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| maroon_and_rathdowney [2024/01/17 21:07] – judith | maroon_and_rathdowney [2024/04/07 15:10] – judith |
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| When TLM-P bought //Maroon//, the area was sparsely settled. Rosa Praed recalled that the family went via Ipswich (then the nearest town), and had to hack their way through the Dugandan Scrub to reach their new home.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001 p.17.)) Deb Stenzel explains just how difficult it was to get to and from //Maroon//: 'To reach Maroon from Ipswich (the nearest large trading centre, and where there was a wharf to bring goods up the river from Brisbane), the original road (really just a track) went via Fassifern homestead, then Coochin Coochin, and on to Maroon. After about 1873, a track wide enough to take wagons was cut through the very dense scrub between Mt Flinders run (just south of Ipswich) and Dugandan homestead (near the current town of Boonah). Prior to that, the Dugandan folks had cut a bridle track to get to Ipswich by that more direct route, but any carts, wagons etc had to take the long way around - which, for Dugandan, meant back-tracking about 15kms south to Coochin Coochin, then heading north again on the other side of Mt French range, via Fassifern, Normanby homesteads, and on to Ipswich... Rosa Praed describes stop-overs at Dugandan homestead, on the way to and from Brisbane with her father.'((Deb Stenzel, email to J. Godden, 16 July 2023)) The road/track from Ipswich had to go over the Mt Alford range then on just south of //Coochin Coochin// then to //Maroon//. The mail continued on to the Richmond River.((Deb Stenzel et al, Stenzel Land - the first land holdings of Carl Ludwig Stenzel and his children, ms, 23 July 2023)) We can see from this description how the families on these properties needed to co-operate with each other and how they were in regular communication. As well, the mail route to the Richmond River helps explain the close friendship between the Bundocks and the Murray-Priors, culminating in the later marriage of Mary Bundock and Thomas de M. Murray-Prior.\\ | When TLM-P bought //Maroon//, the area was sparsely settled. Rosa Praed recalled that the family went via Ipswich (then the nearest town), and had to hack their way through the Dugandan Scrub to reach their new home.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001 p.17.)) Deb Stenzel explains just how difficult it was to get to and from //Maroon//: 'To reach Maroon from Ipswich (the nearest large trading centre, and where there was a wharf to bring goods up the river from Brisbane), the original road (really just a track) went via Fassifern homestead, then Coochin Coochin, and on to Maroon. After about 1873, a track wide enough to take wagons was cut through the very dense scrub between Mt Flinders run (just south of Ipswich) and Dugandan homestead (near the current town of Boonah). Prior to that, the Dugandan folks had cut a bridle track to get to Ipswich by that more direct route, but any carts, wagons etc had to take the long way around - which, for Dugandan, meant back-tracking about 15kms south to Coochin Coochin, then heading north again on the other side of Mt French range, via Fassifern, Normanby homesteads, and on to Ipswich... Rosa Praed describes stop-overs at Dugandan homestead, on the way to and from Brisbane with her father.'((Deb Stenzel, email to J. Godden, 16 July 2023)) The road/track from Ipswich had to go over the Mt Alford range then on just south of //Coochin Coochin// then to //Maroon//. The mail continued on to the Richmond River.((Deb Stenzel et al, Stenzel Land - the first land holdings of Carl Ludwig Stenzel and his children, ms, 23 July 2023)) We can see from this description how the families on these properties needed to co-operate with each other and how they were in regular communication. As well, the mail route to the Richmond River helps explain the close friendship between the Bundocks and the Murray-Priors, culminating in the later marriage of Mary Bundock and Thomas de M. Murray-Prior.\\ |
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| TLM-P paid £3,000 for //Maroon// and £1,200 for the 36 square mile property, //Heads of Logan// (//Rathdowney//).((//Queenslander//, 12 May 1866 cited in Darbyshire)) The latter was located between //Maroon// and his eastern neighbour //Telemon//: TLM-P incorporated it into //Maroon// station. //Maroon// came with 110 cattle, 12 horses and some working bullocks, while //Heads of Logan// carried 600 cattle and 7 horses.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, pp.17-18.)) In addition, in 1865 he brought 47 unbroken horses from his previous Cleveland property to //Maroon// as well as others from his former brother-in-law Charles Haly's property //Taabinga//.((MLMSS3117/box 9, pp.44-47)) As soon as possible, TLM-P used //Maroon// to breed both stud cattle and horses. In 1868, he imported a thorough bred stallion and also bought a pedigree bull from David McConnell and another that cost £25 from neighbouring property //Cressbrook//((p.314))((MLMSS3117/Box 8,pp.242-44. See also {H. Krause], //The Story of Maroon. A Souvenir Review of its History and Development 1827-1961//, Maroon Centenary Celebrations Committee, 1961, p.12.)) \\ | TLM-P paid £3,000 for //Maroon// and £1,200 for the 36 square mile property, //Heads of Logan// (//Rathdowney//).((//Queenslander//, 12 May 1866 cited in Darbyshire)) The latter was located between //Maroon// and his eastern neighbour //Telemon//: TLM-P incorporated it into //Maroon// station. //Maroon// came with 110 cattle, 12 horses and some working bullocks, while //Heads of Logan// carried 600 cattle and 7 horses.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001, pp.17-18.)) In addition, in 1865 he brought 47 unbroken horses from his previous Cleveland property to //Maroon// as well as others from his former brother-in-law Charles Haly's property //Taabinga//.((MLMSS3117/box 9, pp.44-47)) As soon as possible, TLM-P used //Maroon// to breed both stud cattle and horses. In 1868, he imported a thorough bred stallion and also bought a pedigree bull from David McConnell and another that cost £25 from neighbouring property //Cressbrook//((p.314))((MLMSS3117/Box 8,pp.242-44. See also {H. Krause], //The Story of Maroon. A Souvenir Review of its History and Development 1827-1961//, Maroon Centenary Celebrations Committee, 1961, p.12.)) In August 1866 he was still stocking Maroon, buying 198 young cattle.((MLMSS3117/Box 9))\\ |
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| At the end of 1871, TLM-P's ledger indicates that there were 4,717 cattle, 36 working horses and 23 brood mares on Maroon.((MLMSS3117/box 8, pp.304-05,316,317)) By 1877 his horse breeding program enabled TLM-P to advertise the services of Khedive, an imported Arab stallion.((The Queenslander, 15 September 1877 cited by Darbyshire, p.67)) With the active assistance of George Butler, he also bred shorthorn cattle; some of these were used to stock //Bulliwallah//.((Andrew Darbyshire, //A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior//, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.73)) \\ | At the end of 1871, TLM-P's ledger indicates that there were 4,717 cattle, 36 working horses and 23 brood mares on Maroon.((MLMSS3117/box 8, pp.304-05,316,317)) By 1877 his horse breeding program enabled TLM-P to advertise the services of Khedive, an imported Arab stallion.((The Queenslander, 15 September 1877 cited by Darbyshire, p.67)) With the active assistance of George Butler, he also bred shorthorn cattle; some of these were used to stock //Bulliwallah//.((Andrew Darbyshire, //A Fair Slice of St Lucia. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior//, St Lucia History Group research paper no. 8, p.73)) The large number of horses reflected his breeding program, but was also typical. David Denholm in his //The Colonial Australians// (1979) outlines how, from the 1840s in NSW and later in other colonies, 'there was a large surplus of horses' which meant they were used in a 'casual, off-hand way' so that many were used to ride great distances, taxing their horses 'to breaking point'. The colonial Australian's casual brutality to horses, he argues, 'shocked British army officers' during World War I.\\ |
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| His timing was unfortunate. TLM-P bought just before a prolonged drought. As well, a little over a year after his purchase, the [[wp>Panic_of_1866|British financial turmoil of 1866]] restricted colonial investment and caused a recession.((Ross Fitzgerald, //From the Dreaming to 1915. A History of Queensland//, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1982, p.143.)) Maroon satisfied his desire for land, and provided a rich source for Rosa when writing about Australia, but never bought easy prosperity. It is significant that TLM-P acquired it from the Bank of Australasia after the previous owner forfeited it.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.27.))\\ | TLM-P's timing when buying Maroon was unfortunate as he bought just before a prolonged drought. As well, a little over a year after his purchase, the [[wp>Panic_of_1866|British financial turmoil of 1866]] restricted colonial investment and caused a recession.((Ross Fitzgerald, //From the Dreaming to 1915. A History of Queensland//, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1982, p.143.)) Maroon satisfied his desire for land, and provided a rich source for Rosa when writing about Australia, but never bought easy prosperity. It is significant that TLM-P acquired it from the Bank of Australasia after the previous owner forfeited it.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.27.))\\ |
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| Despite the drought and recession, TLM-P and Matilda had enough money left over to build a new, red-cedar lined, large home. In April-May 1867 he employed two builders to erect a new kitchen contacted by steps and a verandah to the main building, two 'privies' (toilets), repairing the stables and other work. Cedar was used for some of this work. This building work was more successful than his employment of bricklayers in 1866. As noted in //Maroon//'s ledger, 'Men engaged to make bricks at 40/-per 1000 provided that they could find proper clay. They were evidently not judges of clay and absconded after drawing the rations' worth £1.11.0.((MLMSS3117/Box 9)) \\ | Despite the drought and recession, TLM-P and Matilda had enough money left over to build a new, red-cedar lined, large home. In April-May 1867 he employed two builders to erect a new kitchen contacted by steps and a verandah to the main building, two 'privies' (toilets), repairing the stables and other work. Cedar was used for some of this work. This building work was more successful than his employment of bricklayers in 1866. As noted in //Maroon//'s ledger, 'Men engaged to make bricks at 40/-per 1000 provided that they could find proper clay. They were evidently not judges of clay and absconded after drawing the rations' worth £1.11.0.((MLMSS3117/Box 9)) \\ |
| The 1871 census recorded Maroon as having two houses with 20 people living there, so presumably the original homestead became the workers' quarters.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//, Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.20.)) By 1880, the local council's rate book valued the buildings at £52.10.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.27.)) As with all such properties, there were quarters for the employees, stores for meat and other goods, and workshops. The local //Fassifern Guardian// described it as one of Queensland's 'most historic homesteads', with 'walls of locally dressed cedar, its impressive fireplaces of Ipswich limestone slabs and its shingle roof'.((//Fassifern Guardian//, 19 November 1947, p.1.)) Maroon by this stage was more like a small village. TLM-P's children, his grandchildren, neighbours and relatives lived there and/or visited. As well, there were employees and their families. The result, Nora wrote to Rosa in 1881, no-one could 'go around a corner ... without tumbling over a child'((Nora to Rosa, 29 October 1881)). The employees' names were not always recorded, though in his 1888 diary, TLM-P noted that he was welcomed home by "Mrs Smails and the children'.((24 August)) \\ | The 1871 census recorded Maroon as having two houses with 20 people living there, so presumably the original homestead became the workers' quarters.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//, Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.20.)) By 1880, the local council's rate book valued the buildings at £52.10.((Collin Pfeffer, //The Fassifern Story: a history of Boonah Shire and surroundings to 1989//Boonah Shire Council, c.1991, p.27.)) As with all such properties, there were quarters for the employees, stores for meat and other goods, and workshops. The local //Fassifern Guardian// described it as one of Queensland's 'most historic homesteads', with 'walls of locally dressed cedar, its impressive fireplaces of Ipswich limestone slabs and its shingle roof'.((//Fassifern Guardian//, 19 November 1947, p.1.)) Maroon by this stage was more like a small village. TLM-P's children, his grandchildren, neighbours and relatives lived there and/or visited. As well, there were employees and their families. The result, Nora wrote to Rosa in 1881, no-one could 'go around a corner ... without tumbling over a child'((Nora to Rosa, 29 October 1881)). The employees' names were not always recorded, though in his 1888 diary, TLM-P noted that he was welcomed home by "Mrs Smails and the children'.((24 August)) \\ |
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| {{:maroon_drawing_room_with_col_portrait_crop.jpeg?350|}} An undated photograph of the drawing room at Maroon.**to redo**((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P)) The player piano remains in the family, along with the large painting of TLM-P's father, two of the ornamental vases on the mantelpiece, and the three swords and battleaxe hanging on the wall.((pers. comm. M.T.M-P)) Sadly the homestead was destroyed by fire in 1947, some 27 years after [[thomas_bertram_and_lizzie_m-p|Thomas B. M-P]] sold it.((//The Courier-Mail//, 14 November 1947, p.3))\\ | {{:clearer_drawing_room_thumbnail_img_2245.jpg?400|}} An undated photograph of the drawing room at Maroon.((Provenance: T.A. & M.T. M-P)) The player piano remains in the family, along with the large painting of TLM-P's father, two of the ornamental vases on the mantelpiece, and the three swords and battleaxe hanging on the wall.((pers. comm. M.T.M-P)) Sadly the homestead was destroyed by fire in 1947, some 27 years after [[thomas_bertram_and_lizzie_m-p|Thomas B. M-P]] sold it.((//The Courier-Mail//, 14 November 1947, p.3))\\ |
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| In the 1860s, with governments resuming land to break up into smaller farms, landowners such as TLM-P secured their (leased) land by buying it freehold. TLM-P had been 'freeholding [i.e. converting to freehold] parts of his run, including 2560 acres on 16 November 1868 alone. In 1876 he allowed what was left of the leasehold to lapse or revert to the government.' From then on, Maroon comprised entirely of freehold land.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001 p.17.)) In his 1888 diary, TLM-P notes that 'the scrub around Mt Maroon is almost if not all taken up'.(Diary, 3 July) \\ | In the 1860s, with governments resuming land to break up into smaller farms, landowners such as TLM-P secured their (leased) land by buying it freehold. TLM-P had been 'freeholding [i.e. converting to freehold] parts of his run, including 2560 acres on 16 November 1868 alone. In 1876 he allowed what was left of the leasehold to lapse or revert to the government.' From then on, Maroon comprised entirely of freehold land.((Angella Collyer, //Rathdowney: federation history of an Australian rural border community// Rathdowney, Qld.: Rathdowney Area Development and Historical Association, 2001 p.17.)) In his 1888 diary, TLM-P notes that 'the scrub around Mt Maroon is almost if not all taken up'.(Diary, 3 July) \\ |