f F at Doe River, Gallows Hill, M urderer’s P lains and H ell’s Corners. These names were principally bestowed upon them by bushrangers and hunters o f the kangaroo and a Governor m ight a s well abolish the E nglish language by proclam ation, as these nam es which are associated w ith form er days.”

Of Campbell Town in 1824, Curr goes on to say— “We are now upon one o f the finest districts o f which the colony can boast, extend­in g along the southern bank o f the Macquarie for more than 30 m iies.’ “The country im m ediately beyond Ross bridge, both to the right and le ft extending northward to the E lizabeth R iver and con­tain in g nearly one hundred thousand acres, is a t present occupied by a herd o f horned cattle, the property o f the Government. For th e m aintenance o f th is unprofitable concern, the finest tract o f land in the island has for a long tim e been appropriated and withheld from the settlers. It is the intention o f the Government to dispose o f th e cattle and to open up the land to those who choose to locate them ­selves upon it . . . It is understood th at one gentlem an has already obtained a large grant o f th is ground, and it is expected th at before long it will be thickly populated. The principal u ses o f the Govern­m ent cattle have been to supply working bullocks fo r the public service and to furnish persons, holding situations under Government, w ith milch cows.” (The “one gentlem an” referred to above w as either Lieut-Governor Sorell or one o f h is sons, as th is nam e appears on the old charts.)

“Seven m iles beyond Ross bridge and seventy-nine m iles from Hobart Town, w e arrived at R elief Creek, or E lizabeth River, on the northern bank o f which a new township is m arked out and a greater part o f the adjoining country, consisting chiefly o f level open land o f good quality, is as yet unoccupied. To the right also,

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after crossing the bridge on the E lizabeth River, land o f a good quality extends along th e banks o f th e river to a considerable distance . . . Proceeding through the F orest, the traveller w ill do w ell to turn off to the r ig h t a t the distance o f e igh t m iles from H yland’s Lagoon where a t the Black Snake (la ter Snake Ba*nks), the m ost strik ingly beautiful scene bursts suddenly on h is view . E igh t m iles o f the dreary uninviting sam eness o f the F orest has w ell prepared him for the change.”

EARLY VISITORSW idowson, in his book fu ll o f good advice to intending settlers

in 1829, says :“Campbell Town is situated on the north side o f the Elizabeth

River; a poor, m ean-looking building and a new brick house, intended I believe, for an inn, constitute all th at is to be seen o f Campbell Town, although the numbers o f h igh ly respectable free settlers around, im part to the place the appearance o f a town. On the le f t o f the road are th e grants of M essrs. B riggs and Leake, the form er gentlem an’s grant w ith a neat brick cottage and excellent hom e­stead, is le t to Mr. Giles for a term of years. Mr. Leake has also la te ly erected a very handsome dw elling-house o f stone. On th e right are the grants o f Samuel H ill, Esq., J .P ., and o f Mr. Jellicoe, and on the opposite side o f the river are the dw elling-houses and grants of Dr. Pierson, Mr. Robertson and Mr. John McLeod. The latter gentlem an, besides cu ltivating largely, has opened an exten sive store, replete w ith every article th e settler m ay require.

“On the le ft o f the road, about s ix m iles from the tow n, you pass the house and prem ises o f R. W illis, Esq., J.P. This gentlem an has been but a few years on the island and I' m ay venture to say, has done considerably more towards im proving h is grant than any other individual in the sam e tim e. The house is p leasantly situated at the foo t o f a dry, sandy hill, the buildings are extensive and convenient. Several large enclosures, w ell fenced, run in an easterly direction to the edge o f the public road, som e o f which are under cultivation. This gentlem an has a considerable flock o f pure M erinos and at ‘W anstead Park,’ has a few very good short-horns and the only pure short-horn bull in th e island.”

And now for the last o f our early visitors, th is tim e Mrs. Prinsep, who found travelling conditions quite com fortable. Obviously, som e good solid work had been done in the island for she w as able to w rite in 1830 :

“Campbell Town looked pretty, w ith its long narrow bridge, or rather causew ay, two hundred yards in length , over the E lizabeth River. It has a prosperous appearance, m any good-sized houses, a courthouse and ja il are already built. The next sta ge from Campbell Town w as very long and dism al, th e first ten m iles consisting o f a sandy, hilly, woody tract, called E pping F orest, part o f which w as dead and quite unlocated.”

Then she goes on to say : “The whole route between H obarton and L&unceston has been located; not a sin g le grant o f fresh land is to be had and we, in our trip, passed no less than seven tow nships.”

Land w as granted or located a t th at tim e in square m iles (640 acres), for every £500 which the applicant could show him self

to own, w ith a lim it o f four square m iles, or 2,560 acres. The sm allest grants were 320 acres. Governor Arthur w as reproved in th e la te tw en ties for being too generous in his grants o f land, which,

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excep t for a sm all quit rent, were free ly given, but th is system finally came to an end in 1831.

D raught horses were scarce a t th is tim e and bullocks did m ost o f the heavy work, tak ing three days to plough an acre o f land and a long tim e to drag the big-wheeled, creaking drays and w aggons to H obart Town and Launceston. P ost and rail fences, built a t 3 /6 and up to 8 /- a rod, were beginning to divide the various properties. By 1830, s ix hundred m iles o f th is type o f fencin g had been erected in Van Diem en’s Land, but logs and branches, pulled to the edges o f newly-cleared land, served the purpose in m any instances.

“Chock-and-log” fences, short length s o f which m ay be seen even a t the present tim e along the m ain road, w ere a- variation o f th is typ e o f fencing. The tim ber grow ing hereabouts consisted principally o f w attle and gum trees, w ith th ickets o f honeysuckle. Tea-tree then, a s now, flourished alon g the banks o f the rivers.

The causew ay over the E lizabeth R iver w as done aw ay w ith when the present bridge w as built in 1837, and a brewery, which supplied th e three hotels, w as built near the stream . A flour m ill to supply th e v illage w as also put up, but som e o f th e settlers had been grind­in g their own grain years before th is w ith w ater w heels and stone rollers. The larger estates were practically self-supporting w ith carpenters and blacksm iths, nail-m akers and all the other tradesm en needed for independence.

The township itse lf had been laid out, as Macquarie had ordered, by Meehan, and included a common and streets covering an area ofabout three m iles long and a m ile wide.

THE VOYAGE OUTLiving conditions on the little ships which brought the pioneers

around the world to this new land were cramped and uncom fortable. The first im m igrant ship came to Tasm ania in 1816, as before that tim e, the E nglish Government had not w ished to encourage free settlers. Indeed, Botany B ay and Van D iem en’s Land for m any a long day were looked upon by m ost people in the Old Country as b ein g little better than prison camps.

England at that tim e w as in a very unsettled condition a fter the Napoleonic W ars. There were poverty and unrest throughout the land, and m any who ordinarily would not stoop to com m it th e ft were forced by hunger to do so. These were prom ptly caught and sen t to N ew South W ales and Tasm ania, a lon g w ith som e o f the more professional evil-doers, cut-throats and murderers. T hey and their m ilitary guard, w ith one or two very daring free settlers, and soon afterw ards the N orfolk Islanders, were the first w hite m en to take up their abode here. The settlers from Norfolk Island were forced to leave that tropical paradise a t m usket point, as i t w as needed in1807 by the British Government for use as a prison.

It w as a m atter o f som e scandal th a t the transport o f each con­v ict cost in the v icin ity o f e igh ty pounds during the 1820’s, while free settlers paid about the sam e am ount for a first class tick et and fo rty pounds each for their passage m oney in the second class. F or th is sum passengers were g iven a very lim ited diet, but had to supply th e ir own bed clothes and anyth in g a t all approaching a luxury. H eavy goods were brought out in the hold a t the rate o f £5 fo r every ton .

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It w as considered advisable to enquire o f the captain before em barking exactly w hat the ticket provided for, as each ship varied in th is respect according’ to the personality o f her m aster; som e being noted for their mean and skinflint treatm ent of passengers, others being well-known as generous and kind to both passengers and crew.

W ith no refrigeration, fresh m eat soon became tainted and not •enough poultry or anim als could be carried to make fresh m eat available on board except for occasions o f special rejoicing. Irish pickled pork put up in casks was one o f the best and m ost popular form s o f m eat on board, and w as also used ex tensively by the first pioneers in the country, but the longing for fresh m eat, fru it and vegetables could only be satisfied when the ship put in to one o f the few ports o f call. Some o f the better class o f ships had cows on board to supply fresh milk for the women and children.

The allowance o f w ater varied from two quarts to five pints a day, according to the circum stances, but when m any sheep or cattle were on board, even less than th is am ount w as doled out. The allow ­ance w as intended not only for w ashing and drinking, but each, pas­sen ger w as obliged, out o f h is quota, to contribute towards the necessary supply for cooking, especially on those days when soup w as on the bill o f fare. Such fru ga lity w as str ictly adhered to and w as absolutely necessary. It is recorded th at passengers were glad a t tim es to exchange a bottle o f wine from their private stock with their shipm ates for a sim ilar quantity o f water.

The size o f cabins on em igrant ships w as regulated by A ct o f Parliam ent at s ix fee t in length and tw o-and-a-half in width. Two children under fourteen years o f age and three under the age o f nine were considered as equal to an adult. E very ship carrying fifty persons, including the crew, w as ordered to provide a surgeon.

P assengers were not allowed to leave the dining room and cabins whenever the ship m et great storm s. B attens would be nailed over the doorways to enforce th is order. A t those tim es the decks were constantly awash and sw ept by vengefu l w aves which would carry a stru gg lin g man aw ay on their crest, with no hope of recovery.

The B ay o f B iscay w as notorious fo r sudden gales and the pas­sa g e across from the Cape o f Good Hope and the Great A ustralian B igh t to Hobart Town during the w inter m onths, had a reputation alm ost as wicked as th at o f Cape Horn. Staunch little ships lost their sa ils, their m asts and even their rudders, in those deep w aters. A t tim es too, the crockery and g lassw are would be broken and in one case at least, the lower parts oi? bottles had to be used in place o f the cups and g lasses th at had been destroyed during a severe buffeting.

The sanitary arrangem ents would also become incredibly bad, as receptacles, not flush piping, were used on the old sa ilin g ships. B aths were out o f the question. In the stifling, used-up air o f the ship , quarrels am ong the m en would come near to tragedy, and m ohers w ith young children would suffer untold m iseries. M any a baby w as born and died at sea in those days.

Drinking, particularly o f rum, w as heavily indulged in on the old sailing ships. There is one recorded case o f a captain having delirium trem ens for the last h a lf o f the voyage; the first officer fe ll sick and it w as le ft for a retired naval officer am ong the .passengers to bring the ship to port, which he did w ith colours flying.

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THE ARRIVALWhen the intending settler arrived a t la s t in H obart Town, h e

would call on the GovernoT and present his letter o f introduction from som e influential friend in England. He would then be g iven a location order for land o f an area which w as granted according to the amount o f m oney or goods he had brought w ith him ; roughly, th is w as on the basis o f an acre for each pound sterling. This m oney was only shown as a guarantee and not handed over to the Govern­m ent. N eedless to say, th rifty im m igrants often pooled their re­sources to make a good show and by th is m eans were granted far more land than would otherwise have been the case. This form of pooling w as treated leniently by the Government and w as known as “the Scotchm an’s Thousand.”

W ith the location order in his pocket, the newcom er n ex t paid a v is it to the Surveyor-General, who on receipt o f a sm all fee handed over an order for the surveyor in charge o f any d istrict chosen, to m easure out for the intending settler, the number o f acres specified. These were to be delivered at a tim e m ost convenient to the grantee.

There were m any causes o f delay in the Capital, and the settler, particularly during the w inter m onths, w as often loathe to face the uncertainties o f boggy travel into the interior. There were bullocks,, provisions and im plem ents to be bought w ith th rifty care, and w a g ­gons and carts to be made to order in Hobart Town or “The Camp,” as it w as often called affectionately.

When at la st all w as ready, th ey moved creaking and sw ayin g out o f the town with the w ife and younger members o f the fam ily perched am ong their goods on the high-w heeled carts and the new settler, m usket in hand, w alking on guard proudly beside his p osses­sions, through the dust and over the h ills towards the m ysterious interior.

The bullocks would be driven by some experienced hand who knew the proper language to be used when u rging them on. Later he W'ould help to build a hut and work the new property. These men were nearly alw ays prisoners o f the Crown. So with hope and excitem ent th ey would take the track th at led to an unknown land w ith, perhaps, an unvoiced fear in their hearts o f the dangers o f life in th e bush which they had heard discussed so often in the tow n. There were ferocious blacks and bushrangers who m ight attack them at any m om ent in this country so strangely different from anything th ey had ever seen before.

THE BLACK LINE, 1830Am ong those from Campbell Town who took part in the B lack

Line were members o f the fam ilies o f W illis, H arrison, Davidson, Leake, Clarke, Foster, Gatenby, B uist, Taylor, M ackersey and Bayles. Governor Arthur, an idealist i f ever there w as one, told them in October, 1830, “The object in view* is not to injure or destroy th e unhappy savages, but to capture and raise them to a scale o f civ ilisa­tion under the im m ediate control o f a com petent establishm ent whence they w ill not have it in their power to escape and m olest th e w hite inhabitants and where they them selves w ill no longer be subject to the m iseries o f perpetual w arfare or the privations which the extension o f the settlem ents would progressively entail upon them .”

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Guards were set at regular intervals from the township along -the south-w est bank o f the Macquarie to its junction w ith the Lake River. There w as only a rem nant o f the blacks le ft a t th at tim e, who by the w ay, never seem to have numbered more than about2,000 altogether. The Line stretched across Tasmania from W est- hury and the W estern Tiers, where Capt. Donaldson w as in charge, to the E ast Coast. Advancing across the island, it converged on the Southern Peninsula. Our lim ited space forbids m any details, but it m ay be remarked that am ong other causes o f failure in th is schem e were bad weather and little or spasmodic attention being paid to guard duty at night; th is gave the blacks a chance to slip through the Line and escape into the forests and alon g the rivers. Governor Arthur rode up and down the Line encouraging and praising good �work, determ ined to save the blacks alive i f possible.

A t a cost o f at least £35,000 and w ith the help o f 3,000 colonists and ticket-of-leave men, the whole th ing ended in failure, as had been predicted by nearly everyone who knew the country. One black, however, w as taken and a mob o f th irty surrendered near Bridport. This show of strength by the settlers disheartened the aborigines, who shortly afterw ards, heavily bribed w ith prom ises, gave them ­selves up to Robinson, the Conciliator, as he w as called. Robinson w as a Hobart Town bricklayer who could speak th eir language and w ent am ong them unarmed except w ith im plicit Christian fa ith and accompanied only by a few civilised blacks. There is no doubt th at he had a genuine g if t for th is work, but w as conceited, unim aginative and foolish, having all the uneducated m an’s love o f show ing off his sm all learning. He gave absurd and quite inappropriate nam es from the classics to many o f the aborigines w ith whom he cam e in contact, which would have startled and annoyed the blacks i f they had known their im plications as they annoy us now when we read them.

The la st o f the unfortunate natives were taken a t len gth to Flinders Island. W ith the m ountains o f Tasm ania loom ing in the distance, they had no w ish to live, and becam e sterile, w atching the shadow s o f clouds p assin g over the peaks o f th eir old hunting grounds and dying o f longing for their home.

One o f them w as brought back to Launceston on a sea lin g boat a few years afterw ards when only fifteen o f them were left. A s the lit t le ship moored near the mouth of the Gorge, the poor fellow sprang ashore and ran w ith joy from one object to another, touching the trees and stones w ith every sign o f happiness. Then suddenly, g r ie f overcame him and he flung h im self to the ground and buried his face in the grass, crying, “Mine, m ine, all m ine.’’

BUSHRANGERSN early every bushranger recorded in Tasm anian history seem s

to have robbed, murdered or burned his way through the Campbell T ow n district a t one tim e or another in h is career.

On Saturday last, an old w riter in 1846 te lls us, Mr. Rees and Mr. Stevenson from Hobart Town arrived at Campbell Town by Cox’s coach on their w ay to St. Patrick’s Head (S t. M arys).

S tarting off well-prepared for the long, rough drive in a hired g ig at half past five in the evening, th ey hoped to g e t to Avoca before dark. On reaching the fourth gate on the road, called Davidson’s Gate, Stevenson got out to open it. W hile he w as doing so Rees looked over h is shoulder and saw two armed men running down the

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hill towards them . “Look out,” he yelled, “here are bushrangers !” Stevenson tripped as he ran to regain h is sea t in the g ig and th is gave the outlaws tim e to catch up w ith them . “H alt, or we fire,” they ordered. As there w as nothing else to be done, the tw o wretched travellers aw aited further orders. “Turn the horse round and com e into the bush aw ay from the road. I f you don’t do it a t once w e’ll blow y o u to pieces,”' said the leader w ith horrible im precations— so low and vile that we shudder to think o f them . “B ut i f you do a s you are told we shall treat you honourably.” (!!)

“What do you w a n t? ” demanded the two travellers. “W hat doyou think we want, y o u ---------- , your money, o f course, and be quickabout it .” “Then why not rob us here and le t u s g o ? ” querulously demanded the captives.

By th is tim e they were w ell aw ay from th e road in a w attle scrub where th ey were robbed o f a ll their m oney— £26 in cash, along with a so ld and a silver watch, their sm art w aistcoats and frock coats and their silk handkerchiefs, it is recorded. These articles o f attire had been intended to cause fiutterings in certain fa ir bosom s on the Break O’ D ay Plains.

“And now,” continued their torm entors, “give us your boots."’ This was too much for the poor travellers. H ow could th ey stumble along the track w ithout their boots ? “Come on now. take them off, or we shall strip you as naked as the day you were born.” N ow Mr. Rees and Mr. Stevenson were nicely brought up young m en and th ey could not bear to picture them selves arriving som ew here after dark holding bunches o f uncom fortable leaves in front o f them and afraid to knock a t any door le s t a wom an should answer th eir sum ­mons and perhaps refuse them adm ission. So th ey hurriedly took off their boots and were allowed to make their w ay back to Campbell Town as fa st as they could.

BUSH R ANG ER QUIGLEYOn the 11th o f October, 1855, there w as a steeplechase a t

Campbell Town and no less than three different parties o f v isitors m aking their w ay to the track were held up and robbed by th e notorious bushranger, John Quigley. A s one report a fter another w as brought on to the course, excitem ent grew and rumour spread from mouth to mouth. Startled m agistrates issued orders and th e police and m ilitary were told to keep a sharp look-out. N o t an hour after the la st report came to hand the day coach from Launceston bustled into the township and on top o f it, where the lu ggage w as usually carried, w as a woebegone looking man trussed up w ith innumerable ropes and straps. This w as none other than Q uigley who had tried to hold up W illiam Dodery and T. Lawson, who, w ith John and George Ritchie, were com ing down from Longford for the races by dogcart tandem. It turned out th at Q uigley had suddenly stepped into the roadway w ith a horse pistol in each hand and a black cloth over his face w ith eye-holes cut in it, a t Red H ill, near Cleveland at the ‘V&ucluse’ turn-off. This spot w as already in ­fam ous on account o f an attack made by Rocky W helan, who had brutally murdered a hawker there for a few shillings s ix m onths earlier.

And then Quigley had roared, “Stop ! Hands up ! or I ’ll shoot you.”

John Ritchie w as prepared for such an em ergency and ca lling to Lawson to drive on quickly, he pulled a revolver from his pocket and le t fly a t Q uigley, who also shot and m issed. Q uigley turned to run aw ay into the bush, but Ritchie, tak in g good aim, 'hit him in th e

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buttocks, which lamed hitn considerably. The two R itchies and Dodery soon had the wretched bushranger in their power and bound him. Ju st then the Launceston coach came thundering along, which w as hailed, and tossin g Q uigley up am ong the luggage, th ey all drove off trium phantly to Campbell Town.

Our heroes were soon surrounded by an adm iring crowd on th e racecourse and £50 w as collected in a few m inutes w ith which to buy a testim onial cup w eighing fifty ounces. This w as later presented to John Ritchie with a brief account o f their adventures engraved on one side and “England expects every man to do his duty,” on the- other.

Q uigley w as tried in Launceston, but refused to speak although called upon three tim es to plead. In fact, either through cunning or genuine inability, he never spoke again and rem ained m ute for the rest o f h is life, which ended som e years la ter in the N ew N orfolk A sylum , where the judge had ordered him to be sent.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENTCampbell Town w as one o f the nine police districts established

in 1827 by Governor Arthur w ith a stipendiary m agistrate, a detach­m ent o f troops, a doctor, postm aster and lecturer or catechist.

The present bowling green is laid on the spot where the old Council Chambers Mid ja il used to stand. It w as here th a t a notorious m agistrate is supposed to have had a man called Green­wood flogged to death. The day fo llow ing th is tragedy, th e m an •whose job it was to ligh t the fire in the P.M .’s office a t the Court H ouse seem ed to be very slow about g e ttin g it to start burning. “H urry up w ith that fire/" the m agistrate shouted a t him. “I t’s green w’ood, sir ,’’ said the m an quietly. “Oh, it is, is i t ? ” said the tyrant, “w e’ll see about th at,” and im m ediately gave orders for the poor w retch to be stripped to the belt and taken to the triang les where he too was flogged to death, according to the old story, which is alm ost certainly exaggerated. Actions o f th is type, ordered by cruel brutes, although rare and contrary to law, caused so much talk that m any have since believed them to be typical. It is obvious from the records here and elsew here in Tasmania th at m ost o f the m agistrates did their best to m aintain law and order w ithout un­necessary harshness.

As Mr. John Lyne wrote in 1897 after a very long life spent in Tasm ania, “Governor Arthur and those who follow ed him up to the tim e when transportation ceased, were good Christian men and would have scorned the idea o f allow ing their fellow m en to be treated in the cruel w ay th at I have heard reported. F or instance, th at th ey tyrannised brutally over them , or that they would send them to a brother m agistrate, sta tin g the case, w ith the request th a t the prisoner should be flogged and returned to service. This I d is­believe, for I never heard o f such a th in g a t the tim e. Had such th ings been done, both the m aster and the m agistrate concerned, would have been compelled to fo rfe it the benefit o f having convict labour assigned to them. The w riters o f these ridiculous ta les for use in highly coloured novels probably obtained the inform ation from prisoners who never tried to do right, and were treated accordingly.”

W e shall now quote in order as th ey come, from the Campbell Town Charge Book o f 1839, a few o f th e crim es and their punishm ents as m eted out under the follow ing m agistrates : John McLeod, John Leake, Frederick Forth and H. Harrison. These are typical not only

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o f Campbell Town in the old days, but o f m ost of the other districts as well.

A wom an who ran aw ay from her work and w as suspected o f having stolen some silver spoons, to which she pleaded gu ilty , was given six m onths in the fem ale house of correction in Launceston after which she was to be returned to Government service.

A man who disobeyed reasonable orders, to which he pleaded guilty, w as ordered fifteen lashes. (Poor Dr. Valentine, a kind- hearted gentlem an, had to be present at all tim es when prisoners were flogged; a duty which he hated m ore than any other. A t the first sign o f blood it is recorded that he would order the flagellator to stop and he would then certify th at the prisoner could stand no m ore.)

A man from the chain gan g (which w as alw ays composed o f a w orse type o f criminal than the average), who evidently w as inclined to g ive h im self airs, as the others called him “Count A lexander,” w as given seven days'1 solitary confinement on bread and w ater for being idle and disobedient.

A woman, charged w ith m isconduct w ith m ale prisoners, pleaded not guilty. As there w as not enough first-hand evidence (and it was spring tim e), it w as recommended th at her ticket-of-leave (alm ost complete freedom ), be withheld for a year.

A m an charged w ith disobeying h is m aster’s orders, pleaded not guilty . A fter hearing the evidence, he w as ordered to be re­turned to the Crown (barracks in H obart). H is m aster w as not allowed to have another man in his place as he had been “in a sta te o f intoxication and set h is men a bad exam ple.”

Two men o f the chain gang, for breaking their chains w ith the intention o f absconding and threatening their overseer, were re­manded and discharged.

A man charged with being drunk and pleading gu ilty , w as fined five shillings.

Four men who absconded from the Snake Banks chain gan g were given sentences varying from nine to tw elve m onths’ hard labour in chains and the w orst offender w as sent to Port Arthur.

For com ing into the police court in a sta te o f inebriation, a man �was reprimanded and discharged.

For h ittin g the overseer w ith sticks and pelting him w ith stones, a man w as given two years’ hard labour in chains— Port Arthur was recommended.

Of tw elve men who pleaded gu ilty to not w orking when ordered to do so, three were m erely reprimanded on account o f form er good conduct, and the rest were ordered to hard labour in chains for periods varying from one to two months.

Then there are several cases o f men usin g abusive language. T hese were given three hours in the stocks. And one who w as drunk and disorderly, got four hours in th e stocks.

A driver (convict) who fell, while drunk, o ff his m aster’s w ag­gon which returned driverless at two in the m orning to the stables, was given fourteen days solitary confinement and after that ordered to go back to his work again.

For being drunk, disorderly, fig h tin g in the streets and threat­en in g the constable who came to take him w ith a poker, and ca llinghim a b------ tw ice, in a loud tone o f voice, a rogue w as givens ix hours in the stocks.

And the last on our lis t is the cook who told her m istress on several occasions, that she (the m istress) wa« “very gracious’’ in fa c t too gracious to her young Government man—m eaning prisoner.

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The cook w as ordered on to a diet o f bread and w ater for fourteen days. (Which diet m ay still be tried as a cure for lecherous im agin­ings or even jealousy at the present tim e).

A s Curr w rote in 182'4 — “unfortunately for the settler, by fa r th e greater number o f prisoners sent to Van Diem en’s Land are o f a class wholly ignorant o f agricultural pursuits and m any o f them prove worse than useless to their m asters.”

ST. ANDREW’S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHThe spire o f this beautiful little church is a landmark in the town,

as m ay be seen in the picture on the cover o f th is h istory. I t is reported that the builders forgo t to untie a rope and le f t i t d an g lin g from the top o f the spire when their work w as finished and th e scaffolding taken away. N ot w ish ing to have the unseem ly th in g in evidence on the day o f dedication a rifleman o f repute w as asked to come along and shoot it down. A fter several tries w ith various m issiles, am ong which it is said, even marbles were used, the offending rope at la st came tum bling to the ground.

St. Andrew’s w as dedicated in 1855 and w as served by the fam ous Rev. Adam Turnbull, M.D. Dr. Turnbull w as born in 1803 and came to Tasmania tw enty-tw o years later. For tw en ty years (as m entioned elsew here) he w as secretary to Governor A rthur and Treasurer in Sir John Franklin’s term o f office. H is disagree­m ent w ith Governor Denison in ’52, concerning transportation, cost him both his office and his pension. Two years later he w as adm itted as a licenciate by the Presbytery and in A u gust o f th at year w as ordained and inducted. Services before th a t tim e had been held in the old Assem bly Hall, which later becam e the library (now the Buffalo Hall or old In stitu te). In 1871 the Rev. A lexander Michie came from South A ustralia to a ss ist the doctor, who, fu ll o f honour Mid years retired in July, 1874,

Old Mr. Alick Turnbull, the doctor’s brother and a keen gardener, used to keep the church grounds in perfect order until the tim e o f his death. Here came lovers in the m oonlight and children played aw ay the happy hours.

ST. LUKE’S CHURCH OF ENGLANDThe first clergym an to arrive w as the Rev. W illiam Bedford in

1833, who held services in the old police offices which afterw ards be­came the Council Chambers, the oldest building in the town. The la st public cerem ony perform ed by Governor Arthur w as the lay in g o f the foundation stones o f the Campbell Town and Ross Churches, both o f which were set in place on the sam e day. one in the m orning and the other in the afternoon o f October 20, 1836. St. Luke’s w as not finished until ’39, when the Ven. Archdeacon H utchins conducted services on the 20th January. The building w as badly constructed and had to be rebuilt from the tops o f the windows. A s soon as th is work was finished, the Church w as consecrated by Bishop Nixon.

The Sunday School w as added in 1845. Dr. Valentine, his w ife and daughter, w ith M iss Beresford, were the first Sunday School teachers. Mr. Bedford le ft the parish in 1854. During the incum­bency o f the next clergym an, the Rev. W illiam Brickwood, in October, '55, the hospital w as opened. In ’65, while Mr. R. W. Kirklands w as rector, Charles H enry Leake, o f ‘Rosedale,’ a staunch churchman,

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gave £500 from his fam ily and h im self to establish an endowm ent fund. M iss Caroline Harrison, the daughter o f H ezekiah Harrison, o f ‘Merton V ale,’ also gave £300 for the sam e object.

M iss Harrison afterw ards married the Rev. George W ilson, who -was rector from ’67 until the tim e o f her death tw o years later, when he returned to England.

The lectern in the Church w as given by Mrs. George W ilson, and M iss Leake, o f ‘Rosedale,’ gave a new pulpit during th is period. In 1876 the organ and choir were moved from the w est to the ea st end o f the Church. N ew altar rails, new lam ps and a new Communion set, also a new bell, which weighed five hundredweight, were installed. The bell w as swung on a tripod in the grounds as the brickwork o f the tower w as too we&k to hold it. The present vicarage w as built in ’88. m ainly through the generosity o f M iss Sarah Leake. The fo l­low ing year the tower w as strengthened and the bell placed in it.

OTHER CENTRES In ’91 Robert Headlam gave land at Conara for Christ Church and

In ’91 Robert Headlam gave land a t Conara for Christ Church and th e foundation stone w as laid some m onths afterw ards. On th e 31st M ay, '92, the Bishop consecrated the building.

Services were held regularly, from the fifties, a t Cleveland, Ba'rton and D arlington Park, but in the very early days, a ll denom ina­tions m et regularly in various private hom es, in the Court House, or th e A ssem bly rooms.

THE BRICKHILL MEMORIAL METHODIST CHURCH

No less than three M ethodist places o f worship have been erected in Campbell Town during the la st 110 years. The first sm all building w as opened in K ing Street on the 29th Septem ber, 1839, the tru stees o f the property being the sam e as those for the Chapel a t Ross. I t w as a- sm all congregation in those first days, e igh t seats with backs to them and fourteen benches being sufficient. E igh t years later, however, it w as decided to build a new Chapel in front o f the old one and facin g K ing Street. The Rev. W. B. Boyce, general superintendent o f the W esleyan M issions in N .S.W . and Van D iem en’s Land, perform ed the opening cerem ony on W ednesday, 18th of Novem ber, 1846. In ’49 an ever-increasing congregation n ecessitated th e building of » gallery inside the Church over the m ain entrance.

When Joseph Brickhill, the leading storekeeper o f Campbell Town, which w as then the fourth town of Tasm ania, died in 1865, he le f t a large sum of m oney to his Church. From th is legacy i t w as agreed to help new Churches in Launceston (Paterson S tree t), W est- bury and N ew Town. F ive hundred pounds w as given to form a theological fund and £1,400 w as put aside for a new Church a t Campbell Town or Campbellton as it w as som etim es called. A block in High, Street in the centre o f the town was bought for £135 from Mr. Thompson, then M essrs. Crouch and W ilson, architects in Melbourne, were instructed to design a new building to be made o f bluestone w ith freestone front and dressings covered w ith a roof o f sh ingles and with provision fo r a gallery i f it should ever be needed in the future.

Delays*caused by lack o f m oney held up work on the new Church until in 1879 the original plan w as used w ith the om ission o f the

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tower and spire, the vestry and one porch. The roof, however, w as to be o f slate and the interior fittings of cedar wood. A contract w as signed in May with Mr. K. W. Roe for £1,198. Mr. P. H art laid the foundation stone on W ednesday, 30th July, 1879 and in May o f the fo llow ing year, the Rev. J. Cope, o f Hobart, conducted the first ser­vices in the new building. Newspapers referred to the s in gin g o f the choir in anthem s, “with precision and ta ste rarely attained by town or country choirs” and the superb new cabinet organ w as used for the first time.

In the Church is a marble tab let to the m em ory of Joseph Brick- hill, given by the trustees o f the Launceston, W estbury and N ew Town Churches who ‘benefited by his g if ts .”

The original building o f ’39 w as made into a dw elling fo r th e Chapel keeper and the Chapel o f ’47 w as used as a Sunday School. Campbell Town is now linked with the Launceston Synod, but until 1921 it w as attached to Hobart.

Beautiful stained glass windows in the Church are in m em ory of Joseph and Anne F itzroy Coombe and another is for Thom as and B etsy Coombe.

A t Cleveland, the Rev. Pearce B. Barber tells us, “was planned the capital o f the Midlands. Its surveyed streets extend for m ore than a mile on either side o f the little Church.”

This little edifice w as built as a union Church for the use o f any P rotestant denomination and is used a t present by the A nglicans end M ethodists. W ith windows along one w all only and a rounded ceiling and w ith graves com ing to the very door, the little Chapel has been in use at Cleveland since the old coaching days; w agin g constant war against the drinking practices o f those tim es when the “Bald-Faced S tag ” and the “St. Andrew’s Inn” did a roysterous trade with care-free travellers.

ST. MICHAEL’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHOne o f the Churches m ost admired by visitors to the Midlands

in the middle o f last century w as “th at fine bluestone building,” St. M ichael’s Church. Since then, however, the railw ay has come betw een the Church and the E lizabeth River and passers-by on the m ain road can scarcely see the building for the number of houses which haive sprung up in front o f it.

W hen St. M ichael’s was consecrated on the 29th o f Septem ber, 1857, it stood alm ost alone on the high river bank and was in the cure of Father John Fitzpatrick, a native of Hobart. The first priests to visit the d istrict had been chaplains com ing to their people am ong the m ilitary and early settlers. In ’35 Father F itzpatrick w as given charge, not only o f Campbell Town, but o f Ross, Cleveland, A voca and Fingal.

In 1900 F ingal was made the headquarters o f the parish during the incumbency o f the well-known Father M ichael Beechinor. Later on Campbell Town w as served from Oatlands and a t the present tim e is served from Longford, by F ather Shelverton. Over the altar are three windows in mem ory o f Dean Connell and the Connell fam ily . Others are for Mrs. Collier and children, F ather H enry, the Clancy fam ily , L. O’Donaghue and friends, Jam es and M ary L ockett and Thomas and M ary Murphy.

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WATER SUPPLYIn the old days, w ater for household use w as drawn in buckets

and carried by hand to nearby residences ; for those further aw ay and Government Institutions, casks fu ll were taken in th e lum ber­in g drays o f the period and sold a t a sh illing a load as fa r as E ngle- bert’s H otel and for 1 /3 a load for any distance w ithin reason, beyond th at point.

W hen the river shrank in size w ith the com ing o f sum m er, it gradually became little better than a series o f w aterholes from which stock and human beings alike obtained their drinking w ater. M any deaths occurred, particularly am ong the young people, from that terror o f the early days, diphtheria, for which there w as then no cure.

A fter 1837 when the bridge w as built, w ells were sunk on each side o f the m ain road and these, when fitted w ith pum ps, gave a• stea d y and certainly much cleaner supply. W ater w as obtained in the township by these m eans until the W ater Trust, o f which Charles H enry Leake w as chairman, and Jam es Gibson, David Taylor, F. H art and Robert Jones were active m em bers, drew up plans—w ith th e aid o f engineer Christopherson— in 1879 for the construction o f an artificial lake on the Elizabeth River. The Secretary o f the Trust w as T. H. Power. Work commenced in January, 1882, and the dam w as finished in October, 1883. The lake thus form ed covered an area o f fifteen hundred acres, w ith an average depth o f 161 feet. It w as estim ated th at the lake held 6,048,000,000 gallons o f w ater, w ith a fa ll o f 1,200 fee t in the tw enty-m ile course to Campbell Town.

In honour of the chairman o f the W ater Trust, who had also been an ardent instigator o f the whole schem e, th is w as named Lake Leake.

The great dam, which holds back th e w ater of th e lake, w as built at K earney’s Bogs and is seven m iles from the source o f the E lizabeth River. No comparable schem e o f w ater conservation had been attem pted before that tim e in A ustralia.

The unfailing river thereafter flowed steadily through the town both in sum m er and winter, nor did the old mill lack pow er again to turn its stone rollers.

The first member o f the comm unity to supply houses owned by him w ith w ater, brought in pipes from the river, w as Ja<mes Gray, and his lead w as gradually follow ed until in 1908 the Municipal Council installed a turbine and pump which could force 5,000 gallons a n hour into the township reservoir, holding 120,000 gallons.

THE MIDLAND AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION

This A ssociation w as founded on Septem ber the 19th, 1838, the sam e year in which the Royal Agricultural Society of E ngland w as form ed. The H ighland and A gricultural Society o f Scotland dates from 1784 and the Royal Dublin Society w as established by Royal Charter in 1749.

This A ssociation holds the oldest sheep show in the Em pire and the sheep shown are am ong the best in the world. The inaugural m eetin g w as held in the Ross H otel w hen the stockbreeders o f Camp­bell Town, R oss and Oatlands were represented. The aim of the A ssociation w as to “form a Society for the im provem ent o f stock agricu lture and general rural econom y.” W illiam Kermode, o f ‘Mona

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V ale,’ was the first chairman and tl'ere were fifty -eig h t foundation members. The first Secretary w as Jam es M aclanachan and the treasurer w as Benjamin Horne. A com m ittee o f eleven m em bers w as formed, four of whom were to retire annually, tw o from Camp­bell Town, which included Ross, and two from Oatlands. M eetings were to be held annually at Campbell Town and Oatlands alternately. A petition w as sent from the first m eeting’ to Governor S ir John Franklin, seeking protection against the im portation o f sheep from the mainland, which were infected w ith contagious diseases unknown in Tasmania.

The first com m ittee w as elected a t the Caledonian H otel and Robert Harrison, Andrew G'atenby, Thomas A nstey, H enry Harrison, W illiam Kermode, George Scott, Jam es Lord, Arthur Sm ith, Robert Davidson, W illiam Wood and Daniel O’Connor were chosen.

The second quarterly m eeting w as held in Oatlands in the Lake Dulverton Inn, eight additional members were approved and it w as decided to offer prizes for live stock in the show to be held in Campbell Town on the 2nd October, 1839, in the yards o f the A ssem bly (la ter E nglebert’s) Hotel, and to mark the occasion, a special Show Dinner was arranged which later became an institution. P rizes were offered for sheep, principally those with fine wool. N o less than two hundred and tw en ty sheep were shown in pens o f five— the pens, by the way, were made o f tea tree and w attle sticks interwoven. John Leake, Robert Harrison and D. O’Connor shared the prizes fo r sheep w ith W. Kermode. Governor Sir John Franklin w as the first patron of the show and every Governor since that tim e has accepted th is office.

Sir John also instituted an annual prize for the five finest woolled rams not exceeding five years o f age. This w as first won by W. Kermode tw elve months later at Oatlands. Shortly after th is , £120 was sent to a firm of jew ellers in London (T. Cox Savory), a s an initial rem ittance for the annual purchase o f trophies to be won in the principal classes. F eeling ran very h igh in the forties on th e subject o f transportation. On th is m atter Governor S ir E. E ardley W ilm ot, under instructions from Downing Street, insisted th at it w a s the best th ing for the Colony to continue to receive shiploads of convicts, but the A ssociation thought differently on th is and other m atters. A fter angry discussion, it w as finally decided th at under the circum stances, the A ssociation “no longer considered th e Governor as its patron.” It w as, o f course, inevitable th a t transportation should cease, but it w as not until May, 1853, th a t the la s t hulks came to our ports. Transportation w as a forced im m igration which E ngland had used to people her colonies ever since the first hundred felons were sent to V irginia in 1612.

Governor Eardley W ilm ot died in Hobart soon a fter h is suc­cessor Capt. W illiam Denison arrived, and m any people said th a t he died o f a broken heart brought about by the worry and stress o f h is difficult position.

The Midland A ssociation w as responsible for founding th e Show at Longford (1850) as well as those a t Campbell Town and Oat­lands. Jam es Maclanachan, the first secretary, acted in th is capacity for sixteen years. He then returned to Scotland and Philip T. Sm ith succeeded him. M ackersey returned in 1857 and at th is tim e it w as decided to create w hat we would now call an agricultural co llege and the Home authorities were asked to send out a man capable o f founding such an institution. G. W. H ay finally arrived w ith fu ll credentials, but th e schem e came to nothing. H ay, however, gave

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som e lectures in Hoba*rt in January, 1856, but four m onths later their money w as returned to subscribers to the schem e and Tasm ania lo st th e distinction o f having the first agricultural college in A ustralia.

In 1867 the present Campbell Town showground w as bought.

HOTELS AND INNSMrs. Meredith wrote of the Campbell Town hotels—“M ost o f

them here are superior in all respects to the generality o f inns in the Colony. N either Hobart nor Launceston has an equal to them for com fort and quietness.”

Perhaps if the lady had spent the n ight a t som e o f the inns aw ay from the township, she would have changed her mind. Badly cleaned mutton-bird feathers in the pillow s, verm in and bad m en seeking stron g drink were to be found in these little nests o f iniquity. H ow­ever there were :

The Campbell Town Inn— W illiam Hill.The F ox H unter’s Return— W illiam Broad.The Blue Bells o f Scotland, a dubious establishm ent near the

police barracks and later converted into a lending library.The Criterion H otel stands where Kea-n’s H otel used to be. The

Caledonion, now the Commercial.The Bee H ive, or E nglebert’s, which later became H ynd’s, w as

th e headquarters o f the m ilitary in 1850.

SCHOOLSThe Rainbow H otel, owned by H ugh Keam, who built ‘D ouglas

P ark’ for Pearson, w as originally known as the A ssem bly H otel and run by H ogg during Pearson’s tim e. It w as a large tw o-storied building and became the Campbell Town Grammar School under Dr. W illiam Carr Boyd in the middle o f la s t century. The extensive yards attached to the Rainbow were used for exhib iting stock in the first agricultural shows.

All the really nice g irls used to go to Mrs. Clark’s school a t �‘Ellenthorpe H all,’ near Ross, but the boys had Mr. M alcolm’s ‘respect­able academ y,’ Dr. Boyd’s, or the school o f the very dignified Mr. Theophilus Sw ift. Others perhaps stayed a t home for their education and gained such knowledge as harrassed governesses could g ive them . How these unfortunate women ever trained the young colonists to be­com e little ladies and gentlem en w ith such distractions as bush­rangers, shearing, dipping, hunting, bushfires and heaven knows w hat to keep them aw ay from their lessons, is beyond comprehension. T hey would fill a> book w ith lam entations scarcely less grevious than those o f the sainted Jerem iah.

HOSPITALSWhen the first little hospital over the bridge becam e too ou t­

m oded even for those days, a public m eeting in ’55 decided to buy and a lter a house, owned by the Kearney fam ily on the main road, to m eet requirements. Dr. Valentine (who had a sm all private hospital where the Turkish baths were ‘much used’ says Mrs. M eredith) and D r. H arrington, becam e th e honorary m edical m en for the new hos­pital when it w as finished. There were only fou r rooms however A fte r thirty-five years, the old A ssem bly H otel which ‘Dr. Boyd

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had been using as liis school was cleared, and the first part of the present hospital built on the same site. The old hospital was gutted by fire at this time and there is now no trace of it.

Dr. Stokell followed Dr. Valentine and he w as follow ed by the -well-known Dr. TofTt, who w as principal medical officer for tw enty-five years. A t ‘The Grange’ Dr. Valentine, an am ateur astronom er o f som e ability, built an observatory, which is still there, for use during th e historic transit of Venus in 1882, an event which w ill not happen aga in until June, 2004.

During the 1830’s Dr. Strang and Dr. Barry Cotter, resident Governm ent surgeon, attended the sick at Campbell Town, m ost of �whom, having iron constitutions, survived their bleedings and purges. Cotter afterw ards w ent to Victoria where he w as storekeeper to the P ort Phillip Association, conducting h is affairs from a w attle and dab hut and assisted by a few black boys.

POLICEThe first jail w as built o f split logs on the H obart side o f the

bridge; nearby were the stocks where petty th ieves and abusive tipplers were placed with their head and hands secured between locked rails for public inspection and condemnation. This fact w as much appreciated by nasty little boys who threw rotten eg gs and filth a t the victim s, but knew when it w as tim e to m ake them selves scarce as unlocking tim e approached. In 1834 another jail and better barracks w ere built, but Campbell Town w as never considered to be m ore than an out-station in those days; one corporal and two privates in 1829 being the total m ilitary strength.

The post office was in Bridge Street. Here the m ails came and w ent tw ice a week during the ’30’s and deliveries were made through­out the district by men on foot or horseback. Settlers o f known in tegr ity generally undertook the carrying o f im portant letters. South o f the bridge, the only substantial buildings in those days were the first hospital and the Campbell Town Inn, run by W illiam H ill, who also owned the cottage where P.M. Jam es Simpson lived. Sim pson w as followed in m agisteria l duties by John W hitefoord, John Toresse and F. H. H enslowe. The original Campbell Town district stretched from ‘W oolm ers’ (Longford) up to the South E sk and past Break O’ D ay River to the sea. F ive m iles southward down the coast, the line passed the St. Paul's River and Oatlands d istrict and so back up the Lake River to its junction w ith the South E sk. Those were roughly the boundaries as given by Surveyor-General Frankland to the police m agistrate in 1828.

M ilitary pensioners were given ten-acre blocks on the outskirts of the township a t th is tim e and real nrogress w as apparent every­w here. During the th irties and fifties, an attem pt w as made to call the place Campbellton, which w as considered shorter and more modish, but the change w as unpopular and seldom used.

FREEMASONRYAlthough the records o f the first Lodge in Campbell Town are

very vague, we know th a t Lodge o f F aith No. 992 o f the E nglish Constitution w as established here in 1881 under a tran sfer from Launceston. Lodge o f Faith w as founded in Launceston on the 22nd o f March, 1856 and m eetings were held at the Shakespeare H otel,

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but support w as lacking for some reason, and the Lodge becam edormant. , ,

The first meeting' a t Campbell Town w as held on the second of March, 1881, in the Caledonian H otel. The only nam es o f officers recorded are those o f the W.M., H. Conway, and the Secretary, J. W. Palm er. In 1883-84 the W.M. w as W. C. Blyth; Secretary, J. W. Palm er; 1885-86, W.M., J. Gray; Secretary, W. T. W ebster. From th is tim e the Lodge o f F aith again became dormant. Thereafter no L odge w as functioning here until a charter w as granted to Lodge Merton, No. 39 T.C.. on April 22nd, 1922, w ith the fo llow ing foundation m em ­bers : George Phillip W right, H enry F oster, Fred. R. H. Dando, D ouglas R. D avis, Edward Gordon, Oliver M. Lee, Cecil Maynard, H enry H. Jones, H erbert J. Sm ith, Edwin R. D ungey, Robert L eslie Gatenby and J. M. Hodgson.

A t first, Lodge M erton used to m eet in St. Luke’s Sunday School room and it wa® here th at the installation and investiture were carried out by M.W.G.M. Bro. H. L. D’Emden and the Grand Lodge Officers. G. P. W right w as installed as the first W.M. w ith D. R. D avis as Secretary. The follow ing year, Col. H enry F oster w as W.M. and Robert Blee, Secretary.

In spite o f there being only 26 members o f the Lodge a t th a t tim e, th ey bought a building which Colonel H enry F oster had ac(|uired*for a drill hall 20 years previously and which w as originally built as a brewery. This w as converted into the present substantial Temple m ainly through the generosity o f the I.P.M. Wor. Bro. R. L. Gatenby. The new Tem ple and supper room were form ally dedicated in July. 1930, by M.W.G.M. F . P. Bowden.

THE RAILWAYW hen the m ain line came through in 1876, Campbell Town, as

w as the c&se w ith so m any other country centres, suffered a great blow to its sturdy independence. Launceston and Hobart drew much of the trade that form erly had been conducted locally. The w atch­m akers, m illers, brewers, tanners and a host o f others were forced out o f business and w ent to the cities. Bootm akers held out for m any a year longer, but then they too gave up. And now black­sm iths are alm ost more at home w ith the gears o f a tractor than w ith shoeing a horse or cutting and shutting a tyre.

SOME OF THE PIONEERSIn 1822 H ugh Murray and h is fam ily, also h is brother-in-law,.

Jam es Reid, chartered the brig ‘U rania’ and le ft Leith in Scotland on th e 27th of June for V&n Diem en’s Land and arrived in the follow ­in g January. Other passengers were Robert Young, W. Paton and John Thomson.

David Murray, H ugh’s brother, follow ed w ith h is w ife and two children nearly two years later. Between them , the M urrays brought a good supply of m erchandise and one dom estic for Mrs. H ugh M urray (w hose maiden name w as Jean Carm ichael). H ugh Murray named his gr&nt ‘St. Leonards’ when the foundation stone o f his. house w as laid on the 7th February, 1824 and Jam es Reid called his grant ‘Green H ill.’ ‘St. Leonards’ is now known as ‘Baskerville.’ David Murray lived in a hut lent to him by Reid on ‘Green H ill’ until his own house, ‘Twickenham ,’ w as built in ’25. The Y oungs settled at ‘P isa ’ and ‘B everley.’ H ugh Murray, a< ta ll, comm anding

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figure, w as treated as a king by the blacks on account o f h is kindly treatm en t o f them . Bonwick m entions that the fam ous chief o f the Stony Creek tribe w as called Eumarrah in an attem pted pronuncia­tion of bis name and Fenton records that during the Black W ar, a number o f black gins and their children came to camp a t ‘St. Leonards’ where they knew that they would be safe. H ugh Murray la ter moved to Hobart for the education o f his children and w as a m erchant there until 1845 when he w ent to Victoria, where his property on the Barwon w as also called ‘St. Leonards.’

Jam es Reid le ft ‘Green H ill’ som e tim e during the th irties to live at Richmond Hill, W est Tamar, where his son, A lex, married Dr. Turnbull's daughter, M argaret. He w as later instrum ental in build­in g the Church a t Sidmouth.

David Murray’s journal records, “I w ent w ith Marion in a cart to H ugh’s on a v isit. We had a narrow escape from ducking or drowning in the river, as the bullocks had to swim , the w ater being deeper than we had supposed. W e stayed the n igh t and for breakfast, afterwards returning home. W e got H ugh som e cabbages and peas for sowing and a screwdriver, also a present o f a fine young j;oat.” Then they paid Mrs. Leake and Mrs. Davidson a v isit in the cart. F ifteen days later, Mr. Hill ( ‘Gaddesden’) and Ca:pt. B riggs ( ‘Merton V ale’) paid the M urrays a visit, but would not sta y for

dinner— they only had lunch and a g lass o f wine. “They saw the new fence and thought a good deal o f it ,” w rites Murray proudly. In the follow ing April they paid » v is it to Hobart Town in M arsh’s very up-to-date cart, drawn by no less than ten speedy oxen, as fa r as M acquarie’s Springs where “I slept on a form all n ight, s ittin g w ith all my clothes on. H ugh and Robert Y oung lay down by the fire and in the m orning we took the horse cart and after spending the night at Green W ater Ponds (K em pton), reached Town at seven in the evening.”

M urray and Hume on another occasion, w ith one horse betw een them , rode ‘ride and tie ,’ that is .riding and w alking alternately, to Hobart.

One of Murray’s letters relates th at “Mr. W illis summoned me to go to his house to pursue the bushrangers. I reached his house a t eight o’clock, having lost my way. They thought, however, that I w as a bushranger m yself and received me all under arms !”

In 1839, the third Murray brother came out. Soon afterw ards a letter w as delivered to him addressed to “Henry Thomas A yton M urray, Esq., to be found in som e part o f Van Diem en’s Land, perhaps in a bush.”

David Murray’s eldest son, David, later represented Scottsdale in the House of Assem bly. H is second son, Andrew Carmichael, owned a flour m ill a t Longford for som e tim e and in 1875 w ent to Victoria. H. T. A. Murray became Police M agistrate a t Port Sorell.

THE TAYLOR FAMILYGeorge Taylor came from ‘Balvaird,’ a farm on the borders of

P erthsh ire and F ife , which his ancestors had rented for over 150 years. On th is estate w as also the castle o f the sam e nam e owned b y the E arl o f Mansfield, their landlord. Taylor le f t Scotland w ith his w ife and fam ily in A u gust, 1822, and arrived in H obart Town on th e 10th o f January, five m onths later.

Mr. John Taylor, o f ‘W inton,’ still has am ong h is papers the orig in al plan o f the s.hip, ‘Princess Charlotte,’ 400 tons, commander,

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Joseph Blytli, on which his people came to Tasm ania; also, i t m ay be mentioned here, the original hand-written instructions issued to his grandfather, David Taylor, who w as in charge o f the No. 2 party in the Campbell Town contingent of the B lack Line. No. 1 party w as under George Scott and No. 3 under Christopher Gatenby. In th is party were also W illiam Gatenby, Jam es B ayles and W illiam Allison. These three parties were ordered “to enter the Lake opening and then to go up the Lake River to the source. Scouring the w estern side o f the W estern Tier and coming- out a t the Blackm an River open­ing. H alting on the 12th with his right on Lackey’s M ill (Cheam ) in a line w ith M aloney’s Sugar L oaf.” F ifteen parties were sent out in the Campbell Town Police D istrict, each num bering from tw elve to fifteen men.

George Taylor was sixty-tw o when he le ft Scotland w ith "nis sons, Robert, David and George (who w as killed by th e blacks three years la ter ). Another son, John, follow ed in 1825 from a solicitor’s office in Edinburgh and took over ‘St. Johnstone.’

H is daughters were Isabella, who m arried David H utchinson o f ‘A boragie,’ and Mary, who married Robert Davidson o f ‘Glen M oray’ and ‘Cassieford’ in ’33. (B y the way, th is Davidson w as not related to W alter Davidson o f ‘Camelford,’ nor w ere either related to- Thomas Davidson, whose descendents, now liv in g in the township, cam e from Scotland in 1852.)

A fourth daughter m arried George A lston . Robert T aylor m ar­ried M iss M argaret Stew art o f ‘Stew arton’ and inherited ‘Valleyfield,’ (h is fa th er’s first grant) when his father died there on th e 26th April,, 1828. Robert’s sons were Robert, who inherited the old house; W il­liam (owned ‘Patterdale’) ; Jam es ( ‘Stew arton’); George (‘M ilford); Adam (portion o f ‘Valleyfield’) and Charles H enry. John and Thom as founded a business in Launceston which la ter becam e th e Tasm anian W oolgrowers’ A gency. H is daughters were Isabel (M rs. David Taylor o f ‘St. Johnstone’) and M argaret married John Taylor o f ‘W inton,’ whose son John, the grandson o f David, o f ‘W inton,’ m ar­ried M iss Lucy Mackinnon o f ‘M ountford.’ Their sons, John Mac- kinnon and A llan W. a t present own ‘W inton’ and ‘Kenilworth.' Their two daughters are N ancy (Mrs. Athol N icolson) and M ary (Mrs.G. W. K each).

David Taylor w as granted the ‘Bluff’ (th e Sugar L oaf) and married M iss N ancy Gatenby o f ‘Barton.* Their children were- George ( ‘W anstead’), Andrew (who afterw ards inherited ‘W inton’) and David, the fam ous studm aster of ‘St. Johnstone,’ who m arried first M iss Emma Gibson o f ‘P leasant Banks,’ by whom he had four daughters, Nancy, Mrs. Frank Gibson; Ann, Mrs. Robert Taylor;, Em m a, Mrs. E rnest Gibson; and Edith, Mrs. Charles Archer o f ‘Land­fa ll.’ H is second w ife w as M iss Isabel Taylor o f ‘Valleyfield’ w hose fam ily w as Davida, Mrs. Keith Gatenby; M argaret, Mrs. M itchell Tovell; and David ( ‘St. Johnstone’) , who m arried M iss Doris N orth- cote o f Melbourne. She and her son David are th e present owners, o f the old estate. M iss Arm inell Taylor, their daughter, recently m arried Mr. A llan Mackinnon o f ‘Glen E sk .’

Both John Taylor (who occupied ‘St. Johnstone’ for m any years- and married M iss Jane E lizabeth Todd o f Glasgow, leaving no fa m ily ), and his brother Robert, were foundation m em bers o f the Midland. A gricultural Association.

Mr. Robert Reginald Taylor o f ‘Valleyfield’ (half-brother o f Mr. John Taylor o f ‘W inton’) the prom inent studm aster m arried M iss Josephine W igan and their fam ily consists o f one son (J. D .) and three daughters. Mr. Taylor’s fa th er (John, o f ‘W inton’) w as th e

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youngest son o f Dfivid (o f ‘W inton). H is first w ife w as M ary, youngest daughter o f Robert ( ‘Valleyfield’) and his second w ife w a s M iss M argaret Taylor, the m other o f Mr. R. R. and his sister, M iss A lison Taylor.

At ‘Valleyfield,’ George, the eldest son o f George Taylor, w hile perched in a tree, bent on im proving h is mind by reading the Bible, w as surprised and taken prisoner by the pleasant-m annered M atthew Brady and forced to lead the gang headed by Crawford to th e homestead. When they came close to the house, Taylor wrenched him self free and raced inside g iv in g the alarm. The household im m ediately sprang to arms, forcing the bushrangers aw ay w ith a storm of m usket fire, the ladies o f the household loading the firearms w ith unshaken bravery. The only casualty w as the cowardly car­penter, who hid in an outbuilding w ith som e o f the wom enfolk, determined not to be drawn into the battle. During a lull in the firing he tim idly put his head out o f the door to see how th ings w ere goin g and was prom ptly shot by the bandits, ju st as th ey were pre­paring to make off. Y oung Taylor’s thumb w as dislocated when he broke aw ay from his captors, but otherwise, ow ing to his tim ely warning, no dam age w as done.

Two years later, th is sam e George Taylor, a man alw ays known to be kind and generous to the natives, w as speared in the back by them as he passed their camp when gathering sheep. Young Taylor had made presents to them o f sugar, flour and tobacco on th is and other occasions, but his kindnesses were forgotten in their insatiable hatred o f the w hite neople and the spear which killed him took aw ay one o f their best friends.

THE LEAKESJohn Leake was born at ‘E llington,’ R am sgate, Kent, in 1780.

H is people were partners in the firm o f M essrs. Travis and Leake, Merchants o f Hull, where John Leake was an ensign in the H ull volunteers. In 1805 he m arried E lizabeth Bell and later w ent to Ham burg where he represented various Yorkshire business houses until he decided to come to Van Diem en’s Land.

He arrived in Hobart with his w ife and fam ily aboard the ‘An* Andromeda’ on the 5th May, 1823, armed w ith letters o f introduction to the Lieut-Governor from W illiam W ilberforce and Lord B athurst. In the sam e ship he brought direct from S axony fou r merino sheep w ith which he founded his ‘Rosedale’ stud. John Leake had six sons, W illiam , died young, John, Arthur,who later owned Ashby, Edward, Robert and Charles. One daughter Sarah, died unmarried. Charles, whose name is perpetuated in Lake Leake, inherited Rosedale and m arried M iss Clara Bell. Their fam ily consisted o f three daughters, E lizabeth (la ter Mrs. J. D. F oster), Mary, who became Mrs. W ilfrid Hudspeth, and M iss H elen Leake o f ‘The Grange.’ ‘The Grange’ w as once Dr. V alentine’s old home, built in the Tudor sty le a*nd architecturally one o f the m ost d elightfu l houses in Tasmania.

In 1865 the original John Leake died in Campbell Town, a t the age o f 85, having been a m agistrate for 30 years and mem ber o f th e Legislature.

OTHER PIONEERSRichard P itt came to Hobart in 1804 w ith Lieut-Governor Collins.

Born in E ast B utterligh, Devon, it would seem that he had come direct to P ort Phillip (M elbourne) from England w ith Collins when the first aJbortive attem pt w as made .to form a settlem ent there. Collins

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abandoned the place (Sorrento) ow ing to the apparent barrenness of the country and w as given the option o f m aking a settlem ent either on the Tamar or the Derwent. He chose the latter and took over from L ieut. Bowen who had just le ft for Sydney w ith som e m utinous sold iers for their trial there.

P itt thus became one o f the first s ix free settlers in the South o f th e Island. H is original grant w as P itt’s Fa<rm o f 100-acres on the N ew Town Rivulet, part of which is a t present a vegetable garden. L ater he w as given a grant o f 600-acres adjoining Theodore B artley a t Franklin V illage. H is gravestone is in the old St. David’s cem etery (now a park) in Hobart.

Phillip, a grandson o f Richard P itt, in spite o f numerous warn­in g s aga inst such a venture, went to N ew Zealand where he had a property on the Canterbury P lains. Owing, however, to conditions arising from the Maori War which broke out shortly a fter his arrival there, his land became valueless and he returned to Tasm ania; first to Mona Vale in the tim e o f W illiam Kermode and later (1850) to Campbell Town. His son, Charles Frank, who w as Council Clerk for over 40 years, married M iss E m ily V irginia Headlam , the you ngest daughter o f Charles Headlam who owned ‘E ggleston , ‘Lam ont,’ �‘Charlton,’ ‘W oodbury,’ ‘B everley,’ ‘N anti,’ ‘Baskerville’ and other properties.

They had four children, Frances Ruth, Reginald Charles ( ‘Ive- ridge’), Colin M ackenzie, now Surveryor-General, who for his services w as honoured w ith the O.B.E., and the youngest son, Kenneth Slade, �who is a banker in W .A. M iss P itt lives in the old fam ily home, ‘R osetta .’

Thomas Henry Power, son o f Robert Power, a surveyor-general o f Tasm ania, came to Campbell Town in about the year 1854 and built h is home, ‘Mount Joy’ now ‘Balvaird.’ Am ong other offices w hich he held were those o f Council Clerk and Superinten­dent o f Police. H is w ife w as M iss Anna Munro H ull. Of their children, the second daughter, Mabel, m arried W. R. Bennett, who a t that tim e was m anaging ‘Mount M oriston’ for Capt. Scott. Two other daughters, M iss Helen Power and her sister, went to live in Hobart in 1901.

Jane Foster arrived in New South W ales on the s. ‘Berwick’ by way o f Rio in 1822. She came from their home, ‘Newby Cote’ in England, w ith her husband, John Foster, who died shortly afterw ards in Sydney. W ith them came their two sons, John and Henry, a third son, W illiam , having preceded them some tim e previously. A fter her husband’s death, Mrs. Foster, w ith John and H enry, came to Van D iem en’s Land, but W illiam , who w as a qualified barrister, rem ained in N ew South W ales where he w as appointed Commissioner o f the Court o f Requests in 1828.

Mrs. F oster received a grant o f 500 acres and rented 500 more adjoining her son John’s grant which he named ‘F osterville ,’ in the R oss d istrict. To th is as tim e w ent on, he made further additions. H is m other died a t John’s house, ‘W ivenhoe’ in Ha-mpden Road, Hobart, a t the age o f 79 on Christm as E ve, 1846. Shortly a fter her m arriage she had inherited her old home, ‘A rm itstead,’ near Settle in Yorkshire from her father, John D ow biggin; she also inherited a number o f ships which traded to the continent. D uring the Napoleonic W ars, however, m ost o f these ships w ere lost, so she and her husband made up their minds to try a- new life in a new world.

H er son, H enry, later moved to Cape Portland and then returned to England.

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John F oster (M.L.C. 1868), m arried Mrs. Riddiford in H obart- H ere he owned ships trading as fa r as M auritius, and w as under contract to supply the Tasm anian Government Stores w ith m eat which was used in great quantities for the m ilitary and the prisoners. John's three sons were Henry, John Dow biggin and Askin Morrison (so named a fter th is friend o f the fam ily) and two daughters, both of whom were married abroad. Henry became a colonel during the 1914-18 war, including Gallipoli, and h is son, Major John A skin F oster w as killed in action. His son, Francis, lives in the old fam ily home, ‘W ivenhoe.’

Colonel F oster married M iss Blanch Iieaeh, of ‘Chiswick’ and his properties included ‘F osterville’ and ‘M erton V ale’ (th e old H arrison hom e), also ‘A rm itstead’ a t Kimberley. John Dowbiggin married M iss E lizabeth Leake o f ‘Rosedale,’ and their son. L ister Dowbiggin, is the present owner, w ith his sister . M iss Dorothy Foster, o f this historic property and R. John L., their brother, owns fP leasant Banks’ a t Evandale.

W illiam John Turner Clarke who became the first A ustralian baronet w as born in London in 1801. A fter his fa th er’s death he cam e to Tasmania on the s. ‘Lady C astlereagh’ in 1829 w ith his w ife (a daughter o f the Rev. J. D ow ling). He rented 2,000 acres and later bought ‘Norton M andeville’ at Gretna, where he fattened stock for the H obart Town market. In 1846 he bought ‘Quorn.’ ‘T im sbury’ in the Glenorchy d istrict w as another o f his properties. A t h is death in 1874 he le ft property in Tasm ania, Victoria, South A ustralia , N ew South W ales and 70,000 acres in N ew Zealand. H is son, Joseph, inherited ‘Norton M andeville;’ W illiam inherited the V ictorian esta tes and another son, Thomas B igge, inherited ‘Quorn’ and married M iss Hannah Nicholas o f ‘Caywood’ on the Ouse. Their son, T. W. H.. Clarke, married M iss K. Riordan. a daughter o f th e doctor in Camp­bell Town, and the present owner, Mr. Thomas K ingsley Clarke, their son, lives at ‘Quorn’ with his w ife (form erly M iss W inifred Brown o f ‘Ellenthorpe’) and children.

John B ayles arrived in Hobart w ith his w ife and fam ily on the 16th April, 1824, aboard the s. ‘H eroine.’ He w as given a grant o f land beside th at of his eldest son Jam es, on the Macquarie, which they named ‘Rokeby’ and which consisted o f about 3,000 acres, also part of what has since become the suburb o f Mowbray in Launceston. Mrs. John B ayles w as born at Chatsworth in Som erset and John w as a native o f Lartington, in Yorkshire, but later moved to London where his home was in Temple Bar. His w ife died a few w eeks after th eir arrival in Hobart a t the age o f 36, in g iv in g birth to their son, Robert. Two other sons were John and W illiam. In 1847 John B ayles bought ‘Vaucluse’ from the trustees o f Robert B ostock’s esta te for £9,057. He w as a m agistrate for the d istrict and died on the 26th o f June, ’83.

Richard Harper W illis arrived at Hobart in May, 1823, w ith his w ife and a large fam ily. He was granted ‘W anstead Park,’ also som e tim e later a part o f w h at is now th e ‘Benham E sta te’ (w here Mr. and Mrs. A. F. B. O’Connor and th eir fam ily live . ‘Benham ' proper was a location to Roderic O'Connor, but ‘Connorville’ at C ressy appears to have been h is first grant.) W illis im ported five m erino rams and fifty-tw o ew es o f the sam e breed tw elve m onths after his arrival, all o f which are reported as arriving “in fine condition.” In A ugust, 1827, he also im ported one o f th e first threshing m achines to come to Tasmania.

Perhaps his m ost notew orthy im portation, however, w as the blood horse ‘Peter F inn,’ in 1826, who w as descended from ‘E clipse’ and

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becam e the sire of m any well-known race horses. He also had a pair each o f pointer, setters, retrievers and bulldogs sent to him at about the sam e tim e, which were am ong the first in the island.

The W illis fam ily were w ealthy London m erchants and the eldest son, Robert Harper W illis, inherited the fam ily estate ‘W anstead Park’ in England.

W illis died a t Southsea in England in 1855. H is children (the thirteenth o f whom w as born a t ‘W anstead’) scattered aw ay from the district and never seem to have come to Campbell Town again.

Henry Jellicoe and his w ife arrived from England in September, 1823, on the s. ‘M ariner,’ bringing 2,000 M exican dollars with them . He was granted ‘Camelford’ (2,000 acres) and two years later w as granted a further 1,700 acres adjoining.

Y oung C. H. Leake, in his diary, w ritin g in October, 1836, says, “ Pa w ent to Campbell Town and found that Mr. Jellicoe has sold his land, 3,000 acres and 700 acres, to Mr. Davidson for £6,000 down and £4,000 on m ortgage.” In the follow ing January he adds, “Mr. Jellicoe has been fighting a duel w ith Mr. Gregson and w as shot through the leg s for his pains. S illy cove indeed A month later Mr. Jellicoe w as still stum ping about on crutches, much to young L eake’s delight. This duelling affair, by the w ay, betw een T. G. Gregson and Jellicoe, caused a great stir a t the tim e and w as fo u g h t a t Bellerive where Gregson put a bullet through both of Jellicoe’s th ighs. No one seem s to know these days exactly what th ey were fighting about. Jellicoe w ent back to England where he died o f sm allpox in '41. He owned the 700 acres on which ‘Riccarton’ hom estead now stands (called ‘Camelford C ottage’ by Jellicoe).

Claudius Thomson, the first warden o f the Campbell Town M unicipality, arrived from Scotland in 1827 on the s. ‘A lbion’ and w as granted 2,000 acres where he built the present hom estead o f ‘M orningside.’ He w as appointed pound-keeper and -special con­stab le for the Macquarie River district. In ’36 he w as a signatory to a petition requesting the Government to a ssist w ith the stipend paid to the chaplain a t Campbell Town, which a t that tim e had no resident clergym an. A few years later he w as liv ing in Launceston on the Sandhill near the flagstaff, but later returned to Campbell Town and died there in 1868. Janet, h is widow, died during the fo llow in g year. Their daughter, Janet, became the second w ife of Jam es Mercer and inherited the property.

Their daughter, Miss Kathleen Mercer, w as known throughout Tasm ania in the show ring and in the hunting field as a g ifted horsewom an and daring rider. She w as lost in the ‘M iss H obart’ air disaster . Jam es Mercer's other daughters became Mrs. H enry Brock ( ‘Lawrenny’) and Mrs. Emerson B ayles.

John Nicolson, the founder o f th is fam ily in Tasm ania, served w ith the forces here during the la te forties as Deputant A ssistan t Commissary-General. H is two brothers were also arm y officers serv­in g a t that tim e with their regim ents in India. Both were killed in the Punjab cam paign. Another brother, Norm an, w as killed while directing engineering operations on the River Tamar.

John Nicolson, who had become hereditary ch ief o f th e clan N icail at his fa th er’s death, came to Tasm ania in 1845 and married Marion, the eldest daughter o f W alter and A gnes Davidson, o f ‘Riccarton.’ Donald N icolson, great grandfather o f the three brothers of th at name in the Campbell Town district, w as the la st o f the N icolsons to hold ‘Scorrabreck,’ the clan estate on the island o f Skye. W hen the property changed hands the old house w as dem olished and w ith it a link in Scottish h istory w as destroyed, for unremembered

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in one of the thick w alls w as an iron chest, in which were locked m any o f the fam ily records, ;also intim ate papers of, the Flora MacDonald and Bonnie Prince Charlie period, including', according to report, detailed accounts addressed to P .N . (P eter N icolson), giv in g the nam es o f his supporters in the H ighlands and positions to be held by them in tim e of em ergency. Those were lon g sought by the E nglish Government and never found, as the workmen, supposing th at treasure w as hidden in the chest, broke it open and finding only m usty papers which were quite valueless to them , burnt them all, fearing that their attem pted robbery would be discovered.

OLD FAMILIESOne o f the earliest fam ilies here w as that o f the H ills. One o f

them had a general store in the town in 1839.A furniture shop, which also supplied w ine and spirits, w as run

Tjy F. Ham ilton in 1839 and Frederick W illiam s w as the pastrycook a t that time.

Charles Goldspring and his three helpers made boots for men, women and children throughout the district.

John Lee did tailoring and supplied beaver hats sen t to him �direct from London. His flowered w aistcoats gave courage to m any a young man, caught in the snares o f love, to declare him self.

Johns, the butcher, in spite o f having no refrigeration or fly- screened doors and windows, sold beef, pork and even m utton in th is , the heart o f the merino country. Perhaps greatly daring, he brought Southdowns and other outlandish breeds secretly and at night to his slaughter-house. Another butcher w as the well-known Patrick Kearney.

Old Tom Todd had a general store, supplying the countless needs o f the township. He rather fancied that he resembled Napoleon in appearance and chose period nam es for his children. H is first-born son was christened Napoleon Joseph, h is second son w as named Liberty Eugene and A loysius Josephine w as his daughter. On a board �over the doorway o f his shop w as painted in capital letters, the French equivalent o f Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood.

Joseph Brickhill w as also storekeeper and H ughie McGiddey m ended the watches and clocks o f the comm unity.

The fam ily o f Thompson has been in th is d istrict for m any years and th e original W illiam had no less than fifteen children. A ll the l e s t horses were shod a t his forge in the old days.

The tannery stood a t the bend o f the river and w as run by a man named M otts.

The fam ily o f Coombe has alw ays been w ell represented here a s farm ers, m illers and bakers.

Jam es Simpson, P.M. in ’35, w ent w ith Batm an to found Victoria and later became the first police m agistrate in a v illage called M el­bourne.

The first pipe organ made by Dr. Valentine w as destroyed by fire ju st after he had finished it. Aided by public subscription and undaunted, he started to build another, which w as alm ost com pleted when he died (1876) and the various parts o f the instrum ent were sold w ith the rest o f his household goods by public auction.

I t is reported th at when Mr. A lfred B iggs w as schoolm aster in 1874, he came across the designs o f Graham B ell’s device for “transporting the human voice” in an E nglish paper. B eing o f a m echanical turn o f mind, he constructed a pair o f instrum ents o f the sam e description, using such bits and pieces as h is ingenuity sug-

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Rested. One instrum ent w as sen t to the Launceston railw ay station,, where it w as attached to the telegraph w ire and the other w as fixed to the sam e wire where it passed through Campbell Town and a conversation o f sorts took place. Mr. B iggs thus gained the honour of being the first person in the Southern H em isphere to use a te le ­phone successfully.

N in ety , the glutton , w as a shepherd in a lonely part o f the district, who w as possessed of an ungovernable appetite. I t is related th at during a period o f three m onths w hile alone in charge of a flock, he consumed, in addition to quantities o f other food, no less than 90. sheep. The expression, “n inety” was synonym ous w ith “glutton” throughout the district for m any years. I t is possible that the present slang word, “nineter” or “nointer,” m eaning a not unpleasant villain , has developed from the shepherd’s w eakness. This word is in common use throughout Tasm ania, but seem s to be unknown on the mainland.

PIONEER PROPERTIES‘Truelands’ (present owner Mr. J. R. N icolson), on the footh ills

of the E astern T iers, w as originally taken up by the Harrison fam ily o f ‘W oodbury’ and ‘Rocklands.’

Opposite ‘Truelands,’ across the E lizabeth River, is ‘W olfscraig’ (also J. R. N icolson). The house, once so well-known for its hospital­ity when the H arrisons, o f ‘Woodbury,’ owned it, is now only a ruin.

‘Douglas Park’ (Mr. Trevor Jon es), w as Dr. Tem ple Pearson’s old property which he acquired in 1823, when he came from Scotland. The Georgian house is built o f Ross freestone. Traces o f w hat is possibly the first Pearson home m ay still be seen on the bank o f th e Elizabeth nearby. Dr. Pearson returned to Scotland during the fifties and his descendants sold the property in 1902 to Mr. Daniel Archer, who sold it ten years later to Mr. A. E. Jones, who in turn, sold a part to the Nicolson’s a t ‘Truelands’ and another block on the South E sk to Dr. Woolrabe. Mr. Trevor Jones, son o f Mr. A. E. Jones, now owns ‘Douglas Park.’

‘Riccarton’ (Mr. Crosby Lyne) w as part o f the H enry Je lli­coe grant and w as called by him, ‘Camelford C ottage’— ‘Cam elford’ itse lf being his home across the river. Jellicoe w as an ancestor of' the fam ous admiral of Jutland.

It m ay be m entioned here that the seat o f the Gibson Craig- fam ily near Edinburgh is also called ‘Riccarton.’ The Davidsons had been tenan t farm ers on th at estate for m any years before coming- to Tasmania.

‘Rosem ount’ (th at part o f ‘R iccarton’ nearest Campbell Town) was taken up by the two Robertson brothers, m entioned in the- Murray diary, who sold to W alter Davidson when th ey moved to Colac in Victoria. Davidson appears to have been the first w hite settler in the district and ‘Meadowbank’ w as his grant. Davidson actually nam ed th is grant ‘Riccarton,’ but when he bought ‘Cam elford Cot­ta g e ,’ he gave it the sam e name. Here he introduced the first cash- mere goats to be seen in Tasm ania, valued for their silky hair. He w as killed when the horse he w as riding shied at the gates o f ‘H owly Lodge,’ where new m aterial was, ly in g beside the road. Euphemia,. Davidson’s daughter, m arried Herm an W oolrabe, an officer of th e Im perial Com m issariat. The property w as let by them to the grand­father o f Mr. Trevor Jones. The Hon. Carmichael Lyne acquired the, property in 1909 from Mrs. Beddome, a daughter o f the W oolrabes.

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To ‘Camelford’ (Mr. Cuthbert Chester) Mrs. Jellicoe, it is said, im ported gorse roots and seeds from , her native Cornwall and soon had delightful little hedges o f the golden flowers around her garden. Later, w ith fiendish persistence, she carried seeds o f th is plant in her handbag and sowed them in any likely places throughout the countryside, flitting, as one possessed by demons, from field to field.

In 1854 ‘Camelford’ became the home o f John Nicolson, who had married Marion, the eldest of W alter Davidson’s three daughters. The long brick wall was built and the E nglish trees were planted by him.

ON THE ELIZABETH RIVER‘Quorn Hall' (Mr. K ingsley Clarke), east o f ‘Cam elford’ on the

'Elizabeth, was granted to Lieut. H ill, R.N., in 1823 and w as na>med ‘Gaddesden’ by him. When he returned to England in 1837 the estate consisted o f 7,000 acres and w as bought by W alter Glas Cheine, who kept one o f the first packs o f hounds in the district. H is enjoym ent o f t h e ; chase probably influenced him in changing the nam e o f ‘Gaddesden’ to ‘Quorn.’ A fter a hectic four years, Cheine sold out to Jam es Lord, who in turn sold to W. J. T. Clarke. ‘B ram bletye’ and ‘K ingston’ were owned by Clarke at th is tim e. The ‘Quorn’ stables were fam ous for their racing blood and stock under the m anagem ent •of his son, T. B. Clarke, as were the hounds and hunting horses. H is grandson, T. W. H. Clarke, after a life o f adventure, shooting (including B isley) and big gam e hunting all over the world, brought back a fine collection o f the heads o f various gam e anim als, which are still on the walls at ‘Quorn.’ During his absence on various ex ­peditions, the property w as m anaged by his cousin, Lewis Dowling.

‘Merton V ale’ the late Col. H enry F oster bought in 1890. It had been granted in three areas, one to John Abbott, another 2,000 acres to John B riggs and 330 acres to Hezekiah H arrison (nearest the tow nship). Harrison la ter acquired the whole property, which lies in the fork o f the Macquarie and E lizabeth Itivers. In 1880, Robert Jones (uncle o f Mr. Trevor Jones and son o f W illiam Jon es), leased the property until it w as bought by Colonel Foster.

Across the Macquarie is ‘F osterville ,’ the F oster grant to which the original H ogg grant, ‘Craigellachie,’ w as added. Both these properties were leased a t one tim e by an aristocratic old gentlem an from England called Bolivar Blyth. A s m entioned elsew here, the F osters imported fa t cattle for Government m eat supplies. The ca ttle were landed where the ferry boats moor now in H obart and were driven up the hill to be slaughtered in w hat is now Hampden Eoad.

‘Meadow Bank’ (Mr. Malcolm Gibson), on the E lizabeth, w as �once part o f Wa-lter Davidson’s extensive ‘R iccarton’ property and w as inherited by his daughter, Lucy, who married her cousin, Eichard Galloway and generally lived in England. Arthur Leake (o f ‘A shby,’ a t R oss), bought the property and it w as le t to W. H. Gibson, of ‘Fairfield,’ whose son Frank (fa th er o f th e presen t ow ner), la ter bought it. Part o f ‘Meadow Bank’ w as orig inally granted to John MacLeod, another pioneer. MacLeod had a store in th e tow n and built a mill on ‘Meadow Bank’ where he planted an almond garden, which, is all that now rem ains. MacLeod reached the h eight o f his brief fam e when he gave a grand ball a t his home and lit the Toad from Campbell Town to h is door w ith hundreds o f Chinese

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lanterns strung on poles all the w ay and attended to by a platoon o f convict workmen. But the depression o f the forties came and at its- height the extravagant MacLeod fa iled and soon afterw ards a fire- destroyed the house.

Of ‘Rosedale’ (Mr. L ister Poster, a great-grandson o f John Leake) Capt. B utler Stoney, w riting in ’56, says : “The chaste Ita lian villa , ‘Rosedale,’ belongs to Mr. Leake, M.L.C., and the gardens and grounds are laid out in beautiful order. W hat is m ost rem arkable is the change effected by Mr. Bl&ckburn (an architect o f th is C olony), who converted it (th e first h ouse), w ithout detracting from its conveni­ence.” H igh on the bank o f the E lizabeth River, w ith m assive stone outbuildings all in perfect condition and surrounded by E nglish trees, ‘Rosedale’ is still one o f the finest homes in the Midlands.

‘W oodford,’ on the Macquarie, which here has been joined by the Elizabeth, w as part of ‘W anstead’ before it w as sub-divided during" the six ties. ‘W oodford’ w as purchased by Jam es Mercer, who fo r years had m anaged ‘W anstead’ and w hoso father-in-law! owned ‘M orningside’ on the other side o f the river. The property w as sold, by Jam es M ercer’s executors (about 1896) to Thom as and George Muirhead, the two eldest sons of Jam es Muirhead, overseer to the Hon. Jam es Gibson, o f ‘Belle Vue.’ George Muirhead built the present home and lived there till h is death a few years ago. I t is. now the home o f his widow and daughter.

KIRKLANDS‘K irklands’— the Church grounds and m anse are on a block of'

120 acres originally owned by the Taylor fam ily (being part o f th eir ‘St. Johnstone’ estate) to the Presbyterian Church. A s space is. lacking for details o f th is pioneer Church elsew here ,it m ay here be stated that ‘Kirklands’ m ight be said to have originated a t ‘W inton’' (then owned by Dr. Adam Turnbull, M.D.) on the 2nd January, 1826. Am ong the nam es recorded in the m inutes o f th at m eeting are those o f George Taylor (sen ior), Jam es Reid, Arthur P riest. John Cox, H ugh Murray, George Stew art (o f ‘Stew arton’) , Robert Taylor,. Robert Young (who seem s to have been m anager o f ‘W inton’ and a relation of Dr. Turnbull’s w ife, who had been M argaret, the d au gh ter o f George Young, the Postm aster-G eneral o f Scotland). W illiam Malcolm and that native o f India. Rum John Con (who had probably come out w ith one o f the regim ents from his native land), whose- sim ple grave is near the Church which he helped to found). I t was- resolved to purchase a glebe and build a “place o f worship upon the river,” also a dw elling house and to secure an incom e o f at least one hundred pounds a year for the m inister. Subscriptions o f “one good ewe for every hundred acres o f landed property possessed by the subscribers (for those purposes), leaving it to the decision o f a m ajority of the next m eeting whether the subscription shall be- collected in ewes or m oney a t the rate o f tw en ty shillings for each, ew e.”

Mrs. H ugh Murray laid the foundation stone o f th is solid little kirk which stands overlooking the Macquarie w ith very little a ltera­tion since that tim e, except for the cem etery where the pioneers were laid one by one. H ugh M urray’s grave, however, is in th e old". St. Andrew’s churchyard in Hobart.

One little headstone th at has stood through m any a lonely w inter’s n ight w as placed there long ago for “Our Baby,”' those two- words only.

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By the year 1830 the glebe was acquired and the M anse built. T h e Church was dedicated on the 2nd October. 1836, and the first m inister was the Rev. John M ackersey, whose brother had taken up ‘Greenhill,’ a 3,000 acre property on the Macquarie. The Reverend John had an academy for young gentlem en and one o f h is boarders, a big, rather heavy boy with p leasant m anners, later became Sir Richard Dry. Mr. M ackersey’s school was fam ous throughout the island. He w as also a very keen gardener and distributed rare trees and shrubs, grown from seeds and cuttings, am ong his parish­ioners with a free hand.

One Rev. John M ackersey came to Tasmania on the 26th of February, 1829 from Leith and settled first a t ‘Quorn’ (then called ‘Gaddesden’) where he conducted a school. W hen Kirklands m anse w as built in 1830 he was appointed to the new ly-form ed parish. The first sermon was preached in the church by the Rev. John Anderson, M.A., at the dedication service on October . 2, ’36. He w as assisted during the service by Mr. M ackersey and the Rev. J. Garrett. Mr. M ackersey’s parish extended over Kirklands, Lincoln, Cleveland and the upper Macquarie and (for a tim e he seem s to have gone as far afield as Launceston, Evandale, the N ile and E sk Vale.

The Hon. Jam es M aclanachan, o f Tunbridge (for m any years treasurer o f the Presbytery funds) bequeathed £500 towards the stipend o f the m inister a t Kirklands.

ALONG THE MACQUARIE‘St. Johnstone’ (Mr. David Taylor). W herever fine and superfine

merino wool is known throughout the world, these fam ous stud- m astcrs, the Taylors o f the Macquarie, are also known, along w ith the nam es o f the Gibsons and Gatenbys. ‘St. Johnstone’ stands on part o f the original John Taylor location o f 630 acres. Included in the property is an old grant to H enry Em m ett, who w as a builder and contractor in the district during the th irties. ‘Riccarton,’ am ong other places was built by him. The ruins of an old red brick house �on ‘St. Johnstone’ known as ‘Black Johnny’s,’ m ark the home o f Rum John Con (m entioned earlier). Black Johnny’s ford near these ruins also records his name and Surveyor Evans, w ritin g in 1824, m entions that Ram (probably his correct nam e) John Conn had been granted land a t N ew Norfolk four years earlier. Turnbull’s Bridge w as later built across Black Johnny’s ford, but has since been washed aw ay by floods. A lthough there is no merino stud on ‘St. Johnston’ a t the present tim e, the grandfather o f the present �owner bred a superfine stud flock o f merino sheep, outstanding even for th is d istrict, but th ey were sold during the 1914-18 war, when his son, that fine man and good soldier, the late Mr. David Taylor, �enlisted and the property w as leased to Mr. W. F. von Bibra. H appily, the greater part o f the stud w en t to ’W inton’ and ‘V alley­field.’ To-day a Polwarth flock is m aintained on ‘St. Johnstone.’

‘W inton’ (Mr. John Mackinnon Taylor) w as orig inally granted to Dr. Thomas Landale (or Landell, as it w as som etim es sp e lt) , who married Sir Richard D ry’s sister H arriet and lived a t ‘W estwood,’ H agley. The doctor sold it to Dr. Turnbull and it w as acquired by O’Connor, o f ‘Connorville,’ who later exchanged the property w ith David Taylor for his grant, ‘The Bluff,’ or ‘Sugar L oaf,’ a t Cressy. Another part o f ‘W inton’ was bought during the six ties from W illis o f ‘W anstead.’ Dr. Adam Turnbull, M.D., whose descendants lived for so m any years in ‘Ivy C ottage’ (M iss Ada T urnbull), w as

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confidential secretary for tw en ty years to the Governors Arthur and Franklin. W ith E ardley W ilm ot, however, he disagreed over th e transportation question and alw ays a staunch churchman, became a m inister and a great power for good in the Presbyterian Church o f Tasm ania. The outline o f Dr. Turnbull’s first home m ay still be traced in the garden in front o f ‘W inton H ouse.’

“P ituncarty’ borders ‘W inton’ on the north along the river and for s ix ty years has been part o f ‘W inton.’ It is leased from the heirs of the Hon. W illiam B ayles (M elbourne), who inherited the esta te from Andrew B uist, the first owner. The B uist fam ily o f ‘P ituncarty’ in Scotland, were neighbours o f the Taylors there and the original B uist came to Tasm ania w ith George Taylor. H e had married Taylor’s daughter, Christian, before leav in g Scotland. The old ‘P ituncarty’ house w as built in 1825.

‘K enilworth’ (Mr. A llan W. T aylor), w as the original ‘Forlonge’ stud merino property. It is from these sheep, the pick o f Saxon merinos, that the fam ous Taylor flocks are descended, as David Taylor bought a great m any of the Forlonge stud. W hen the For- longes moved to Victoria, Taylor paid 9,700 sheep for about 4,000 acres o f land. Donald Cameron o f ‘Fordon’ w as called in to arbi­trate in this m atter over which there w as som e disagreem ent. To­day, Mr. A llan Taylor breeds superfine merino sheep descended from the Forlonge stud on th is sam e property.

‘Stockwell’ (M rs. Jam es M uirhead), w as once part of ‘Rokeby,’ which lies opposite across the Macquarie and w as then connected by a punt. I t had been an A llison property and th a half-built w alls o f a stone house are still standing. Y oung A llison intended th is build­in g to be a home for his bride and him self, but the lady (as Mr„ Norm an Nicolson sa y s ), thought better o f the m atch and jilted him. W hen th is happened, Allison im m ediately stopped the builders and sold the land. The large lagoons on ‘Stockw ell’ are the breeding places o f black duck, m ountain duck and teal; and it is the m ecca of sportsm en when the season opens.

‘Valleyfield’ (Mr. R. R. Taylor) is the original Taylor property o f 1823. They and some other settlers named Diprose, brought four bullock w aggons loaded high w ith their belongings from Hobart Town. When at last they arrived near Cleveland, their w aggons were drawn close together and the space betw een them w as covered with sail-cloth. Here they lived until their first rough crofts were built o f tim ber hewn from the forest trees and som e land had been cleared. D iprose’s Lagoon in the forest records the nam e o f the fam ily , but the descendents o f th is old E nglish squire have long since moved away. Their estate w as bought by another settler named B onilly, who built ‘F orest H all.’ The property is now part, of ‘K enilworth.’

D uring the recent war a large em ergency aerodrome w as built on ‘Valleyfield’ and p art o f ‘Stew arton’ at great cost and is large enough to take the heaviest bombers.

A s th is account o f ‘Valleyfield’ goes to print, Mr. R. R. Taylor has just topped the world’s h ighest price for superfine Merino wool w ith a bale sold in Launceston for which he secured 210d per lb.

ALONG THE TIERS‘Leverington' (Mr. George T hirkell), has been dealt w ith in a h is­

tory o f the Cressy district. The Red Lion Inn once stood on th e road which ran through th is property from ‘Valleyfield’ to ‘W oolm ers.’ I t w as the haunt o f escaping convicts, bushrangers and any who pre­ferred to avoid undue publicity. On the w est bank o f the M acquarie

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across from ‘Leverington,’ is ‘Darlington’ (Mr. and Mrs. John B ay les), which was also referred to in the history of Cressy. Over to the w est behind M iller’s Bluff and up the great rocky gorge is ‘The Den,’ or 'R egent's P lains,’ originally the property o f the Woods o f ‘Dennis- toun,’ at Bothwell, but now incorporated with ‘Connorville.1' Aw ay back in the mountains hereabouts, gold has been found in the river wash. Men who were lost when in search o f strayin g stock years ago, came in the late afternoon to an unknown valley, steep-sided and forbidding, and to their am azem ent they saw that one w h o le w a ll o f it consisted o f glisten ing quartz which w as shot through w ith gold and blackened hero and there by the passing o f bush fires during the la st summer. Hardly did the stockm en survive starvation and return at la st to their homes on the Silver Plains.

Some tim e afterwards a m ining expert named Leahy, who w as inspecting claim s on the Dabool Creek at ‘Parknook,’ heard o f the quartz cliff that the stockmen had found and, tak in g one o f them with him, searched long and in vain am ong the crumpled gorges o f the Tiers for the lost eldorado. But the wild, rough country still hid its secret treasures and they found neither cliffs o f quartz nor rocks o f gold.

From ‘The Den’ the road lifts again to the Lake P lateau up to what is known as the Den Tier. This road, i f road it can be called, Tuns through to ‘Interlaken’ homestead, where it joins the Great Lake Road and passing over it, goes through to Bothwell. It is said that the early bushrangers fled along th is road when hard pressed by the police and m ilitary.

Campbell Town M unicipality follow s the edge of Lake Sorell for •seven m iles, but Ross generally claim s the lake as its own. The boundary o f the two m unicipalities is marked by the Mountain Creek where there are fine trout. On the m arshy plateau were once numbers o f wild horses, m ostly piebalds and skewbalds. Some tim e -ago the last o f them were yarded and sold for £5 each, but it w as necessary to catch them before taking them aw ay, says Mr. Nicolson, and you needed to be a very good stockm an to do it.

‘Auburn’ (Mr. Crosby Lyne) w as located and bought from the Crown by the Bayles fam ily, who sold it to Mr. Lyne in 1935. I t is divided between Campbell Town and Ross by the Green Creek.

North, along the Isis V alley, next to ‘Auburn,’ is ‘Rose V illa ,’ owned for m any years by the Towns fam ily , as were ‘B icton’ and “Rokeby.’

‘Barra’ (Mr. Robert L ittlechild). Here on the ea st o f the river, the Barrack H ill was possibly the site occupied by the guard of soldiers under a sergeant who guarded the d istrict in the old days, w ith headquarters a t ‘Auburn.’

‘Skelton Castle’ w as so named by Capt. Dixon after the ship lie had commanded before he settled on the land. He built a fine house surrounded by gardens and orchards, but afterw ards decided to return to England. B eing o f an unusual, if not eccentric character, he announced that at ten o’clock on a certain Monday m orning he would be w aiting a t the turn-off to his house from the R oss-C ressy road, ready to sell his property to the first man who would offer him £10,000 for it. Gatenby had come from ‘Barton’ well before tim e on th a t Monday m orning and when the captain stepped out from behind his boundary fence, the cheque book fluttered and the deal w as com­pleted in record tim e. Aw ay down the road th ey could hear a horse gallop ing w ildly towards them. In a few m om ents O’Connor flung iiim se lf out of the saddle and stood before them in a furious tem per. N ea r ‘Connorville’ his horse had gone lam e when it ca st a shoe,

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m aking him late for the appointm ent. So it w as th at the G atenbys came to own ‘Skelton C astle.’ P iles o f brick and m asonry and th e room y cellars are now all that rem ain o f the house. On the back run of ‘Barton’ is another ruined stone house which w as called ‘St. H ilda.’ It was here th at the township reserve o f M aitland w as once marked out.

‘B arton’ is now owned by Commander Jam es M elrose, R .N., w hose first w ife w as the daughter o f th e la te owner, Mr. Thom as D ow ling. For m any years Mr. D ow ling w as President o f the Midland H unt Club. This fine old place w as the first home o f the great pioneer fam ily o f Gatenby. A short history o f the G atenbys w as included in the “H istory o f C ressy” and is unfortunately too long to be repeated here.

THE WOOD-HEAP MURDERMr. Arthur Lockett, who w as born on ‘Barton’ a long tim e a g o ,

and now lives in Campbell Town, says that there were once several fam ilies, including bootm akers, blacksm iths and tim ber sp litters, liv ing in M aitland township, but only the stone w alls o f one ruined house m ay be seen to-day.

The flour m ill on ‘Barton’ is s till standing and w as gristin g flour w ithin liv ing memory. As the first in the district, it had been admired by Governor Arthur, who praised the Gatenbys for their in itiative and fine pioneering qualities, which, th e Governor said, were a model for all to copy.

Mr. Lockett, o f Campbell Town, owns a w alk ing stick which a policem an named Thompson, used as his only m eans o f defence a g a in st a man named Connolly, who, mad w ith jealousy and rage, se t ou t to kill Thompson w ith an axe

One Sunday evening, nearly seven tly years ago at ‘B arton,’ when the sun had ju st set over the W estern Tiers and peace lay in the valley; a man named Connolly sa t in the kitchen drinking rum. This, o f course, was a forbidden pleasure and the liquor w as only tO' be had through the good services o f the m ail cart driver, who w as perm itted to put two o f his horses in the Gatenby stables. Connolly w as thinking as he drank o f the fa ir M iss Larkins, who worked in the house for Mrs. George Gatenby who lived there w ith her widowed daughter, Mrs. D. F letcher, and another daughter, M iss Louisa.

Now, Connolly, a strong, decent, hard-working fellow when sober,, became like a wild beast when the rum w as in him and his fifty -six years would lie ligh tly upon him . M oreover, th e m aid laughed at him for an old fool and teased him to distraction.

On this quiet Sunday evening, Mrs. F letcher had occasion to- cross the yard to v is it the kitchen, where th e m en w ere having, their tea. She soon noticed that Connolly had been drinking heavily and seeing that he w as in a dangerous mood, told one o f the men to go over and fetch Constable Thompson, who lived at th e blacksm ith’s: shop, and to be quick about it. Thompson came as soon as he wa«. called and shaking his w alk ing-stick p layfu lly a t Connolly, said, “Now, mind you behave you rself,” and walked over to th e fireplace. H e was seven ty years old then and not as quick in h is m ovem ents as he had been.

In the corner where Connolly sat hunched over h is drink, stood a couple o f woodheap axes. Stretching out his hand suddenly, he grasped one o f them and, goin g over to Thompson, aim ed a blow a t his head which m issed but inflicted a dreadful gash in his shoulder.

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The constable weakly fum bled for the revolver in his belt, but th e shock o f the attack made him unsteady and he fe ll w eakly to the floor. Connolly, now a very devil, stood over him and drove the a x e again and again into his legs and body, then seizin g him by s>nankle, dragged him through the door on to the wood heap, where heburied the axe in the side of his head.

Am ong the men were Jim Lockett and his two sons. B ill and Arthur. Jim , calling for help, ran out and started ringing th e b ig brass bell in the backyard that w as used to give warning o f bush­rangers and to call the men to their m eals. Far and wide the sound o f it went over the peaceful countryside, but the old man rang the bell for all he was worth, being guarded by the g ir l’s father, who stood beside him with a muzzle-loader ready to shoot Connolly i f he should come near w ith the bloody axe. Ghastly, on the ground, lay Thompson’s body, where it had fallen w rith ing in agony.

Then Mrs. F letcher told Arthur Lockett to ge t a horse from th e stable and go as fa st as he could to ‘Bicton’ to give the alarm there before calling the police a t Campbell Town. M iss Louisa, too, pa Honed aw ay to ‘View P oint’ to get more help.

Breathing heavily and threatening everyone, Connolly aim lessly wandered round the house w ith the axe still in his hand. A t the front door he rang the bell and slashed at the woodwork, but m adeno serious attem pt to break in.

By th is tim e John Gatenby, armed w ith a gun and accompanied by a man called Fisher, had arrived poste haste from ‘Bicton.’ H e dismounted at the ba;k door, which w as cautiously opened and a trem bling voice said : “Com e in, Mr, John, come in before he ge ts you.” Curtly refusing th is sanctuary, Mr. John, a fter hearing where Connolly had gone, made his way round to the front o f the house with Fisher.

H earing them approach, Connolly, holding the axe high above his head ready for attack, rushed a t them , threatening to bash their brains out if they moved. But John Gatenby, ra ising his gun, said quietly, “Put that axe down Connolly.” The man hesitated for a m om ent and then let the axe drop to the ground. R ealising w hat he had done, he stooped to pick it up again, but F isher, as quick as a flash, jumped on his back and bore him down. In a few m om ents Connolly w as securely bound and those who had watched from behind curtains nearby, came bravely forward with offers o f assistance. “We need no help now,” said John Gatenby.

Then th ey were all able to draw breath for a while and w a it for the police, but after some tim e the tired men fe ll asleep. Suddenly they were awakened by a cry o f alarm from one o f the watchers, for Connolly had m anaged to free his hands and w as reaching for a sheath knife ly ing nearby. A fter a severe struggle he w as m astered again and soon afterw ards the police arrived.

Connolly would have been hanged in the ordinary course o f events, but those who had known him in the days before drink pot the better o f him signed a letter to the Governor, w ritten by Mrs. Fletcher, petitioning th at he should not suffer that fa te . This appeal w as granted and Connolly ended his life in the Hobart jail.

Y oung W illiam Lockett follow ed in his fa th er’s footstep s and after serving his tim e as a carpenter, became a m aster builder in Campbell Town. The Town H all, State School and Commercial Bank w ere built by him, so were m any houses here and in other districts. In a fter years ho became a Councillor and valued mem ber o f the H ospital Board.

Mr. Russell Gibson and his w ife , during the years th a t he owned

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‘Barton,’ were largely responsible for building the Presbyterian Church, which stood beside the old Gatenby graveyard. A fterw ards, an addition w as made to the building and it became a school. Some tim e later a hall w as also built and w as used for Church o f England �services. Then Mr. Gibson le ft Tasm ania and w ent to N ew South W ales and the district w as the poorer for his going.

A long the Auburn road from ‘Barton’ is ‘B icton,’ another old Gatenby home owned by Mr. T. L. Gatenby, who runs it w ith ‘View P oint,’ on the opposite side o f the river. The d istillery which once stood here on land granted to Reed and Turnbull on the Isis, has produced no liquor fo r m any a long year.

T. Y. Lowes (o f ‘Lowes Park’) , a Hobart auctioneer of the old days, w as granted part o f th is estate which w as afterw ards bought by the Gatenbys. The D istillery Bridge crosses the river near where the old distillery w as built.

Bushrangers robbed ‘Bicton’ and forced Christopher Gatenby to carry the stolen goods back into the lim estone h ills— near the sum m it of the Tier. Here it is reported that m any caves ex ist, m ost o f them unexplored, which run right back into the range. These caves were the hiding-places o f m any a g an g o f bushrangers and it is said that fa r in the cold recesses o f the liv ing rock are piles o f hidden booty, lo st and forgotten . Gold w atches and rings, m uskets, coins and jew ellery, m ay still be there, aw aiting discovery in the quiet hills, ly ing under a shroud o f dust that has settled on them as th e years have passed.

P art o f ‘B icton’ w as cut up for soldier settlem ent in 1921. Mr. H. V. B ayly w as given the hom estead block. A Queenslander, Mr. Malcolm McGhie, M.C., had the second block and Mr. A lan Atkinson (a nephew of Dr. T o ft), had the third block and bought out the fourth settler, H arry Jones, tw en ty years ago, when the latter wTent to the mainland.

On a rise above the Macquarie, near the Lincoln bridge, is ‘Stew arton’ (owned by Mrs. Barnes, who lives in England. She is a grand-daughter o f the Hon, Jam es G ibson). P art o f th is property w as granted to Edward Miller (M iller’s Marsh and M iller’s B luff). Ruins o f an old house and som e E nglish trees mark the home o f George Stew art who w as granted the main area o f the property and bought the rest. Mr. A llan Stew art, o f Launceston, is a direct descendant o f th is pioneer. ‘Stew arton’ is now run with ‘Valleyfield’ by Mr. R. R. Taylor.

‘Rokeby’ (Mr. Robert Oldrey); w as built in 1834. This property once included ‘Stockw ell’ across the river and the tw o places w ere connected by a punt. This w as th e original B ayles’ grant. Here th ey planted E nglish trees and m iles of hawthorn hedges. Their gardens and orchard were am ong the best in Tasm ania and their home was fam ous for having tw o o f the finest rooms in the Midlands. Like ‘Barton,’ it had a great courtyard and the outbuildings were o f stone and brick, w ith roofs o f slate. These seem to have been put up before the house w as built. N ot m any properties, were kept as ‘Rokeby’ w as in those days. Jam es B ayles w as the last o f the fam ily to own the property. H is son, Em erson, married a daughter o f Jam es Mercer and lived at ‘M orningside’ for some years. A t his death he le ft eight children and one o f his sons and daughter-in-law own ‘D arlington.’ When Jam es B ayles died, ‘Rokeby’ w as le t to various tenants and finally sold. H enry Towns bought the hom estead block and sold again to Mr. E. Fry, who sold to Mr. Robert Oldrey, whose progressive m ethods have once m ore made th e property fam ous.

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‘Greenhill’ (leased by Mr. Robert Taylor from Mrs. Edward Taylor, a daughter o f John Taylor, o f ‘W inton’), was originally selected by Jam es M ackersey, brother of the Rev. John, o f ‘Kirklands.’ Jam es sold the property when he went to England in 1864. to John N icolson, of ‘Camelford.’ L ater it w as sold to W illiam H enry Gibson, who in turn sold it to John Taylor, o f ‘W inton.’ Mr. Robert Taylor is the son of George Taylor, once o f ‘W anstead,’ la ter o f ‘M ilford,’ on the South Esk. The H erefords on ‘Greenhill’ are the b est in Tasmania and are descended from his uncle’s ‘W inton' herd. Mr. Robert Taylor has encouraged m any a beginner on the land and has explained the intricacies o f stock breeding to m any others who w ill never forget his kind helpfulness and the gentle, w ise advice he gave them when they had everything to learn.

‘E gleston ’ (Mr. Robert L ittlechild), w as the original H eadlam grant and a- Bayles grant known as ‘M eikleton’ is also now part o f it. Headlam built the present house in about 1841, but the rem ains of the first home are still standing and used as an out-house.

THE OLD ROADOpposite the entrance gate o f ‘E gleston ,’ the traces o f a very

early road m ay still be seen. Mr. Norm an Nicolson rem embers that, when he w as a boy, the old hands used to tell him that it had been “the old Portulrumple Road.” Many years afterw ards he realised that they had m eant the original Port Dalryniple (Launceston) road which w as used before the highw ay, as we know it, w as formed. L eaving the present road at Woodbury, it follow ed the track still in use, that crosses the Interlaken Road at Cheam and running through Annandale and E llenthorpe, then crossed the Sugar L oaf footh ills by ‘Glen Connell.’ A fter passin g ‘E gleston ,’ which seem s at one tim e to have been the site o f an inn, it follow ed the present Cressy Road past ‘Barton’ in a w ester ly direction and so on past ‘Newham .’ It then crossed over the Macquarie a t Coburg where the von Bibras worked a punt in those days when the ford w as im ­passable. The road then went on to the Archer’s punt a t ‘W oolm ers.’ Thence it followed the river by w ay o f ‘M ountford’ through Muddy Plains (Pateena) to Launceston. The easterly branch o f the road from Woodbury was that taken by Macquarie as m entioned earlier.

John Headlam w as follow ed at ‘E g leston ’ by his son Charles, others o f the fam ily goin g to the mainland. A t his death, Charles Headlam w as one of the largest stock owners in T asm ania, shearin g60,000 sheep and running a large number o f cattle. ‘B askerville,’ ‘H ow ell’s N eck’ at the Great Lake and ‘Rendlesham ’ were three o f H eadlam ’s m any properties. The latter was located to the scion o f a very old E nglish fam ily named H enry Priaulx. A few stones and se gnarled tree mark the site o f the old Priaulx hom estead where h is w ife for som e tim e conducted a g ir ls’ school before th ey both re­turned to England. Charles H eadlam joined ‘B everley’ (A llison property) and ‘W elwood’ (H ogg ) together w ith 4,000 acres o f ‘Auburn’ on to ‘Baskerville.’ A t ‘E gleston' in the early n ineties, he installed the first shearing m achines to be worked in Tasm ania and here he died in 1809, when he w as well over 80 years o f age. Of his sons, Charles married M iss Anna Bartley o f ‘K erry L odge’ (Strath- roy). Their eldest son, the late Mr. Raymond Headiam, until recently owned ‘Lowes Park’ and the second son, Keith, owns ‘B urlington.’

John Headlam married M iss V icary o f the E ast C oast fam ily , one of whose daughters is the w ife o f the Surveyor-General, Mr. Colin

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P itt, O.B.E. The la st Headlam to own ‘E g leston ’ \vas A lfred, who la ter sold it to Norm an Nicolson, the fath er o f M essrs. Norm an, John and Athol Nicolson. In 1935 it w as sold by N icolson to Mr. Robert Littlechild. ‘B askerville’ and ‘B everley’ w ere bought by Mr. G. L. F in lay and ‘Rendelsham ’ by Mr. Norm an N icolson, who incorporated it w ith ‘Streanshalh.’

Robert Headlam w as adopted by his bachelor uncle, Robert B ayles, o f ‘Vaucluse,’ under alm ost legendary conditions. W hen he and his brothers were only boys, their uncle Robert drove over to ‘E g leston ’ one morning* to spend the day, as w as often his custom , but the boys noticed th at he w as closeted for an unusually lon g tim e w ith their parents in the afternoon. Towards evening, w hen he came out and w as g e ttin g into h is trap to leave for home and the fare­w ells had been said, he turned towards the lads and asked, “I wonder which little boy will come up to the road gate and open i t for m e ?” The boys looked down their noses and nudged each other as boys w ill when not anxious to make an effort; a ll except little Robert, who said instantly and brigh tly , “I w ill, U ncle Robert,”' and jumped into the trap beside him. However, when he had opened the gate , his uncle told him to g e t in again as he had arranged w ith his parents fo r him to have a holiday a t ‘V aucluse,’ alw ays a greatly looked forw ard to treat for the young Headlam s.

It turned out that this had been the uncle’s w ay o f choosing a likely heir, and he had arranged during the conclave with the par­ents, that the first o f the boys to offer to open the gate should go to live a t ‘Vaucluse’ for good and later inherit the property. “ And to think,” Robert’s brothers used to say, “It m ight have been me, i f only I had offered to go up and open that blasted gate !”

Of Charles H eadlam ’s three daughters, E m ily the youngest, married Charles P itt, for forty years the Council Clerk at Camp­bell Town.

‘GLEN CONNELL’‘Glen Connell’ w as for n inety years the home o f the Connell

fam ily. It is on an eastward footh ill o f Jacobs Sugarloaf where the old Port Dalrym ple Road used to pass the door o f w hat w as ‘The W oolpack Inn’. The property w as located to D. O’Sullivan and John Connell, Irish settlers, who were apparently related to each other. These properties were afterw ards united and only passed from the hands o f the last of the fam ily . M iss M argaret Connell, in 1918. John Cook (ex 3rd L ight H orse) bought the house and some of the land, and J. J. Gatenby (‘P isa ’) bought the balance of ‘Glen Connell’ and ‘Barra’.

Two bushrangers forced their w ay into the house in the early 1840’s while Connell and his w ife and a maid were having breakfast. Looking up and thinking quickly, old Mrs Connell scream ed, “Oh, m e hundred pounds and rushed upstairs closely follow ed by one o f the bandits. There she w aited for him behind the door o f her bed­room and w hile he hesitated for a m om ent in th e darkness, she whipped out o f the door, slam m ing and locking it behind her. She w as a tall long-arm ed Irish wom an and not one to be easily ou t­w itted . Creeping dow nstairs on tiptoe, she came to the kitchen door w here she saw the other bushranger w ith his back to her, m enacing her husband and the g irl w ith a blunderbuss. Throwing her strong arms round his neck she dragged him to the floor while her husband snatched the blunderbuss from him and the maid beat him on the head w ith a pot stick. Just then the other bushranger, who had

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Tjroken the bedroom window g lass w ith his p istol and slid down the sk illion roof at the back o f the house, came into the kitchen and fired point blank a t Connell, but fortunately the home-made slug had fa llen out when the man had slid down the skillion and nothing w orse than a puff o f smoke came from the m uzzle. Then the bush­ranger started to run, but Connell shot a t him w ith the blunderbuss

.and although the man wasi seen to stagger sligh tly , he kept on and disappeared into the scrub that grew thickly on the hillside. N othing m ore w as heard o f him until years later, when after a bush fire, the skeleton of a man was found at the bottom of a place seldom visited and known as the Dark Gully. Still embedded in the bones were the leaden slugs which had been fired so long before.

The Connells sent for the police and the other bushranger, trussed and tied, w as given into their keeping. For her plucky defence, Mrs. Connell w as given a grant o f land on a run called ‘The Black Snake M arsh.’ “An outstanding case o f bravery,” Capt. H enslowe, P.M. a t Campbell Town thought, “and a lesson to som e other settlers” who bought freedom from attack by g iv in g food and w arning o f the m ovem ents o f police and m ilitary to the gan gs o f bandits which used to lurk along the Tiers.

Another version o f this story te lls us that as it had come to the ears of the authorities that one o f the Connell’s shepherds w as in league with the bushrangers; two or three constables were sent to watch the place from a distance. In due course the bushrangers came, and surprising the men o f the house, who were unarmed, forced them all into one room. W hile one o f the invaders stood guard over them , the other turned to Mrs. Connell and holding out a flour sack, said, “How about filling th is, m issu s? ’’ She took the bag from him and went upstairs to the attic, where the big, old flour bin w as kept for safety . The supply o f flour w as rather low a t the tim e, so Mrs. Connell got a box and put it beside the bin to stand -on. A fter one or two scoopfuls, she said, “This is hard work for m en. You scoop and I’ll hold the bag.” The man, innocent a-s th ey a ll are, whether bushrangers or bishops, in the hands o f a clever woman, complied. However, as soon as he w as reaching fa r down into the bin, the w ily Mrs. Connell put her arm s under h is leg s and tilted him head first into it. Then banging down the heavy lid and tak in g no heed o f his stifled cries, she fastened the hasp and crept quietly down the stirs.

In the kitchen the bushranger who had been le ft on guard w as now chatting in a friend ly w ay w ith the men o f the house and had even put his gun aga inst the wall. So Mrs. Connell, tip -toeing quietly up behind him, w as able to overpower him w ith her m erciless embrace and bear him, stru gglin g weakly, to the floor. And then the rest w a s easy. The police came and she w as given a grant o f land for h er bravery.

The present owner o f ‘The Glen,’ as it is. called, is Mr. C. T. Flood.

‘Streanshalh’ on the Macquarie opposite ‘W inton,’ w as inherited by Mr. Athol Nicolson from his fa th er (Norm an Nicolson, who died in 1923). The property had been bought from the la s t o f the A llisons in 1899.

Capt. Francis A llison came from Robin Hood B ay in Yorkshire in 1823 and was granted th is property soon afterw ards. H e w as a naval man and leased or bought m any properties in Tasm ania, includ­in g ‘B everley’ and ‘Douglas Park’ in th is district. It w as he who took the challenge from the commander o f H.M.S. ‘Sharm on’ to the Capt. o f the U.S.A. warship, ‘Chesapeake’ before the action o f the

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Am erican coast, in which the B ritish ship w as victorious.‘B everley’ (Mr. W. T. F in lay) includes Jacobs’ Sugar L oaf and

as m entioned earlier, was for » tim e the property o f Charles Headlam . It had form erly been a part o f ‘Streanshalh.’ The present ow ner inherited it from his father, G. L. F in lay, who bought it from the Headlam estate.

The old Murray property, ‘B askerville’ once known as ‘S t. Leonards,’ joins ‘B everley’ and is owned by Mr. G. A. F in lay, w hose fath er bought this property also froift the esta te o f Charles H eadlam in 1905. The old house still stands, but is abandoned. Mr. G. L. F in lay built a new residence near ‘M orningside’ bridge in 1906.

The name ‘B&skerville’ seem s to have been given to old ‘S t. Leonards’ by Charles B askerville Viveash. who apparently ow ned ‘Overton’ and ‘Lockridge’ for a tim e as w ell. V iveash came to T as­mania in 1830 from the Swan River (W .A .). H e and his w ealthy brother-in-law, a man named Tanner, had arrived there w ith a sh ip load o f m aterial which they considered essentia l fo r pioneering, in­cluding prefabricated cottages (although th at name had not ye t been invented). V iveash w as not successful in either colony and returned to England a poor man.

‘M orningside’ (Mr. L ister F oster) follow s along the Macquarie to- its junction w ith the Elizabeth. This property is now run w ith ‘Rosedale’ and w as originally the home of th at W aterloo veteran, Claudius Thomson, whose daughter Janet became Mrs. Jam es Mercer* George Mercer leased ‘M orningside’ about 1917 to his brother-in-law , Robert L ittlechild, who lived there until he bought ‘E g leston ’ in 1935. Mercer bought the old Criterion H otel and converted it into a resi­dence where he lived until the tim e o f his death. H is second daughter, M ollie, now Mrs. Dixon, lives there at present.

‘Overton,’ ‘Lockridge,’ ‘Craigillechie’ and ‘F osterv ille’ are run in conjunction with ‘Merton V ale.’ ‘F osterville ,’ as m entioned e lse­where, was the original F oster grant and w as for m any years leaded to Bolivar B lyth, who later m oved to the E ast Coast.

‘Brookdale’ w as the 500-acre grant o f A gnes Galloway, who- later married W alter Davidson; and she named the place ‘Blackadder1, after a fam ily esta te in Scotland. Their son, John, sold it (about 1870) to W. H. Gibson, o f ‘Fairfield,’ who changed the nam e o f the property. The well-loved Dr. W. H. Tofft bought ‘Brookdale’ and established a sanitorium there. M iss K athleen Tofft, the doctors- daughter, is liv ing on the property and working it a t the present tim e.

‘Davidstoun’ (Mr. Norm an N icolson) em braces w hat w as origin­a lly part o f ‘Riccarton’ and 2,600 acres o f the original ‘D ouglas Park.’ I t runs through to the South E sk on which it has a fron tage of three m iles, and until 1935 belonged to Dr. W oolrabe, w h ose fa th er and grandfather were officers o f the Im perial Com m issariat Departm ent and served respectively in th e Peninsular and Crimean W ars. Dr. Woolrabe lived m ost o f his life in the E ast, where he- held Government appointm ents in M alaya, Borneo and Siam.

‘WANSTEAD’‘W anstead’ (Mr. E rnest Gibson, a son o f W. H. Gibson, o f ‘F air­

field') w as originally the 8,700 acre W illis estate , but is now on ly about a quarter o f that area. Richard W illis arrived on th e ‘Courier’ in ’23 w ith his w ife and children and was granted 2,000 acres which he nam ed ‘W anstead.’ W hen later he captured a bushranger on his land and made noticeable im provem ents to the property. Governor

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Arthur g&ve him a further grant by w ay o f encouragem ent. H is eldest daughter, Marianne, “a pretty little , gentle, unassum ing wom an,” married Capt. W illiam Sergeantson o f the 40th R egim ent in September, 1826. Serjeantson squandered m ost o f h is property in bringing “fine furniture and gew -gaw s” from India, which crippled him financially. Alexander Reid, w ritin g in '34, said o f W illis, th at he made a great show w ith his brother’s m oney from London, adding that th is fo lly caused laughter am ong his acquaintances. Caroline, W illis'1 second daughter, married the Rev. W. H. Browne, who w as chaplain a t Launceston.

From ‘W anstead’ late in November, 1835, a party which included Capt. Serjeantson. set forth in search o f strayin g cattle. The searchers agreed that when separated they would notify the others of their whereabouts by cracking their whips loudly if they found the ca ttle, but Capt. Serjeantson did not return th at n ight to ‘W an­stead.’ E arly the next morning, searchers found his horse in Guidon’s Bottom on ‘Davidstoun,’ and nearby w as the captain’s dead body, ly ­ing where he had been shot. It seem ed likely that the murderer w as a bushranger named Hunt who w as known to be in th e v icin ity and for whose capture the settlers, headed by W illis, offered £600 reward to which a further £100 w as promised by the Government. No trace of H unt was found for s ix months, however, then a man, Jam es Curr and his w ife, a fter a violent struggle, took him prisoner when he attem pted to rob their property on the South Esk and handed him over, alm ost dead, to the police. Before he died, H unt confessed that he had murdered Serjeantson, who had come upon him unex­pectedly and knowing him to be a wanted man, had called upon him to give him self up. Hunt said that he had told the captain to clear off and leave him alone, but Serjeantson continued to ride round him in circles, cracking his whip, and when H unt tried to run for shelter in the Tiers, still followed, cracking the whip and shouting. Seeing that he was cornered, H unt then turned and shot him in the head.

Jam es Curr and his w ife were congratulated on their good work and were given the promised £700 reward.

Richard, Edward and Charles W illis, sons o f the owner o f ‘W anstead,’ were grantees o f m ost o f the area which later becam e ‘Benham .’

“The D isappearing H ouse” stands on the turn-off to the E ast Coast at Conara. It was once called ‘Sm ithvale’ and before that ‘W illis’ Corner,’ and is now ‘Breffni,’ the home o f Mr. Graeme Taylor (son o f Mr. Valentine Taylor, o f Launceston). This house w as the old “Corners Inn” (Conara w as known as The Corners before the railw ay cam e) and a changing-stage for the coach horses on the m ain road, also fo r the coaches running on the old Break O’ D ay road (as the St. M arys road w as once called).

ALONG THE SOUTH ESKA long the Break O’ D ay road on either side o f a cleared valley,

are ‘Glen Esk F orest’ on the north an d'Meadow Bank F orest’ on th e south. Four m iles further on a by-road to the north leads to ‘M ilford H ouse,’ a large brick place standing on a high bank o f the South E sk where it w as built by Treasurer Joscelyn H. C. Thoma-s, la ter o f ‘Northdown,’ whose home in Hobart w as ‘Rosem ary L odge,’ Lenah V alley. H is descendants sold it in the six ties . The fine old house then fe ll into disrepair, but the property has recently come into the possession o f Mr. Norm an Nicolson and m ay hope fo r better

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tim es. Traces o f a m ill race and of the m ill itse lf m ay still be seen near the ford in the river where the captain built them .

Leaving ‘M ilford,’ the E ast Coast road p asses through the South E sk frontage o f 'Davidstoun,’ through which a by-road goes to Cleve­land a t the boundary between ‘Atholbrae’ and ‘Da<vidstoun.’ ‘Athol- brae’ is now part o f ‘H anleth’ (Mr. H enry R eed), m ost o f which is in the Avoca d istrict of F ingal. Only the ruins o f ‘Atholbrae’ hom estead now stand between the road and the river where it w as built by a man named Johnstone, a hundred years ago, who sold the property to the A itkens o f ‘Glen E sk .’ Johnstone w as la ter a banker a t Campbell Town, where one of his daughters married Frank Archer, o f ‘L andfall’ and another m arried Mr. H ogg, o f ‘W inburn.’ Llewellyn, which at one tim e w as laid out as a township, w as the site o f a police station and a tw o-storied inn, but nothing o f these now rem ain. A few relics o f cottages are still standing, however.

E ast o f Llewellyn is the little Stony Creek which gave its name to one o f the tribes o f aborigines and is now the boundary line o f the Campbell Town M unicipality w ith F ingal, w hile the South E sk River here is the boundary between Campbell Town and Evandale.

P a st Cleveland are ‘Vaucluse’ and ‘Glen E sk ’ (Mr. and Mrs. G. L. M ackinnon). ‘Glen E sk ’ w as located to W. Mackie and part to M. W ilson. Jam es Aitken w as granted the rem ainder and w as a friend o f Batm an, o f K ingston, whom he follow ed to Victoria. A itken afterw ards sold out to Bostock, o f ‘V aucluse’ and until the death of Robert H eadlam (1917) his grant w as incorporated, in that property. Headlam le ft ‘Glen E sk ’ to his eldest son Robert and Mr. Mrc- kinnon bought ‘V aucluse’ and later ‘Glen E sk ’ as well. ‘Vaucluse’ house is built on an original location to John Dunn (possib ly the founder o f the old Commercial Bank o f T asm ania). Other river fron tages were located to W. Barnes and J. Sinclair and grants to Robert Bostock. Bostock arrived in Hobart on the 3rd o f March, 1821 and w as a general dealer there for som e tim e. H is home in Macquarie Street w as named ‘V aucluse’ and is now the infectious diseases hospital. He lived here until he gave up business in 1930 and moved to his early grant on the South E sk where in about the year 1834 he built ‘Vaucluse’ house and (on the 10th June, ’47), died a t the age o f sixty-four. H is four sons were Charles, accidentally killed in ’38; Robert who w ent to Victoria; Thom as who lived at ‘Woodburn’ (C ressy) and m arried Catherine, the daughter o f Jam es M ackersey in Melbourne; and George who also lived in Victoria. The property w as sold in the late fifties to Robert Bayles.

Robert Headlam m arried M iss F anny Gibson. H is eldest son, Robert, inherited ‘Glen E sk .’ H is eldest daughter, Lena, marriedH. W. Brown, o f ‘E llenthorpe;’ Jessie married Lance Archer, o f ‘Douglas Park,1, later o f ‘Longford H all’; Julia becam e Mrs. J. N. Archer, o f ‘B ram bletye;’ Joy married in V ictoria and Gladys became Mrs. Percy W ayne, o f ‘W oodstock.’

The present owner o f ‘V aucluse’ is a son o f the la te A llan Mac­kinnon, o f ‘Mountford," who bred the first Acm e sheep. This breed later adopted the N ew Zealand name o f Corriedale. Mr. G. L. Mac- kinnon’s wool, which for several years topped the m arket for all wool other than super fine merino, w as shorn from sheep founded on the first ‘M ountford’ stud.

‘Belle Vue’ (now 1,800 acres) on the South E sk n ex t to ‘Vaucluse’ has lately been acquired by the Government for soldier settlem ent. In the Hon. Jam es Gibson's tim e, ‘Belle Vue’ included ‘Clyne V ale,’ ‘G lasslough,’ ‘The Bend,’ and ‘Stew arton,’ also som e fo rest country, a run a t the lakes and for a tim e ‘F orton’ a-s well. The stud

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merinos developed there by Jam es Gibson and later by his m anager, Thom as Muirhead. brought fam e to Tasm ania and were known o f throughout the world. W. Barnes, who w as granted part o f ‘Vaaicluse’ w as also granted some o f the original ‘Belle V u e / He owned a brewery in Launceston and w as connected by m arriage w ith the M anifolds, but the rest o f the property w as one of the grants issued tc David Gibson, o f ‘Pleasant Banks,’ whose son Jam es built the hom estead. David Gibson had seven sons : John, who inherited ‘P leasant B anks;’ William, ‘N ative P oint;’ also Thomas, David, George, Robert and the above Jam es, whose only son, Adam, inherited ‘Beile V ue’ and married M iss Marion Clemons, a sister of the well-known Dr. George Clemons, o f Launceston. Their fam ily consisted o f two sons and one daughter. Jam es Gibson’s second w ife w as the widow o f his brother George. One o f David Gibson’s daughters, Harriet, m arried a Stew art, and .the other, Emma, m arried a Taylor, as m en­tioned elsewhere. David Gibson’s w ife w as E lizabeth, the widow of Capt. John Piper, o f the 102'nd Regim ent. He w as granted ‘P leasant B anks’ in 1809 and Governor Macquarie m entions that he “stayed at the hospitable m ansion o f Mr. David Gibson.” Here Jam es Gibson w as bom in 1829. It seem s likely that his m erinoes were founded on the Parram ore sheep from ‘W etm ore.’ Sir Thomas and President (sold for 1,600 guineas in Sydney— still a Tasm anian record), were two of the m ost fam ous o f his rams. Thomas Muirhead, at the disposal sale o f this fine stud in 1928, bought m ost o f the best o f them and at his death. Mr. R. R. Taylor acquired them . Jam es Gibson represented his district for m any years in the L egislative Council, and w as President and afterw ards Patron o f the Midland Show and prominent in municipal affairs. ‘Belle Vue’ hom estead and ‘Clyne V ale’ (Thomas Muirhead’s residence) were like a v illage in the tim e o f Jam es Gibson, swarm ing with activity and happy work people.

A church was built a t ‘Belle Vue’ near the ‘Esk V ale’ hom estead in 1848 for the Presbyterian comm unity led by the Hon. Jam es Gibson. In January, 1884 the congregation requested, and were given perm ission to move the church building to Epping and to se ll the land where it had stood. One year later the m ove w as com pleted and services were begun a t Epping.

‘Clyne V ale’ w as located to Capt. Jam es Crear, R .N., in 1822. H e le ft the sea in 1831 and came with his w ife Joan and four children and built a house on his land, part o f which extended across the river. Crear’s son and two daughters built the brick house near the turn-off to ‘G lasslough,’ now owned by Mr. George Thirkell.

Crear, after leaving the N avy, had been captain o f the ‘Triton,’ a ship o f the Leith A ustralia Company. The Leith, or as it w as som e­tim es called, Edinburgh-Australian Company, w as a jo in t stock ven­ture, founded in 1822 w ith the intention o f im proving and facilita tin g the intercourse betw ixt the Mother Country and the Colonies o f N ew South W ales and Van Diem en’s Land. The ‘Triton’ w as one o f the four ships belonging to the Company which m ay have had more influence on the Campbell Town district than m ay be authenticated a t the present tim e.

‘G lasslough’ was an original Gibson holding owned in the eighties by W alter Gatenby who married a daughter o f Jam es Gibson. The present owner is Commander Prevost, R.N.

“Esk V ale’ has alw ays been a Gibson property and is at present owned by Mr, Rod Gibson. Particularly fine m erinos were bred on the property during the lifetim e o f his grandfather, Thom as Gibson. A t his death, the whole flock w as bought by R. J. L. Foster, o f ‘P lea­sant Banks,’ who had already established a stud based on the original W. H. Gibson stud a t ‘Fairfield.’

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‘Fairfield’ (Mr. W. T. H arding), w as another Gibson property, W . H. Gibson being the la st o f them to breed superfine m erinos here. H is w ife was a sister o f David Taylor o f ‘St. Johnstone.’ Their fa m ily consisted o f five sons and two daughters— R ussell, Frank, E rnest ( ‘W anstead’) and Norm an, who w ent to V ictoria. One of W. H. Gibson’s daughters became Mrs. E dgell, o f ‘Dennistoun.” The property w as later sold to J. D. F oster and later to Mr. John Harding. Some o f the merino stud were purchased by Mr. F oster and later m oved to ‘P leasant Banks.’ Mr. Harding1 cam e from Charlton. L ater, he bought land on ‘The B ogs’ country o f th e E astern Tiers, then he purchased ‘Copper A lley’ and added 2,600 acres o f th e T ier portion o f ‘B eaufront’ and ‘Syndal.’ These he later sold to Mr. J. R. N icolson and bought ‘Fairfield’ and later ‘Lewisham .’ About 1944 he handed over ‘Fairfield’ to his brother, the present owner. The la s t property along the South E sk is ‘The Bend’ (leased to Mr. H. M. D ennis) by the Jam es Gibson estate, a w edge-shaped block w ith its broad base on the South Esk.

E ast o f ‘Truelands’ and ‘Quorn’ on the E astern Tiers is ‘Bon­ham ’ (Mr. A. F. B. O’Connor) o f which ‘The W indfalls’ is a part as are ‘Springfield,’ ‘K alangadoo,’ ‘Stonehouse’ and ‘H arry M ount.’ Timber from the rough runs and the Crown land keeps the three saw m ills w orking at present in Campbell Town.

A t the ‘Round Swam p’ (now ‘Springfield’) in one o f H enslow ’s reports, a Canadian is m entioned as tak ing a leading part in the capture of some bushrangers. This is probably a reference to one o f Sir George Arthur’s Canadian ex iles to Van D iem en’s Land.

MERINOS .COME TO TASMANIAThe first wool from Tasm anian flocks to be shipped direct to

England w as taken by the captain o f the ‘R egalia’ in 1819. A t th at tim e there were 172,128 sheep in the island, all o f a very poor quality. I f wool had been taken before th at date, it m ust have been sent by w ay o f Sydney, thus losing its identity.

The ‘R egalia’ had arrived in H obart w ith a m ixed cargo o f m er­chandise, including farm im plem ents and clothing which the captain thought would sell to advantage in a new settlem ent. However, m oney w as scarce and bartering seem ed to be the only solution o f h is difficulties. A s wool w as practically valu eless a t th a t tim e and w as either burnt, used for manure ,or le f t ly ing about in th e yards, th e settlers were g lad o f an opportunity to deal w ith the optim istic captain. He, poor man, lost heavily on the transaction in England, a s threepence a pound im port duty had to be paid in London and the dirty, discoloured fleeces of the Van D iem en’s Land sheep were not wanted at any price. H owever, he w as g iven a m edal by the London Society o f A rts for “opening a m arket fo r w ool raised in Van D iem en’s Land and for his exertions in im proving th e quality o f the sam e.” A t th is tim e a m ongrel breed com prising T eesw ater, L eicester and B engal sheep, under th e care o f prisoner shepherds, w ith no fences to check them , nibbled along the banks o f the North and South E sk rivers as w ell as the Lake River and th e M acquarie w here a t tim es they were speared by the blacks and stolen by the bushrangers. The shepherds lived in sod huts, w ith stones roughly piled to form chim neys, traces of which m ay still be found w here the plough has not turned them under.

Some m onths a fter th e departure o f the ‘R egalia’ and her owner, Capt. John Raine, w ith a cargo o f 65 bales o f wool w eigh in g 18,000 pounds and other colonial products, the Government a t Hobart pur-

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cha*sed a few tons o f wool a t threepence a pound, for the purpose o f m aking m attresses, but the difficulties o f transport and the low price lim ited the appeal o f these transactions. H enry H opkins, a London im m igrant, o f 1822, was the first man in Tasm ania to buy w ool for export.

In 1819 when John Thomas B igge w as conducting his enquiries fo r the Home Government both here and in N.S.W ., he asked David Rose, o f Corra Linn, “were any merinos ever brought to Port Dalrym ple (the Tamar) for the purpose of im proving the fleeces?” And Rose answered that “a merino ram w as brought here in Captain Brabyn’s tim e (1809) but I heard that he was made aw ay w ith on account o f his dim inutive size.”

The Hobart Town Gazette of 4th January, 1817, m entions that “two ewes and a ram of the merino breed from N ew South W ales” had been landed in Hobart a few weeks before. B igge foresaw the im portance of the wool industry to Tasm ania and urged the Govern­m ent to make every effort to improve the quality and to help the sheep breeders to procure good stock, preferably o f the Saxon merino type. B igge also suggested that everything should be done to make th e shipping o f wool and trading in sheep and wool as easy a s pos­sible to encourage the industry still further.

A ctin g on B igge’s advice in September, 1820, the Government bought 300 merino ram s from Captain John M acArthur o f Sydney in exchange for 4,368 acres o f land a t Camden, and these were shipped to Tasmania. They were descended from the Royal flocks o f George III., o f which MacArthur had obtained one ew e and seven ram s a t the first sale o f Spanish shee.p belonging to the K ing, at Kew, on A u gust 1st, 1804.

Apparently M acArthur h im self chose the ram s th a t were sent to Tasm ania, as no other name is m entioned. Of the 300 sheep, 91 died however on the com paratively quick passage from Sydney o f s ix days. But the captain o f the ship had put off sa ilin g for various reasons, so the sheep were actually on board for nearly a fortn ight. They were landed a t Hobart in March, and 24 o f them died soon afterw ards. Cox of ‘Clarendon,’ who had m erinos o f h is own in N ew South W ales, was consulted along w ith other prom inent sheep owners, as to the best and fa irest w ay o f d istributing the ram s that �were left. On 22nd September, Lieut.-Governor Sorell w ritin g to B igge says, “The rams were drawn for by lot, under the inspection o f m yself and the com m ittee, and I never heard that anyone had ex ­pressed the lea st d issatisfaction at the arrangem ent, or at the ram s which were allotted, in any instance."

In the lis t o f purchasers a t seven guineas, the nam es appear o f Thomas Archer (10), Jam es Cox (5 ) , the Rev. John Youl (3 ) and Richard P itt (2 ).

The ram s , i t w as said a t the tim e, were from M acArthur’s second flock and not h is best sheep and th is, in all probability, was correct.

John M acArthur came o f a Devonshire farm ing fam ily and arrived a t the age o f 23, in 1790, two years a fter the arrival o f the first fleet in N .S.W . H is experim ents w ith the sheep imported into A u stra lia from England and India in 1793 gave him an idea o f what m ight be done if only he had good stock to work w ith. H is first experience o f m erinos w as gained in 1797 when he bought three ram s and five ewes a t £15 each, from Capt. H enry W aterhouse. These had come from the Cape, thirteen o f them , where W aterhouse bought them from Colonel Gordon’s widow.

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A ll merino sheep originated in Spain where there were five notable flocks. Those which M acArthur bought a t Kew in 1804 w ere descended from the N egretti flock. To give som e idea o f the great im provem ent M acArthur had w rought by the year 1827, w e m a y m ention here th at he obtained 16 /4 a pound for a bale o f his merino wool sold in London during th at year.

Mrs. JOHN FORLONGEMore studs o f merino sheep have been founded in the Campbell

Town district than in any other part_ o f A ustralia and their blood has been o f im m ense value w herever it has been used. A s w ill be shown later, a good m any o f th e early settlers brought s tu d m erinos w ith them . Of these, Mrs. John Forlonge, the w ife o f a Glas­gow m erchant, w as one o f the m ost im portant. A fter lo sin g several members o f her fam ily w ith tuberculosis* she decided to come out here with her two rem aining sons, W illiam and Andrew, as she had heard that settlers w ith capital to invest on im provem ents to their holdings, would be given free grants o f land. Leading Anthony,, aged fourteen, a t school, she and W illiam w ent to Germany to learn everything possible concerning m erinos, the treatm ent o f their wool and the right w ay to handle them . A fter two years study, m other and son wandered through Saxony, v is itin g the farm s and choosing their sheep. Around the neck o f each sheep as it w as chosen, th ey buckled a little numbered collar as a m eans o f identification, and sealed it w ith her own private seal, but only the best o f th e sheep offered to them were marked, and for these th ey paid good prices. A s a final safeguard, th ey hired two o f the b est German shepherds they could find, who were prepared to leave their hom es and travel round the world in charge o f th is valuable cargo.

Mrs. Forlonge and W illiam crossed over to Liverpool in 1828 where they loaded the sheep w ith the two shepherds on a ship sailing to Van D iem en’s Land. Here, aided by Governor Arthur, a grant, was chosen a t Campbell Town o f 2,56o acres where th e sheep were depastured on the property which is still called ‘K enilworth.’

Three years after that, Mrs. Forlonge returned to E ngland fo r Andrew and arrived w ith him and 200 more sheep at H obart Town in 1832, where th ey applied to Governor Arthur for more land, but as free grants had ceased a year before, th is w as refused, so she, her husband and Andrew moved over to V ictoria where her husband died soon afterw ards. Land w as chosen on the Barwon and on it their merino stud w as founded in that State. It m ay be m entioned th at Mrs. Forlonge w as financed in m any o f her later purchases by her mother, Mrs. Jan et Templeton.

In 1842, W illiam Forlonge sold ‘Kenilworth’ to John Taylor, o f ‘W inton’ and joined his m other and brother in Victoria.

To-day, near the gate o f her V ictoria home a t ‘Seven Creeks,’ a m emorial tablet tells som ething o f w hat Mrs. Forlonge did and calls her “The M other o f V ictoria’s W ool Industry.” N either W illiam , who m anaged his m other’s properties in Victoria, nor Andrew, who w ent to Am erica, were possessed o f their m other’s g ifts fo r m an­agem ent and enterprise. (A letter w ritten by Mrs. Forlonge to Lord John R ussell w ill be found on the inside cover o f th is h istory.)

George R ussell, in his journal w ritten som e years a fter Mrs. F orlonge’s v isit, m entions th at he, too, called on Mr. G adegast in Saxony. “I w as much pleased w ith the sheep. I think th ey are the finest-woolled sheep I have ever seen, strong, w ell-shaped anim als. W e were allowed every facility for exam ining them and the owners-

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were very oblig ing.” There were fifty rams for sale a t £ 7 /1 0 /- each for first quality and £6 fo r second. The sheep were all housed in pens w ith hay racks and sm all troughs, the floors w ere covered w ith dry, clean straw and they were turned out to pasture fo r a few hours every day, but in the w inter were alw ays shedded and given turnips w ith their other food. There were nearly three hundred ewes and the sam e number o f rams in different sheds on the property.

By the year 1830 wool had become Tasm ania’s chief export and as much w as sent to England from here as w ent from N ew South W ales. A circular w as sent from London to people w ith ‘sheep w alk s’ in Tasm ania, advising them , am ong other things, to “work consistently for fineness and softness, to breed only from rams o f good stock, to w ash their sheep before shearing, m aintain the fleeces intact except fo r sk irtings and to sort them according to colour, length o f staple and fineness o f h a ir(!) It was considered advisable to use thick, tough m aterial for bales, but not the custom ary sail canvas, which is apt to tear like paper on arrival in England.”

CLEVELANDIn 1830 the ‘Bald Faced S tag’ Inn w as built as a road house and

changing station for stage coach horses used in the H obart-Launceston run. The large stables beside the well-preserved old house are still a landmark in the township.

In 1841 a road party o f convicts w as stationed here and a p ost­m aster named W illiam Thornhill w as appointed. In ’44 Cleveland became a hiring depot (for convicts) under the Probation System and a< pound w as built. In ’48 a new and more substantial pound was erected and was in the charge o f George A xtell.

Curr m entions that in 1824 there was a public house o f sorts known as the ‘H yland’s Lagoon Inn,’ which evidently stood beside the old road that ran through the bush on the east side o f the lagoon. Accommodation was afforded to travellers a t rather a heavy expense, he says, “But how often have we congratulated ourselves on having escaped the verm in which in fest the m iserable mud hu ts in which w e m ight have passed the night, w hen w e have been camped under a honeysuckle tree w ith our dogs restin g beside us and our horses tethered in the long g r a ss? ”

CLEVELAND PROBATION STATIONSyme, who w as in charge o f a probation station h im self for five

years, te lls us o f the way th is bad experim ental system o f prison treatm ent w as working at Cleveland in 1842, shortly after it had come into being in Tasmania,

“Instructions were issued to cultivate th irty acres a t Cleveland by spade husbandry. The soil w as cleared, enclosed and planted a t incredible cost,” he says. “The return consisted of potatoes and carrots which were carried to Launceston a t an expense o f th irty sh illings per ton and could not find a purchaser a t h a lf the price that had been paid for their conveyance. T w enty acres a t Perth were treated in a sim ilar m anner.”

The Probation System , instigated by Lord Stanley, first came into force in April, 1841. It w as the cause of more moral depravity and degradation of character than any other treatm ent to which the convicls were subjected.

W ith foolish persistence, Lord Stanley, long after its fau lts m ust have been known to him, insisted on its enforcem ent. The

prisoners were herded together 70 or 80 in each room of the barracks. Space w ill not allow further details here, but the colonists rose in a body aga in st th e system o f transportation o f crim inals to Van D iem en’s Land in any form , w ith the result th at a fter 1853 no more

convicts came to the Island.

MISS HELEN POWER REMEMBERSA deep and sincere affection marks M iss Power’s m em ories o f

Campbell Town. W ith the eyes of a poet she_ sees it now and re­members it as it was when she used to come racing home from school, w ith p igta ils flying, in those far-off days when there were no motor cars nor electric lights. N ow from the w ilds o f Elboden Street in Hobart, she rem em bers :

That the doctor, who w as so much loved by his patients, w as shunned by little girls w ith p igtails as “his favourite w ay o f greet­in g us w as to try to lif t us off the ground by our p laits. N aturally th is w as very painful and w e would avoid the good old doctor i f we could possibly m anage it .”'

N early all the elderly people in those days used to speak w ith the accent o f the part o f the world they had come from . Scottish, Irish, Yorkshire, Cockney and other dialects were heard on every hand and the v illag e seem ed to be all the richer for the colour they gave and for the fun th ey caused.

A t the Church Parade there appeared every Sunday, numbers of handsome carriages drawn by well-groom ed horses. One brougham in particular w as complete w ith spanking bays and a pair o f spotted Dalm atian hounds running along underneath it w ith their ta ils and noses in the air. ‘Carriage dogs’ th ey w ere called and considered to be the very la st word in sm artness in those days. The groom o f th is conveyance, however, thought too much o f his horses to allow them to be kept w aiting for any length o f tim e when the service w as over. B eing a Scotchm an, he w as able to speak h is mind when occasion demanded, and his m aster would be hurried aw ay from his chatting friends and into the carriage by a heathery voice grum bling from the driver’s seat, “Come on, mon, come on, can’t you see the horses would be g o in g ? ”

Of course a-11 the coachmen wore livery in those days and there were som e o f the best carriage horses in the country paw ing the ground, snorting and tossin g their heads, itch ing to be off along the road and aw ay from the Church Parade into their stables.

There w as a place outside the township where several members of a Devonshire fam ily o f farm ers had their holdings. The chief farm stead w as built of brick, w hite-w ashed, with, a high-pitched gable roof and a flagged garden path leading from a lych g a te to the house. A ll the surrounding fields were bordered w ith hawthorn hedges; not a post-and-rail, nor even a log fence w as in sight. They were a sturdily built fam ily , w ith the bright china blue eyes still to be seen in their descendants in various parts o f Tasm ania. One of them w as a m iller and lived a t the old red w ater m ill, w ith i t s lum bering, splashing w heel turning in the w ater from the race which flowed g lassily from the w illow -fringed mill-pond. M any a golden willow lea f came flashing p ast in th e sw ift w ater to fa ll a t la st into the pool where the fa t blackfish lay.

I remember an old H ighlander who wore h is bonnet in the w ay such headgear should be worn; for all the world like one o f W illiam Black’s characters. H is observations on the w eather were generally prefaced by, “It w ill be a ferry fine day w hateffer.”

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We children used to be sent forth with little presents o f tallow candles, which were the usual illum inant in the cottages, or with jugs o f soup, for the needy. In th is w ay we became friend ly w ith the interior o f m any a queer little house.

There was a row of alm houses, now demolished, where we used to v is it an old woman who alw ays wore a mob cap and m ittens. On the wall, I remember, there used to be hosts of black beetles creeping about over the m antlepiece and around a b ig pendulum clock which had the loudest tick that ever was heard.

Irish people there were too, w ith their flowers o f speech. I re­mem ber well one old woman, to whom w e had given som e candles, saying, “Och, m ay the Lord bless ye, and m ay these candles ligh t you on your w ay to H iven”—which pleased us very much.

There w as an old man o f odd jobs in the town who had been a pugilist, as h is flattened nose testified, and he gave boxing lessons to the lads o f the village. L ittle did we guess that w e were harbouring a celebrity in our m idst till, years later, when I saw in a copy o f “The Pink ’U N ,’' an enquiry for “the whereabouts o f ThomasVerdon, alias Apple Daddy, fam ous lightw eight champion of------ *’som e part o f England and at a date which I now forget.

I remember too, a fam ily whose grandfather, liv ing w ith them , wore gold rings in his ears and had long curling hair and flashing black eyes which bespoke the Romany : all these are gone now.

Then we had a real London costerm onger, who dressed habitually in a velvet coat, a red handkerchief round his neck and a rabbit-skin cap. H is hair w as brushed in oiled locks which fe ll from above his ears on to his cheeks. H is hoarse, fru ity speech was entirely different from any o f the other dialects around the town.

One hot, Christmas Day, I remember m eeting an old woman who w as driving her cow home. I prom ptly wished her a “Merry Christ­m as.” “Thank you, little lady,” she said, “I shall be content if i t is a peaceful one; I do not look for m irth.’’

There w as the little doctor, a Yorkshirem an, who built a com­plete pipe organ in his own home. It is now, I believe, in the Church of England a t Latrobe. The doctor also established Turkish baths (o f a ll th in gs) in our happy village, but I don’t think they were much of a success.

Before m y tim e, but remembered by others, w »s another York­shirem an who dressed to the day o f his death in the knee breeches, ta il coat and low, square hat, such as L ittle N e ll’s grandfather wore, as shown by Phiz in “The Old Curiosity Shop.” People said that he was a m iser; with w hat foundation I know not. On his line tomb in the little grassy churchyard is the fo llow ing inscription :

“The earth goeth to the earth G listening like gold.

The earth goeth to the earth Sooner than it would.

The earth buildeth on the earth Castles and towers.

The earth sayeth to the earth A ll shall be ours.”

Those happy tim es have changed, but perhaps there are som e com ­pensations. A reservoir in the hills keeps the river a perm anently flowing stream instead of a chain o f stagn an t w aterholes in the summer and even the old Irish woman would not give me a thank-you for tallow candles in these days o f electric light. But the old w ays o f speech have gone with the fo lk who used them and only a few o f us realise how modern progress has flattened out the w ay o f life .

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THE FORGOTTEN TOWNSW ithin the Campbell Town M unicipality are no less than three

areas which once were set aside by the Governor to become townships. They were marked out w ith streets and commons and on the plans there were shown the positions intended for inns, barracks and hom es for a grow ing com m unity o f people. B ut they have been forgotten as the years passed by and now sheep and cattle graze contentedly where houses and pavem ents were intended to be. Per­haps these s ites were too isolated or the floods cam e and prevented settlem ent. Llewellyn (near A voca), M aitland (on Barton) and Lincoln (on Stew arton) practically never grew beyond the sign posts which were erected to m ark their position. Here th e grasses still g listen in the wind and the trees cast m oving shadows alon g the ground.

THE END.

Epilogue♦

Ever since the dawn had come w ith gold and crim son into the valley there had been the barking o f dogs in the distance, where, in a drifting cloud o f dust, the sheep were com ing to the shed for shear­ing.

Then there w as a so ft thudding on the w arm earth th at grew fa in ter and fain ter as a bush creature fled through the scrub aw ay over the ridge from the river. There w as the cry o f w attle birds from am ong the strange flowers o f th e honeysuckle trees and a golden rain o f pollen lay on the ground beneath them.

F ar in the sky an aeroplane s.ped through the golden ligh t towards the ocean and the shadow of it passed sw iftly over the h ill­tops.

A ll through the long day the w heels and belts th at drove the m achines in the shed, raced and san g as the wool fe ll in w hite torrents along the board, under the deft hands o f the shearers.

In the high air an eagle floated rem ote and silent over the forest and over the river to its n est in the m ountains.

T e l e g r a p h P r i n t e r y P t y . l - d ., L a u n c e s t o n , T a s m a n i a

From Mrs. John Forlongs to Lord Russell 1840(H ow itt, Vol. 1, P age 189)

“In 1826. my late husband. Mr. John Forlonge, o f Glasgow, after several communications with Mr. Huskisson, then Secretary for the Colonies was induced to send our sons W illiam and Andrew to Saxony for the purpose of acquiring a competent knowledge o f the sheep economy o f that country. This was done with a view of their after­wards im porting into New South W ales a flock of fine-woolled Saxon sheep. My husband went twice to Saxony to a ssist them in their inquiries and I remained with them for nearly four years, stim ulating and directing their energies and qualifying them to fulfil their fa th er’s promise and engagem ent to Mr. Huskisson.

“In 1829, my eldest son, W illiam , then eighteen years of age, returned to England and im m ediately thereafter sailed for Sydney, recommended in the strongest manner by Mr. Huskisson, as Colonial Secretary, to the Governor o f New South W ales. He carried with him one hundred fine Saxon Merino sheep (worth about 3,0001.) and he received from the Colonial Office, Downing Street, the necessary copy o f regulations respecting em igration of 1827. H aving touched at Hobart Town on his w ay to Sydney, Sir George Arthur, the Governor of Van D iem en’s Land, im pressed with the value of the

•undertaking and its importance to the colony, prevailed upon him to remain there; and upon evidence of his possessing the requisite amount o f capital, ordered him a m aximum grant of land.

“In 1830, m v husband and the rem aining members of our fam ily em igrated to Van D iem en’s Land. On our arrival, my husband, on exhibiting his capital, easily procured a maximum grant o f land.

“My youngest son, Andrew, who accompanied us in 1830, took with him one hundred and th irty fine Saxon Merino sheep and lambs, which he ta d personally selected and purchased—of which, however, he w as only successful in landing ninety-one, the re­mainder having perished in a storm at sea.

“On his arrival. Andrew applied to the Land Board to have his stock valued, with the view o f procuring a grant o f land to depasture his sheep. The Board accordingly made the valuation and estim ated the sheep exhibited (seven ty-six in number) a t th irty pounds S t i r ­lin g per head, or 22801. in all. He then made application, under the 13th A rticle of the R egulations of 1827 (a copy o f which he had also received in Downing S treet), for a m aximum grant of land, to which parties p ossessing such an amount of capital were entitled; but was met with the statem ent that, being a minor, he had no title to such grant. On this resolution being communicated to him, Andrew re­quested that a maximum grant should be reserved for him. in term s of the alm ost unvarying usage, till he attained m ajority; but this also w as refused, and, in short, to th b hour he has received neither equivalent nor com pensation for the capital embarked from this country, or for that expended on his scientific education in Saxony, or indeed for any part o f an undertaking, the im portance o f which to the colony can jipjthj^r jjf0 fl|insaid nor denied.”

COLLECTION ”

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