Skip to content

Military Pensioners of Richmond

Citation

MacFie, Peter H., 2004, 2022: Military Pensioners of Richmond, https://petermacfiehistorian.net.au/publications/military-pensioners/

Abstract

Originally presented as ’Mill Cottage to Peppercorn Gallery: A History of the Military Settlers of Richmond’ and other variations including ‘Colonial Soldiers’ or ‘Pensioner Soldiers’.

Right from the early days of British soldiers being sent to Van Diemen’s Land to guard the convicts, some of the military personnel sought permission to retire and take up land in the colony when their service ended. Some settled in the Coal River valley on the road to Port Arthur and became the core of today’s Richmond. By 1850 the British Government formalized the practice, and offered retired soldiers the chance to earn their fare (and those of their families) back to Van Diemen’s Land by working as ‘Convict Guards’, with the promise of small land grants and the chance to join the police. This is the story of those who settled at Richmond or nearby. Men of limited means who were in a class of their own. Not convicts or emancipists, and not wealthy or members of the ruling classes, but often skilled tradesmen who became a strength of the community.

Details

A 61 page A4 size pdf document. Permission is granted to print for your own use but not for sale.

To Purchase

This document is not available for purchase due to the death of the author. His heirs have arranged for all of his smaller completed works to be made available on this website as a service to Tasmanian history.

Download

Download Military Pensioners of Richmond (5MB PDF)

Contents

Contents……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3

Illustrations……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6

  1. Mill Cottage – A Creative History……………………………………………………….. 7
  2. An Irish Redcoat & a Dressmaker………………………………………………………. 8
  3. The Morans Settle in Richmond’s “Irish Town”………………………………..14
  4. Mill Cottage – The Dress-Makers Shop c 1854………………………………. 23
  5. Morans on the Move………………………………………………………………………….. 28
  6. Private Edwin Anderson, Cooper, Royal Engineers……………………….. 30
  7. Richmond’s Crafty Anderson Brothers…………………………………………….. 36
  8. Other Military Pensioners and their Cottages………………………………… 42
  9. Peppercorn Gallery – A New Life for Mill Cottage………………………….. 55

Index…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 56

Excerpt

1. Mill Cottage – A Creative History

Until the 1930s, Richmond had a variety of traditional crafts and trades, ranging from coach building wheelwrighting, blacksmithing, shoemaking, saddle and harness making. The inns which once brewed their own beers employed coopers and related trades. Skill and crafts associated with women in the 19th century include dressmaking and embroidery. A short-lived ginger beer making operation was started by a female Richmond resident.

Many of these trades were recalled in 1977 by the late Alf King, (1894-1908), a local identity with a marvellous and reliable memory, who remembered the Richmond of his childhood pre-World War I. Using the names of residents listed in the 1902 Post Office Directory, Alf described to Peter MacFie who lived where in the various houses, shops and pubs of the Richmond of his boyhood.

He recalled that Mill Cottage – the Peppercorn Gallery at 58 Bridge Street – was at that time the home of James ‘Jimmy’ Anderson, village wheelwright and master builder. Subsequent research years later has revealed that Jimmy Anderson was probably related to the original owner. The cottage stayed in the Moran/Anderson families until 1953.

The land on which the cottage stands was first allocated c 1830 to J.K. Buscombe, the early Richmond entrepreneur, publican, developer and miller who lived in the home he built for his family, Prospect House.

Maps of the period show a small building on this site. However, information taken from the 1842 census indicates the cottage was probably erected in 1841-2. Edward Moran later called the house Mill Cottage, to distinguish it from the nearby Millers Cottage (1837) located at the end of Mill Lane and which gave access to the now vanished Tower Windmill. Mill Cottage was probably expanded around 1854, when two dressmaking sisters, Catherine and Bridget Moran, opened a shop there.

Alf King also recalled the bootmakers, undertakers, blacksmiths and other tradesman who lived and worked in Richmond. Most of these were based in Bridge Streets, Richmond’s main thoroughfare.

Index

alcohol, 14, 20, 39

Alexander, L, 21

Allcock, Martha, 26

Anderson children, 18

Anderson family, 53

Anderson, Amelia (Mrs Martin), 40, 41, 47

Anderson, Edward, 52, See Anderson, Edwin

Anderson, Edwin, 18, 30, 31, 33, 34, 43, 46

Anderson, George, 31, 32, 39, 40, 54

Anderson, James. See Anderson, Jimmy

Anderson, Jimmy, 6, 7, 31, 32, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 52, See Anderson, James

Anderson, John, 31, 32, 40

Anderson, Martin, 30, 31, 32, 39, 40, 41

Anderson, Mary (Mrs Edwin), 18, 30, 31, 33, 34, 46, See Moran, Mary Ann

Anderson, MaryAnn, 31

Anderson’s Cottage, 30, 40

Anderson’s Cottage #1, 30, 32, 54

Anstey, Thomas, 52

Arthur, Lt. Gov. George, 9, 10, 11, 12, 20

Ashmore, William, 52

Bailey, Robert, 46

Bailey, Sam, 54

Barrow, ? (Mrs William Warre), 14

Barrow, Lt William Warre, 10, 11, 14

Black Line, 9, 10, 14

Black Wars, 10

Blackburn, Mark, 54

Blowfield, James, 44

Blowfield, Sarah (Mrs James). See Mason, Sarah

Bothwell, 11

Bradshaw, Henry, 21

Brown Mountain, 10, 11, 14, 15, 29

Brown’s River. See Kingston

Brushy Plains. See Buckland

Buckland, 25, 27

Buckley, James, 51

Burn, George, 15, 22

Burns, Herbert, 38

Burrell, Walter, 38

Burridge, John, 47

Buscombe, J. K., 7, 10, 11, 23

bushrangers, 16, 46

Byron, Jane (Mrs ?), 26

Cain, ? (Mrs ?), 18

Campania, 14, 50

Campania Estate, 51

Cane, ? (Mrs ?), 17

Carey, Bridget (Mrs William), 47

Carey, William, 47, 51, 52, 54

Carey’s Cottage, 47, 54

Cassidy family, 18

Cassidy, Bridget (Mrs John). See Moran, Bridget

Cassidy, Hugh, 51

Cassidy, John, 15, 16, 17, 27

Catholics, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 24, 25, 26, 29, 33, 36, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53

Chessington Boarding House, 27

Clifford, James, 44

Congregationalists, 52

Connell, Margaret. See Moran, Margaret (Mrs Charles)

Connolly’s Marsh, 13

Conroy allotment, 54

Conroy, Bridget (Mrs John), 45

Conroy, Bridget jnr, 53

Conroy, John, 45, 52, 53

Conroy, Mary, 53

Conroy, Patrick, 45

Conroy’s Cottage, 45, 53

constables, 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51

convict guards, 8, 43, 46

Cooley, Brassy. See Cooley, Charles

Cooley, Charles, 36, 46

Cornish children, 45

Cornish grant, 54

Cornish, Hannah (Mrs William), 44, 45, 46

Cornish, Mary, 45

Cornish, William, 43, 44, 45, 52, 53

Cornish’s Cottage, 53

Cotham, Father James, 17

Cotham, Lawrence, 52

Cousins, Phil, 37

cricket, 20, 21, 26

Cullen, William, 18

Cunningham, Margaret, 17

Cunningham, Michael, 18

Dale the water carrier, 26

Daniell, Captain ?, 30

Denton, James, 52, See Dunton, James

Devitt, Alf, 39

Devitt, Amelia. See Anderson, Amelia (Mrs Martin)

Devitt, John, 40

Devitt, Julia (Mrs John), 40

Dickson, Bassett, 51

Dickson, Henry, 37

Dodge, Ralph, 43

Dodge’s Ferry, 43

Douglas, Major ?, 11

Dumas, Captain ?, 14

Dunton, Florence, 25

Dunton, James, 25, 26, 27

Dunton, James Alfred, 25

Dunton, Mary Ann (Mrs James), 25, 26, 27

Eaglehawk Neck, 9

East Bay Neck, 11, 13

Eumarrah, 10

Eureka Rebellion, 46

Evans, Samuel, 47

Fagan children, 51

Fagan, ? (Mrs Michael), 51

Fagan, Michael, 31, 51

Fergusson, Peter, 10

Fielding, Anne (Mrs Robert), 55

Fielding, Robert, 55

Findlay, John, 11, 12

Fitzsimmons, Eliza (Mrs Richard), 53

Fitzsimmons, Richard, 53

foot-racing, 22

Gaby, Thomas, 52

Gard, Walter, 39

Gavin, Roger, 15

George Anderson’s Cottage. See Laurel Cottage

Geraldine Cottage, 48, 54

ginger beer, 7

Glen Ayr, 22, 51

Glover, Thomas, 44

Godfrey, Margaret (Mrs Peter), 55

Godfrey, Peter, 55

Goldie children, 27

Goldie, Francis, 27

Goldie, Mary Ann (Mrs Francis), 27

Gordon, James, 11, 12

Gracey, ?, 15

Grass Tree Hill Road Gang, 20

Green Ponds. See Kempton

Green, Bill, 36, 37, 38, 39

Gregory, Alice (Mrs John snr). See Wroe, Alice

Gregory, John snr, 50

Gregson, Thomas, 51, 52

Griffiths, Henry, 13

Guy, Benjamin, 14

Half Way Hill, 20

Hamilton, 26, 27

Hanna, Eliza, 22

Hannan, Miss ?, 17

Harris, Martin, 55

Hatfield, James, 22

hawkers, 38

Hawkes, Earnest, 40

Hayes, Catherine. See Moran, Catherine (Mrs Edward)

Herbert, Thomas, 52

Horsham, Mary, 13

Horsham, Private ?, 13

Horsham, Robert, 13

Hussey, ? (Mrs William), 51

Hussey, William, 51

inns

Bridge Inn, 11, 16, 33, 40

Commercial Hotel, 38

Glen Derwent, 24

Jolly Farmer, 16, 32

Prince of Wales, 16, 53

Richmond Inn, 52

Union Hotel, 16, 30, 32, 51, 52, 53

Inverquarity, 51

Irish people, 8, 9, 11, 15, 16, 24, 32, 46, 51, 53

Irish Town, 16, 31, 32, 39, 51, 52

Jacobs, Philip, 21, 22

Jameieson’s Cottage. See Geraldine Cottage

Jamieson, James, 48, 52, 54

Jamieson’s Cottage, 48, 53

Jerusalem, 11, 23, 29, 53

Jones, Jeffrey, 55

Joseph, George, 38, 39

Kate, 6

Keady, Patrick, 45, 53

Kearney, William, 14, 43

Kelly, Mary (Mrs Robert), 52, See Cornish, Mary

Kelly, Reg, 54

Kelly, Robert, 45, 52

Kelly’s Farm, 46

Kempton, 26, 27

killings, 10, 11

King, Alf, 7, 32, 36, 37, 38, 39, 43

King, George, 38

Kingston, 20, 47

Knight, Edward, 33

Larnder, William, 43

Lauderdale, 47

Laurel Cottage, 39, 54

Leils, Thomas, 47

Lester, Bill, 38

Lisson, Adam, 32, 46, 47, 51, 52

Lisson, Elizabeth (Mrs Adam), 32, 46

Little Jack. See Netherwood, John

Lloyd, G.T., 11

Malcolm’s Huts Road Station, 20

Marchant, ?, 22

Marengo Estate, 37

Margate, 47

Maria Island, 24

Mason children, 43

Mason grant, 54

Mason, Charlotte, 43, 44, 50

Mason, Eliza (Mrs Samuel), 43, 44

Mason, Ellen, 43, 44

Mason, John Walter, 43, 44

Mason, Samuel, 43, 44, 51, 53

Mason, Sarah, 43, 44

Mason’s Cottage, 53

McCullagh, Mary (Mrs Simon), 32

McCullagh, Simon, 32

McCulloch, Anne (Mrs Simon), 16

McCulloch, Mary Ann, 17

McCulloch, Simon, 16, 52, 53

McCullugh, Simon. See McCulloch, Simon

McDougall, Lindsay, 55

McDougall, Sue (Mrs Lindsay), 55

McGowan, Anastasia (Mrs James), 32

McGowan, Honora, 17

McGowan, James, 16, 18, 32, 53

McGowan, Mary, 17

McLoughlin, Thomas, 13

Medlar, William, 46

military

01st Madras Regiment, 45

09th Regiment, 31, 51

11th Regiment, 47

21st Regiment, 16, 21

22nd Regiment, 46

36rd Regiment, 8

46th Regiment, 45

63rd Regiment, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

68th Regiment, 46

73rd regiment, 16

97th Regiment, 43

99th Regiment, 43, 48

Auckland Militia, 14

Royal Artillery, 49

Royal Marine, 51

Sappers and Miners Regiment, 30, 34

military pensioners, 16, 31, 32, 40, 43, 45, 46, 48, 51, 52, 53

Mill Cottage, 6, 7, 8, 23, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 40, 41, 55

Millers Cottage, 7, 28

Montrose Cottage, 54

Moran children, 18

Moran, Annie Ada, 28

Moran, Arthur Ernest, 28

Moran, Bridget, 7, 15, 19, 23, 26, 27, 29, 48

Moran, Bridget (Mrs Thomas), 28

Moran, Catherine, 48

Moran, Catherine (Mrs Edward), 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 23, 28, 31

Moran, Catherine (Mrs William), 28

Moran, Catherine 3, 22

Moran, Catherine jr, 15

Moran, Charles, 8, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 28, 29, 52, 53

Moran, Charles Connell jnr, 28

Moran, Edward, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 39, 45, 52, 53, 54

Moran, Edward 2, 22

Moran, Eleanor, 15, 19

Moran, Florence Lillian, 28

Moran, Isabella Margaret, 28

Moran, Kate, 7, 17, 19, 22, 23, 26, 27, See Moran, Catherine jr

Moran, Margaret (Mrs Charles), 28, 29

Moran, Maria. See Moran, Mary Ann

Moran, Mary Ann, 6, 15, 17, 31, See Dunton, Mary Ann (Mrs James)

Moran, Mary Ann 2, 22

Moran, Richard Thomas, 28

Moran, Rose Helena, 28

Moran, Thomas, 12, 28, 29

Moran, Thomas 2, 15, 17, 19

Moran, William, 8, 9, 15, 17, 19, 27, 28, 30

Moran, William 3, 22

Moran’s Cottage, 19, 45

Moran’s Cottage. See Montrose Cottage

Moren, Edward. See Moran, Edward

Morin, Edward. See Moran, Edward

Mounted Police, 10, 11, 15

Mt Rumney, 20

Murphy, Daniel, 16, 33

Murphy, Patrick, 11

Muster Ground, 10

Native Corners, 46, 50, 51, 53

Netherwood, John, 19, 20

New Town Farm, 48

Nicholls, J. H., 52

Nichols, ? (Magistrate), 21

Nickols, Elizabeth, 23

Noonan, Bridget. See Moran, Bridget (Mrs Thomas)

Norfolk Island, 30, 49

Nugent Farm, 25

O’Keefe, David, 18

O’Keefe, Michael, 18

Oatlands, 11, 44, 52

Ogilvy, David, 51

Parramore, Owen, 54

Penrice, 43

pensioner guards, 30

Peppercorn Gallery, 6, 7, 55

petitions, 17, 24, 25, 52

Polding, Bishop John Bede, 16

Poole, Ann (Mrs Joseph), 20

Poole, Anne. See Shelverton, Anne (Mrs George)

Poole, Joseph, 20

Port Arthur, 9, 20, 24

Price, John, 49

Prospect House, 7

Protestants, 24, 26, 27, 29, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53

Pt Puer, 21

Quin, Mrs Jean, 54

Redding, Ellen (Mrs William). See Mason, Ellen

Redding, Richard, 43, 44

Redding, William, 44

Reid, Thomas, 39

Reynolds, ? (Mrs Roderick), 47

Reynolds, Roderick, 47, 52

Richmond Bridge, 11, 14, 43

Richmond Gaol, 10, 14, 44

Richmond Races, 22

Riley, Thomas, 45

Robertson, Gilbert, 10, 15, 43

Rose, John, 23

Roslyn, 15, 22

Ross, Simon, 52

Rows, Thomas snr. See Wroe, Thomas snr

Sampson, ? (Mrs ?), 54

Schaw, Charles, 21, 51

schools

Campania, 55

Catholic, 18, 40

Dame, 53

private girls, 23

public, 47

Searle daughters, 23

Searle, ? (Mrs ?), 23

Shaw children, 47

Shaw, Arthur, 47, 54

Shaw, Bessie (Mrs Arthur), 47, 54

sheep, 11, 12

Shelverton, Annie May, 26

Shelverton, George, 26

Shelverton, Georgina Lester, 23

Shelverton, Kate (Mrs William), 26, 29, See Moran, Kate

Shelverton, William, 26, 29

ships

Alice, 9

Blenheim, 43, 46

Coringa Packet, 46

Eliza 4, 30, 31, 43, 45, 47, 49

Lady Leigh, 49

Lord Goderich, 21

Maria Soames, 43, 48

Medway 2, 19, 20

Minerva, 15, 16, 17, 18, 32

Wave, 8

Simpson, Mary Ann. See Goldie, Marie Ann (Mrs Francis)

Smith O’Brien, William, 24, 53

Smith, Thomas, 50

soldiers, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 30

Sorell, 11, 12, 20, 26

Sparkes, William, 27

St John’s Cemetery, 12, 15, 34, 48

St John’s Church, 12, 15, 16, 17, 26, 40

St Luke’s Cemetery, 12, 13, 34, 44, 51

St Luke’s Church, 26, 45, 50

steam flour mill, 26

Stoney Creek tribe, 10

Styne family, 18

Tasmanian Aborigines, 10, 11

The Carlton, 13

The Old Place, 54, See Carey’s Cottage

trades

blacksmiths, 7, 36, 37, 38

bootmakers, 7, 9, 19, 20, 28, 29, 30, 32, 40

brewers, 33

bricklayers, 51

builders, 7, 37, 52

butchers, 47

carpenters, 6, 20, 37

charcoal burners, 38

coach-builders, 6, 37

coach-painters, 38

coopers, 7, 30, 33, 34, 36

dressmakers, 6, 7, 9, 23, 26

embroiderers, 7, 23

iron-founders, 46

javelin men, 44

laundresses, 49

millers, 7, 23, 26

millwrights, 10

ostlers, 33

plasterers, 51

shoemakers, 27, 39

stonemasons, 52

tailors, 46, 48

undertakers, 7

wheelwrights, 6, 7, 31, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40

Travers, Catherine. See Moran, Catherine (Mrs William)

Ulmer, Kurt, 6, 55

Ulmer, Shirley (Mrs Kurt), 6, 55

Villeneuve Smith, William, 51

Vine Cottage, 44

voting, 51

Wallace, Laurence, 18

Wharton, Pymbar, 27

Whelan, Frances (Mrs John). See Wroe, Frances Eliza

Whelan, John, 50

White Kangaroo Rivulet, 10, 15, 29

White, ?, 15

Wiggins, Arthur, 54

Williams, W, 21

Willson, Bishop Robert William, 17, 18

Wilson, William, 21

windmill, 7, 10, 23, 28

Woodburn, 15, 16, 51

Woolford, Billy, 54

Woolford, Louise, 54

Woolford, Mercy, 54

Wright, Cyril, 54

Wright, Walter, 39

Wroe grant, 54

Wroe, Alice, 50

Wroe, Charlotte (Mrs Thomas jnr), 50, See Mason, Charlotte

Wroe, Eva, 50

Wroe, Frances (Mrs Thomas snr), 49, 51

Wroe, Frances Eliza, 50

Wroe, Samuel, 49, 51

Wroe, Thomas jnr, 44, 49, 50

Wroe, Thomas snr, 44, 49, 51, 53

Wroe’s Cottage, 53

Young, Randel, 26

 

 

“The Newsprint” Published

Photograph of book sitting on a table. The book is titled "The Newsprint - A Social and Forestry History of Maydena. An Experimental Logging Town in the Tyenna Valley, Tasmania. 1920-2020." The cover has a photograph of mid-century logging machinery, a silhouette of a forestry worker climbing a tree, and a newspaper article titled "A Forest Crashes into Newsprint".This book is the story of the forestry industry that fed the Australian Newsprint Mill at Boyer in southern Tasmania, the politics behind the enterprise and the people who worked there and lived in Maydena and the wider Tyenna Valley. Over a hundred people were interviewed for this wide-ranging book, from the General Manager of ANM to the whistle boys, and just about every job in between. These included the fallers and the first aiders, nurses and doctors who patched them up, the log measurers, loaders, road makers and the truck drivers who left their names for posterity on the tricky corners where they came unstuck. Plus so many more.

Read more about this book on the Maydena page, or buy it from the Shop.

Dulcot

A Tale of Two Schools at Dulcot (Unpublished book)

Note:

This manuscript is complete but Pete was trying to organise maps when he fell ill. The book on the Wesleyans at Port Arthur is finalised and published, Peter’s childhood autobiography is just done, and the Dulcot book will be next. Hopefully before the end of 2022.

Pete had this ready, but then wanted to add two more chapters. He has said they are complete, and it will be published once the formatting, indexing and so forth is complete.

On the Fiddle from Scotland to Tasmania 1815 – 1863

The Life and Music of Alexander Laing (1792-1868). Convict, Constable, Fiddler and Composer. 65 Original Melodies Drawn from a Rare Manuscript with Historical Commentary.

Drawing on a rare music manuscript recently discovered by Peter MacFie, On the Fiddle from Scotland to Tasmania 1815-1868 makes available the previously hidden musical legacy of Alexander Laing, Scottish-born soldier, convict, fiddler, composer and constable.

After being transported to New South Wales in 1813, Laing arrived in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). He died there in 1868, leaving many descendants.

In the context of folk music traditions, the authors examine the musical, historical and cultural significance of Laing’s manuscript in 19th Century Tasmania and Australian history, and reproduce 65 of Laing’s original tunes.

The book consists of two sections: A history by Peter MacFie of Alexander Laing’s life and times in colonial Tasmania seen through the title dedications of the tunes; and a re-transcription of the 65 tunes with added chord accompaniment by musicians Steve Gadd and Marjorie Gadd, who comment on the broader musical significance of the Laing’s work.

Details

Authors Peter MacFie and Steve & Marjorie Gadd
ISBN 978-0-646-56618-4
Front and Back Cover Design for On the Fiddle: from Scotland to Tasmania 1815–1863 by Christopher Cowles © 2009.

Purchase

Order online (as below) or if you are in the Hobart area, you might try contact via this website to save postage.

Index

The index for On the Fiddle from Scotland to Tasmania 1815-1865

Book Tunes

The 65 Tunes Appearing in “On the Fiddle”

Manuscript Tunes

All 243 Tunes in the Original Laing Manuscript

Libraries Tasmania

Libraries Tasmania Catalogue – On the Fiddle

Stock Thieves and Golfers

A History of Kangaroo Bay and Rosny Farm, Tasmania 1803 – 1998

Stock Thieves and Golfers by Peter MacFie

“Stock Thieves & Golfers” explores the social history of Kangaroo Bay & Bellerive in the Clarence Municipality. Starting with stock theft clans and black-markets led by the family of Richard Morgan, other topics include Norfolk Island settlers, Derwent River ferrymen, while the development of Rosny Farm by Judge Montague is followed by emancipist farmer Walter Pedder. During World War I the farm was acquired by the Royal Hobart Golf Club, and the lives of the Club’s greenkeepers are documented, including those of World War I soldier Roy Hankin during the 1930s, followed by Ted Lane post World War II.
Surveyed also is the evolution of the eastern shore from a district of rural farms to beachside shacks and finally to suburban residential locality. This change followed construction of the floating bridge over the Derwent River in 1944 giving access by Clarence residents to Hobart and western shore.

Citation

Stock Thieves and Golfers: a History of Kangaroo Bay and Rosny Farm Tasmania 1803-1998. Peter MacFie, 2002. Published by Clarence City Council.

Details

72 A4 pages. Maps, photographs, plus footnotes, bibliography and detailed index.

Cover, Book Content Design and Production for Stock Thieves and Golfers by Christopher Cowles © 2002.

Purchase

Index

Index for “Stock Thieves and Golfers”

Libraries Tasmania

Libraries Tasmania Catalogue – Stock Thieves and Golfers

Reviews

‘an exemplary local history…’ Chris Bantick, Sunday Tasmanian

Centred on the Kangaroo Point district on the Derwent River where ferries crossed to Hobart until 1944, STOCK THIEVES & GOLFERS traces the evolution of a community from European settlement in 1804 to 2000. The first settlers in the area were mainly former Norfolk Islanders who arrived originally with the First & Second Fleets.

The book focuses initially on the extended family of Richard Morgan, a Norfolk Islanders transferred to VDL c 1806, and with others, were given grants around Kangaroo Bay, now known as Bellerive. Here Morgan built a large stone barn and cottage which survive on a later golf course – hence the title.

Using a network of bushrangers and highly placed officials in the colonial government, Morgan and his relatives became involved in the systematic theft of sheep and cattle in the first 20 years of settlement. The author has identified these and other stock theft ‘clans’ who combined to rob fellow settlers, including other former Norfolk Islanders such as Stanfield and Kimberley. The attraction in livestock theft was due to the guaranteed market offered by the set prices of the Commissariat.

As there was no senior court in VDL until 1823, the most detailed archival records for serious crimes in this period are held in NSW Archives Office. Peter has used these records extensively to uncover the extent of the stock theft industry in the island colony. During this period, both the accused, prosecutor and witness for both sides sailed to Sydney for trial, sometimes on the same ship, which must have made the voyages tension filled. The evidence of witnesses reveal much about early colonial life.

One of Morgan’s adult children, William, was tried and sentenced to death in Sydney’s Court of Criminal Jurisdiction. However, he was reprieved by the arrival of Governor Brisbane, returning to VDL to continue ‘farming.’ Others stock thieves, such as Bentley and Brown, were not so ‘lucky’ and were sentenced to 14 years at the Newcastle Coal Mines.

The early chapters of STOCK THIEVES & GOLFERS covers the inter-relationship of settlement in NSW, Norfolk Is and VDL. Names of other former Norfolk Is and Sydney based settlers recur, and include Ballance, Fisk, Belbin, Wade, Hibbens, Potaskie, Plyer and many others. RW Loane, a merchant with property in NSW and VDL was also implicated in Morgan’s nefarious trade, as was the Rev Robert Knopwood, the colonies first parson.

The last half of the book traces the evolution of the area from farming to recreational retreat seen through the development of Rosny Farm as a Golf Course. The reminiscences of children of former green-keepers are recounted stretching to the early years of the 20th century. This change is also set against the gradual urbanisation of the Eastern Shore, which still retains a distinct identity.

Peter argues that succeeding generations cover the past with ‘masks’ to disguise their family members, and the role of the historian is to unmask the past. The author succeeds ‘admirably.’

STOCK THIEVES & GOLFERS features over 90 illustrations in 77 pages set in large format. There is an detailed index covering names and subjects. Cover, Book Content Design and Production for Stock Thieves and Golfers by Christopher Cowles © 2002.